HORTICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS IN DULUTH, 309 



HORTICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS IN DULUTH. 



MRS. IDA B. THOMPSON^ DULUTH. 



■ A truly beneficent state always protects beauty by its laws, 

 because our inbred savage instincts are ever ready to mar or 

 destroy early that which it desires to cherish late, and as it 

 is only the few who discern in the rough what the many see in 

 outline their task would be rendered hard without the protection 

 and aid afforded by law. This is why I claim with great con- 

 fidence your interest in Duluth. I have been disappointed that 

 our society could not hold there its annual meeting and so aid 

 the work for the "city beautiful." One thousand dangers beset 

 the well favored thing or person everywhere. First, neglect is 

 a great factor ; a beautiful thing gets less care than is usually be- 

 stowed on that less favored. This was so with my "city beau- 

 tiful for situation." 



Duluth in its early years was neglected ; then foreign tree 

 peddlers, art lecturers with a financial love for their profession 

 only stirred the busy hive of industry to things beyond the 

 three streets of the original townsite. But they began the study 

 of the beautiful in nature right by letting alone the most unique 

 point of land in the union, six miles long, unrivaled in this 

 "bread and butter" state, naming it the Minnesota Point. This 

 island village has been an increasing joy year by year, and this 

 season art has been joined to nature and within hearing of the 

 lapping Mississippi grow flowers of every hue. 



We cannot adequately set forth the many floral improvements 

 in the city proper. Landscape gardening has begun in earnest; 

 the work of the flower show for many years has been supple- 

 mented by various business enterprises with agents justly proud 

 of their work, for they tell the people that which profits from 

 their own experience, and orders follow, one firm having deliv- 

 ered over three thousand dollars' worth and eighty per cent of 

 this was shade trees and twenty per cent fruits, with only two 

 per cent of loss. 



The last few years in Duluth has added materially to the 

 chain of elevators, schools, churches and, best of all, parks, con- 

 taining over 500 acres, all of which have been beautified, espe- 

 cially the parks, — lungs for future generations — six in number, 

 any of which deserves a paper of this length to describe it. 



Special impulse has been given to this work by our commer- 

 cial club. The parks are appreciated more than ever, and the 

 city has not grudged means for the enjoyment of our 75,000 in- 



