VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT 



Civic Improvement." The object of the organization, 

 as stated in the constitution, "shall be to bring into 

 communication for acquaintance and mutual helpful- 

 ness all organizations interested in the promotion of 

 outdoor art, public beauty, town, village and neighbor- 

 hood improvement." The headquarters of the national 

 organization are at Springfield, Ohio. 



As in Europe, the commercial possibilities of the work 

 are beginning to appeal to the American business man. 

 Large owners of real estate and tenant houses are 

 adopting as business methods some of the special fea- 

 tures of improvement associations. Commercial clubs 

 and boards of trade are awakening to the fact that a 

 cleanly and beautiful city containing tine boulevards, 

 riverside drives and parks, public baths and swimming 

 pools, is as much of an inducement to new Arms desir- 

 ing to locate as is a cash bonus or good shipping 

 facilities. Firms and good citizens seeking new loca- 

 tions and finding these advantages are assured without 

 further search that the schools will be good, the resi- 

 dence district fine, and that a minimum of undesirable 

 residents will be found. Nurserymen, florists and 

 dealers in paint are the first to reap material benefit 

 from the formation of these associations. Usually the 

 first step in improving property is the planting of trees 

 and flowers, then the house receives a coat of paint. It 

 is an excellent idea for an improvement association to 

 encourage floral shows, with prizes to schools and 

 school children, for through the latter medium the in- 

 fection of beautifying is carried into homes that can be 

 reached no other way. 



These associations in no way interfere with the work 

 of the city officers. Rather they supplement it by do- 

 ing the things for which the town laws make no provi- 

 sion. The officers of towns having one or more of these 

 associations find the enforcement of laws made easier, 

 and should a large sura be needed for necessary im- 

 provements, they are likely to find an intelligent public 

 knowledge upon the subject in place of the oftentimes 

 exasperating stupidity. 



The results obtained from an active and prosperous 

 association are manifold. These societies make far better 

 citizenship: they create an intelligent civic pride. They 

 make possible practical civics in the public schools. 

 The commercial benefits of such work appeal to the lib- 

 eral and progressive element among all business men. 

 Jessie M. Good. 



The limitations of space do not allow an historical 

 sketch of the various movements culminating in the 

 organization of the American League for Civic Improve- 

 ment, nor a list of the various periodicals which are de- 

 voted partly or wholly to the work. A great work for 

 village and civic improvement is done by general agen- 

 cies as well as by the special societies devoted to the 

 work. An analysis of these complex social forces is be- 

 yond the scope of this Cyclopedia, but the following out- 

 line sent, by Charles Mulford Robinson, author of "The 

 Improvement of Towns and Cities," will be found very 

 suggestive. The work outside the special societies may 

 be roughly summarized as that done. — I. By committees 

 (1) Of women's clubs (a) local, (b) federated; (2) Of 

 boards of trade, etc.; (3) Of real estate exchanges. II. 

 By political organizations, in securing better officials. 

 III. By the organizations of these officials, (1) The 

 American Society of Municipal Improvements, (2) The 

 League of American Municipalities, (3) The State 

 Leagues of Municipalities. IV. By corporations, (1) 

 Model communities, (2) Improvement of home grounds, 

 neighborhoods. V. By individuals (1) For private pro- 

 fit, (2) Out of public spirit. L H. B. 



VILLARSIA nymphoides is the plant described at 

 p. 925 of this work as Limnanthemum nymphoides. The 

 plant is probably to be referred to Limnanthemum pel- 

 tatum, however. To the list of pictures add Gn. 48:1036 

 and 48, p. 300. 



