Qivie Jmprovement 



Joagsssmx^i.-R'^'rK^i/e ^js?-!-"- 



A DEPARTMENT DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETIES OF ONTARIO, AND OF ALL OTHER BODIES INTERESTED 

 IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SURROUNDINGS OF OUR 

 CANADIAN TOWN AND COUNTRY HOMES. 



SUGGESTED LINES OF WORK. 



BY 



MISS JESSIE M. GOOD, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



USUALLY the first question arising 

 in a new association is that of ade- 

 quate funds to cover the work de- 

 sired to be accomplished. This difficulty 

 is met in several ways. First, of course, 

 by membership dues. Then by subscrip- 

 tion or donation. Third, by some form of 

 entertainment. There is a wider latitude 

 in entertainments for civic than for church 

 work. One association I know of netted 

 more than three hundred dollars by giving a 

 steamboat excursion. We cannot all live 



Fig. 2605. Shrubbery Screening High Board 

 Fence. 



by river or lake, but every town has some 

 favorite resort. Musicales, theatricals, 

 lawn fetes, picnics, are all popular. 



Many places have found it to their ad- 

 vantage to have depositories in prominent 

 stores, banks, etc., for the accommodation of 

 those who favor the organization but have 

 not time to attend meetings or assume the 

 duties of committee work. Strangers, 

 charmed by the town's beauty and cleanli- 

 ness, often put money in these depositories, 

 which should be neat and plainly labeled 

 with a brief statement of the objects of the 

 association. There is a growing tendency 

 among old established improvement associa- 

 tions to send out collectors. These collec- 

 tors may be paid by the day or with a per- 

 centage of their collections. There are also 

 art associations which loan or rent pictures 

 for exhibitions. An art loan, if properly 

 advertised in the towns around you, with ex- 

 cursions from certain points on each day, 

 ought to pay well if properly managed. A 

 flower show, to which an entrance fee is 

 charged, is an appropriate means of raising 

 funds for civic improvement. A rose show 

 is the thing for June, a chrysanthemum 



