i8.2 



HOKTI CULTURE 



bass as accessories. The criirisoii 

 ericas in pots are amoug the foremost 

 plants in decoration during tlie fall sea- 

 son, also scarlet geraniums with aditn- 

 tiims in designs of stunning effect. 

 The show windows comprise two- 

 thirds of the store stoclc in many 

 cases, and are so arranged that the 

 customer can wallv aliout in the win- 

 dow among the display of designs and 

 make their selection without disturb- 

 ing the arrangement. A stoi) of nearly 

 forty-eight hours in this city of indus- 

 try was only enough time to become 

 initiated into a few of the pleasures. 

 Amsterdam. 



On Tuesday, October 8, we left Ham- 

 burg for the long journey to Amster- 

 dam, passing through Bremen, then 

 southward and changing at Osuabruck, 

 moving direct west, reaching the Dutch 

 Capitol at 5.30 P. M. Eager to meet 

 directly the ancient and unchanged 

 element and custom of the Hollander, 

 wo at once struck out to do the town 

 as thoroughly as time would permit. 

 In the most active business streets 

 could be seen the life of all classes. 

 With but few exceptions the streets 

 had a gentle and easy curve, and when 

 looking 100 feet ahead it appeared as 

 if the upper-story dwellers should be 

 able to shal<e hands from the windows 

 of their respective sides. The houses 

 along the older streets are nearly all 

 out of plumb on the front — how it 

 affects the interior we liad no time to 

 ascertain. The cause of this condition 

 is said to be the sinking of the founda- 

 tions — many of the culverts are close 

 to the house-front instead of outside 

 the curbstones. 



With all the appearance of ancient 

 conditions, yet there is a modern busi- 

 ness activity equal to the largest cities. 

 The florist shops along the busy 

 street are just as modern in dis- 

 play as can be found anywhere; 

 the style and good taste attract the 

 eye and attention of the public. 

 While it is a fact that effective meth- 

 ods of display have been long known 

 in America among the aggressive flor- 

 ists, yet we must concede that there 

 has been a simultaneous improvement 

 along those lines in Europe to create 

 a taste more for a natural than arti- 

 ficial in flowers, aided with the liberal 

 use of ferns and graceful vines. 



The train for the Hook of Holland 

 left Amsterdam at 8.48 P. M.. and was 

 well loaded with passengers for Eng- 

 land. Passing through Haarlem, The 

 Hague and Schiedam, we arrived at 

 the Hook at 10.48, where the boat was 

 ready to cross the Channel to Harwich, 

 England, which we reached at 8 A. M., 

 October iith, and London at 11 A. M. 

 The Closing Scenes. 



Another h;ilf dav in London permit- 

 ted a visit to the longed-for Tower. 

 Upon entering this labyrinth of gray 

 stone, we followed sign boards, and 

 were soon in its large halls, amid the 

 show cases doubly secured with chains 

 and locks, which contained precious 

 stones and ancient garb worn by an- 

 cestors not of our kin. Onward and 

 upward into other and confusing hall- 

 ways and interior rooms of armor and 

 trophies of war, ancient weapons tak- 

 en from the fallen foe in distant lands 

 centuries ago. Two hours among i-el- 

 ics and beef caters was quite enough, 

 and highly interesting and instructive. 

 The drill of the red jackets was very 



entertaining, yet with the rigid ilisci 

 pline under which the Britisli soldier 

 is glad to serve. We had then to has- 

 ten away to Liverpool, where we 

 boarded the "Arabic" and sailed at 5 

 P. M., October 10th. The stop at 

 Queenstown afforded a great deal of 

 mirth. The Irish lace and curiosity 

 venders boarded the ship, apparently 

 under hazardous conditions, climbing 

 its sides by ropes in order to reach the 

 last few shillings left for mementos 

 and curios. Those who were poor 

 judges of lace satisfied the Irish mer- 

 chants, who were mostly women, by 

 buying a black thorn cudgel or cane. 

 The great and prevailing desire 

 among people of all climes is to travel, 

 go away from home, and see for the 

 sake of seeing how things look, com- 

 pare the conditions and customs of 

 people, to see what others have that 

 we do not have, to view natural cari- 

 osities, and profit by the chan.ge from 

 our own environment. This tour, 

 while it was to some extent over a 

 beaten path of my traveling compan- 

 ion, who had taken previous observa- 

 tions at nearly every point covered, 

 presented many new scenes unnoticed 

 before, which afforded much pleasure. 

 I desire to emphasize that the horti- 

 culturist without a doubt can and does 

 glean more by traveling than those ol 

 any other profession because he works 

 abreast with nature, and studies her 

 resources, admires her productions, 

 and loves the harmony produced in the 

 landscape as well as in her flora. 



