f TTHE. • F.>^ R-MErRJ :s - i ViHKis . T- E New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y. The Professor Dwight Sanderson Rural Sociology Library HT 431.F3T918"""'""""-"'"'^ Vjljage improvement, The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013994730 THE FARMER'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT BV PARRIS THAXTER FARWELL The Fanner's Practical Library EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL Clotli i6mo Illustrated From Eitchen to Gariet. By Virginia Tekhume Van de Water. Heiglibaihood Enteitalnments. By Reh£e B. Stern, of the Congressional Library. Home WatsiworkB. By Carletoh J. Lynde, Professor of Physics in Mac- donald College, Quebec. Animal Competitors. By Ernest Ihgersoll. Health on the Farm. By Dr. H. F. Harris, Secretary Georgia State Board of Health. Oo-operation Among Farmers. By John Lee Coulter, Bureau of the Census, Boads, Paths and Bridges. By L. W. Page, Chief of the Office of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Poems of Conntry Iilfe. By George S. Bryan. Electricity for the Farm and Home. By Frank Koester. Fish Cnltnre in Ponds and Other Inland Waters. By William E. Meehan, Supt. Public Aquarium, Philadelphia. Village Improvement. By Parris T. Far- well. The Satisfactions of Conntry Life. By Dr. James W. Robertson. In prep- aration. The Farm Mechanic. By G. £. Emberley, in charge of the Manual Training De- ?artment. Macdonald College, Quebec, n preparation. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT BY PARRIS THAXTER FARWELL Chainnan of the Village ImproTement Committee of the Massachusetts Civic League ILLUSTRATED JI3eto gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1918 AU rinkts reterved HTpl Copyright, 1913, Bv STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 191S DEDICATED TO M. C. F. PREFACE The purpose of this book is to provide in- formation concerning Village Improvement in its many aspects as it is being carried forward in various parts of our country. To this end quotation has been employed freely from re- ports of organisations having a vigorous exist- ence ; and the small town, the rural community, has been kept steadily in mind. The author has lived many years in small country towns, and for over twenty-five years has been officially en- gaged in Village Improvement work. Acknowledgment for many courtesies, espe- cially for illustrations and photographs, and for permission to quote from reports and publica- tions, is due to Rural Manhood, The Play- ground, "The Boy Scouts," "The Camp Fire Girls," Holland's Monthly, The Survey, the An- nals of the American Academy, The American City, The Chautauquan, Suburban Life, The Village, the Boston and Albany Railroad Com- PREFACE pany, the American Civic Association, Massa- chusetts Forestry Association, Massachusetts Civic League, The Survey Associates, Pilgrim Press, University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago Press, G-. P. Putnam's Sons; the Hough- ton Miffin Company, and other publishers and agencies, boards of education, agricultural colleges, forestry and highway departments, and private organisations, to whose generous co-operation much of the information here col- lected is due. An attempt has been made to give full credit throughout the following pages, and if any one has been omitted it has not been from lack of appreciation. It has become evident to the writer that a large and splendid fellowship is engaged in this work, in all parts of the country. P. T. F. Boston, August, 1913. INTEODUCTION BY THE GENERAL EDITOR This is the day of the small book. There is much to be done. Time is short. Information is earnestly desired, but it is wanted in compact form, confined directly to the subject in view, authenticated by real knowledge, and, withal, gracefully delivered. It is to fulfill these con- ditions that the present series has been pro- jected — to lend real assistance to those who are looking about for new tools and fresh ideas. It is addressed especially to the man and woman at a distance from the libraries, exhibi- tions, and daily notes of progress, which are the main advantage, to a studious mind, of liv- ing in or near a large city. The editor has had in view, especially, the farmer and villager who is striving to make the life of himself and his family broader and brighter, as well as to increase his bank account; and it is therefore in the humane, rather than in a commercial di- rection, that the Library has been planned. INTRODUCTION Tlie average American little needs advice on tlie conduct of his farm or business ; or, if he thinks he does, a large supply of such help in farming and trading as hooks and periodicals can give, is available to him. But many a man who is well to do and knows how to continue to make money, is ignorant how to spend it in a way to bring to himself, and confer upon his wife and children, those conveniences, comforts and niceties which alone make money worth acquiring and life worth living. He hardly realizes that they are within his reach. For suggestion and guidance in this direction there is a real call, to which this series is an answer. It proposes to tell its readers how they can make work easier, health more secure, and the home more enjoyable and tenacious of the whole family. No evil in American rural life is so great as the tendency of the young people to leave the farm and the village. The only way to overcome this evil is to make rural life less hard and sordid ; more comfortable and attractive. It is to the solving of that problem that these books are addressed. Their central idea is to show how country life may be made INTRODUCTION richer in interest, broader in its activities and its outlook, and sweeter to the taste. To this end men and women who have given each a lifetime of study and thought to his or her speciality, will contribute to the Library, and it is safe to promise that each volume will join with its eminently practical information a still more valuable stimulation of thought. Ebnbst Ingebsoll. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Introduction: The Value op Natueal Beauty 3 II A Typical. Viulage Improvement So- ciety 13 III Other Improvement Societies ... 27 IV The Home and its Surroundings . . 59 V The Committee on Trees and Forestry 86 VI Country Eoads and Village Streets and Their Furnishings 115 VII Village Parks, Large and Small . . 142 VIII Public Buildings and Institutions . 164 IX Health; The Clean-up Campaign . . 186 X Law and Order 209 XI Educational and Co-operative Work . 224 XII The Public School 250 XIII Boys* and Girls' Clubs 276 XIV Play, for Young and Old . . . .292 XV The Country Church and Village Im- provement 311 appendices A Constitution op the City Improvement Society op Wichita, Kansas . . . 332 CONTENTS PAGE B Kansas Neiqhboubhood Clubs, Consti- tution, ETC 334 C Athletic Badge Test foe Boys . . . 342 D County Faje Athletic Programme . . 345 E Kansas Rubal-Lipe Boy Scouts: Con- stitution 348 Bibliography 350 ILLUSTRATIONS A Bridge as a Thing of Beauty ... . Frontispieoe. TAOINQ FAQE A Beautiful Village Street 19 An Attractive Railway Station 30 A Street Fountain 30 How they Educate Mill Hands in Greensboro, North Caro- lina 83 The Riverside Road Over the Old Mohawk Trail at Clare- mont, Massachusetts 94 Concrete Arch at Chester, Massachusetts 129 The Cleansing of the River at Greeneville, Pennsylvania . 144 School Gardens Combined with the Decoration of a Rail- road Station 177 A Useful Placard .' 192 Scene at the Three-day Harvest Festival al Brush, Colo- rado 226 Effect of Village Improvement Work at Charlotte, North Carolina 240 Carnival Girls in Parade at Xenia, Ohio 250 Landscape Gardening About a Schoolhouse 260 Gardens Made by the Pupils of the Fairview School at Yonkers, New York 268 A Winnebago Boy and his Sugar Beets 273 A Nebraska Corn-Club Boy and his Crop 273 A Camp Fire Girl 288 A Boy Scout 288 The Early Settlers: Pageant at Colrain, Massachusetts . 305 xi VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT CHAPTEE I THE VALUE OF NATUEAL BEAUTY The increasing recognition of the value of beauty in natural surroundings is one of the encouraging evidences of the healthful develop- ment of our American life. Not longer ago than 1892 a well-instructed writer on this sub- ject said: "It sometimes seems as if beauty in the surroundings of life were not appreciated or desired, here in our America. The man who goes so far as to paint his house and to 'fix up' his place is reviled as a 'dude' in many parts of our country. A certain brave scorn of beauty seems to characterise most of the people" in our newer communities. When in 1869 Mr. B. S. Northrup, Secretary of the Con- necticut State Board of Education, wrote in his report upon "how to beautify and build up 4 VILLAaE IMPROVEMENT our country towns," his advice was received with ridicule, even in New England. But now all this is changed. There is a wide- spread and advancing appreciation of the use- fulness of beauty. Why did the National Gov- ernment set apart the Yellowstone National Park? Not for its economic value, but solely in order that its natural beauty might be main- tained intact, forever, and its enjoyment pre- served for the heritage of the people. It was a national recognition of the value of beauty which has since been followed by several States making similar reservations. The forestry movement, started by John A. Warder, of Ohio, has resulted in the creation by the National Government of millions of acres of forest reservations, which have an aesthetic as well as an economic value: and, what is of equal importance and significance, it has led also to the encouragement of homestead tree-plantations in the great prairie regions, changing a monotonous stretch of level land- scape into "a great procession of ever-changing vistas between groups of trees." The larger cities have responded to this new VALUE OF NATURAL BEAUTY 5 spirit by the creation of public parks and gar- dens, some of them unexcelled for beauty even by the famous gardens of Europe : and among the smaller towns, the village improvement movement, beginning in the older communities of the Eastern States, has marched across the continent, transforming thousands of villages. Importance of Pleasing Surroundings. — The importance of this latter movement cannot be exaggerated. It comes closest to the life of the people. It concerns every home in the land and the welfare of every individual. In some of its aspects it reaches the children of the city slum and in others the loneliest dweller on the re- motest ranch or farm, for, as we shall see, it deals with home and school, factory and field, work and play. It is a direct agent for the pre- vention of ignorance, disease and crime, and for the promotion of health, usefulness, happiness and good morals. It deals with environment, primarily; and the creation of a beautiful, healthful and whole- some environment will go far to solve the most serious problems of society. It is now a well recognised principle in the business world that 6 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT attractive surroundings are a decided advan- tage for a business plant, and that the influence on employes of pleasant grounds, adorned with flowers and shrubs, tends to increase their pleasure in and loyalty to their work. In the same way educators appreciate the moral and aesthetic influence of beautiful school grounds and pleasant and attractive school-rooms. In the crowded parts of great cities and in the desolate sections of the country, alike, we are beginning to realise that the ugliness of the con- ditions under which men live exerts no slight influence in fostering discontent and even crime. The love of beauty is natural to every human being; and those who are deprived of its pres- ence in their lives are living under abnormal and unhealthful conditions. "Can we say," writes Charles Mulford Eobiuson, "that there is no holiness of beauty, that it has no essential- ness to creation's scheme, when we find it shap- ing the field-flower, the fern, the densest forest, or the spray-cap of a wave in trackless seas, lest in the eons of time these be seen? Consider VALUE OF NATUEAL BEAUTY 7 how the grasses bend in broken beauty at our feet in virgin country, how the sky lavishes its wealth of glory before careless eyes, how the great trees sway and call, put forth tender leaves at spring or flaunt an autumn splendour : how the birds translate rapture into music; and the constant changeless stars soothe weary hours with measureless majesty. When God does this for a lonely child, shall we relax our vigilance to bring beauty to the homes of hud- dled thousands? Something very like a reli- gious fervour can be put into the zeal for city beauty, sustaining it through long patience and slow work." If, indeed, we are looking for religious sanc- tion for our love of beauty and our desire to create and foster it everywhere in the service of men, we may find it in the glorious reminder that "strength and beauty" are marks of God's sanctuary. The love of beauty is the mark of healthful life, and the presence of beauty, though not irresistible, is a powerful influence in the development of a healthful life. In noth- ing is the blindness and stupidity of man more 8 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT amazing than in his willingness, at times, to cultivate ugliness and live in the squalor and uncleanness which he has himself created. But we are learning how essential an element beauty is in the good influence of the home, the effectiveness of the school, the holding and transforming power of the church. All of this we shall consider as we proceed with the study of our subject. This value of the cultivation of beauty is well emphasised by Charles Eliot when he says : "We see, when we come to study the matter, that if the experience of the past counts for anything there is a power in beauty which works for joy and for good as nothing else in this naughty world does or can. And when we come to see this clearly, we are at once compelled to abandon our indifference and to substitute therefore the eager desire of old Plato ' that our youth may dwell in a land of health, amid fair sights and sounds.' Alas, that 'fair sights' do not spring up spontaneously around our modern lives, as they seem to have done in the Old "World. In the long-settled comers of Europe, men's fields, lanes, roads, houses, churches, and even whole villages and towns, seem to combine with nature to produce a scenery of a more lovable type than nature working alone can offer us. With us the contrary is too often the fact. Our buildings, fences, highways and rail- VALUE OF NATURAL BEAUTY 9 roads, not to speak of our towns, are often scars, which mar the face of nature without possessing any compensating beauty of their own. It is evident that beauty in 'the surroundings of life' is not to be had in this modern day, without taking thought and exercising a vigilance." A Movement for Community Welfare. — ^But while the primary motive of the village im- provement society is, both historically and practically, the cultivation of natural beauty, that is not the whole of its purpose. We shall see that it exists most effectively, and with per- manency, when it seeks to promote all things that are for community welfare. Its total end and aim is the production of wholesome, useful, and joyous community life. When properly organised and maintained it is a powerful influence for the cultivation of local loyalty, a healthful spirit of local pride, which leads a community to make the most and the best of its own possessions and opportunities, not trying to imitate other and different com- munities, but, while willing and quick to learn from others, seeking wisely to fulfil its own peculiar tasks and work out its own ideals. And it is well to emphasise, at the outset, the 10 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT fact that a community is judged and rightly judged by the appearance it makes. 