66 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
WHAT THE ASSOCIATIONS ARE DOING. 
The Galesburg Improvement Association, Galesburg, 111 ., 
appointed a “cleaning-up week” in April that resulted in a 
great improvement in the appearance of the town. The asso- 
ciation sent an official communication to the mayor and 
city council, calling attention to the work, and took other 
means of impressing its importance upon the citizens. 
* * * 
The Village Improvement Society of East Hartford, Conn., 
is making energetic plans for the season’s work. A new 
sprinkling cart has been put to work and boys have been 
employed to keep the streets clear of waste paper, etc. A 
“flower exchange” will be held, to which all persons having 
bulbs or plants they wish to exchange with others, are in- 
vited. Any surplus left at the hall will be used for street 
planting. 
* * * 
The annual meeting of the Winchendon Improvement As- 
sociation, Winchendon, Mass., recently held was the occasion 
of satisfaction to the members in considering what had been 
accomplished the past year. The most notable improvement 
was the relocation of the Boston & Maine railroad station 
and the doing away with one track at the Central street 
grade crossing. Future work will include the encourage- 
ment of tree planting prizes for flower and garden plant- 
ing by school children, improvement of the public high- 
ways, etc. Arbor Day will also receive more of the society’s 
attention than heretofore. 
* 
The Brockport Village Improvement Society, Brockport, 
Mass., is engaged in the work of destroying the brown- 
tail moth. The Association offers five cents per dozen nests. 
Tree Warden Gott is in charge of the work, and has placed 
in the show window of the waiting station a bottle con- 
taining a nest of brown-tail moths so that the townspeople 
can see what they are and remove them from their trees. 
* * * 
At the annual meeting of the Rural Improvement Asso- 
ciation, of Keene, N. H., one of the subjects discussed was 
a recent decision of the supreme court in the Hinsdale case 
in which it was held that the state nails or markers driven 
in certain trees in a highway did not take away from the 
owner of the adjoining land his right to cut down the tree, 
unless the town condemns the trees so marked and pays for 
them. The decision was a matter or regret, as several thou- 
sand trees on the Keene highways outside the city proper 
had been marked for preservation by the late President 
Griffin of the association. 
* * * 
The prize contest of the Beverly (Mass.) Improvement 
Society for the destruction of insect pests, recently noted 
in this department, closed with a record of 142,457 nests 
of brown-tail moths, gypsy moths, and tent caterpillars col- 
lected and destroyed by the children of that town. Of these, 
about 125,000 were brown-tail moths, and the society’s mathe- 
matician has figured out that this means the destruction of 
50,000,000 caterpillars. The prizes of $20 and were 
awarded to boys who collected respectively, 21,292 and 17,436 
nests, and the other contestants were paid at the rate of 
ten cents a hundred nests. There were 103 contestants, and 
only one of these collected less than a hundred. 
* * * 
The Newton Highlands Improvement Association, Newton, 
Mass., recently held an indignation meeting to protest against 
the proposed withdrawal of transfers by the Newton and 
Boston Street Railway Co. If the transfers are withdrawn 
the Society proposes to take the matter up in the courts and 
force the company to live up to its franchise. The following 
officers were recently elected for the ensuing year : President, 
Thomas White; vice president, W. H. Mansfield; secretary, 
S. E. Thompson ; treasurer, A. H. Elder. 
* * * 
The Gardiner Improvement Society, Gardiner, M;e., is plan- 
ning to plant trees and vines to cover all the unsightly spots 
in the town. Elm trees are to be planted along the entire 
length of the causeway; six of these are now in place, a group 
of wild locust trees has been planted at the foot of Gay’s Hill 
and woodbine has been set out. The billboard nuisance is be- 
ing vigorously attacked and a petition to the city government 
will be sent before their next meeting for permission to re- 
move those that were not taken care of last year. 
* * * 
The East Helena Improvement Society has been organized 
at Helena, Mont., with a membership of 100, and much en- 
thusiasm displayed in the work. The constitution gives as the 
object of the society: the general improvement of the city, 
maintaining parks and parking; laying sidewalks and cleaning 
the city generally. The society is to be governed by a board 
of nine directors, consisting of the president, secretary and 
six other members. M. O. Robertson was elected president; 
T. W. Richardson, secretary, and Mrs. G. W. Morton, 
treasurer. 
* * * 
The Rye Village Improvement Association, Rye, N. Y., re- 
cently celebrated its tenth anniversary. It has a membership 
of 216, and has expended $14,628.26 in improving the village 
during the last decade. The expenditure for the year was 
$4,084, and a balance of $109.12 remains. The association main- 
tains a general fund, a sprinkling fund and a police fund. 
The sprinkling of the streets was begun as soon as the asso- 
ciation was formed, and three sprinkling carts are now in 
operation. This service has cost: for equipment, $1,403.92; 
labor of men and horses, $6,257.24. and water (for the first 
five years only), $626.18. Total, $8,287.16. 
* * * 
The Kent Improvement Association of Kent County, East 
Greenwich, R. I., issues the secretary’s annual report telling 
of work accomplished and planned. The society has a mem- 
bership of 124 and has been devoting much of its energies 
to the improvement of school grounds. A planting contest 
is being conducted this year in which the following prizes are 
offered : For best kept home grounds, not exceeding 10,000 
square feet area, under personal care of the owner or tenant, 
including appearance of lawn, flowers, shrubbery, trees, front 
and back yard, sidewalks and gutters : First prize, $5 ; second 
prize, $3. For the boy or girl, under sixteen years of age, who 
shows the best flower bed planted and cared for personally: 
First prize, $3 ; second prize, $2. For the best kept school 
grounds, open to competition by the three schools in the com- 
pact part of East Greenwich and the Chepiwanoxet school ; 
Five dollars’ worth of shrubs or plants. In judging for these 
prizes consideration is to be given the improvement effected 
during the year and it is hoped that this fact may stimulate 
those who might otherwise be deterred from entering the com- 
