PARK AND CEMETERY. 
6i 
The children and the .school house we have 
always with us. Happily this is true, but I have 
yet to see school grounds properly planted, though 
I trust that others have had a better experience in 
this mutter. Still I think it is no exaggeration to 
say that they are usually a howling wilderness or at 
least a dusty desert. I take it that this is a fairly 
typical village, and the public school grounds here 
bear considerable resemblance to L’isle du Diable, 
the island prison of Dreyfus, though lacking the 
beautiful water views that must in some measure 
cheer the eyes of that unfortunate man. There is 
shade, but that is all. The earth is bare; the coal 
house, an unpainted shed, is the background on 
one side of the grounds, while on the other, the 
outhouses, surrounded by a prison yard stockade, 
offend the eyes and feelings. 
A Virginia creeper planted by the coal house 
would soon drape its bare unsightliness, and closely 
grouped trees and shrubs that could be taken up in 
the woods and transplanted in a day would screen 
the stockade and shelter the walk leading to it, as 
well as make a really agreeable break in the barren 
inclosure. If to this slight planting a few vines to 
grow over the boundary fences the place would 
hardly be recognizable. 
In all school grounds some such simple planting 
would be a vast improvement. Plant trees on the 
outskirts of the grounds, mass shrubs at the corners 
of the building, put vines where they will do the 
most good and, above all, teach modesty by plant- 
ing a screen of small trees and pretty shrubs to 
shield the outbuildings and the approach to them. 
F. C. S. 
* # * • 
Mrs. I'rederick C. Johnson contributes the 
following: 
In some portions of Illinois, away from towns, 
one will find rural cemeteries, many of them show- 
ing sore neglect. They are overrun with weeds 
and shrubbery, fences, if any, are gone to ruin, 
and with all a desolate look pervades that makes 
the heart sick. 
In one neighborhood where such a cemetery 
existed the women have changed all this and made 
“the desert to blossom as the rose.” They formed 
a society called the Cemetery Association, elected 
officers, and met once in two weeks at each other’s 
houses. At the place where they met the woman 
was to find work for them, perhaps it was carpet 
rags, quilting, tieing comforts or doing any kind 
of sewing required. She must pay into the society 
the sum of 50 cents or $i as she felt able to do. 
The members each paid 5 cents. In this way the 
association not only enjoyed a pleasant social time, 
helped a neighbor with a big day’s work, but 
changed the last resting place of their dead from a 
wild and lonely place to one of beauty and neat- 
ness. A neat wire fence with arched gateway has 
been provided, the grounds have been cleared of 
all rubbish, weeds, etc., a man hired to care for the 
grounds, trees planted, a good tool house built in 
one corner, water furnished for watering the 
grounds, the grass kept mown, gravel drive and 
paths made, and stones and monuments that were 
leaning or fallen were placed in position. I wish 
others would take pattern and do likewise. 
The Helena, Mont., Improvement Society offers 
the following series of prizes for the best results in 
tree planting as well as generally beautifying 
grounds: ist. Premium of $i for best single tree 
planted and cared for by a boy or girl not over 16 
years old; to be planted this spring and award 
made June, 1900. 2d. Best row or group of trees 
planted and cared for by a boy or girl not over 16 
years old. 3d. Prize of $5, open to any one, for 
best row or group of trees of seven or upward. 
4th. Prize of $15 for best city block or square 
planted with trees in unbroken rows on both sides 
of the street. 5^^. Premium of $15 for the best 
improved church grounds, with street frontage. 
* * 
The Women of the Improvement League of 
Minneapolis, Minn., was recently addressed by Mr. 
Harry W. Jones, a member of the board of Park 
Commissioners, on the subject of the work pro- 
posed by the board for the children in the parks. 
An appropriation had been made of $500 for the 
maintenance of children’s playgrounds. For sev- 
eral years Coring park has been provided with ten- 
nis courts for the older boys and girls and piles on 
the shore and swings have been put up in Minne- 
haha park. This year an effort will be made to do 
something at Lake Harriet. The playground move- 
ment was originally started by the Improvement 
League and the members stand ready to assist in 
every way. Mrs. Barnard presented an outline of 
the plans of the flower committee, of which she is 
chairman. She purposed that vegetable instead of 
flower seeds be given to the boys to cultivate their 
practical side. It is estimated that between 15,000 
and 20,000 packets of seeds will be distributed 
among the fifty-five graded schools. Little book- 
lets on the culture of flowers have been pre- 
sented for distribution among the children. x\ year 
book of the League has been prepared and will be 
ready this spring. The committee in charge pre- 
sented an outline of the book which will include a 
brief historical review, the ordinances which the 
league has been instrumental in having passed, re- 
ports from the committees, and a full list of members. 
