PAUKS IN VILLAGE^. 53 



a start at a parkiug- system. I shall be glad to draw up 

 ordiuauees or help in auy way 1 can. The hrst object, of 

 course, is to get the necessary money ior the parks. There is 

 no question at all but what a park system is of value to any 

 town; and no town in the state of Nebraska should be without 

 a park or parking system of some sort. The property values 

 around these parks increase so rapidly that we get our money 

 back in a very few years. Here is a little booklet that 1 have 

 to pass around, and in it you will find a good deal of valuable 

 information as to how to proceed. 



Now I am going to ask you to excuse me from going into 

 this subject much further. This park idea is not new to you ; 

 but it is new to the people of these small towns and villages. 

 It has been less than thirty years that the city of Boston 

 asked the legislature of Massachusetts to make an appropria- 

 tion for their parks. Since 1879 Boston has spent more than 

 $3,000,000 on her park system, and it is cleaimed that Boston 

 today has the finest park system of any city in the world. So 

 you see that the idea is not old even in Boston, — in that 

 state of culture and learning. If those states in the East had 

 taken up this question of parks and more beautiful streets 

 years ago it would not have cost them nearly so much as it 

 does now. In nearly every town or city now you find some 

 kind of woman's club or society that is interested in city im- 

 provement, and it is to the ladies that we must look for higher 

 ideals along such lines. The men seem to be too busy for 

 much of this kind of work, but when you do find a man with 

 high ideals and who is interested in this sort of work you 

 might know that his mother was a lady and had high ideals. 

 So I say if we can get the ladies of Nebraska interested in 

 this work of parks and tree planting and city improvement 

 there will be great good accomplished. It is the greatest 

 work and noblest work outside of horticulture; in fact it is 

 horticulture in a sense. And now before I sit down I want 

 -to extend to the Nebraska State Horticultural Society a 

 hearty invitation to come to Wymore for your next meeting. 



