VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT 

 Civic Improvement." Tlie object of the organization, 



hood improvrimiii/ '['[<•■ li.Mil.|U;irtri's ..f tin- li:ili..iial 

 organization are at S|iriui;tield, 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 tho special ffa- 



and boards of trade are awakening to tlir fart tliai a 

 cleanly antl beautiful city containing line linul<-\ aids. 

 riverside drives and parks, public batlis aud sHimmiug 

 pools, is as much of an inducement to new firms 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 olHcers. 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 aod 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 tliese complex social forces is 

 beyond the scope of this cyclopedia, but the following 

 outline sent by Charles Mulford Robinson, author of 

 "The Basis of Civic Improvement," 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, (6) federated; (2) Of 

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

 Bv 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, fl) 

 Model communities, (2) Improvement of home grounds, 

 neitrhborhonds. 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 Limnanthemnm nymphoides. The 

 plant is probably to-be referred to Lininanthetnuyn pel- 

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

 and 48, p. JJOO. 



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

 alluding to the branches). Legumindsce. 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 Ivs. 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 indehiscent: seeds 

 1-2. 



denHdita, Smith. The name Leafless Rush-broom has 

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

 taiuing 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.- 

 Oftered in S. Calif. . p. w. Barclay. 



VlNCA ipervinca, old Latin name of Periwinkle, 

 used by Pliny). ApocynAcece. A genus of 10 species 

 including the common Periwinkle or Trailing Myrtle, 

 t'im-a 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 



bill 



11 g in 





,'ror"by 

 iiss will 

 purple 



and double fis. are kept in most nurs 

 form with variegated foliage. 



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

 mon Periwinkle and not so hardy. It is well knowc 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 ej-e, 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 gfraninnis. ^\r. Strom- 

 back, head gardener of Lin.'.iln I'.nk, rhira^-i.. has re- 

 corded his experience wii 1 1 I //..,. ,,.s.., ill I'loii^ts' Re- 

 view 1:141 as follows: 'IIm m ,,I is s..xvii in .Ian. or 

 Feb. in flats of sandy si.il in a ti mp. "f r,:, -7(i\ When 

 the seedlings show the second leaf, tliey are pricked 

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

 when the little plants have 5 or 6 Ivs. 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 tho bed is watered it 

 should be given a good snakitiLr and tln-n left alone for 

 a few days. The plants r,.,|,iir,. n., tiinnuiii-. 



The amateur will find I'iiif,: i-f^s,,, a satisfactory 

 window plant that can be grown with little tninble 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. -^ ji. 



Fiiica 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 



