Arizona republican., 1912-07-08
GARDENS FOR TREATMENTS
Window Boxes Distributed by the
 New York Flower Guild.


 The demand from tenement homes for window boxes filled with growing plants is so great that the New York City branch of the National Plant. Flower and Fruit Guild at 70 Fifth avenue cannot supply it. The object Of the guild is to elevate the stan dard in the homes of the tenemtn dWellers and to carry brightness and cheer into the lives of the sick and poor by distributing cut flowers. potted plants, fruit and jelly to hos pItalS and homes and through settle ments and other agencies directly to the people of the tenements.
 The guild depends entirely upon gifts for support and has on it's board Of directors the following: Mrs James Roosevelt, Levi P. Morton, Mrs. John Wood, Stewart. Mrs. James Speyer. Countess Annie Leary, Dr. E. R. L. Gould, Mrs. w. Van Valzah Hayes Mrs George F. Paul pr Russell Hibbs and Mrs. Schuyler Van Rem seller.
 Flowers from the greenhouses of the wealthy and flowers used at social functions are carried by the guild into the dwellings of the city'S sick and poor In one year alone there were distributed to institutions in New York through this agency 31.4O5 punches of flowers from social af- fairs. and 279.72O punches of summer flowers
 Despite the fact that there are in New York City $50 institutions con- 1i41iS, the people, there is always room for one more. and the guild plays an important part in the great scheme of giving because it reaches individ- ual cases. It gets to the crippled shut-ins. and it places window boxes of growing flowers where they will introduce an interest in otherwise ColorIeSs lives
 These boxes are 29 inches long by 614 wide each containing three ger aniums and three slips of ivy. A dol lar and twenty-five cents will place such box at some window thereby furnishing a whole summers interest for some tenement dWeller hemmed in by brick and mortar in a congested section of the city
 In eight years the guild has placed l 900 window boxes and still has 1000 applications on file which cannot be filled because of lack of funds. For those who have boxes this is the re- planting season. New plants will re- place the faded and for the boxes showing the best care prizes will be given in September
 That these boxes are appreciated is proved by the enthusiasm with which { they are received and the attention given them. Perhaps the strongest proof of this was given by a poor East Side widow. who by making ] ring boxes supports her two children on her earnings of $4.5O a week Roll ing her eyes toward heaven she said ''If ye held up a B bill and asked me to choose between them I would have taken this window box. Me and the childer are that daffy about the flowers"
 The display of Ingenuity in over coming difficulties in the care of the boxes is interesting, as in the case of 1 of one who constructed a cage under which the geraniums bloomed and flourished in defiance to the neighbOr- hood cats.
 
 lattice work at her window, all lowing the ivy to creep up around it. leaving space for the geraniums to bloom; then moves her sewing ma chine at which she works from in the morning till late at night in front of her garden that she may imagine she is in the country.
 Faith, do I like flowers" asked a woman in Pearl street, who earns a scant living as scrubwoman. If ye could see me getting up at , in the morning to give these poor little ger aniums a drink before I go to work. with Jimmy taking care of them at noon and me at them again when l come home at night, you wouldn't be askin' do I like them And l think they know me by the way they grow when l touch them"
 The characteristics of race are dis 1 tinctly shown in the care of the win 1 dow boxes. In an Italian family, if the flowers die from lack of care, garlic 1 and lettuce are planted in their place Among the Irish Americans the boxes i are often converted into refrigerators 1 or coal boxes if the flowers fade. As l q class the Germans have the best ap- bearing gardens and a natural under 1 standing of plant life. There are even cases where the love of flowers is | so marked that the boxes are cared | for and geraniums are given water whereas the children go unwashed and are sadly neglected. And for these
 pople who have so few pleasures oi interests in life the guild in it's dis l of ducing refreshing, attractive spot ir
 to their dingv homes.-NeW York Sun nAIH TcI MEEn