114 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Life means a little more than just to live, 

 That heart that beats for sell beats on in vain; 

 But he who plants the earth hath joys to give 

 Because he adds to life and stills earth's pain. 

 So let us join our hearts and mental powers 

 To make the fireside pure as ocean's foam. 

 Let's drape the cottage door with fruits and flowers, 

 Let Nature's hand fall softest on the home. 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENT IN CITY, TOWN AND VILLAGE. 



(S. W. FLETCHER, MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.) 



The past ten years have witnessed a remarkable awakening of civic pride 

 in all parts of our country. There are now thousands of local organizations 

 bearing such names as "City Improvement Societv," "Municipal Art 

 League," "Clean City Club," "Nature League," "Out-Door Art Club," 

 "Civic Club," "Village Improvement Society," "Shade Tree Association," 

 ''Rural Art Club." Most of these organizations devote their efforts to only 

 one or two of the many problems of civic betterment, as the abatement of 

 the bill-board and smoke nuisances; the adornment of private yards; the 

 planting and care of shade trees; school gardens; but all have a common aim, 

 which is to foster the desire for private and municipal cleanliness and to 

 stimulate the appreciation of the beautiful, both in art and in nature. So 

 widespread is the movement for civic improvement, and so marked are the 

 results already accomplished, that I am justified in saying that a city, town 

 or village which is not making some definite organized effort to improve its 

 appearance, is most decidedly behind the times, and lacking in public spirit. 

 And all of these thousands of local efforts for civic betterment all over the 

 country are gathered up into one great national organization, "The American 

 Civic Association." The work of those local organizations touches every- 

 thing that has to do with the making of a healthier, cleaner and more beautiful 

 community, from city dumps and other eye sores, to the architecture of 

 public buildings and the location of boulevards, and play-grounds, but I 

 shall speak briefly only of a few points that are of common interest to all 

 communities. 



STREET TREES. 



Trees are easily the most important part of a beautiful city or town. 

 They soften and partially screen the harsh architecture of buildings, shade 

 walks and windows from the glare of the sun, and give a bewitching play 

 of light and shade on the pavement and lawn. Moreover, trees have a 

 sanitary as well as an aesthetic value; their cooling shade prevents the 

 diseases incident to heat, and the leaves absorb noxious gases. A committee 

 of physicians in the city of New York passed a resolution urging the wider 

 planting of street trees on the grounds of public hygiene alone. 



The chief difficulty in the management of city or town street trees is 

 the conflicting authority over them. In most cities the street trees are not 

 controlled by the municipality but by the individual land owners in front 

 of whose property they are planted. The planting and care of the trees are 

 left to the individual. This arrangement is never satisfactory. One man 

 will prefer and will plant one kind of tree, and a neighbor will prefer and will 