THE "CITY BEAUTIFUL" MOVE- 

 MENT IN SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 



(An \Jdress liy .Mrs. E. S. Wallier ln'toiv 

 tlie Illinois State Convention. i 



The "City Beautiful" has become 

 almost a household expression and is 

 no longer considered a dream, a mere 

 fad of the idealist: the interest in 

 many directions is an established fact. 

 The making of a more beautiful city 

 is among the new arts. In the days 

 of our forefathers the question of daily 

 existence made too strenuous a life 

 to give much thought to the artistic 

 adornment of home or country. Now, 

 when our republic takes high rank 

 among the nations of the world, when 

 peace and prosperity abound, the atten- 

 tion of men and women is directed 

 toward the pursuit of this new art, the 

 "city beautiful." 



Interest in civic improvement in 

 Springfield, 111., was aroused by the 

 meeting of the Civic Association of 

 America held in Milwaukee, October, 

 190(i. No one could fail to be im- 

 presseil with the deep interest in this 

 work exhibited by members present 

 from Texas to Maine, California to 

 New York, Philadelphia and Boston: 

 men and women of broad intelligence, 

 occupying higli positions socially, giv- 

 ing of their time and talents in the 

 interest of makin,g greater and grand- 

 er cities and towns in our own Amer- 

 ica. One of the results from .attending 

 this mectin.g was the inauguration of a 

 "city beautiful" department in one of 

 the local papers under the auspices of 



.M>iil II, i:tiis! 



the W.irn;iMs Club ol .Spriii^rield. The 

 ground covered in this department 

 during the period of its existence wys: 

 a cleaner city; the need of a good, pure 

 water supply: the abatement of the 

 smoke nuisance; the abandonment of 

 obnoxiou>> bill boards; a suggestion for 

 securing a system of smaller parks; 

 the cleaning up and cultivation of va- 

 cant lots; (he care of back yards and 

 alleys; the .giving of more space in the 

 erection of all new residences, for 

 light and air; a plea for the elimina- 

 tion of all objectionable matter from 

 the columiiS of the public press; tht. 

 planting and care of trees; the duty of 

 citizens in placing our public schools 

 on a higher plane, both as to decora- 

 tion, art studios and landscape garden- 

 ing. 



Our t^cl'.ools are centers of influence; 

 they sh(mld take an active interest in 

 the "city beautiful" movement; indeed 

 they should be the chief civic centers 

 of the community, since a problem is 

 thrust upon us for solution, viz., the 

 guiding of the future of the republic 

 by the children of our liomes as well 

 as those born of parents coming to our 

 shores from every foreign laud. 



The civic committee from the Wo- 

 man's Club endeavored to interest the 

 children of the public and parochial 

 schools by instilling a desire to con- 

 tribute to the general attractiveness of 

 their homes and yards. Ten thousand 

 copies of a suggestive circular were 

 distributed to the pupils and eleven 

 thousand packages of flower seeds 

 were sold at a nominal price of one 

 cent a package. 



In addition to these prizes the daily 

 newspapers offered cash priz?s for the 

 best essays written by the pupils of 

 the 0th. 7th and 8th grades upon 

 "What Children Can Do to Make the 

 City More Beautiful." The Mayor is- 

 sued a proclamation designating che 

 first week of May as a special time for 

 city house-cleaning. The results of 

 this work were most gratifying. The 

 climax, however, was reached in the 

 great flower show. In this enterprise 

 the Business .Men's Association and the 

 florists of our city took charge of the 

 work and made the display a gi'eat 

 success. The prizes awarded were 

 trees, roots, bulbs and shrubs. A 

 flower show upon a larger scale is 

 among the anticipated events of the 

 coming season. 



Do you florists e\er stop to think of 

 the mission of the flowers you send 

 forth? Of the brightness, of the good 

 cheer they bring to the home life, and 

 even when they cover the spot where 

 rests all that is mortal of our loved 

 ones, they there speak eloquently of 

 the endless life. It is a beautiful 

 thought that the sites of old colonial 

 homes in New England, indeed almost 

 the exact line of the eld roadways, can 

 be traced by the fragrant, blooming 

 flowers which still persistently cling to 

 life when the hands which planted and 

 carefully trained them have been for 

 many long year? at rest. 



In the distant and unknown future 

 perhaps some flower may be culled 

 whose fragrance shall serve to discover 

 in the weedy, grass-giown ways of our 

 lives, that in some work accomplished, 

 some battle won of right over wrong, 

 we too were counted worthy of remem- 

 brance. Any effort toward making the 

 city beautiful can but make more 

 beautiful the lives of its citizens. 



