Editorial JVote and Comment. 
American Park and Outdoor Art Association . 
The proceedings of the Buffalo Convention of the 
American Park and' Outdoor Art Association, detailed 
in this issue, afford reading of intense interest. The 
President’s report, giving some idea of the work ac- 
complished and the prospects ahead, not only suggests 
the increasing importance of the labors of the Asso- 
ciation, but of the appreciation and interest that is 
being awakened on all sides. It is a matter of supreme 
gratification that in so few years since its organization 
the Association should have so thoroughly established 
itself as an important factor in the progress 1 of the 
country, and have made such practical advances in im- 
portant reforms looking to an exalted public taste. If 
all the kindred associations of the country can be 
brought into line in harmonious activity to a well de- 
fined end, art out of doors will soon be a prominent 
sign of material development. 
^ ^ 
Park Construction . 
In a paper read at the sixth annual convention of the 
New England 1 Association of Park Superintendents 
held in Albany, N. Y., last month, Mr. Wm. S. Eger- 
ton, Superintendent of the Albany park system, stated 
that the essential element in park construction is the 
landscape, and that what may be called necessary evils 
are its roads, walks, bridges, buildings and other ac- 
cessories. Were this idea accepted, and it is undoubt- 
edly the correct one, by park authorities in general, 
the great majority of our parks would need remodel- 
ing. L T nder present conditions of civilization, how- 
ever, there is a need of supplying diversity of recrea- 
tion in our crowded cities, and this is becoming easier 
of consummation as the question of public parks and 
open spaces is better understood. It has been sug- 
gested that the parks in various parts of a city might 
be made to serve different ideas of usefulness as recrea- 
tive beauty spots, thereby offering varieties of attrac- 
tiveness to serve the dominant inclinations of the park 
patrons of our cities. This would afford opportunity 
to develop certain park areas on purely landscape lines, 
and allow the appropriate development of perhaps the 
smaller parks in the direction of providing facilities 
for sports and pastimes. Such a plan of park construc- 
tion for a large city seems to offer many advantages; 
it would insure pleasing diversity in park design and 
utility ; and in the larger landscape parks it would tend 
to remove many incongruous accessories, while not de- 
barring the playground parks from any of the beauty 
which the skilled designer may be able to introduce. 
Our park systems must be made to serve “all kinds and 
conditions of men,” while still maintaining progressive 
improvement. 
The Gospel of Improvement. 
The gospel of improvement is the old, old, gospel of 
work, and no better explanation of this is to be had 
than what was contained and suggested in the papers 
and discussions of the recent conventions of Buffalo 
and Chautauqua. Every year seems to broaden the 
field, and every year also increases the necessity of 
more work to keep in touch with the prospect ahead. 
It is well that the various movements towards the one 
great end have engaged both the ability and active co- 
operation of men of established reputation, so that con- 
fidence in their efforts tend to immediate harmony in 
the progressive steps undertaken ; for it is clearly rec- 
ognized that the problem of improving our surround- 
ings is one of vast proportions and many factors, every 
step in the solution of which opens up new opportuni- 
ties of work. The work, however, in its every phase, 
is a blessing both tO 1 the giver and; receiver, and has 
possibilities of such immense importance to the future 
of the country that it may well enlist both the sympathy 
and co-operation of all having an advanced civilization 
at heart. But it means work, and a constantly sus- 
tained 1 energy. The greatest obstacle to be overcome is 
the general indifference to improvement of any kind 
which marks so large a proportion of our citizenship, 
principally due to a lack of appreciation of what the 
changed conditions will mean, and the need of educa- 
tion among the masses in the direction of cultivating 
taste and a desire for a higher condition of living. 
^ ^ ^ 
Agriculture in the Schools. 
The cry now raised, throughout the West, for labor- 
ers for the wheat harvest, has drawn attention again 
to the very serious question of making the science and 
work of agriculture more attractive to our young men, 
and the suggestion is being emphasized of adding to 
our public school education a department devoted to 
the subject and compulsory upon all students. This 
would be following a European precedent which has 
proved of immense advantage. Agriculture is the 
foundation of our living and prosperity, and is of all 
other departments of human energy the most essential. 
The efforts now being made to apply scientific methods 
to its study and practice will impart a higher value to 
it in the average mind and give it the standing it has 
always demanded, but only partially secured, in the 
educational functions of the country. With the addi- 
tion of the elements of agriculture and nature study, 
practical and theoretical, to the curriculum of our pub- 
lic schools, a taste for out-of-door work will certainly 
be cultivated, and the farming of the future will cease 
to be the drudgery which lack of knowledge and 
proper facilities have tended to make it. 