'A town or village proclaims its standards to all the world by its public buildings, its churches and schools, its streets, its homes. As a traveller on the train, or more often still the trolley-car, passes through village after village, each one makes its own individual impression upon him. Each one is attractive or unattractive. If he sees shabby buildings, yards filled with litter, imkempt lawns, streets uninviting, public build- ings out of repair, he knows something of the characteristics of the people. Public spirit at least is wanting there. If, on the other hand, he notices good school-buildings, attractive churches, streets well made and well shaded, if he sees homes with neat lawns, farms with good buildings, fine trees, fences in good condition, he is confident that here a self-respecting peo- ple dwells, here is a good place in which to live and bring up one's children; for it is certain that in a community which reveals in these out- ward things its love for cleanliness, orderliness and beauty, there also are temperance, virtue, intelligence and friendliness. VALUE OF NATURAL BEAUTY 11 The village improvement society is simply a means for enabling the people of a community to create and perpetuate this kind of village, one that makes this kind of impression. There have been instances in the history of the movement in which, by its aid, villages have been transformed, not in a day or a year, but as the result of constant, persevering, faithful pursuit of an ideal. The unsightly, unattrac- tive town has become interesting, self-respect- ing, admired, and a centre of beneficial influence in all the surrounding region. The story is told of a very dirty little boy who was sent from a city tenement to a kindergarten school. The first thing his teacher did was to make him physically clean. On his return home his surprised mother scarcely recognised him. But she too learned a lesson. She cleaned the home for her clean boy to live in. The change in her rooms attracted the attention of her neighbours and, not to be outdone, they too cleaned up, till the whole street showed the result, and from that street the good influence radiated throughout the neighbourhood. The story may be a fable, but its lesson is true. 12 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT There is nothing more contagious than a good example. And every village that has the vil- lage improvement spirit becomes a centre of healthful influence for all the neighbouring vil- lages. CHAPTEE II A TYPICAL VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETY The method of village improvement may be considered best by selecting concrete illustra- tions of its working. For this purpose no bet- ter example could be chosen than the society in that New England village where the move- ment began and where it has maintained the longest and best developed record. In other villages some phase of improvement, like the setting out of trees, was doubtless un- dertaken earlier than 1853, when the Laurel Hill Society in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was organised, but this society was the first to pro- mote the idea of village improvement: and its long, steadfast, vital persistence is without an equal. This society is of especial interest, also, because it illustrates what may be accom- plished in a small farming-community, remote from the large cities. 13 14 VILLAQE IMPEOVEMENT Begeneration of Stockbridge. — It is difficult to believe that Stockbridge, now an attractive summer resort, was once a commonplace, un- interesting country town. It was possessed, indeed, of much, natural beauty, situated, as it is, in the heart of the Berkshire mountains, but as a village it was unattractive. The testimony of one of its former residents is interesting. When a young woman, before the days of "im- provement," she married in Stockbridge and shortly aftiferward moved to the West, where she lived for nearly fifty years before she re- turned to her native town. She had heard of the work of the Laurel Hill Society but had no conception of the results it had accomplished. "Not with the utmost stretch of your imagi- nation could you conceive," she said, "what a remarkable change had been wrought by these forty years of well-directed effort. There was nothing particularly beautiful about the town when I moved away. Now it seems to me like Paradise." The streets in those early days were un- graded and there were no sidewalks save nar- row foot-paths, following the natural confor- LAUEEL HILL SOCIETY 15 mation of the ground, up hill and down dale. There were few shade-trees; wayside dumps presented their usual unpleasant appearance; and above all the village cemetery, in the very centre of the town, surrounded by a broken, three-rail fence and often the browsing-place of cattle, without paths, without any effort after beauty, was a disgrace, an eyesore, an ugly spot in the heart of the village. That descrip- tion is no longer true. A well-made hedge sur- rounds the cemetery. Trees have been planted in the grounds, and walks and drives con- structed ; so that now this burial-place is a gar- den, a pleasant and attractive place, an orna- ment to the town. Throughout the town all streets are well made, and the main street, with its grassy borders, its pleasant walks and its magnificent, over-arching elms, is one of the most beautiful in New England. The church green, once a barren level, is planted tastefully with trees enough to give it a park-like aspect. The old Town Hall near by, once a rather shabby building, has been transformed into a pleasant colonial structure, dignified and beau- tiful. The railway station, formerly an ugly 16 VILLAGE IMPBOVEMENT ■wooden building with its accompanying coal and freight sheds, has been replaced by an attractive stone station, the railroad company bearing half the expense of its construction and the village improvement society raising the re- mainder. The land around the station, even in the days of the old wooden edifice, was trans- formed under the charge of the society into a park giving a pleasant welcome to strangers alighting from trains, so that their first im- pression was a vision of beauty. Here and there through the town, at the intersection of roads, are small parks, each with a fountain, or a monument, of tasteful design. At one end of the village street the unique history of the town — ^its relation to the Stockbridge Indians — ^is memorialised by an appropriate shaft of natural granite, brought from the near-by hills and marking a mound where the Indians buried their dead. Many other adornments might be mentioned as now attracting the attention of a visitor, and impressing upon him the beauty and interest of the village. How has all of this been brought about! The answer in full would require a record of LAUEEL HILL SOCIETY 17 over sixty years of activity by the Laurel Hill. Society. A few details will be of value as sug- gestions for other societies. History of the Society — In the beginning one woman was responsible for the organisation of this society. In any community one person, or a few persons, deeply in earnest, may lead in the formation of such a society. Miss Mary Hopkins saw what Stockbridge was, and be- came inspired with a vision of what it might be and ought to be. She never, throughout a long lifetime, lost the vision, or lost her in- terest. At the outset she perceived the oppor- tunities that lay right at hand, the things that could be done at once and others that could be begun. She aroused the interest of other citi- zens. An organisation was formed and named after a little wooded knoll at one end of the town, called Laurel Hill, where was a natural outdoor amphitheatre. Into this organisation all the citizens of the town, old and young, rich and poor, were invited, and they came. The society never was the hobby of a clique or a set, but has always been a splendidly democratic, community affair. Children under fourteen 18 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT . years of age were admitted on the payment af twenty-five cents, or its equivalent in work. "Any person over fourteen years of age," the constitution of the society says, "who shall annually plant and protect a tree under the direction of the Executive Committee, or pay the amount of one dollar annually in money or in labour, shall be a member of the association." It should be noted, in passing, that during all these years this article of the constitution, which thus admirably provides that every one may be eligible for membership, has never been changed. This is one of the secrets of the long life of the society, that it has from the first been a town affair, a kind of "social centre" be- fore that name was even heard. During the first year the sum of $600 was subscribed, of which $100 was contributed in work, by men with teams, and in other ways. In the early history of the society several prizes, of small amounts, were offered. Fifty cents were to be paid for every tree set out be- fore July 1, 1855, in places designated by the committee, on the large church green, "said trees to be any of our forest trees, such as LAUEEL HILL SOCIETY 19 elm, maple, pine, etc., each, not less than ten feet in height, and evergreens not less than six." A silver cup was offered to the planter of the best fifteen trees : six dollars to the planter of the next best; ten dollars to the planter of the best fifteen fruit-trees or ornamental trees outside the village street, and ten dollars to the one who made the longest and best sidewalk. During that first year 423 trees were set out. More than 2000 trees have been planted under the inspiration and direction of the society dur- ing its history. In 1880 Mr. Cyrus W. Field (of Atlantic-cable fame, and a native of Stockbridge) offered a prize of $100 "for the greatest improvement of premises," and it was awarded by common con- sent to a man living on the outskirts of the village in a humble little cottage, who redeemed a considerable tract of swampy land about his house, and developed a neat and attractive place of residence out of what had seemed most unpromising conditions. A Village Ideal ^At one of the first annual meetings the ideal of the Laurel Hill Society was set forth in this fashion: "We mean to 20 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT work till every street shall be graded, every sidewalk shaded, every noxious weed eradi- cated, every water-course laid and perfected, and every nook and comer beautified, — ^in short till art combined with nature shall have ren- dered our town the most beautiful and attractive in our ancient commonwealth." One of the influences which enabled the town to keep steadily before it this inspiring ideal has been its annual meeting, a village festival, held out of doors when weather permitted, and attracting to it citizens from all the towns around, as well as the whole of its own com- munity. It is a gala day and is best described in the words of a former resident of Stock- bridge. "Once a year the association invites its friends, and all the world that will, to come to its festival. In the month of August, at mid-afternoon, you may see the villagers, with many of the city guests tempo- rarily residing among them, and many residents of the neighbouring towns, wending their way up the slope of Laurel Hill. Half way is a plateau alEord- ing easy standing-room for two thousand persons. Upon the eastern border of this plateau, where the hill presents a smooth and perpendicular face of rock, a rostrum of stone covered with turf has been LAUREL HILL SOCIETY 21 built, from which the eye looks out from under the arching oaks and elms upon a lovely stretch of meadow, with the winding Housatonic and a noble mountain range bounding the western horizon. Here gather the oiBcers of the Association, with perhaps the chief speaker of the occasion. Prayer is offered. A band of music stirs the branching trees with its strains. The secretary and treasurer read their re- ports of the doings of the past year. Then follows an address, usually by some son of Stockbridge who has achieved distinction in letters, in trade, or in art, and who is willing thus to recognise his duty to the place where he was born. Not infrequently a poem follows the address ; and then come brief speeches from one and another whom the President sees in the assem- bly and contrives to draw out. The talking is in varied strains, from the liveliest to the most sedate; but all is simple and natural. It is the village festi- val. People come together who meet nowhere else. And here all are equal. As the sun begins to throw the slant shadows down the hillside and along the green meadows, old and young mingle in pleasant groups, and go home feeling a new interest in each other