PARK AND CEMETERY. 
37 
taller growing material where it will serve as a 
screen to shut off unpleasant views or objects, and 
those of lower growth where there is something at- 
tractive to be seen from windows or porches. All 
of the trees and shrubs that form a continuous bor- 
der or planting must be set in a bed spaded and 
prepared like a flower bed, and not in holes cut in 
the sjd. In this way they may be easily cared for 
with a hoe to keep them free from weeds and to 
keep the soil loose on the surface, and a top-dress- 
ing of old compost is easily applied in the full. In 
time, the plants in the border will meet and blend 
into a varied but harmonious mass of foliage, and 
that is the desideratum. 
On small places, the widest part of the bound- 
ary border should be in the form of a promontory 
reaching- out towards the house as a division and 
screen between the front and the rear parts of the 
garden, thus serving to shield the drying ground 
as well as forming an attractive background for the 
front lawn. This screen should not be a dense wall 
of leaves but should vary in thickness, in height and 
in quality, great care being taken to dispose the 
material so that it shall be dense where density is 
required and thin where a glimpse of the rear part 
of the garden is admissible. One or two clothes 
line posts may be placed within this part of the 
planting if needed for they will be veiled by the 
surrounding shrubs, or they may be utilized as stand- 
ards for rose or clematis pillars and thus serve both 
a useful and an ornamental purpose. Posts for ham- 
mocks may be introduced in the same way, or per- 
haps, one set will answer all three uses. It will be 
seen that by a little thought we have already worked 
into our ornamental design several practical minor 
features, and this without disturbing the general 
effect of the picture of home comfort that we set 
out to develop. Many more may be introduced, 
always provided that the original picture is kept 
distinctly in mind and the large effect never inter- 
fered with. In this way, barns, stables, and other 
outbuildings, poultry yards, etc., may be shielded 
by shrubs or vines that shall be a part of the general 
mass — in effect, at least. 
In short, a thoughtful plan of the planting of 
home grounds should enable the occupants of a 
house to use and to enjoy all parts of the attached 
ground without let, hindrance or embarrassment 
during the entire out-of-door season; this would be 
a boon to many, for out-of-door life is what most 
people lack, especially those who from choice or 
necessity are the most domestic. F. C. S. 
* * * 
At a recent meeting of the Friday Conversa- 
tional Club at Monongahela, Pa., Miss Myra Lloyd 
Dock gave an interesting talk on “Village Improv- 
ment.” She laid emphasis upon the great benefits 
derived by humanity from the public parks and 
play grounds in the cities, and said “the better- 
ment of many a commnnity was due to these ad- 
vantages. The New England states are ahead in 
this good work, which was first started by a woman 
— Mary Hopkins, in 1B53, at Stockbridge, Mass. 
Interesting others, she formed societies, thus laying 
the foundation for the great reform of ‘good house- 
keeping out-of-doors.’ Among many interesting 
facts she stated that, in America the work is done 
principally by the women. In Europe it is differ- 
ent, the men take the lead in this line. Ferreigners 
coming to this country miss the public baths and 
many parks they are accustomed to in their native 
land, which they leave fur riches they expect to 
obtain here. In Paris, each spot, whereon has oc- 
curred some dark and horrible event, has been 
turned into a garden of beauty, thus effacing the 
unpleasant thoughts connected with it by beautiful 
landscape views. The public schools can do much 
toward improving the villages, and the pupils should 
be well instructed and interested in the matter. 
Among the many improvements possible to be un- 
di;rcaken she suggested: Swimming Baths; the or- 
ganization of Roadside Leagues for the preservation 
of beautiful places, to open paths, place seats and 
drinking troughs. The organization of Township 
Flower Shows. The encouragement of a knowledge 
of Native Plants by offering prizes to school or 
other grounds stocked with native plants. The im- 
provement of present methods of street planting 
and pruning. 
* * -s*- 
“Arbor Day will make the country visibly more 
beautiful year by year. Every school district will 
contribute to the good work. The school house 
will gradually become an ornament of the village 
and the children will be put in the way of living 
upon more friendly and intelligent terms with the 
bountiful nature which is so friendly to us.” — 
George William Cartis. 
* * ♦ 
The results from the institution of Arbor Day is 
being universally acknowledged. Governor Roose- 
velt in his recent proclamation says: The school 
children of this state have planted more than two 
hundred thousand trees within the ten years in which 
Arbor Day has been recognized. Few similar ef- 
forts in recent years have been more tlioroughly com- 
. mendable than the effort to get our people practi- 
cally to show their appreciation of the beauty and 
usefulness of trees. The steady tendency towards 
the disproportionate growths of cities renders it all 
the more necessary to foster the things of the coun- 
try. 
