PARK AND CEMETERY 
29 
NOTES OF IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS. 
The Billerica Improvement Association, Billerica, Mass., 
held an exhibition in March of flowering bulbs cared for by 
the children of the Pollard and district schools in competition 
for prizes offered by the association. Eleven prizes were 
awarded to the winners in the different classes, and much 
interest manifested. The bulbs grown in the prize exhibits 
included tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. 
The Beverly Improvement Society, Beverly, Mass., and the 
Village Improvement Society of Pigeon Cove, Mass., have 
taken up the extermination of the brown tail moth as part 
of their spring work. The Beverly society offers two prizes 
of $20 and $10 to the persons collecting the greater number 
of nests of brown tail moths and tent caterpillars. In addi- 
tion to these prizes, the society will pay ten cents per hundred 
nests to all collectors who do not win the prizes offered. 
The contest will last for several weeks. The Pigeon Cove 
Society will pay five cents a dozen for nests of the brown 
tail moth, and the boys and girls are reported to be zealously 
interested in the work. 
■* * * 
Twenty-five active improvement clubs of different sections 
of Chicago and suburbs have organized the Neighborhood 
Improvement League of Cook County. The objects of the 
league are set forth as follows : “To induce co-operation 
and harmony and to stimulate the organization of similar 
clubs throughout the city and county for the purpose of im- 
proving material and sanitary conditions ; to cultivate the 
artistic in the appearance of streets and alleys, lots and build- 
ings, observance of the clean-city ordinances and education 
along clean-city lines.’’ At a recent meeting of delegates from 
nearly all of these clubs the following officers were elected : 
President, E. C. Wentworth, South Central Improvement As- 
sociation ; vice-president, Mrs. John O’Connor, Hyde Park Im- 
provement Association; secretary, Mrs. Frank Asburv John- 
son, South Park Improvement Association ; treasurer, Mrs. 
Irving Washington, Ravenswood Improvement Association. 
* * * 
The Springfield Improvement Association, Springfield, 
Mass., is fifteen years old, and at its recent annual meeting 
Vice-President Charles H. Barrows gave a brief history of 
the organization, and suggested some future lines of work. 
The meeting was held in conjunction with that of the Spring- 
field Horticultural Society, and an address was delivered 
by F. A. Waugh of the State Agricultural College on “Land- 
scape Gardening and Civic Improvements.” 
The association announces that its mission is “to cultivate 
public sentiment in favor of improving and beautifying the 
homes, streets and surroundings of Springfield, and to en- 
deavor to promote in every legitimate manner the best de- 
velopment of the whole city,” and it has been instrumental 
in promoting the following substantial improvements: A pub- 
lic bath-house on the river, the ordinance for the prevention 
of the smoke nuisance, the beautification of the small parks, 
the removal of the truck wagons from Court Square, the 
establishment of a telegraph office upon the Hill. Among 
the work planned for the future is the improvement of the 
neglected Fort Pleasant Cemetery, which can be cared for by 
the park commissioners under a recent act of the Legislature. 
A new river park and driveway is also advocated, and earnest 
support is to be given to a bill in the Legislature to require 
interurban street railways to furnish shelters or stations for 
their patrons. The association also favors a more intelligent 
celebration of the Fourth of July than can be found in the 
mere explosion of powder. 
At the recent annual meeting of the Andover Village Im- 
provement Society, Andover, Mass., the tenth anniversary of 
the society was celebrated with reports of some very success- 
ful work accomplished during the year. The society con- 
ducted a prize competition for children’s gardens during the 
year, and the committee of award in its report speaks of 
the work as follows ; 
“With the large number of competitors and the excellence 
of many of the gardens, the awarding committee has found 
it a difficult matter to do justice to all. The fact that this 
year 181 entered their names as wishing to compete for the 
prize while last year there were but 80, shows how the interest 
has grown. Many were dropped from the list after the first 
inspection, but enough remained to make the awarding of the 
prize no easy task. In making the awards the committee has 
taken into account not merely the excellence and beauty of 
each garden, but also the age of the child and the difficulties 
to be overcome.” 
There were five first prizes and five second prizes awarded, 
and in addition to these eleven others whose work merited 
approval received gratuities. The children were also enlisted 
in the work of destroying the tent caterpillar, of which 50,139 
belts were destroyed. The largest collection by any one child 
was 4,133 belts. 
The society elected the following officers: President, George 
T. Eaton; vice-presidents, Rev. F. A. Wilson, William G. 
Goldsmith, Alice Buck ; secretary, Emma J. Lincoln ; treasurer, 
Frances W. Abbott. 
* * * 
The annual report of the Helena Improvement Society, 
Helena, Mont., presents a record of an unusually busy and 
useful year. The most important undertakings accomplished 
were : The making of a lawn around the high school build- 
ing; the laying out and building of a foot-path up Mount 
Helena, and the distribution of 6,000 packages of seeds to 
school children. 
The lawn around the high-school building was made at a 
cost of $250 and an expert gardener was secured to care for 
it. In front of the school was planted a bed of pansies which 
were replaced by tulips in September, and the members were 
greatly pleased with the thoughtful care bestowed by the 
children on both flowers and lawn. 
The path up the mountain was built under the 
supervision of E. A. Macrum. Beginning at the reservoir, 
it winds up the north face of the mountain, under the cliffs, 
and reaches the top on the west side. It is 8,750 feet long 
and 3% feet wide, with an average grade of 13 per cent. 
At intervals of 1,000 feet seats are placed, on which are 
inscribed the exact altitude and the distances, both from the 
reservoir and from the top of the mountain. 
The society is further planning to make this mountain the 
most attractive landscape feature of the city by acquiring 
about 1.000 acres of its waste land, preserving the grow'th 
of trees and shrubbery and adding improvements that will 
make it a show place of great beauty for coming generations. 
Leases have already been made for the land lying on the north 
slope of the mountain on which timber is now growing so 
that the society will be able to protect it from fires and forms 
of vandalism, and several owners of property have offered 
to deed land to the city for a public reservation. Mrs. A. M. 
Holter was in charge of the seed distribution and the entire 
supply of 6,000 packages, which was sold to the children at 
a uniform price of one cent a package, was exhausted in a few 
days. The work has been undertaken again this spring and 
8,000 packages ordered. 
The receipts of the society for the year were $1,296.91, 
and the expenditures $1,220.18. H. L. Glenn is president and 
George L. Ramsey treasurer. 