and in the place where their lot has been cast." Value of Expert Work. — One remarkable char- acteristic of this society is that, so far as can be judged by results, it has never made any mistakes in taste. Its work has all been good 22 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT and genuine improvement. This is due to the fact, upon which too much emphasis cannot be laid, for the benefit of other societies, that from the first the society realised the need of expert advice. The first winter, before any work was undertaken, was devoted to the study, by a com- mittee appointed for the purpose, of road-mak- ing, the setting out of trees, and the making of hedges. The result of this long-continued effort to realise a beautiful ideal has been pervasive, throughout the whole community, to such an extent that a visitor to the town might easily imagine that no poor people live in Stock- bridge ! The truth is that very little is needed in money to enable even the poorest family to present an attractive appearance in home sur- roundings. It is safe to say that there is not a single house in the whole town, nor any grounds about the house, left unkempt and un- tidy. The desire for beauty, the knowledge that it can be cultivated and how it may be cultivated, are universal. The whole town takes pride in the reputation it has won, and every family helps to maintain the record. LAUEEL HILL SOCIETY 23 Year by year, also, the society has kept on the watch for new tasks. When the ehn-beetle made its appearance circulars were prepared and sent throughout the town explaining the best method for destroying the pest. When the town meeting came a sufficient sum of money was appropriated to spray the trees on the highways; and a friend presented to the society two pumps to be rented to citizens at a nominal cost for the spraying of trees on pri- vate grounds. Financing the Movement. — This suggests a fact, confirmed in numberless instances, that whenever a town takes hold in a live way of this effort for village improvement it always finds public-spirited men of means who are glad to help it generously. In such a place, where the people are really doing what they can and results are evident, if a new town hall, or a public library, or a new church, or a social centre is needed, or the erection of fountains or statues, or the making of large parks or playgrounds, it is not difficult to obtain the means for the desired end. But the ordinary financing of the regular 24 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT work of the Stockbridge organisation is pro- vided by its annual income. Every season a circular is sent to the different families of the village, reminding them of the work of the so- ciety: and the responses to this appeal, added now to the income from funds gradually ao- cumulated, provides an amount sufficient for the year's work. The regular business meet- ings of the Laurel Hill Society are held the first Monday evening of each month. For the sake of convenience the village is divided into five districts, and a committee is appointed for each district, to observe its needs, and to suggest or supervise any repair or improvement re- quired in that district. There are also other committees: one for finance; one for street lights; another for street sprinkling and clear- ance from snow ; one for parks and squares ; one for the cemetery; one on sanitation; and one to make arrangements for the annual meeting. It is asserted, as a financial argument for such undertakings, that the work of this so- ciety has increased property-values from twenty to fifty per cent. : a splendid return on the com- paratively small pecuniary outlay. LAUREL HILL SOCIETY 25 Teachings of Experience — Out of so long an experience the Society has learned many prac- tical lessons, and for the benefit of others who are continually seeking advice it has formulated the following Recommendations to the Organisers of Village Im- provement Organisations. "1. Funds to a considerable amount (the more the better) should be secured before starting work, that something noticeable may be effected at the out- set, and prompt to extension. "2. In order to forestall relaxation of effort when the fervour of novelty has passed, annual subscrip- tions should be procured for some years in advance, so that time and continued work may justify the outlay and win public confidence. "3. Endeavours should be made to interest all classes, — even children being permitted to set trees in their own names under the direction of the Asso- ciation. Especially should the ladies be interested and assigned prominently to its management, as one zealous woman is often proved to be more efficient than a dozen men. "4. It is a good policy to commence operations at some point in which the whole community is inter- ested, as the cemetery, the public green or square, and to avoid undertaking too much at once, to the under-doing of all. 26 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT "5. Frequemt (at least monthly) meetings are desirable, as corrective of flagging interest ; and if, in small communities, these meetings be held from house to house, sociability will be added to a common con- cern in the doings of the association. "6. Every such organisation will, of course, have its chosen modus operandi; but the Laurel Hill has succeeded best by apportioning its territory into dis- tricts, and appointing a special committee to look after the wants of each, reporting at the monthly meetings of the Executive Committee, recommending specific action, and if endorsed, receiving authority to perform it. "7. For obvious reasons each association were bet- ter chartered under special statute. It will betoken something more than a temporary gush of aesthetic feeling, bear the look of determined business, and, though it cannot secure, will, at least, contemnplate permanency." CHAPTEE III OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES The campaign for town and village improve- ment thus begun lias progressed vigorously, spreading its influence far and wide. In Mas- sachusetts alone over two hundred such organi- sations exist. It would be interesting to re- view the marvellous results achieved in large cities, such as Chicago, St. Lotiis, St. Paul, Galveston, Texas, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Springfield, Ohio, Rochester, New York, and other places; and the national work in behalf of all kinds of town and civic betterment conducted by the American Civic Federation. This book, how- ever, is prepared primarily with the small town and the country community in mind, and, be- cause the work of improvement has been pro- moted in a great variety of ways, this chapter will be devoted to brief statements of methods employed in. various pa.rts of the country, . 27 28 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT What a Woman's Olub Accomplished. — ^What women can do in a small community is admir- ably illustrated by the recent history of the Woman's Club of Calhoun, Georgia. The club was organised in 1912, and almost immediately set itself to the task of improving the con- ditions in Calhoun, Its first work was the pro- viding and furnishing of a Eest Eoom for the convenience of women and children from else- where in the county. A matron was engaged to care for the room — ^which was at first in temporary quarters — and letters were sent out to the women and children of the county invit- ing them to make use of the room when coming to the town to trade. Then steps were taken to obtain the use of a piece of land lying be- tween the railway station and the town's busi- ness street. Ten years ago this place was "an unsightly spot where weeds ran riot and frogs croaked contentment in the slimy ditch-water." By the exertion of the "Woman's Club the un- sightly place was turned into a beautiful park, and in the midst of it was erected "a quaint, vine-embowered log cabin, with small-paned Queen Anne wmdows, wide verandas upheld by OTHEE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 29 rough cedar posts, and with a spacious rock- chimney clinging to one side." A recent writer in The American City describes its ap- pearance as seen from a car window: "Look- ing out, I saw, down by the railroad's right-of- way, a charming bit of parking — a narrow green space, two or three blocks long and a block wide. Eunning in and out among great trees and flowering shrubs there was a little stream with clean banks and clear water. On its way the brook passes under a stone bridge, alongside some pretty flower-beds and on fur- ther to the Log Cabin, the club-house of the local Woman's Club." Besides the rest room, now transferred to this attractive building, there is also in the Log Cabin another room, fitted up as a library and stocked with several hundred well-chosen volumes. The club holds monthly meetings, at which the monthly dues of ten cents a member are paid, and all sorts of plans for civic improve- ment are discussed. It has recently estab- lished a "clean-up day" for the town; has built a fountain for another park; has put concrete steps to the public-school building; tiled the 30 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT front walk; built a concrete wall about the campus ; furnished magazines to rural schools ; and now has a stone chapel in process of con- struction in one of the cemeteries. The club has received hearty assistance from town and county ofiScials and from the citizens generally, but it has been the guiding force in all these achievements. Its membership is divided into nineteen active committees, on music, health and sanitation, cemeteries, arts and crafts, home economics, current topics, rural schools, education, school-grounds, forestry, parks, press, etc., each one industriously studying its own problem, and all together furnishing a splendid example of what a comparatively small body of public-spirited, energetic women can do for the welfare of their own community. An Annual Play Day. — In other communities organisations of men are undertaking similar work. In Paton, Iowa, a little town of 500 in- habitants, the men formed a commercial club to promote the work of town improvement. One of their most successful accomplishments has been the promotion of a Play Day, in place of the "carnival," which in recent years had AN ATTRACTIVE RAILWAY STATION. Ornamental Grounds about the Station at Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. A STREET FOUNTAIN. This sanitary fountain was built in one of the Streets of Cal- houn, Georgia, at a cost of only $100. OTHEE IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 31 developed some objectionable features. "The stores were locked up for most of tbe day," we are told, "and people went out to play. The forenoon saw four ball-games, so organ- ised as to make as many people take part as possible. Three innings was the length of a game. The boys played a single-men's team, and the married ladies played the girls, while two farm-boys' teams got into the game also. It was truly said that there had not been so much fun on the ball-ground for several years. At noon there was a picnic dinner, and following this came field sports: group games for the little folks, races for men, women, children, farmers, business men, etc. The whole was planned to make many take part. . . . Nearly two hundred people actually took part in the games, and the whole thing cost less than five dollars. It is an annual affair in that town now." This men's club holds monthly meetings, with a dinner followed by an address and discussion on some live topic, such as public health, recre- ation, civic improvement, advertising, etc. It has initiated an annual "clean-up day," held 32 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT institutes under the auspices of the State Agri- cultural College, at which prizes were offered in corn contests, and through its agitation an old, unattractive, school-house has been re- placed by a handsome $15,000 building. The town's park, also, has been transformed from an unsightly place of weeds and unmown grass into an attractive centre with handsome trees, flower-beds, trimmed lawns, and a decorative band-stand for concerts. This is a good illustra- tion of what the public-spirited men in a small town can do by united effort. Porterville's May Day. — In the extreme "West a splendid example of improvement work is found in Porterville, California, a beautiful and wide-awake city of 3200 population. There the Ladies' Improvement Club is the energising force for a wide range of good activities. It provides an annual May Day Festival, that for 1913 lasting three days, with a street car- nival, automobile parade, baby show, society circus, base-ball and dancing. It promotes a quarterly "clean-up day," when every good citizen is expected to have a general clearance of yards, alleys, sidewalks OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 33 and vacant lots. This is much better than to be content with an annual cleaning. The ladies have opened a park of forty acres, and created a scenic lake of about four acres, with two pleas- ure-boats. The park has lawns, shade-trees well placed, rest-benches and tea-garden build- ings. Through the park runs a beautiful little stream with waterfalls, some of which drop as much as twenty feet. This is an artificial stream brought from the near-by Tulare River. Flower-beds and flowering shrubs make of this park a perpetual garden. The ladies are also planning for another park, centrally located, more convenient for little children and elderly people, ground for which has been given by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Sanitary drinking-fountains are provided for public use, two on the main street and one in the park. Nearly every school has now a large and well kept playground, with provision for basket-ball and base-ball, and "teeter-boards" for the little ones. Libraries in the schools loan books to pupils and parents. Every school maintains ample flower and vegetable gardens, each pupil having his own plot of ground ; and at the end 34 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT of the season prizes are given for the test floral exhibit. This club is also a charitable organisation, providing judicious help for the poor, and al Christmas every poor child is remembered. The town has an institutional church, with a gymnasium and swimming-pool as part of its equipment. Parties and social gatherings may be held in the church parlours, suitable chap- erons being provided. There is a vigorous Boy Scouts organisation, open to every boy of the town of proper age. Tramping parties to the hills and streams are weekly events. There is a fine tennis-court on the church grounds, open to any who wish to play. The finances of the club are provided by the annual carnival. Town authorities, school teachers and citizens generally, co-operate en- thusiastically, as is the invariable experience of any such live and well-managed improvement organisation. The Dakota Women's Well.