154 TBANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTUBAL 



these essentials are fully attained, until brain and brawn are no 

 longer needed for the road as such, that anything like decoration, 

 appealing to the eye, instead of to the foot and' the wheel, must be, 

 from necessity, postponed, or even abandoned entirely. 



But woe to the country whose people are completely governed 

 by bare material necessity ; whose hunger is only that of the stomach ; 

 whose taste is limited to that of the tongue ; whose ideas are 

 measured solely by dollars, and whose aspirations rise not higher 

 than their physical needs. As a matter of fact there are no such 

 people in our enlightened land, though there certainly is too great a 

 tendency to pooh ! pooh ! things which appeal mainly to our higher 

 natures, — to the very things which distinguish us from savages and 

 other uncivilized beings. I believe every man and woman, possessed 

 of a fair amount of good sense, resident in Illinois, would enjoy 

 whatever might be added to beautify the homes, the towns and the 

 country landscapes of our fertile commonwealth ; but by no means 

 is every one ready, or even artistically able, to directly help in the 

 accomplishment. The cry is : " Oh, yes ! that is all right for those 

 who can afford it, for those who have no other use for their time 

 and their money. I have something else to look after." That is, 

 usually, " I " am permitting the material needs and wants to crowd 

 out my contribution to anything higher. Shame on us that we 

 appreciate the hunger of the eye and of our inner sense of beauty, 

 but are too lazy or too much absorbed otherwise to put forth our 

 hand towards satisfying this beuificent demand. It is high time we 

 should be aroused to action in this respect, that we should begin to 

 acknowledge the shamefulness of laziness here as we now do in the 

 affairs coupled with buttered bread, and to appreciate the value of 

 art education as we now do that connected with money-getting and 

 political power. 



Here, as elsewhere, example is stronger than precept. If one 

 wants to get his neighbors interested in beautifying their own 

 grounds, the surest way to do it is to properly arrange and care for 

 his own. If A wants B to cut the grass in his (B's) door yard, let 

 A see that his own lawn is cleaned and made green and velvety. 

 Often one such example is more contagious than measles. Preach- 

 ing like this accomplishes little. It is only ventured upon in the 

 hope of stirring to renewed efforts those already alive to the 

 things herein urged. We may provoke one another to good deeds 

 in our horticultural meetings, if we are already harnessed for the 

 work. But we can, one and all, do much more at our homes, if we 

 will lead off in the things desired. 



After so long an introduction, the simple precepts I have to 

 offer for the artistic improvements of our streets and roads, may 

 seem meagre and very elementary. But it is easier in such work to 

 overdo upon paper than to keep within the limits of rational accom- 



