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PARK AND CEMKTE-RY 
improvement work. I move its adoption by societies 
throughout the country. 
It may be given different form in different locali- 
ties to meet varying conditions and tastes. For in- 
stance, on the sea shore it might become a moon- 
light “clam bake” ; near lakes and streams, a moon- 
light boat picnic would seem to be the correct thing; 
in purely pastoral, inland regions, would not a moon- 
light “hay-rack” ride suit at least the younger mem- 
bers ? Other variations will suggest themselves to 
the fertile imagination that is supplied to all en- 
thusiastic improvement workers. But whatever the 
form or the name, let it be the best of its kind and 
let it be done in the name and to the glory and up- 
building of the local improvement association. 
From Mr. J. Ferguson, editor of the Omur and 
Tropical Agriculturalist, Columbia, Ceylon, comes 
the information that his is the oldest British paper 
edited in Asia ; that Ceylon is practically one vast 
tropical botanic garden, being clothed with verdure 
from the sea shore to the top of Adam’s Peak, 7,352 
feet above sea level ; that the Municipal Councils look 
after parks and open spaces in the different cities and 
towns, that there are nine parks in the city of Colum- 
bia, and that an art society holds there an annual 
exhibition; that the railways are owned (or at least 
controlled) by the government, and prizes are given 
station masters for the best kept station grounds and 
the best show of flowers ; that prizes are given for the 
best schoolhouse grounds by the director of public 
instruction, and that Ceylon is the most interesting 
island in the world with buried cities that existed 500 
years before Christ, and that it now produces the 
finest tea, cocoa, cocoanuts, cinnamon, plumbago, etc. 
In short, that this fairy island well deserves its poetic 
title of “the Eden of the eastern wave.” 
The South Orange Village Improvement Society, 
Orange, N. J., has turned its energies toward the ex- 
termination of the mosquito as the most immediate 
and practical form of usefulness they could find. They 
have passed resolutions against the troulrlesome insect, 
and arming themselves with oil, propose to wage war 
to the death. All ditches, drains, water barrels and 
stagnant pools will be covered with a thin layer of 
crude oil, which it is believed, will render the eggs 
and larvae harmless. 
The Milwaukee Outdoor Art Improvement As- 
sociation, Milwaukee, Wis., has been organized as 
a result of the efforts of the Women’s Auxilliary of 
the American Park and Outdoor Art Association. 
Mrs. Charles Catlin, chairman of the local committee, 
has been elected president of the new association. 
The other officers are: Vice president, Mrs. Pier- 
pont E. Butcher ; secretary, Mrs. Martin Sherman ; 
treasurer, Mrs. Charles B. Whitnall. 
Its object is to encourage citizens to improve and 
adorn their lawns and outlying grounds. All citi- 
zens of Milwaukee, signing the constitution and pay- 
ing the annual fee of one dollar can become members. 
The new society will not encroach upon the work of 
the Milwaukee Improvement Committee, but will 
devote itself to stimulating a spirit of emulation in 
beautifying grounds among small householders. To 
this end, two prizes will be offered in each of the 
four wards where work has been started this year. 
The first prize in each case will be $10 and the 
second $5. The prizes will be awarded about Sept. 
15 for the best and second best decorated yards, by a 
committee appointed to visit the localities. As its first 
piece of important work the association has under- 
taken the improvement of the river front below the 
dam. and with the aid of the merchants in that locality 
expect to transform it into a resemblance to Venetian 
canal. The first step will be to secure the removal of 
boxes, bales and rubbish, and the next will be to plant 
vines and shrubbery, and to make the banks otherwise 
attractive. The river has no odor, and there are many 
citizens who see no reason why it should not be used 
for pleasure boats and gondolas. The merchants 
whose stores front along its banks are unanimous in 
offering to do everything in their power to aid the 
movement, and there is every prospect of success. 
The New Jersey Floricultural Society is meeting 
with encouraging success in its plan for distributing 
flowers among the school children of Orange,, N. J. 
They have received many letters from school su- 
perintendents and others commending the work, and 
have received sufficient contributions to carry on the 
work this year without drawing on the society’s 
treasury. They are also engaged in discouraging the 
destruction of trees by telephone and telegraph com- 
panies. 
Two Indiana towns have employed competent 
men to assist them in beautifying their cemeteries. 
Mr. Benjamin Qrove, the designer of Cave Hill Ceme- 
tery, Louisville, Ky., has been engaged to lay out 
fourteen acres of ground recently added to the city 
cemetery at Elizabethtown, Ind., and to improve the 
old cemetery. The Federation of Clubs, Lebanon, 
Ind., will erect a stone archway to their cemetery 
after plans prepared by Mr. S. C. Dark, of Indianapo- 
lis. It will be built of Bedford stone, of rough finish, 
and will cost $900. The funds will be raised by pop- 
ular subscription. 
The new Park View Cemetery, Schenectady, N. 
Y., is being cleared for the work of the landscape 
gardener, Mr. W. W. Parse, of Rochester, who has 
been engaged for a period of three years to develop 
the grounds. Generous planting and attractive en- 
trances are some of the features contemplated. 
A boulevard is to be built between Thousand 
Island park and Westminster park, N. Y., a distance 
of six miles. It will cost $50,000, and will be built 
under the supervision of State Engineer Bond. Pri- 
vate subscriptions to the amount of $25,000 have been 
raised, and the state will supply the other $25,000. 
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