— A remarkable piece of work undertaken a dozen years ago by the women of the small town of Woonsocket, South Dakota,- when the population of the town OTHEE IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 35 numbered fewer than one thousand, is worth re- porting for the sake of similar situations to-day. The town was typical of the sparsely watered regions of America, with little grass and few trees. The women wanted a better water-sup- ply, so that parks and lawns might be irrigated and made green, and flowers kept alive. They formed an organisation, as related by Jessie M. Good, in "The How of Improvement Work," collected money, and hired an expert to drill an artesian well. The result was a well with a flow of water giving a pressure of 153 pounds to the square inch, from which flowed 6000 gallons of water a minute, said to be the largest well of the kind in the world. This was better than "striking oil." The town authorities gladly availed themselves of this well, and mains from it were placed all through the town. An arti- ficial lake, covering eleven acres, was con- structed in the centre of the town, and sur- rounded with drives, walks, and trees. This society was indeed peculiarly fortunate, but its example is worthy of imitation. A Riverside Park. — One of the most widely known town improvement societies is that of 36 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT Honesdale, Pennsylvania, organised in 1891 and maintaining a flourishing ex;istence. Two features of its early history are worthy of note. The town is crossed by a river with banks that were in the disgraceful condition which too often prevails. The president of the association, describing the early work, says : "We began by building a retainiag-wall on each side of the river, and the town council aided us by forbid- ding the dumping in the river of rubbish and ashes, as had been the custom before. We also made a fine foot-path on the north side of the river, which was already shaded by a row of maples. Vines were planted along the walls and flowers planted. A long row of hydrangeas is reflected in the water from the south bank." This is of particular interest because the natural beauty offered by rivers, brooks, and ponds is so generally neglected, or worse still defiled by using the banks for dumping-places. The other notable work of this association was the transformation of a little swampy sec- tion of land, a frog-pond and dumping-place, into an attractive little park, by judicious fill- ing and grading, and the setting out of trees. OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 37 shrubs and flowers. To tlie usual committees the assodation added in 1910 one on sajiitation, and the same year it instituted a clean-up week. During recent years, also, the association has bent its energies to saving the trees from the invasion of the pests which have appeared in many communities. Reclaiming a Vermont Village. — ^Another ex- ample of what the women of a small town can do with limited means but abundant energy and en- lightened effort is shown in the work of the Ladies' Village Improvement Society of Enos- burg Falls, Vermont. The population of the town is about nine hundred. The dues of the society are only fifty cents a year, but the ladies raised, by one device or another, over $6000 in the first five years of its existence. For three years they held a fair just before the holidays. One year the proceeds were given to the public library, and for several years the ladies have provided the library with magazines. They own a tent and dishes, and have served meals in their tent at the county fair. They have given all kinds of entertainments, even a ladies' minstrel show. For several years they have maintained 38 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT a lecture course, bringing eminent speakers from abroad to the community. Eecently they organised in the lower grades of schools a Junior Naturalists' Society. But their most important work has been the transformation of a barren piece of land in the centre of the vil- lage into an attractive park. A rather ugly church and sheds once occupied this site; but when these buildings were burned to the ground the ladies seized the opportunity, purchased the land, and set at work planting it with trees and shrubs under the guidance of a landscape-gar- dener. Their chief work since has been the care of this park, which has transformed the appearance of the village and proved an inspi- ration for much other improvement work throughout the community. Ashfield's Children's Day. — ^Another kind of im- provement work, unique in its nature, is worthy of extended notice. It is the Ashfield Children's Exhibit and Prize Day, which has been described by Charles Eliot Norton. Ashfield is a small farming community in western Massachusetts of fewer than a thousand inhabitants. Friends of the children and young people of the town OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 39 felt that the changes that have taken place in the home industries of rural communities have deprived life somewhat of the varied activities of former days for both old and young; and that it would be well to stimulate new activities, especially among young people. In some com- munities the revival of arts-and-crafts indus- tries have proved of great interest to the adults. In Ashfield the effort has been to provide inter- esting and valuable occupations for children. A circular with a long list of objects for which prizes will be awarded is distributfed throughout the town, and Labor Day is set apart for an exhibition of children's responses to the invitation, and the distribution of the prizes. Fifty dollars for the prizes have been secured each winter by entertainments given by the local grange or by the Prize Day committee. Special prizes, also, are offered by various friends of the undertaking. About a hundred exhibits have generally been prepared, and many of these each year have manifested, according to the report, "persistent and intelligent in- dustry, good handiwork, and careful observa- tion." One unexpected feature of this contest 40 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT has been that in connection with the prize offered for the best loaf of bread the committee found it necessary to confine it to girls for con- testants, for before they did so the boys entered the lists with enthusiasm, and bore off the prizes for the best bread and cake. From year to year the interest of the townspeople has increased in these exhibits, and there is now hardly a pleasanter festival than Ashfield's Labor Day. The town hall is well filled with the children and grown people, and the exhibits form not only an interesting but a very pretty display. The committee in charge of the matter is confident that the good accomplished is in- creasing from year to year. At any rate, enough good seems to be accomplished to make it worth while that other towns, with similar needs as regards the children, should make an experiment of the same sort. The Policy of Prizes.— Some discussion of this plan of giving prizes is worth while, since it will apply to other undertakings. Is it wise to offer prizes? The principal of a well- known normal school says, apropos of the Ash- field plan: "Prize systems seem to me of ques- OTHEB IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 41 tionable value, especially when extended over a series of years, for young children. It is attempting to arouse interest in an artificial way and so can be only temporary in its effects. It encourages the expectation to receive some- thing over and above the natural results of one's labours. In my opinion, such a system should be used sparingly, only for temporary effects. Young children cannot be expected to work for a year or any large portion of a year with the hope of a prize at the end. They need daily and even hourly encouragement." Con- cerning this criticism it may be said that the plan was made in the expectation that parents, and to some extent teachers, would assist in giving the required encouragement ; and also it seems that the plan has resulted in leading some children to undertake and carry through their work with considerable satisfaction and effectiveness. Another opinion, from a superintendent of schools in a large city, expresses an opposite view of the matter of prizes. He says : "Prizes appeal to a very marked instinct among children. I am not sure but they outgrow it better for having it gratified. Some dishonesty and more 42 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT weakness on the part of parents will be met with, just as it is met with in all dealings with students, but this is not a result of these dealings and may be counteracted somewhat by them. Whatever starts conversation in the family or even leads to conver- sation among children, or between children and par- ents is worth while, whether it eventuates in any- thing we can classify and label or not. "Not much should be expected in the way of tangi- ble results. The aim is to leaven, not to bake. More good dough is spoiled in our day by baking too soon than by baking too late. "The Ashfield list is too long. With all due defer- ence to individualism, to set each child upon a sepa- rate enquiry, even if that were the result, is not as profitable as to set many upon the same. The social bearing is an essential one. But I should expect such a list would really result in setting them all to dabbling in many things. There should be, of course, variety enough to touch different interests, but not enough to scatter those interests. I would suggest a few typical undertakings, say six or eight, repre- senting each of several fields. Then they could be varied from year to year. "The circular might give a suggestive list (for in- stance, a fruit-tree planted, a landscape sketch, a working drawing of a wheelbarrow, a humorous pho- tograph, a water-wheel made with knife or tools, a loaf of bread, a baU of butter, a towel hemmed), and add the advice that it be varied by substituting OTHER IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 43 others, as local interests might indicate, but not lengthened by adding others. "Probably all such schemes are ephemeral and must give way to others, but if they fertilise a mind here and there, they pay good dividends." The opinion of this educator that all such schemes are ephemeral and must give way to others is confirmed by an expert in dealing with boys' clubs. Do not be discouraged, is his ad- vice, if you find that after a while your plan ceases to hold the interest of the boys. It is good while it lasts. "When it has done its work try some other plan. An Idea from Kansas. — ^An interesting effort for State-wide promotion of improvement work is undertaken by the Kansas State Agricultural College, under the leadership of Edwin L. Holton, Professor of Rural Education. A pamphlet is issued on "Neighborhood Improve- ment Clubs," containing a model constitution and an elaborate outline for conducting a town survey. (See Appendix B). The purpose of these clubs, as stated ia their constitution, is "the bringing about of better economic, civic. 44 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT social, health, moral, and educational conditions in this community, by developing an intelligent public spirit through the open presentation and free discussion of all questions and activities which promote the welfare of this community, the State of Kansas, and the nation." The Agricultural College offers to provide speakers whenever possible, and advises calling upon the local grange, the Farmers' Institute, the Farm- ers' Union, county officers, township trustees, expert farmers, pastors, school directors, school teachers, the local Y. M. C. A. Secretary, health officers, truant officers, and any others who have made a careful study of a special problem, to lead the discussion. It is supposed that these discussions are intended to result in organised action for the purpose of carrying out some of the reforms and improvements considered. County Organisations. — The Federated Im- provement Associations of Hamilton County, Ohio, is an example of a vigorous county or- ganisation which includes twenty-five flour- ishing local organisations, and has nineteen active committees: on public finance, child wel- fare, city planning, county affairs, health, law, OTHEE IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 45 parks and playgrounds, sewage, sex-hygiene, streets, transportation, etc. Its history for seven years has been one of continuous progress and achievement for the whole country. It publishes a monthly paper called The Civic News, full of information and interest. In New England, also, a county improvement work has been started in the Bennington County (Vermont) Improvement Association, and the Hampden County (Massachusetts) Im- provement League, with departments for good roads, social service, education, civics, etc.; and plans are outlined for large undertakings, such as the promotion of co-operative buying among the farmers, the securing of good mar- kets, the organising of a play and athletic league to foster, supervise and regulate play, the employment of a trained nurse to give aid in needy homes, and the creation of inter-viUage conferences, county lyceums, etc. Many other examples might be given, illus- trating the variety of the methods employed for promoting local improvement. Sometimes a men's club devotes its energies almost entirely to studying the needs of its community and by 46 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT discussion prepares the town to take wise official action in its town meetings. This cultivating of enlightened public