VIMINARIA (Latin, vimen, a slender twig or withe, 

 alluding to the branches). Legumindsw. A single spe- 

 cies, an Australian shrub with rush-like stems and long, 

 wiry "leafless" branches, i.e., the leaves for the most 

 part reduced to long, filiform petioles, although at the 



VINCA 



1933 



ends of the more vigorous or lower branches a few oval or 

 lanceolate Its. are often found. The rather small flowers 

 are pea-shaped, orange-yellow and are produced in long, 

 terminal racemes. Calyx-teeth short; petals on rather 

 long claws; standard roundish; wings oblong, shorter 

 than the standard; keel slightly curved, as long as the 

 wings; stamens free: ovary nearly sessile; style fili- 

 form: pod ovoid-oblong, usually iudehiscent: seeds 

 1-2. 



denudata, Smith. The name Leafless Rush-broom has 

 been proposed for this. Leafless yellow-fld. shrub, at- 

 taining 10-20 ft., formerly cult, in European green- 

 houses as a small tender shrub: Ivs. 3-8 in. long: pod 

 2-3 lines long. Australia. B.M. 1190. P.M. 14:123.— 

 Offered in S. Calif. F . w Barclay. 



VlNCA (pervinca, old Latin name of Periwinkle, 

 used by Pliny). Apocynaeea?. A genus of 10 species 

 including the common Periwinkle or Trailing Myrtle, 

 Vinca minor. This is one of the commonest and best 

 plants for covering the ground in deep shade, especially 

 under trees and in cemeteries. It is a hardy trailing 

 plant with shining evergreen foliage and blue, salver- 

 shaped, 5-lobed fls. about an inch across, appearing in 

 spring or early summer. It forms a dense carpet to the 

 exclusion of other herbs. It thrives best in moist, half- 

 shaded positions, but will grow in the deepest shade 

 even in poor soil, especially if it be stony. It is a capi- 

 tal plant for clothing steep banks, covering rocks and 

 carpeting groves. It can be planted successfully on a 

 large scale any time from spring to fall during mild 

 or rainy weather. It is propagated by division or by 

 cuttings, as seeds very rarely mature. The Periwinkle 

 will live in city yards under trees where grass will 

 not thrive. V. minor is the commonest and perhaps 

 most variable species. Varieties with white, purple 

 and double fls. are kept in most nurseries, as also a 

 form with variegated foliage. 



Vinca major is larger in all its parts than the com- 

 mon Periwinkle and not so hardy. It is well known to 

 florists. A variegated form of it is seen in nearly every 

 veranda box in the country. 



V. rosea is a tender plant of erect habit which is 

 used chiefly for summer bedding. It grows about a foot 

 high and has rosy purple or white fls. with or without a 

 reddish eye, and often 2 in. across. The plants bloom 

 continuously from the time they are set out until frost. 

 It can be grown in large masses for public parks with 

 somewhat less expense than geraniums. Mr. Strom- 

 back, head gardener of Lincoln Park, Chicago, has re- 

 corded his experience with Vinca. rosea in Florists' Re- 

 view 1:141 as follows: The seed is sown in Jan. or 

 Feb. in flats of sandy soil in a temp, of 65°-70°. When 

 the seedlings show the second leaf, they are pricked 

 out about an inch apart iu trays of the same soil, and 

 when the little plants have 5 or 6 lvs. they are potted 

 into 2-in. rose pots, and later shifted to 3-in. pots. The 

 majority are bedded out from the 3-in. pots. The soil 

 of the bed should be a sandy loam if possible, and the 

 plants will not do well in a very heavy soil. In bedding, 

 set the plants about a foot apart. They require more 

 water than a geranium, and when the bed is watered it 

 should be given a good soaking and then left alone for 

 a few days. The plants require no trimming. 



The amateur will find Vinca rosea a satisfactory 

 window plant that can be grown with little trouble from 

 seeds started as late as April, but of course such plants 

 will not bloom as early as the bedding stock propagated 

 in Jan. or Feb. V. rosea is the largest flowered Vinca, 

 and it seeds freely. ^y jj 



Vinca major and varieties are the most useful of the 

 genus to the commercial florist. Some plants from 

 2-inch or 3-inch pots should be planted out in May. 

 They will make large plants by September. For decorat- 

 ing purposes, some of these plants can be lifted and put 

 in 5-inch pots and will winter in a very cool house. To 

 obtain useful sized plants in 3-inch pots the following 

 spring for veranda, box and vases, cuttings should be 

 put into sand end of September. The long trailing 

 growths will give an abundance of material. Always 

 make the cutting with two eyes, choosing neither the 

 hard growth at base nor the very soft tips. They root 



