PARK AND CEMETERY. 
158 
country to work up sentiment favorable to reform, 
to change state constitutions so as to make the work 
a state economy, and to devise means and study the 
engineering details connected with the most eco- 
nomical and perfect systems of construction. The 
most potent factor in the whole question is the edu- 
cation of the people, the farming and suburban 
communities. The fact of the great economy pro- 
vided by good roads over bad ones, requires to be 
driven into the minds of the masses. The value of 
horse-flesh and the possibility of making one jour- 
ney and load take the place of two, has not suffi- 
ciently impressed them. And while the horrible 
conditions of our country roads in spring and fall 
cause an incredible actual money loss, the possi- 
bility of making it good by extra labor and hard- 
ship, has unfortunately superseded any agency 
brought to bear upon the country citizen to induce 
him to put his hand in his pocket for the taxes for 
such improvement. It is an absolute necessity in our 
development, and thankful to say is bound to come. 
W ERE the average student of landscape gar- 
dening in doubt as to the necessity of culti- 
vating his artistic nature with a view to 
its participating in his future work, a study of the 
woods in this beautiful October should quickly re- 
move it. The color pictures presented from the 
touch of the first light frost until the actual fall of 
the leaf frequently tempts the observer to declare 
that were a painter to put such an array of coloring 
on his canvas, few would believe him true to his 
inspiration; and yet there is a general harmony and 
restful beauty in all the combinations. An inter- 
esting study can be made of the maples alone, each 
variety in the patch of woods or the landscape has 
a distinct shade of coloring, ranging between the 
brilliant chrome and the reds verging on brown. 
This is but a suggestion, for endless variations in 
nature’s pigments can be detected in all others ol 
her plant family. Then passing a little later to the 
leafless trees we cannot but mark again the dififer- 
ential tones pervading the trunks and limbs of the 
forest growth. A knowledge of all this with that 
of application of such knowledge to work in hand 
must be part of the furnishing of a competent sup- 
erintendent or landscape gardener. His schooling 
must not only be in books, the record of past ef- 
fort and experience, but the book of nature all 
about him must be freely drawn upon. This broad 
and bountiful book will not only afford him the 
greater part of that practical education which he 
must have to be successful in his profession, but it 
is a never failing source of inspiration for the finer 
effects which can be produced in landscape work in 
the hands of man. 
T here is a National Trust Society in England 
whose work is of far different import than 
the name conveys to American readers. And 
yet in some of the eastern states successful efforts 
are being made to attain the ends comprised in the 
object of the English society. In an article in TJie 
NmeteentJi Century on “The Open Spaces of the 
Future,” by Miss Octavia Hill, she tells of the 
progress of the above trust, of which she is a mem- 
ber, and it is interesting to find so significant a 
change in the common understanding of the term 
trust. She says: “We have received from one 
lady a gift of a beautiful cliff near Barmouth; we 
have purchased by 173 donations a headland of 
fourteen acres in Cornwall, commanding the best 
view of Tintagel, and are appealing now for help 
to secure a wooded hillside in Kent with a splendid 
view; we have bought and entirely preserved from 
ruin a lovely old clergy house in a fold of the Sus- 
sex downs; we have purchased a piece of fen land 
to preserve plants, moths and birds peculiar to 
marsh land; lastly, we have received a gift of a 
spur of a Kentish hill commanding a lovely view 
over the country.” This is exceedingly refreshing, 
and while we in America cannot get the picturesque 
ruins to improve our landscapes, we possess won- 
derful landscapes and many tracts of woodland and 
natural phenomena worthy of preservation and care 
for future generations. Every state should organ- 
ize such a trust as this, and work to interest those 
who possessing possible natural treasures may also 
possess the spirit of generosity, looking to the com- 
fort and pleasure of their fellow man. 
S OME recent court decisions supporting public 
sentiment in opposition to the arbitrary 
rulings of a certain park board suggests a word 
of advice to such officials. While it happens quite 
frequently that the first expression of public 
opinion lacks directness, that expression should 
inspire respectful consideration, untainted by the 
arbitrariness which usually accompanies the 
response of the people’s representative. For a 
representative official or body of officials to retain 
the confidence of their constituents, there must 
be no lapse whatever. Every lapse weakens the 
confidence bestowed upon them, and puts every 
subsequent act in the full glare of that critical spirit 
which the previous slight had aroused. This fact 
should lead all officials, wherever and however situ- 
ated to cultivate a calm and attentive demeanor, 
ever ready to foresee and appreciate progressive 
steps, so that they may lead those confiding in 
them, and not be driven into that oblivion which 
errors of judgment in this direction provide for 
shortsighted office holders. 