sentiment is of great value, even if the organisation itself takes no direct action. Women's clubs have been most effective throughout the country, not only in creating sentiment but also in planning and promoting specific action; and granges have been very useful in many places in procuring good roads, setting out trees, improving sanitary conditions in home and community. Li some eases churches and Y. M, C. A. organisations, as we shall see in later chapters, have been the most effective agencies in promoting social centres, and in directing the social life and recreation of a com- munity. But ordinarily the most useful and persistent work has been that accomplished by organised village improvement societies which have been the inspiring and directing centre of a great variety of undertaMngs. Lessons from Experience. — More than fifty years have now passed since these societies began to be organised. What have been the lessons of the years? What is the secret of success? OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 47 First: The society that would maintain a useful and permanent existence must be demo- cratic. It must be of the people — all the peo- ple — for all the people and directed by all the people. It should be called into existence by representatives of all sections, all classes, all nationalities, all religious faiths, in the town. Its constitution and by-laws, its annual dues, should be such as to appeal to all and be within the reach of aU, Some improvement societies have had too large annual dues. It is better to have five hundred members at 50 cents than two hundred and fifty members at a dollar or only fifty members at five dollars. The more people enrolled the better the work of the society. It should be stated emphatically that the society desires to know the actual needs of every part of the town, that it wiU consider impartially the interests of every section, and this promise it must fulfil with scrupulous fidelity. If there happens to be a foreign section, of Italians, for example, or of Poles, they should be officially represented on the society's executive com- mittee and should be helped to realise that what they need is to be taken into consideration — 48 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT what is good for their homes, their streets, the school-houses in their district; and that the society does not exist for the purpose mainly of building better roads for the owners of automo- biles, or better parks in front of the homes of the wealthy citizens. Whatever can be done should be done to make every man feel that, no matter how poor or how rich he is, he has a share in the deliberations of the society. Second: It is desirable that the range of activities of the society should be as comprehen- sive as possible. They should provide for various community necessities. The society should not confine itself to the care of lawns and parks alone, the planting of trees and other such aesthetic out-of-door matters. In some commtmities it would be well for it to have a lecture committee which should provide a pop- ular course of lectures and entertainments, of such a nature, and so reasonable in expense, that all can profit by them. If any improve- ment society were to devote itself to providing healthful, clean and entertaining amusement in some social centre, town hall, school building or public library, wherever there is room and OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 49 where all can attend, Protestant and Roman Catholic, rich and poor, it would justify its existence. There are also great and pressing social and civic problems, matters of good citizenship, which the public should consider, and upon which a considerable portion of the public would be glad to receive instruction, which they might well be induced to debate and discuss among themselves. A civic committee, or perhaps it might be called a "good-citizenship committee," could provide frequent gatherings for such confer- ences or discussions. Once, in such a com- munity in a country village, about twenty or thirty young men and women, farmers' sons and daughters, met once a week during the winter months to consider and discuss such matters as methods of town government, trusts and corporations, single tax, income tax, mu- nicipal ownership, socialism, labour arbitration, etc. Much interest was shown in these and other discussions. Other topics might well be considered, especially the live issues, such as the initiative and referendum, free trade, child labour, work-acoidents and insurance, or even 50 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT the servant-girl problem; and then there are the great national problems of immigration, the negro question, international arbitration, etc. There are innumerable topics of great interest which must be considered by the people if this nation is to continue its existence as a democ- racy. If the improvement society should become an educational factor for instruction and en- lightenment on such lines it would appeal to all kinds of people and would justify and assure its existence. In this connection the example of one society might be followed by arranging lectures, with a stereopticon owned by the society, in the school-houses in different parts of the town, thus reaching some people, fathers and mothers, who are not able to attend the central meetings. Matters of hygiene, preven- tion and treatment of tuberculosis, care of chil- dren, etc., cotdd profitably be considered in such meetings. Third: An improvement society never should think that its work is done. It should undertake work that is of perennial interest and unceasing importance. Societies that have charge of play- grounds, school and home gardens, will find OTHER IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 51 work each year to do, progress and improve- ment to make, new groups of children to provide with instruction and guidance. Even in the matter of trees, streets and parks, it is not likely that ia any town, as yet, there remains nothing to be done. New pests must he fought, new roads will need trees, old trees must be trimmed or cut down and replaced. Moreover, there are always likely to be unexpected events needing the attention of such organisations. In one town in Massachusetts if there had been an im- provement society at a certain time a new electric road would not have been permitted needlessly to cut down all the trees along four miles of a beautiful country road before any organised opposition could be created. A watchful society can deal at once with unexpected forces, unforeseen enemies that threaten the beauty or comfort of a community. It can also take advantage of unforeseen oppor- tunities. One such society, being already in existence, was able to effect the purchase of a piece of land for park purposes before it passed into other hands, and thus added the chief orna- ment to its community. The same society, hear- 52 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT tag that the telephone company intended to build a central station in the heart of the village, was able to arrange that the unsightly plans pro- posed by the company be exchanged for another plan which was architecturally attractive and ornamental. In growing communities, also, it is possible for an improvement society to study the development of the town and plan for its proper laying out — for some system instead of the haphazard method too often employed in the locating of public buildings and in the map- ping out of streets. It can enlist the interest of the whole community in planning for the de- velopment of the town under expert guidance, and can follow the working of the plan for years to come. In fact, there is no end to the work of a society of this kind. And there will be no question of the continuance of a society which realises that, however good a town is, it can be better still, and however beautiful it is it can become even more beautiful. It should also realise that if care is not taken the community will become speedily less beautiful. To sum up, then, the secret of longevity for an improvement society consists first in its real OTHER IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 53 democracy, enlisting all the people; second in its having wide-reaching purposes such as will awaken the interest of all; and third in realising that eternal vigilance is the price of civic beauty as well as of civic liberty. The Benefit worth the Work.— The effort is worth while. Bishop Potter once related a suggestive experience of his own city ministry. Entering a tenement house to visit an Italian family in the much crowded portion of the city he was surprised to find there, hung on the walls between a picture of the Holy Family and a figure of the crucified Christ, a portrait of Col. George Waring, who had cleaned up the streets of the city. "You don't pray to Colonel War- ing do you?" said he to the Italian woman. "No!" was the reply, "but every time I pray to God I thank him for the man who made the streets clean and safe for my children." That was a fine and appropriate result of what might seem at first a commonplace matter. Of like nature was the proposal made recently in a little New England village, which enjoys to-day beau- tifully shaded streets because of the unselfish- ness and wise forethought of a few men who 54 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT years ago set out those slow-growing but beauti- ful elms, not for their own enjoyment but for the sake of generations to come. The proposal was to erect a bronze tablet in some public place in grateful memory of the men who had thus provided for a future village beautiful. Who, indeed, is more worthy of the grateful memory of a people than such public benefactors ? They asked no such recognition but they well deserved it; and so do all those, to-day, who with like spirit are working for the well-being of their communities, planning and labouring not for the day, but for the coming years. The benefits of such work are manifold — more than at first are realised. The aesthetic result is the most obvious; and it is no slight thing to open blind eyes to see the beauties of nature, and summon lives to work with nature in the development of beautiful surroundings. The school which we, old and young, all attend all our days is this school of public life, our society, our surroundings. He who helps to create a better environment for men to live in is accomplishing a fine task. Our public build- ings, parks and playgrounds, libraries, amuse- OTHEE IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES 55 ments, the posters on the bill-boards, the memorials of the past, all exert influence in the making of character. It is a splendid thing for a community year after year, generation after generation, to be trained in the love of decency, beauty, and good taste. "This one idea," it has been well said, "permeating a town for many years as a principle of action, is worth more than all the fortunes gathered in that town." It is not to be forgotten, also, that important economic results will follow upon the effort to make a town beautiful. Many a town in New England and elsewhere has learned that its property has been increased many per cent, in value, and desirable residents have been at- tracted to the place, by reason of its beautiful streets and well-kept homes. President Eliot once said, "I believe that if a test were made to determine the cities and towns most desirable to live in, it would be found that they are those where the percentage of property exempt from taxation, parks, lakes, rivers, schools, public buildings, is highest." The reason is obvious. These things not only attract by their beauty, 56 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT but they reveal the praiseworthy spirit of the community. Moral, intellectual and social results follow. The "hoodlum," the "tough," does not thrive in towns where boys are reared in the love of natural beauty and trained to recognise and cultivate it. Prof. N. S. Shaler, in " The Neigh- bor," recommends for Southern towns the adop- tion of the New England village improvement idea as an aid in solving the Southern problem, fostering a community spirit, the love of the home, and joy in things of beauty; and Prof. Josiah Eoyce, in his book on "Eace Questions," (Macmillan Co., 1912) says: We Americans spend far too much of our early strength and time in our newer communities upon in- juring our landscapes, and far too little upon endeav- ouring to beautify our towns and cities. We have begun to change aU that, and while I have no right to speak as an aesthetic judge concerning the growth of the love of the beautiful iu our country, I can strongly insist that no community can think any creation of genuine beauty and dignity in public buildings, or iu the surroundings of its towns and cities, too good a thing for its own deserts. For we de- serve what in such realms we can learn how to create, or to enjoy, or to make sacrifices for. And no OTHEE IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETIES 57 provincialism will become dangerously narrow so long as it is constantly accompanied by a willingness to sacrifice much in order to put in the form of great institutions, of noble architecture, and of beautiful surroundings, an expression of the worth that the community attaches to its own ideals. No commimity, therefore, can nndertake this task in the right spirit, gathering together all of its citizens for the purpose, without accom- plishing much more than will appear in pleasant lawns, flower-gardens, parks and fountains. It will cultivate the feeling of neighhourliness throughout the town and foster the spirit of social service. It wiU bring the people to- gether with a new sense of fellowship, of com- mon responsibility for the general welfare, not only for one's own immediate surroundings, or for one's own circle of friends, but for all the people, for the humblest and least conspic- uous homes as well as for those more fa- voured. The best result will be a family feeling, local pride, interest in one's own community, which will not be content so long as anything unbeauti- ful remains either in natural surroundings, or 58 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT in social or public life. Advocates of thrift and intelligence, temperance, morality, and