Civic Improvement Notes 
tinguished. t his to many may seem unnecessary, 
but the best time to kill weeds is just as they are 
germinating, as they will be by the million. “A 
stitch in time” is very applicable in this case. 
Don’t wait until the weeds show themselves. The 
hoeing will also help to keep the ground in a nice 
loose condition so essential to growing crops. 
Practically all garden crops may be planted 
this month. The first seeds to be sown are onions, 
lettuce, radish, cabbage, cauliflower, parsley, spin¬ 
ach, salsify, parsnips, carrots, peas and leeks. 
These may be followed towards the end of the 
month by French and Lima beans, tomatoes, corn, 
peppers, cucumbers and melons, depending some¬ 
what on the locality and the condition of the ground. 
A corner of the garden should be reserved for the 
old-fashioned pot herbs. They are always welcome 
to the good housewife, parsley for garnishing, mint 
for mint sauce, tarragon for flavoring vinegar, 
thyme, sage, sweet marjoram, chives for seasoning, 
chamomile, horehound, wormwood, tansy, boneset 
for medicinal purposes. With the exception of 
parsley one or two roots of these will be found 
sufficient for the average family, and it will be more 
economical to purchase a plant of each than to 
attempt to raise them from seeds. 
CIVIC IMPROVEMENT NOTES 
RECENT ACTIVITY IN THE SOUTHERN STATES 
1 \/TR. John Nolen, author of the interesting 
papers on the work of the late Frederick 
Law Olmsted, and a prominent member of the 
American Civic Association, has recently returned 
from an extended trip through the South. Mr. Nolen 
reports that one from the North or East cannot 
fail to be surprised and impressed at the healthy 
stir and improvement that represent the present 
prosperity in the Southern States. 
“But more striking still and more significant,” 
he says, “is the fact that the interest in higher 
things,—in art and in beauty,— does not seem to 
follow material well-being as is usually the case, 
but to be actually coincident with it. In this way 
the true and essential spirit of the Southern people 
finds its natural expression. 
“It is not a new life; it is simply the reawaken¬ 
ing of the better part of the old which has been 
ready to respond at a moment’s notice. It is 
noticeable, moreover, that this keen interest in the 
larger and better things of life, especially in all 
forms of outdoor art, is in no sense confined to 
rich and well-to-do people; it extends to nearly all 
classes and is especially noteworthy in the agita¬ 
tion for public improvements. 
“More than half my time on this recent visit 
was occupied with public or semi-public work; 
such, for example, as the Charlotte (N. C.) Park 
and Tree Commission, the. Municipal League of 
Greenville (S. C.), the Thomasville (N. C.) Or¬ 
phanage and Davidson College. The Park Com¬ 
mission of Charlotte has had plans made for im¬ 
portant improvements to Vance Square and Cem¬ 
etery Square near the centre of the city, and is 
about to undertake work on Independence Park in 
the suburbs, an unusually appropriate and attrac¬ 
tive piece of property for park purposes. The 
Municipal League of Greenville has taken definite 
steps looking toward the organization of a Park 
Commission in that city. The management of 
the Thomasville Orphanage has adopted a plan 
of improvements including a complete system of 
paths and drives. The President of Davidson 
College is taking definite action toward the 
location of new buildings that will soon be neces¬ 
sary from the rapid growth of this institution’s 
enrollment. 
“A visit to the mill village of the Monaghan 
Mills at Greenville, S. C., in company with its 
public spirited president, Mr. Thomas F. Parker, 
was full of interest. The mill is situated on high 
ground, from which a fine view of the Blue Ridge 
Mountains can be obtained. The property in¬ 
cludes an area of over three hundred acres, and 
around the mill are clustered cottages of the oper¬ 
atives. Each family has a house of its own with a 
small plot for vegetables and flowers. Every¬ 
thing possible is done to awaken an interest in 
gardening; seeds are provided free of charge and 
flowering shrubs at a nominal cost. Many of the 
f amilies have their cows and pigs and some of them 
horses. These are all kept in barns and free pas¬ 
tures are provided by the company. Mr. Parker is 
deeply interested in the comfort and convenience 
of the mill hands and in the good appearance of the 
grounds surrounding their homes. Improvements 
however, must be made slowly, as the total cost of 
small improvement is very great when multiplied 
by the number of houses on the company’s grounds. 
A good school and kindergarten are provided for 
the children and they are kept open ten months in 
the year. There is also a church, a public hall, 
Y. M. C. A. and a Y. W. C. A. I he rent of the 
mill cottage is low, the charge being seventy-five 
cents per room per month, which includes gardens, 
pastures, and so on.” 
