PARK AND CEMETERY. 
43 
by setting an irregular belt of shrubbery and small 
trees quite around it just inside the boundary fence 
to serve as a screen and give the air of pleasant se- 
clusion that is needed; or by planting vines to trail 
over the boundary fences, or in several other ways. 
Ministers usually make interested and efficient 
members of Improvement Societies and Egleston 
tells in his “Home and its Surroundings” of a pas- 
tor who read the following among his Sunday 
morning notices: “All who are willing to aid in 
making the surroundings of the house of God pleas- 
ant and comely are invited to go to the woods with 
me to-morrow and ‘bring the fir-tree, the pine-tree 
and the box together to beautify the place of God’s 
sanctuary, and make the place of his feet glorious.’” 
f Isaiah, j 
The State Federation of Women’s Clubs of 
Minnesota issues and distributes a placard that they 
call “Do and Don’t” cards, which they request per- 
mission to place in prominent positions in the vari- 
ous rooms of the public schools. It is a practical 
method and no doubt accomplishes much good. 
The cards are as follows: 
! Do make your yard and street m front as clean and^ 
1 pretty as you can. | 
I Plant or help plant shade trees. I 
I Cultivate as many flowers as possible. | 
! Burn or bury all tin cans and other rubbish. | 
j Pick up and destroy all loose paper, small branches and | 
I similar things. I 
! Dig up and burn unsightly and harmful weeds. | 
j Pile wood neatly, dispose of all ash heaps, and keep a | 
tidy back yard. I 
Don’t throw upon the sidewalk or into the street, banana | 
or orange skins, water melon rinds, nut shells or anything | 
else. j 
Don’t scatter pieces of paper on the street. j 
Don’t mark sidewalks or buildings. j 
Don’t injure young shade trees by bending, cutting or j 
shaking. | 
Don’t spit on sidewalks or floors. 
Every member of an Improvement Society 
should appoint him or herself a committee of one 
to keep an eye on trolley and telephone line men 
to see that they do not injure trees or shrubbery, 
and to look out for all delinquents, just as members 
of Humane Societies are alert to note and bring 
to just punishment every person that causes a dumb 
animal to suffer. 
The example of the famous “Laurel Hill” As- 
sociation of Stockbridge, Mass., in making a gala 
day of their annual meeting is a method to be re- 
commended. The meeting is a local holiday and 
is held in the open air in mid-summer when the 
town is full of summer visitors, and occurs on 
Laurel Hill, the purchase of which was the origin of 
the organization. There is a picnic dinner, a speech. 
usually by some successful native of the place, re- 
marks by others, pleasant social intercourse, and 
music and singing— a Village Festival in which 
rich and poor share, the result being, as Egleston 
has said, “a kindlier interest in one another, and a 
stronger attachment to the place where their lot has 
been cast. ” 
Any Improvement Society that achieves these 
results need offer no excuse for its existence. 
* * * 
What has been an eyesore to the townspeople 
and others at Sterling, Mass., for the past 20 years 
— the old cider mill building, on the line of the New 
York, New Haven and Hartford railroad — was de- 
molished by the people recently, after first procur- 
ing permission of the owners. The building was 
in a terribly dilapidated condition, and a regular 
fire-trap. The Village Improvement Society was 
the starter in the movement, and was the means of 
effecting a great benefit. 
* * * 
The Tennesseetown Village Improvement So- 
ciety, Kansas, met with great success last year in a 
scheme of prizes offered the colored people for 
various improvements about the gardens and homes 
and in domestic matters. This year the scheme has 
been enlarged and the colored people are taking it 
up with great enthusiasm and the results will un- 
doubtedly be still more encouraging. 
=1' * * 
The Progressive, of Lisbon, Me., is a practical 
improvement association. Through its instrumen- 
tality a clause was inserted in the town warrant 
asking that street lighting should be provided in 
the three contiguous towns, which will probably be 
undertaken. Its move for the immediate future is 
for -street cleaning, and the beautifying of the 
streets, vacant lots, waste places and unsightly 
buildings. A committee will provide garbage cans 
for the streets, and will interest the children in the 
subject. Another committee has for its work the 
providing of shrubs for lawns, vines for piazzas and 
old buildings and fences, and other unsightly objects 
which cannot be done away with. Seeds will be 
distributed to those desiring them for the beautify- 
ing of otherwise bare spots of ground, and the club 
has discussed the feasibility of using a part of the 
funds in the treasury for the purchase of additional 
seeds. 
Every continent except Australia, produces wild 
roses, and there is little doubt that the rose is one of 
the oldest flowers. In Egypt it is seen on many 
early monuments dating from 3,000 to 3,500 B. C. 
The essence of roses, is mentioned in the “Iliad.” 
It is also familiarly mentioned in the Proverbs. 
