FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
167 
Everyone realizes that these conditions 
should be improved. 
The next problem in public improve¬ 
ment is that of better roads. Better 
roads are needed everywhere. Good dirt 
roads in the country may be just as com¬ 
fortable and attractive as the best ma¬ 
cadam roads, but they will not bear such 
heavy traffic. In many places roads need 
to be located with better curves and bet¬ 
ter grades. Considerable opportunity for 
improvement is to be found in the treat¬ 
ment of bridges. The customary iron 
truss work bridge used in the past few 
years is decidedly ugly. This is being 
replaced in modern bridge building by 
the cement arch. 
In dealing with the roads it is impor¬ 
tant also to establish roadside trees. 
These are attractive on country roads, 
and indispensable along town streets. 
They should be of good, hardy native 
species, and as uniform as possible. 
Public buildings of all kinds should 
be made on more attractive architectural 
lines. Good, substantial public buildings 
are a permanent investment of great 
value to any town. Examples were 
shown on the screen of beautiful country 
churches, school houses, postoffices, 
stores, etc. 
Every community needs public 
grounds, and the provision of such re¬ 
serves for country districts has been 
badly neglected in the past. Play grounds 
are needed, picnic grounds, public forests 
and similar establishments, which are 
quite common in the older civilization of 
Europe. Considerable progress is being 
made along these lines in various parts 
of the United States, but there are im¬ 
portant things to be done almost every¬ 
where. 
The improvement of private home gar¬ 
dens is also an important branch of civic 
betterment. While each private garden 
should be developed primarily for the 
benefit of its owners, it still has a large 
public value. The beauty of any town 
is determined largely by the beauty of its 
private grounds. A good deal can be 
done toward furthering this sort of pub¬ 
lic improvement by proper educational 
methods, local contests in garden making, 
etc. In the same way any country neigh¬ 
borhood can be best improved by the im¬ 
provement of its farms. Each farm 
should be attractively laid out and kept 
in good order just as each village lot 
should contribute its share to the beau¬ 
ty of the town. The natural beauties of 
the country, known and acknowledged by 
all, should be still more widely recognized 
and should be systematically preserved 
and developed. 
