PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
Vol. XXI Chicago, December, 1911 No. 10 
The City Trees 
It is often an unfortunate feature in city finances that 
money is almost invariably short when the parks, and 
especially the city forester and his trees, are up for con- 
sideration. Certainly there is no part of civic embellish- 
ment that should have more serious practical attention at 
stated intervals than the street trees; and yet as a rule 
the cit 3 ' forester of our most important cities has more 
trouble in securing adequate appropriations than the offi- 
cials of any other department of city government. There 
is something radically wrong in this, for street trees have 
a very important bearing on property values, and should 
be given their due share of the tax levy to enable them 
to be kept in healthy and presentable growth. Street 
trees are not by any means given their true value 
in relation to the city’s welfare as is their due, in spite of 
the heavy damages that the courts have awarded in so 
many instances for their mutilation and destruction at 
the hands of the public utility corporations and others. 
In many parts of the country just now complaints are 
being made on the condition of city trees, and the time 
is right now that the expenditure of adequate appropria- 
tions will save far larger outlay later on. The past sea- 
son over large areas of the country has been very detri- 
mental to city tree life. 
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The Birds in Winter 
The time of year suggests a thought for the birds. 
Under the best of circumstances our northern winters, 
especially, are particularly hard upon our feathered neigh- 
bors and visitors, and it is becoming a common practice, 
and a wise and eminently proper one, to provide both 
shelter and feed boxes, as well as a plentiful supply of 
food, to tide them over and to keep them with us. Not 
only should our parks and cemeteries do more in this 
way than they do, but bird boxes should be in greater 
evidence in the home grounds. It may not be generally 
known that Mr. Henry Ford, manufacturer of the Ford 
automobile, has dedicated his 2,200 acre farm near De- 
troit, Mich., to the birds, and proposes to make it the 
most notable bird reservation in the country. Every detail 
is being taken care of to carry out the plan; hundreds of 
bird boxes have been placed in suitable locations, and 
crops are grown to provide the natural food for the sev- 
eral species. A dozen feeding stations have been built 
conveniently situated, trees adapted to bird requirements 
are being set out, and, in fact, under the care of an expert 
in the work, the estate is likely to become a bird para- 
dise. And, as is the case with many efforts to assist na- 
ture, the work becomes fascinating in its intricacy and 
detail. Birds soon become accustomed to the accommo- 
dations provided for them, and enrich our surroundings 
by their song and presence, and it is even known that 
many migratory birds overlook their natural habit of 
migration and remain throughout the year in a hospita- 
ble locality. This thought should be an attractive one 
to all bird-loving people to encourage them on their home 
grounds. About 40 species of resident birds nest in the 
Bronx, New York, Zoological Park and a number of 
species winter there. 
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The Financial Care of Cemetery Lots 
A new idea in providing for the care of cemetery lots 
seems to be furnished by the Scranton Trust Co., Scran- 
ton, Pa., which offers to undertake this work in per- 
petual trust, either under a last will and testament or by 
special agreement or deed of trust. It is proposed to 
undertake such trusts regardless of location of the burial 
places, and, moreover, the instructions of the donor are 
faithfully followed. Whatever sum may be placed wtih 
the company for investment for the purpose and, from 
time to time, reinvested as- may be necessary, the income 
only is used in the proper care and maintenance of the 
lot. If the trust is created by an agreement or deed, the 
income may be made payable, if desired, to the donor for 
life, and afterwards used for the purpose specified. That 
no individual can very well undertake such a trust, nor 
make investments of small funds as advantageously as a 
trust company, will be probably granted; and it would 
also appear certain that the facilities of the cemetery 
companies for making and conserving investments are not 
by any means equal to those of a trust company. This 
proposition deserves careful consideration. 
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Social Centers and Their Amusements 
The Chicago Educational authorities are making grati- 
fying efforts to keep in the van of progress in connection 
with social center work, and at time of writing eleven 
such agencies for community improvement are about to 
open up in that number of public school buildings, and 
others will follow. It is recognized that a variety of 
wholesome amusement must be provided, the young 
needing special consideration, and therefore it has been 
decided that adequate space and other accommodations 
shall be afforded for dancing. Dancing is a healthful and 
attractive recreation, and moreover develops grace and 
polish in the individual; and under proper direction and 
restraint has a ^specific influence in the development of 
children. It is hardly possible to overestimate the value 
of the great school buildings used as “headquarters of 
community life and of co-operative action for social bene- 
fit.” The facilities which boards of education have for 
making the school buildings both comfortable and at- 
tractive, in other words, well equipped civic club houses, 
should be an incentive in the establishment of such cen- 
ters in all parts of the country. The free lecture courses 
which have been given by the “Chicago Daily News” in 
the great school buildings have amply demonstrated the 
value of such for betterment purposes. It is proposed 
now by the authorities to develop these school building 
centers into evening meeting places for young and old — 
parents’ clubs, social organizations, civic debating socie- 
ties — and all under the direction of the principal of the 
center. 
