A SEASON S WORK WITH CHILDREN AND FLOWERS. 10/ 



which a person feels for the place of his residence tends to make him 

 a better citizen ; loyalty to country grows out of loyalty to home 

 and friends." 



About a year ago some of the earnest women of our small city 

 were imbued with the idea that although nature had done much for 

 us in the way of a most beautiful lake, surrounded by picturesque 

 bluffs and valleys, which made a beautiful setting for the many 

 homes, yet after the eye had absorbed the beauty of the distant 

 surroundings and roamed nearer home, taking in the unattractive- 

 ness of some of the streets, the unkempt condition of our neighbors' 

 yards — as well as our own — there was much found to offend the 

 sight'. Then began a search for information pertaining to our needs. 

 Books, magazines and papers were read, but no detailed plan could 

 be unearthed that might be applied to our particular case. We read 

 much of the extensive operations in boulevarding streets, improving 

 and adding to park systems, the passing of laws compelling com- 

 pliance with recognized necessary improvements ; but all was on a 

 scale beyond us. 



We found much to inspire us and to increase our determina- 

 tion "to do something." Here is what an M. D. had to say : "In 

 cities, a park is an absolute necessity in order to furnish .recrea- 

 tion of body and mind for those who are tired of. city sights and 

 sounds and wish to recuperate in the country without leaving town. 

 It is a breatliing place to the city and gives coolness and pure air 

 in summer; it serves to relieve the dullness and monotony of paved 

 streets and long rows of houses ; it attracts the people and awakens 

 local pride." Says the editor of "Garden and Forest:" "Trees and 

 shrubs and flowers and grass are possessions of as real and prac- 

 tical value as are pure water, good drainage, fresh air, hospitals, 

 schools and churches." "But the truest value of public parks is in 

 the rest they give to eyes and mind, to heart and soul, through the 

 soothing charm, the fresh and inspiring influence, the impersonal, 

 unexciting pleasure, which nothing but the works of nature can give 

 to man." 



With words like these to encourage, our business meetings were 

 the scene of lively discussions of what we had read, and a process of 

 elimination was carried on. Our beautiful, broad, deep, clear lake 

 of constantly changing water, our wide valley with abundance of 

 trees and nearby streams, supplied us with pure air and park-like 

 conditions. We really lived in a park. So we narrowed our line 

 of observation and began to study conditions in detail and soon were 

 nearly overwhelmed with unpleasant things. The unsightly ap- 

 pearance of portions of the lake front ; the untidiness at the rear of 