right- eousness, have no more loyal ally than the vil- lage-improvement idea, whatever form it takes. CHAPTEE IV THE HOME AND ITS SUKEOUNDINGS In previous chapters we have reviewed vil- lage improvement societies as a whole, with reference to the history of the movement, methods of organisation, and results achieved. The remainder of this book will be devoted to a detailed consideration of the most important kinds of work to be undertaken. Importance of the Home. — Every society of this kind should devote much attention to the improvement of home conditions and surround- ings. There should be a committee, or depart- ment devoted to this alone. Nothing is more important. Few things influence human life more than home conditions. The home is the training-place for citizenship. A happy home, where intelligence, love, and the spirit of mu- tual helpfulness rule, is the best type of Heaven on earth. There is no more important work in the world which can engage the attention of 59 60 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT men and women than that which is entrusted to fathers and mothers in the home. To rear children, healthy in body and mind is more use- ful to the world than to raise prize cattle, and it pays better, too, in the long run, both in the durable satisfactions of life and in economic values. What does it profit the farmer to have made a record for crops, cattle, and swine, if his sons and daughters make a wreck of life? The character of the home, more than anything else, is the secret of content or discontent of the sons and daughters on the farm. The great value of town or village improve- ment work, in all its phases, in the country com- munity, is that it tends to create self-respect among the men and women who live there, even on the isolated farms. The farmer and the farmer's boys are intrinsically of as much worth as any man or boys. There are disadvantages in city life as well as in country life. There are advantages in country life, and they are increasing every day. By the banks of the little river that runs through old Concord, in Massachusetts, is the statue of HOME AND ITS SUREOUNDINaS 61 a young farmer with his plough by his side and his flint-lock musket in his hand. On that spot "The embattled farmer stood, And fired the shot heard round the world" — the first in defence of American independence. What would have been the issue if it had not been for the sturdy, self-respecting, intelli- gent farmer? But the life of the farmer in those days was no easier than is the life of the farmer to-day. It was not so easy. The new farmer has many advantages over the old. Whether the new will maintain the record of the old is mainly a question of char- acter, intelligence and self-respect. Good House or Big Barn? — The man who has these qualities of character will desire for him- self and for his wife and children a neat, attractive home. Nor is it necessary for him to expend much money in order to make it neat and attractive, the centre of a healthy and happy life. There is nothing prettier, more suggestive of peace and contentment, than some of the little one-story cottages, painted white, 62 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT with green blinds, to be seen in many of our rural communities. They are not costly, but they tell of human love and thoughtfulness. On the other hand there is nothing more incon- gruous, more plainly indicative of perverted, not to say inverted, judgment, than when we see, as is too often the case, a little shabby house for the family abode by the side of a large, expen- sive, and well-equipped bam for the housing of cattle and crops. It is no credit to a man that he takes better care of his horses and cows than he does of his wife and children. Fathers in such homes need not be surprised if their sons and daughters are not content to remain on the farm. Those who have country improvement at heart should use every opportunity, therefore, to emphasise the importance of the home, and to show how the country house may be made at- tractive within and without. We have read, in the words of Jessie M. Good, of an exhibit once made at a county fair by a woman's improve- ment association. The women had built a miniature cottage with a vine-clad porch and pretty window-boxes; there was a little lawn HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 63 around the cottage with flower-gardens appro- priately placed, and all the necessary out-build- ings arranged with an eye to adornment. When it was known that they were attempting to do this, offers of assistance came from all directions, from carpenters, painters, and gar- deners. Near it was placed a model of another house, quite as expensive to erect, but with no decoration, with weedy yard, no vines, no flow- ers, old out-buildings, tumble-down fences and old board-walks. The lesson was obvious and the exhibit was a centre of attraction. In some county or State fairs it would be well to make a standing exhibit of this kind, year after year, adding improvements as they come, from time to time, within the reach of country commu- nities, and showing not only the attractive ex- terior but also the model interior of a farmer's house. Conveniences for Household Work. — ^Adequate equipment of the house, with thought of the hard-worked wife and the welfare of mother and children, is absolutely necessary. The report of the Commission on Country Life, after de- claring that the success of country life de- 64 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT pends in very large degree on the woman's part, says that "often the condition of woman on the farm is all that can be desired, with home duties so organised that the labour is not ex- cessive, with kindly co-operation on the part of husbands and sons, and with household ma- chines and conveniences well provided"; and then calls attention to the fact that in many cases more attention is paid to conveniences for out-door work than for household work, while the burden of hardships and the monotony of life bears more heavily on the farmer's wife than on the farmer himself. Henry "Wallace, a member of the commission, says in his paper, Wallace's Parmer: "They have been saying that the mother is the hardest-worked member of the family, which is often, and we believe generally, true. They have been saying that in the anxiety of the farmer to get more land he not only works himself too hard, but his wife too hard, and the boys and girls so hard that the boys get disgusted and leave the farm, and the girls marry town fellows and go to town. Now the farmer's wife is really the most im- portant and essential person on the farm. As HOME AND ITS SUKEOUNDINGS 65 such she needs the most care and consideration. You are careful, very careful, not to overwork your horses. How much more careful you should be not to overwork the mother of your children. You rein back the free member of the team. You take special care of the brood- mare, and the cow that gives three hundred pounds of butter. Have you always kept the freest of all workers, your wife, from doing too much ? How about this ? ' ' The farmer's wife should be given time for rest during the day, should be provided with some of the modern conveniences for doing her work, and given opportunity to meet with other women for the consideration of matters of com- mon interest. Modern scientific management in the promotion of all kinds of industry is emphasising the need of rest-periods, not only for health but also for economic purposes. Fa- tigue poisons the system and lessens the work- er's productive capacity. More work can be accomplished where periods of rest are pro- vided. This principle needs application to both the farmer and his wife. There is reason to believe that a shorter working-day may prove 66 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT more fruitful even on the farm than the over- crowded day. In the matter of household equipment the country home too often compares tmfavourably with the urban house where the same expense is involved, and for families of similar income. The farmer is apt to be too conservative, and satisfied with "what was good enough for father." An investigation conducted by the Northwestern Agriculturist indicates the situ- ation. "Letters were sent out to 3456 farmers in the Northwest, asking them several ques- tions. When we tabulated the replies we got some startling facts. We found that less than three per cent, had modern equipment in their homes. Fifty per cent, had windmills, while ten and one-half per cent, had water-supply in the house. That is the difference between the farm- er 's cows and their wives. The one had water pumped for them, the others pump the water themselves." In comparatively compact communities such conditions are inexcusable. One thing that im- provement societies should undertake, as soon as J)oSBible, is the proniotioh of co-operation: foi* HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 67 the distribution of good water; and in many cases they can arrange in the same manner for the distribution of electricity both for power- use and for lighting. Where this is impossible they should urge the installation on farms of some of the modern systems of cheap and easily manageable motor-power. Much of the drudg- ery of housework can be greatly and econom- ically lessened by the use of such power in connection with labour-saving devices. Beauty in the Home. — Concerning the interior of the home, improvement societies may aid by providing sensible and practical information, for a refined taste is a matter of education. Many people, living in the midst of beautiful surroundings, do not appreciate what is before their eyes until some one opens their eyes, nor do they know how to surround themselves with beautiful things without assistance; but when once they do begin to see and understand their whole life is affected. The interior of a house will gradually change its atmosphere when the exterior, the grounds around the house, is changed. Here, then, is a work which the outside society 68 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT can undertake, with far-reaxjliing results. It can promote the improvement of home grounds. It can show the difference between a house sur- rounded by bare open spaces and another house with vines growing on it, with shrubs and trees about it and well-kept lawns and paths. It can promote the making of home gardens by chil- dren and by adults. The Stockbridge society, as we have seen, began by offering prizes for the greatest improvement in home grounds, and prizes for the setting out of trees, at the same time providing expert advice, so that serious mistakes might not be made. In Northampton, Massachusetts, there has been a garden prize competition for years, and in 1912 there were 1069 gardens in the compe- tition. It is easy to believe, as is true, that these competitions, year after year, have changed the aspect of the town. The prizes are not large, and are sought for chiefly on account of the honour and the pleasure of adding mate- rially to the beauty, not only of one's own resi- dence, but of the whole city. There is no reason why a smaller place, even a rural community, with houses widely separated, might not carry HOME AND ITS SUEROUNDINGS 69 out a similar plan, modified according to cir- cumstances. The following are the rules of the Northampton competition, with added sugges- tions. BUIiES 1. Only adult residents living within the city limits of Northampton may enter this Competition, although minors may take whatever part they choose in the gardening. 2. No person may enter the Competition while en- gaged in gardening as a business. 3. No competitor may hire assistance of any sort in his gardening. 4. Each garden must belong to the dwelling of the person offering it in competition, but the place may be either owned or rented. 5. Each garden must comprise the entire house lot on which it stands. 6. No competitor may take aiiy prize as low as he has taken with the same garden in any previous sea- son. 7. [A local provision.] 8. In the rating of gardens three merits will be counted as of leading value: 1, The plan on which the garden is laid out ; 2, The harmony of its features as to form and colours, and 3, The general upkeep of walks, beds, turf, and buildings and enclosures. 9. The field of competition is divided into seven nearly equal districts. In each of these districts three of the prizes may be awarded, and no two consecutive 70 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT prizes in the list can be awarded in the same dis- trict. 10. The prizes are: Capital Prize Winner's Prize, $6 ; capital, $15 ; second, $13 ; third, $10 ; fourth, $9.50; fifth, $9; sixth, $8.50; seventh, $8; eighth, $7.50; ninth, $7; tenth, $6.50; eleventh, $6; twelfth, $5.50 ; thirteenth, $5 ; fourteenth, $4.50 ; fifteenth, $4 ; sixteenth, $3.75 ; seventeenth, $3.50 ; eighteenth, $3.25 ; nineteenth, $3; twentieth, $2.75; twenty-first, $2.50. 11. A separate prize of $6, and a second one of $4 may be competed for by persons using hired help in their gardens, subject to these rules except rule three. 12. Any number of not less than seven gardens opposite one another on the same street, or adjoin- ing one another, whether on the same street or not, may form a neighbourhood garden club to compete for a first club prize of $1 per garden and a second club prize of 50 cents per garden, payable to the regularly elected secretary of the club. 13. Gardens belonging to such clubs shall have every right of individual contestants in the general competition, the same as if they did not belong to clubs. 