All the employees of the parks of Chi- 
cago are appointed upon civil service ex- 
aminations provided according to a state 
law passed in 1911. Since the law went into 
effect in the parks of Chicago not a single 
case of spoils politics or job jockeying has 
been charged against them. The best appli- 
cants are secured by the civil service 
method and the tenure of office is not con- 
ditioned upon anything but efficiency and 
attention to duties. 
The Board of Education has established 
a number of school social centers and is 
preparing a more extensive program for 
the wider use of the school plant. All the 
activities that have grown up in recent 
years in the public schools are to be con- 
centrated into one department and ■ super- 
vised by a trained and experienced head. 
The children’s gardens, night schools, social 
centers and play yards will be supervised 
and developed consistently and extensively. 
The Carter Harrison Technical School 
has developed a social center that in its 
service to its community typifies the work 
that is desired throughout the city. Here 
is a community council composed of the 
best citizens of the neighborhood. The offi- 
cers of the council and the committees ap- 
pointed by the president diligently serve all 
the neighborhood interests. Civic programs 
are prompted, entertainments and concerts 
are secured, activities of a developmental 
character are provided with leaders, and the 
social life of the neighborhood is fur- 
nished with a place for its expression. 
The Art Institute, located in Grant Park, 
is a municipal museum as well as school, 
and is contributing to the recreation and 
P R U N I N 
There is a right and a wrong way of 
pruning shade trees. Topping should pref- 
erably be done after the leaves drop in the 
fall and before the buds swell in the spring 
but it is safe to do the work at other 
seasons. 
WHY WE ERENE TREES. 
To remove dead wood. — The reason for 
removing dead wood is obvious. It is in 
the way. It breeds disease; it is unsightly 
and dangerous. The way to do it is to cut 
it out, removing all dead or decayed por- 
tion. Smooth off the surface so that water 
will not gather. I f a cavity remains, paint 
it with a lead paint to keep out fungous 
and insect pests, then fill the hole with a 
material that will keep out the moisture 
and squirrels and upon which a new bark 
may find support to grow. 
To remove crowding branches. — Branches 
that rub against and bruise one another 
when the wind blows should be taken out 
as soon as possible. The branch should be 
cut off clean, close to the main stem with 
a slanting cut so that water will drain off. 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
pleasure of all the city. Built by private 
subscription, it is supported in part by the 
taxpayers of the South Park district to the 
extent of over a hundred thousand dollars 
a year. Aside from the exhibits open to 
the public at the institute, pictures are lent 
to agencies in the city and are exhibited in 
the various neighborhoods. A special de- 
partment has recently been organized for 
the purpose of administering and develop- 
ing this art extension work. 
The Art Institute has done more than 
minister to the visual art needs of the city. 
Concerts are held at Fullerton Hall, in the 
Art Institute, at a nominal fee ; a girls’ 
club is provided with headquatrers at the 
institute and its membership is city-wide 
in residence and interests. 
All recreational facilities in Chicago, with 
the exception of the boats at the park 
lagoons, are used by the public absolutely 
free of charge. I'his fact is significant in 
view of the controversy in certain cities 
over the question of fees for the uses of 
public facilities. Chicago has taken, the po- 
sition that recreation is educational and 
should be supported in the way educational 
institutions are supported. The pauperiza- 
tion of the people has not resulted from 
free schools and free text-books and it 
will not result from free baths. There is 
no danger of pauperizing by giving anyone 
an opportunity to participate in’ develop- 
mental recreation. Pauperization comes 
from giving goods and materials for no 
adequate service. Public support of recrea- 
tion has come to stay in Chicago and all 
fees will be carefully discussed before they 
are imposed by governing bodies. 
G S H 
By H. F. Major in Bulletin of 
Missouri College of Agriculture. 
Then coat with a tar or lead paint to keep 
off water and insects which bore into and 
lay eggs in green wood. 
To increase flowers and fruit. — In order 
to understand this we must be able to dis- 
tinguish between leaf and flower buds. The 
flower buds are usually larger and of dif- 
ferent shape from leaf buds. By removing 
limbs or twigs which contain only leaf Inids 
we will accomplish our purpose. The cut 
must be made clean and smooth and if a 
large surface of heart wood is left exposed 
it should be painted. In removing such 
limbs care must be taken not to destroy the 
natural symmetry and shape of the speci- 
men. This naturally symmetrical shape is 
precise and fairly regular in its occurrence 
due to a type structure explained later. 
To remove unbalanced parts. — It is com- 
mon practice to prune in order to thicken 
the head, strengthen the specimen and cre- 
ate a more dense shade. This is the ques- 
tion that most interests us in the general 
shaping and care of ornamental shade trees. 
\Vc want to know how to "top” our soft 
269 
Public recreation in Chicago is being 
served by parking boards, the Board of 
Education, the Library Board, the Art In- 
stitute and the city. The money expended 
is larger than in any other city in America 
and it is significant that no criticism of 
the expenditure of money for recreation has 
ever been made upon the principle of pub- 
lic support of such a function. It has been 
estimated that Chicago spends two dollars 
per capita each year for the maintenance 
of public recreation facilities. The funds 
invested in these recreational facilities run 
into the millions, and, of course, have in- 
creased in value to a very great amount 
since they were initiated. 
Chicago feels that its investment in play- 
grounds, beaches, parks, libraries and play 
leaders is a constructive attack upon the 
multitude of social ills that afflict a con- 
gested population. Juvenile delinquency and 
crime, truancy, public commercial dance- 
hall evils, bad gangs, industrial inefficiency 
and white slavery are all ramifications of 
the misuse of the leisure time. 
The direct benefits come in a chance for 
a normal e.xpression of fundamental in- 
stincts. Neighborhoods become more liva- 
ble, the necessary conventions of society 
spread and become established, the cleanli- 
ness of people and places improves, and the 
joy of play is given to thousands of chil- 
dren who otherwise would not have it; 
neighborliness is developed, music grows as 
a means of community expression, better 
music is appreciated and developed, and a 
civic consciousness is awakened by Chica- 
go’s system of public recreation. 
maples, and whether or not we should top 
the elm at the same time. 
TREE STRECTEltE. 
To understand topping we must study 
tree structure. Trees are either opposite 
or alternate leaved. 
In the opi)osite-leaved trees the terminal 
hud develops a new stem. The side buds 
develop also and each in turn develops a 
terminal bud and side buds. This kind of 
a tree forms naturally a "leader” or stem 
that grows straight from the ground to the 
to|) of the tree and the limhs, unless acci- 
dentally injured tend to develop symmet- 
rically about it — e. g., the maple. 
When you toj) such a tree, or in other 
words, remove the terminal bud. you give 
more strength to the side buds. They de- 
velop more abundantly, thickening the tree 
and reducing its spindly length, until it be- 
comes a stronger and denser shade tree, 
.‘^uch a tree should he topped before it gets 
so old that the cni will not heal over, and 
the cut place must he made smooth and 
waterproof. On the other hand, the alter- 
ADE TREES 
