PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 227 



education in science and art, such as schools, libraries, museums, and 

 provision for public recreation, such as halls for meetings, lectures, music, 

 parks and playgrounds. 



The native vegetation of Iowa, or of any other region, is atone fitted 

 for the fulfilling of several of these public needs. W have purposely 

 dwelt at length on the beauty of our native flora. Trees and wild flowers 

 furnish educational material of inestimable value. Their aesthetic sig- 

 nificance cannot be measured. It is an indispensable element of human 

 culture. For recreation, every wood, where picnics and like gatherings 

 can be held, is where individuals or families may get out into God's out- 

 of-doors. This need is acknowledged in big cities. It is just as real in 

 every small Iowa town. But in no such town is it provided. A recent 

 bequest from a large minded citizen gives Grinnell a prospect of a park 

 which will meet the purposes of playground. But we, like all other com- 

 munities of similar size or smaller, still need the larger tract, where peo- 

 pe can really get back to nature, and cook a meal over a campfire, and 

 gather flowers to their hearts content. These aesthetic and recreational 

 necessities are real, they are communal, and can only be provided by com- 

 munity effort. This is the point which I most desire to make. 



I confess to very little interest in calculations of the increased value 

 of real estate resulting from public improvements, I am still less interested 

 in the boom to the general business of the community. But both factors 

 are very real. Property values and general business are wholly dependent 

 upon the presence of people people with taste, and with high desires. 

 There is no doubt whatever that those communities which provide them- 

 selves with modern conveniences are preferred by all kinds of people 

 when choosing a home. The more a community has of the higher values 

 of life, the better it is liked, the more it is sought out. And this means 

 business, even though I would shrink from suggesting that art galleries 

 and symphony orchestras, or parks and playgrounds really pay. 



But beside this, I am more and more impressed with the possible im- 

 portance of our native flora as commercial material for nurserymen, hor- 

 ticulturists, and florists. The Iowa crabapple, wonderfully beautiful in 

 its wild state, has already given us the Bechtel crab, whose double rose- 

 like flowers defy description. Is there its equal on the face of the earth? 

 We have also the Soulard crab, a derivative of Pyrus ioensis. Just last 

 fall there came into notice near Grinnell another crab of the ioensis type, 

 but much superior to the wild form, and worthy of a place in gardens and 

 orchards for its large, yellow, and meaty fruits. Evidently our wild crab 

 should be carefully preserved and studied, and its possibilities developed. 



The native wild plum seems to have already reached its limit of per- 

 fection. But one should never cease to look for still greater improvement 

 in the future. May not the wild gooseberries, the haws, the shad bushes, 

 the grapes yet prove valuable sources of hardy and productive fruits? 



The observations of the past few years have satisfied me that in many 

 of our wild flowers we have material for improvement and development 

 well worth our care. Phlox divaricata has already yielded an important 

 variety, and a series of very promising hybrids. Why might not it, or 

 the even commoner Phlox pilosa become as useful to man as the better 

 known paniculata phloxes or P. drummondii? 