14. An empty lot or an empty dwelling, or the occupied dwelling of no more than one family re- fusing to join the neighbourhood garden club, shall not be counted as separating any group of neigh- bours seeking to form a club under this rule. 15. The annual award of prizes shall be on some HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 71 date in October to be announced by the management of the People's Institute. In marking, the whole place is considered the garden. It is marked on four points: First, the lay-out or ground-plan of the place. Second, the harmony of its arrangements both as to colour of blooms, and size and form of trees, shrubs, and plants; third, as to the order and neatness of every- thing; and fourth, the duration of the planting, whether annual or perennial. Keep your lawn thor- oughly weeded. Mow the grass as often as the mower will cut it. In laying out your planting as a rule avoid straight lines and sharp angles. Plant all the flowers you wish, but plant shrubs at their back to give you more pleasant and lasting effects while the annuals are out of season as well as when they are in bloom. Try to plant so as to make the whole place one single picture of a home with the HOUSE its chief feature and the outside boundary line its frame. The place needs to be planted on all of its boundaries and left open in the middle. Have a nine months' instead of a three months' garden. School Competitions. — In many otlier commu- nities schools are co-operating with local im- provement societies in the creating of home gar- dens. Packets of seeds are given to the children at cost prices, together with directions for the making and planting of the gardens. Commit- 72 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT tees are appointed for the different districts of the town, who advise the children and report to the society on the gardens, and finally, at a public gathering on some day in September or October, prizes, not in money, but in books, games, bulbs, etc., are awarded. In one society, in a small country community, two hundred school children started these home gardens. The children .were divided into two groups, one from the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades; the other from seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Six different conditions were taken into con- sideration by the judges, as follows : Evidence of care, as shown by the absence of weeds, thrifty growth of plants, etc. ; successful growth and quality of blossoms ; arrangement of colours in the flower-beds; location of beds in relation to surroundings, so as to improve the general appearance of the grounds or the yard; the general effect produced by the beds and flowers ; and the obstacles overcome, such as lightness of the soil, etc. This plan proved very success- ful, not only in interesting the children but also in leading the other members of the families to take better care of home grounds, and in creat- HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 73 ing a general effort to overcome unsightly build- ings with vines, clear up back yards, sometimes turning them into flower and vegetable gardens. The flower-seeds usually given to children for these home gardens are of the following varieties: Asters, white, rose, and lilac; bach- elor's button or cornflower, blue, pink, and white; balsam, or lady's slipper, mixed colours; calendula, yellow, and orange; calliopsis, yel- low, and brown ; f our-o 'clock, yellow, white, and crimson; marigold, yellow, and orange; morn- ing-glory, mixed colours; climbing nasturtium, yellow, orange, and red ; poppies, mixed, scarlet, pink-and-white; petunia, purple-and-white ; phlox, mixed, scarlet, pink-and-white; scarlet runner, sweet peas, sunflowers, and zinnia. Some of the home-gardening committees also give vegetable seeds, as beets, bush-beans, let- tuce, onions, radish, squash, sweet corn, etc. In many communities the children also receive training in this work by teachers in the school gardens, an undertaking having many advan- tages, which will be considered in a later chap- ter. The following copy of a typical circular will 74 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT indicate the simple instructions which, are given to the children to guide them in their work. DIEECTIONS FOE HOME GARDENS Tke seeds can be planted in your garden as di- rected on the packet, or they can be planted the last of April in a box filled with four or five inches of fine, rich soil. Place the box in a sunny place and sprinkle it every day, so that the little roots do not get dry. If very cold cover the box at night. About the first of June, when the plants are an inch or two high, transplant on a cloudy day to your gar- den. CalUopsis, nasturtium, morning-glory, and four-o'clock seeds should be planted in the garden, as they do not stand transplanting very well. It is best to have a window-box for flowers as long as your window is wide, six or eight inches deep and 12 or 15 inches wide, with openings in the bottom for drainage. Fill with fine, rich soil and fasten firmly to the sunniest window or on a fence. Plant morning-glories on the side nearest the house, train- ing them upwards on strings. Climbing nasturtiums should be planted near the outside, so they can hang down over the box. In the middle of the box plant zinnias, marigolds or petunias. Thin out the plants so that they are four or five inches apart. Do not forget to water them every day, as they dry out very quickly. Select the sunniest part of your yard for flower- beds, but avoid a place where the dripping from the HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 75 roof will fall on the bed. Best effects are pro- duced by planting all of one variety in one place. Dig up the flower-bed as early in April as possi- ble. Dig deep — a full foot. Some rich earth, well rotted manure or leaf -mold from the woods, dug in, will give you better flowers. Eake the bed every few days so as to break up aU the lumps on the surface, or rub the soil between your hands so as to make it fine on the surface. Until the seeds are well up, the soil must be kept moist by sprinkling, every day if necessary. "Watch that the soil does not get dry, for if it does the little plants wiU dry up and die. When the plants are two or three inches high a good thorough watering every few days is better than sprinkling every day. Water only in the morning and evening. If crowded, the plants will not do well. When the plants are two or three inches high pull up enough of them to leave each plant plenty of room. Do this on a cloudy day when the soil is moist. The plants you puU up can be planted in another bed or given to some friend. An old kitchen fork or small flat stick can be used in transplanting the small plants, tak- ing up a little soil with each plant. Pick your flowers every day, because the plants will flower longer if not allowed to go to seed. The more you pick the more you will have, and your rooms will look prettier and brighter if you put fresh flowers in them every day or two ; or you may know of some one who is sick who would enjoy some of your flowers. Remember to dig deep and make i,h& soil fine on 76 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT the surface; keep pulling out the weeds all summer; sprinkle the seeds every day ; water the bed thoroughly every few days during the whole summer; pick your flowers every day ; keep your garden neat. By attend- ing to these things you will have flowers all summer, as well as to show in the fall. Beautifying Mill-towns. — ^An exceedingly im- portant phase of the town-improvement work, worthy of more space than can be allotted to it in these pages, is that which has been promoted by enlightened mill-companies for the benefit of their employes. In too many instances mill- towns are dreary, unsightly, and unsanitary, with ramshackle, overcrowded tenements, open sewers and littered back yards, streets, and alleys. But in this respect a great change is taking place. Employers are learning that both humanity and business combine in de- manding better housing and better surround- ings for their employes. In England, Port Sunlight and Bourneville are examples of industrial communities that may fairly be called "garden cities." In our own country the similar undertaking of the Na- tional Cash Register Company at Dayton, Ohio, is well known. But in smaller eormnunities, HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 77 also, sucli work has been promoted with grati- fying results. Billeriea, Mass., is a typical example of a northern mill-town in which the mill-officials have been the leaders in promoting a town-improvement society. The mill-build- ings there are ornamented with ivy, and sur- rounded by grounds made attractive with grass- plots and decorative shrubs. The grounds and paths about the tenements for employes are laid out and cared for by the mill-company, shrubs are planted on the home grounds, space for gardening is provided for each family, and prizes are offered for the best home gardens, for vegetables and flowers. A beautiful park also is provided by the company ; so that on the whole the mill-community is not less attractive than the rest of the town. At the same time the mill-company is active in promoting the im- provement work of the whole town. Similar work is undertaken in many southern mill-towns. The Pelzer Manufacturing Com- pany, of Pelzer, S. C, encourages its employes to cultivate home gardens, providing seeds for flowers, and gives aid in caring for home grounds. It promotes a town cleaning-day and 78 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT distributes a bulletin containing notes on pre- serving health. It maintains a library and reading-room, and for out-door recreation a beautiful public park. The Irene Mills of Gaffney, S. C, also maintain a beautiful and extensive park in the neighbourhood of the mills. A splendid story of work of this kind is told in The Independent for March 17, 1910, under the title "How a Man Went to Meet His Labour Troubles." It is an accoimt of the welfare and educational work xmdertaken by Caesar Cone at the Proximity and White Oak Mills at Greens- boro, N. C. Here are neat little four-room cot- tages renting for $3 a month and six-room cottages for $5, each set on a quarter-acre lot, with abundant room for yard and garden. Artesian wells provide pure water. Flower- seeds, vines, and plants, are given every spring to those who desire them; and in each village thirty prizes are awarded for the prettiest yards and neatest premises. Welfare-women are employed to give advice where needed, and sewing, cooking, and basketry classes are main- tained, as well as night classes, lecture courses, HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 79 and entertainments of various kinds. This is practical work wliich. may be undertaken in any mill-community, to the great advantage of both employers and employed. Further information may be obtained by applying to the Billerica Improvement Society, or to the Proximity Mills. The "Illinois Way. "—Another very recent and promising method of promoting the beautifying of the farm home and lands is that undertaken by the University of Illinois under the leader- ship of Professor Wilhelm Miller, who has pre- pared an illustrated lecture on "The Illinois Way of Beautifying the Farm." This lecture (and others on "The Illinois Way of Street Tree Management" and "The Illinois Way of Landscape Gardening") may be borrowed from the State University and delivered in any com- munity where a lantern is available. It would be a wise plan for every village improvement society to own a first-class lantern for the pur- pose of presenting this and other lectures. Wherever this lecture has been given in Illinois a good percentage of the farmers have signed an agreement to act towards making certain improvements, and the intention is to 80 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT obtain reports later of what has actually been accomplished. It is obvious that concerted action of this kind will make a vast difference, in the course of time, in the home conditions of rural communities. It should be supported in Illinois by every society which has town im- provement for its object, and in other States such societies should seek the promotion of a similar lantern-slide and lecture bureau. The agreement which the Illinois farmers have signed is shown on page 81. Value of Vines. — The decorative value of vines should be emphasised in advice concerning home improvement. Any house may be adorned by the use of vines to be trained over porches, front and back verandas, or on the house itself; and buildings ugly in lines may be turned into objects of beauty by this simple device. Un- sightly outbuildings may be screened in this way, and fences, old stumps, rocks, and dead trees made ornamental. Native vines like bittersweet, wild grape, or woodbine may be used in some cases at no expense; or the crim- son-rambler rose, wistaria, morning-glory, the trumpet-vine with its great orange blossoms, HOME AND ITS SUEKOUNDINGS 81 AUSTRALIAN BALLOT FOR ILLINOIS FARMERS. I WILL Plant or improve my WINDBREAK. SCREEN unsightly objects. Save old TREES on lawn, roadside, or field. Plant something to attract friendly BIRDS. Plant bushes and vines against foundations of my house. Make a good, open LAWN. Improve VIEWS of my house and the prairie. Help the children make a FLOWER GAR- DEN. Plant a border sacred to NATIVE trees, Illi- nois shrubs, and prairie flowers. REPLAN my home grounds. Without agreeing to pay anything, I seriously de- sire to help on the above matters, and, if I get it, I 1 tell you what improvements I make and the cost. Name Address wi To WILHELM MILLER, Asst. Prof. Landscape Horticulture, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. • Place for a check-mark. 82 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT ampelppsis veitchii (set a little way from the wall), Dutchman's pipe, clematis, honeysuckle, etc., may be obtained at any nursery. These vines need little attention, and increase in beauty as they increase in size from year to year. The Boston ivy is good for a northern exposure; climbing roses like plenty of sun- shine. For a trellis use poultry-wire, with a large mesh for roses or other vines of like nature and smaller mesh for clematis. Good soil is needed, plenty of manure, and abundance of water before the vines begin to flower. Proper Placing of Trees, etc. — The planting of trees and shrubs needs thought and planning with reference to their location. In general it may be said that shrubs should be planted in groups near the house, or along the edges of the grounds, leaving large open spaces for lawns. Trees in particular must be planted with reference to their growth and permanence. Not infrequently houses are seen with sun- light cut off and fine views shut out by trees injudiciously planted. Trees of tallish growth should be placed as a background for the house, or where shelter from the sun and wind is HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINGS 