PARK AND CEMETERY 
393 
landscape art, — the one art in which everyone has a 
close, personal interest. 
The illustration shows a fac-simile of the face of 
the Topeka membership certificate, on the reverse side 
of which are the following instructions : 
Hovt} to Culti<va.te Hardy Herbaceous Plants. 
Most of these plants will grow where any plants will. Good 
garden soil, warm and light, rather than cold and heavy, is 
preferable. They do not do well in wet and undrained soil. 
Fine manure, carefully forked-in each spring, pays in better 
plants and more flowers. In setting plants, break up and 
mellow the soil for a spade’s depth. Fill the hole, which is 
half deeper than roots are long, with water. Set the plant 
in, spread the roots well so that none will remain in a dense 
mass. Work the soil well in among them, taking care that 
no hollow places are left. Press the soil firmly in against 
the roots. Cover with fine rich dirt on top ; or better still 
with well-rotted manure. Now water sparingly. 
In the summer the weeds should be kept down and 
the soil stirred enough to keep the surface dirt light and 
open. As the flowers pass their prime the flowering stems 
should be cut away, not as a matter of neatness, but to pre- 
vent the plant from exhausting itself in perfecting seeds. 
If seeds are wanted, leave a sufficient number of stems. All 
hardy plants are benefitted by a slight covering during winter. 
Nothing is better than straw or leaves, which should be 
thrown on after the ground has begun to freeze. While not 
absolutely necessary, this winter covering protects the plants 
from the effects of alternate freezing and thawing, and they 
bloom the stronger for it. 
Why Hardy Herbaceous Plants Should be Cultivated. 
1. For their beauty. Great variety in the habit of the plant. 
Much diversity and beauty of foliage with flowers of interm- 
inable variety in form and color. In time of blooming they 
range from earliest spring to latest autumn. By a proper 
selection, a continuous bloom can be kept up during the entire 
season. 
2. For their permanence. When the foliage fades or frost 
ends their career, that is not the last of them, they will appear 
stronger and more beauteous the next spring. 
3. For their dividends. One can give away the increase 
and still be as rich as he was before. At the same time he 
can do good to his neighbors and friends by adding to their 
enjoyment. 
4. For their ease of culture. When once planted they may 
usually be left for three or four years, and in some cases 
much longer, requiring little or no care. 
5. For their flowers. They are generally abundant bloom- 
ers, and many are excellent for cut flowers. 
The following announcement is also issued in the form 
of a neatly printed leaflet : 
The Semi-Centennial Civic Improvement Association. 
Topeka, Kansas. 
has for its object and particular business the beautifying 
of the home grounds, streets, alleys and public grounds of 
the city as a preparation for a semi-centennial celebration in 
1904, of the bill organizing the Territory of Kansas. The 
annual dues for membership is 25 cents, which will entitle 
to participation in reduced prices in the purchase of hardy 
plants and seeds. 
Prizes. 
1. For the greatest improvement in back yards in each 
precinct: First prize, $3.00; second prize, $1.00. 
2. For the greatest improvement in premises in each ward, 
to include alley, parking, gutters, outhouses, barns, fences 
and trees: First prize, $5.00; second prize, $3.00. 
3. For each of the public schools showing marked improve- 
ment and good condition : Prize — A picture, cast or some- 
thing appropriate for the school. 
4. For the best improvement on vacant grounds in the 
ward, not less than one lot: First prize, $5.00; second prize, 
$3.00. 
5. For the best improved premises in rented homes, the 
improvements to be made by tenant. Prizes by awards : 
First prize, $3.00; second prize, $2.00. 
6. For the best collection in each precinct of hardy herb- 
aceous perennials planted in the fall of 1902; for the best 
general display of bulbs planted in the fall of 1902; for the 
best collection of native Kansas plants ; for the best display 
of climbers or vines and for the best display of shrubs planted 
in the fall of 1902, suitable prizes will be given. 
7. For the best essay on “How to Improve the Back Yard’’ 
by any undergraduate of the public schools, the competitor 
exhibiting a yard of his or her own planting, a special prize 
of $10. 
8. To the boy who earns the most money in mowing and 
trimming lawns and helping people with their lawns between 
May 27, 1902, and October i, 1902, a lawn mower is offered 
as a prize, also a scythe and silver plated oil can. 
The above prizes are offered by the Executive Committee 
of the Semi-Centennial Civic Improvement Association for 
the year 1903, except where otherwise stated. The Associa- 
tion meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8 p. m., 
in the rooms of the Commercial Club, 627 Kansas avenue. 
The first Saturday of each month has been especialy de- 
signated as “Cleaning-up-day” and everyone is urged to ob- 
serve it to the end of making Topeka the cleanest, healthiest 
and prettiest city in the United States. 
All persons joining will be entitled to buy through the 
Association, flower seeds, herbaceous perennials, hardy shrubs, 
bulbs, grass seeds, vines, and climbers at wholesale prices. 
* * * 
The Newbury (Mass.) Improvement Society is 
placing tablets on the houses of its early settlers, 
among them the Ilsley house, which was one of the 
first ordinaries (taverns), 1650-60, of the town and 
which, with alterations and with buildings long since 
demolished, furnished public entertainment for many 
years. 
* 
At the first regular fall meeting of the Village Im- 
provement Society of Bridgewater (Mass.), it was de- 
cided to make the improvement of the approaches to 
the town a special feature, and a committee was ap- 
pointed to select the first one to be undertaken and 
to consider the best method of treating it. In this 
connection, it was also decided to persuade the own- 
ers of wooded tracts to be cut, to leave a row of trees 
on the roadside. Would that all western improvement 
workers might turn their attention to wood, — in the 
same and in similar lines. This department has fre- 
quently called attention to the advisability and desira- 
bility of making the approaches to villages and towns 
not only “good,” but “beautiful.” Line them with 
shade trees, with groups and bands and borders of 
shrubbery, and plant or protect all of the pretty wild- 
ling herbaceous plants that will thrive. Could any- 
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