83 needed; not too near the house. Native species are, as a rule, most desirable. Nut-trees or fruit-producing trees, or flowering-trees are at- tractive and ornamental. "The use of fruit-growing trees and shrubs and vines that shall have the artistic effect which is produced in city places by strictly orijamental plants and shrubs and trees, and which shall have the added value of utility in the harvest of fruit," as C. W. Garfield tells us, "is an exceedingly interesting problem to work out. The addition of a nut-grove that shall bring joy to both young and old in its harvest; the arrangement of areas of forest-trees which shall not only provide fuel and enable the farmer to snap his fingers at the coal barons, but which will operate as protective screens for other crops and add to the immediate landscape features, is an interesting feature to be thought out and practically developed. The employment of the native plants of the grove and forest, and their adaptation to uses upon the lawn, bring into play not only the ability of the axtist but the acquirements of the botanist, and the home- study of a problem like this gives zest and satis- 84 VILLAaE IMPROVEMENT faction to country life." For all of this work instruction may be necessary, and the village improvement society should provide the books, leaflets, and pamphlets. Health Matters. — Sanitation is another matter where guidance is usually necessary, and there should be a committee to study the whole ques- tion with reference to the isolated farm and the village community. The latter subject will be treated in a later chapter. With reference to home conditions, the matter of chief importance is the provision of pure drinking-water. The chief peril is from the well, which should always be so placed that it cannot be contaminated by the drainage of house or barn ; it should be on higher ground if possible, or up valley from the house and barn. Ventilation, and the advantage of sleeping in rooms with open windows at all seasons of the year, are to be insistently urged. Impure milk is even more dangerous than im- pure water. Germs love milk, and it is an ideal breeding-place for the germs of typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria and diarrhoea. There- fore great care should be taken that cows are kept healthy and clean ; milking-places should be HOME AND ITS SUEEOUNDINaS 85 free from filth, and milk be carefully handled. Every milk farm should be under State or county inspection, lest it be a centre for the spread of contagious disease. Farm-houses should be screened, also, against flies and mos- quitoes, and care should be taken to get rid of the filth and stagnant pools where these disease- carriers breed. These are some suggestions as to the range of investigation and operation for a "committee on the home" in village improvement societies. CHAPTER V THE COMMITTEE ON TEEES AND FORESTRY One of the most important committees of an improvement society is that which deals with the planting and the care of trees. In some communities it may be wise to have two tree committees, one to specialise on shade-trees for the village highways, and the other to study forestry and to co-operate with forestry asso- ciations. The work of these committees is of permanent importance and of immeasurable value. In many communities some educational work wm be necessary to impress upon the people the aesthetic and practical value of trees. Advice will be desirable concerning the importance of planting trees, the best kind of trees for certain locations, the way to plant them and care for them. Report on Trees. — In one community a tree 86 COMMITTEE ON TEEES 87 committee made a study of the whole town with respect to its trees, on the village streets and outlying highways, just as one might make a social survey of the people of a town, and issue a printed report. The bulletin began with a brief statement of some of the reasons for plant- ing the streets with shade-trees : "The question is often asked, 'Why are shade- trees necessary on. our streets? What good are they?' "They add to the value of the adjacent property, they protect the pavement from the hot sun, and they add to the beauty and comfort of the city streets. They cool the air in summer and radiate warmth in winter. Have you ever watched the peo- ple in the city on a hot summer day? See how they select the shady side of the street. Notice how the horse whose master leaves him in the hot sun creeps up until he gets his head under the grateful shade cast by the branches of some shade-tree. Think how hot and sunny your house would be if that beautiful maple were cut down which now brings coolness and shade to your front rooms. Many a sick person lies and watches the graceful swinging branches and the restful green of the leaves. . . . "A full-grown tree sends out 187 gallons of water through its leaves into the air. Think what a differ- ence that makes in hot, dry weather. "Trees purify the atmosphere. The foliage takes 88 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT in carbonic acid gas, which gas is poisonous to us, and gives out oxygen, which is healthful, indeed, in- dispensable to us. "The tree in front of your house makes it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. "It increases the value of property. The house with a tree in front of it sells for more than one with- out." The report then continued with a statement of the number of treeless streets, the condition of the trees on other streets, the injuries sus- tained by trees from various causes, the danger from pests and the need of co-operation for their destruction, and, finally, the advantage of creat- ing a municipal nursery and the promotion of reforestation of parks and watersheds. At the forester's office, in this instance in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a catalogue of the city's trees is kept, arranged by streets, so that the situation on each street may be easily reviewed, even as to the condition of the trees in front of any citi- zen's grounds, their treatment, and the amount expended in their care. Something like this can be done in every com- munity, however small. Each town should have its forester or tree warden, an expert whose COMMITTEE ON TREES 89 advice and services would be at the disposal of the Tree committee. Trees a Valuable Asset.— These, then, are the matters to be emphasised, to be impressed con- tinually on the minds of the people. First, trees should be planted because of their great value in adding to the beauty of a town. They may make all the difference between a beautiful and an ugly town. Consider what it is that causes you to remember one town as attractive and another as unattractive, and you will see that the presence or absence of trees has been the determining factor. It is almost impossible to make a tree- less street beautiful. Elvers or lakes depend for their great attractiveness largely upon the trees that line their banks. Even the shores of old ocean need forests to make them beautiful to the eye. And if trees add to the beauty of a town they increase by so much its value as a place of resi- dence, they increase the value of real estate far beyond the amount expended in their planting and care. Happily, many communities are learning this lesson and acting upon it. Cordell, for example, in Oklahoma, a small prairie-town 90 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT about twelve years old, with a population of 2500, was reported not long since to have planted 12,000 trees. In the course of a few years that once treeless town wiU be transformed. It pays for towns to give trees to its citizens as Denver has done, where 17,000 trees have been set out in a single year. In some cases the village im- provement societies have provided the trees. Co-operation in this matter is appropriate, since the results affect the common welfare. Then the fact should be emphasised that trees are valuable for their contribution to health, happiness and comfort. That they promote the healthfuhiess of a community is recognised by medical authorities. In the summer they moderate the heat of the atmosphere, not only by shading the ground but by giving off moisture into the air. "By actual test it has been ascer- tained that the atmosphere about a tree in summer time is cooler by twenty degrees than is the treeless atmosphere. The giving off of moisture cools the air." On the other hand in ■winter the trees actually radiate heat. Thus in both seasons they temper the climate. COMMITTEE ON TEEES 91 The reason it is so pleasant to walk in a grov© of healthy trees is not only because of its shade, and its beauty, but because the trees absorb the poisons of the atmosphere and exhale healthful and invigourating oxygen. It follows, of course, that if they thus add to the healthfulness of a community they contribute to the comfort and happiness of the community. No little of the welfare of a town depends upon the beauty of its trees, the pleasantness of walks and drives ; and there is a direct connection between the attractiveness of the Adllage, or of the home on . the farm, and the love of the citizens for their village, or of the children on the farm for their home. Choice of Shade-trees. — ^What trees should be planted on streets and highways ? The answer will depend somewhat upon the situation of the town, and somewhat on the width of a street or highway. F. A. Gaylord, State Forester for New York, provides a good guide for those seek- ing information in an admirable bulletin on shade-trees. Residents of other States should obtain suggestions from their own state forest- 92 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT ers, or agricultural colleges, or highway com- missions. But in general these rules laid down by Mr. Graylord are of imiversal application : *'In selecting a shade-tree the following con- siderations should be borne in mind : (1) orna- mental value desired; (2) shading value ; (3) soil and moisture conditions; (4) rate of growth; (5) size and character of growth ; (6) cleanliness of habit; (7) liability to insect and fungous damage; (8) endurance of the hard knpcks of the city." For shade-giving purposes, trees which branch far down should not be chosen. There is some divergence of opinion concerning the planting of nut-trees on streets. Some advise planting pecan-trees for shade in those States where they will grow, and in other States the black walnut, the hickory, and the chestnut. These are all good shade-trees, but it is also ob- jected that they are too tempting to the small boy, and that in the fall they litter the ground. The white birch and the beech are also objected to because of the temptation they offer to strip off the bark, and to the exercise of the youthful COMMITTEE ON TREES 93 jack-knife in the art of carving hearts, initials and other undesirable decorations. The colouring of foliage is another matter to be borne in mind. Those trees that change earliest, among the common varieties, are the red maple, white elm, horse-chestnut, hickory, tulip, butternut and black walnut. Later in the season are the sugar maple, chestnut, beech, white ash, basswood and black ash. Latest of all to change colour are the Lombardy poplar, most oaks, sycamore, Norway maple, honey-lo- cust and black cherry. In choice of trees for shade purposes the width of the street also should be considered. The following are generally recommended for wide streets : American Elm. A tree of comparatively rapid growth and a life of 125 years or more. It cannot be excelled for beauty and can be grown on any kind of soil, but needs plenty of room for development. The chief objection to it of recent years is that it is subject to the attack of insects, and requires annual spraying to destroy its enemies. Sugar Mwple. Grows rapidly, is longer lived than the ebn and in autumn colouring, varying from yel- low to deep crimson, is one of the most beautiful of 94 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT trees. It can be planted much closer than the elm, and is one of the most satisfactory of the shade trees. Sycamore. A large tree, a rapid grower, and said to live in many cases for 600 years. It should be given plenty of room and is suitable only for wide streets. Beech. Another long-lived tree, 300 or 400 years. If given room it is of fairly rapid growth, but does not grow well on dry, light, or sandy soil. Its re- markable beauty and dense shade make it very de- sirable. BlacTc Walnut. A good tree for country roadsides, where it can have plenty of light and room. On good soil, deep, porous and moist, its growth is fairly rapid, and it will live for about two centuries under favourable conditions. It makes a massive and hand- some tree, and is not very subject to pests. Norway Maple. One of the finest of our shade- trees, adapted to streets of intermediate width. It grows rapidly and adapts itself to any soil or mois- ture condition. It is medium in size, seldom growing over 60 feet tall and is the earliest of the maples to bloom. Silver Maple. Blooms early and grows rapidly on rich loam, yet wiU do fairly well on sandy soil. "This is an excellent tree for planting purposes, as it combines aU the desired features, being easily transplanted, stands pruning well, is very graceful and is most pleasing in summer by reason of the silver colour of its leaves, while the fall colouring is very striking." 96 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT of guiding judicious planting is provided by a pamphlet issued by the Tulare County Board of Forestry. They recommend for roadways bor- dering the orchard lands trees that will not rob the soil, or cast too deep a shade, such as palms, the crape myrtle, and scarlet oleander; for the alfalfa country, avenues of elms, walnuts, or aspens. The members of the board are ready to give advice; and under the law, indeed, the board selects the trees for all highway planting, and determines all questions in regard to prun- ing, cutting, and removing trees, hedges and shrubs, growing upon the highways. Among the other trees recommended by the board are the American white ash, the valley or weeping oak, balm of Grilead, California walnut, and the ehn ; among evergreens are the pepper-tree, sev- eral varieties of acacias, the magnolia, the eucalyptus, the Monterey cypress, the olive ; and for very wide roads the "big tree" (Sequoia gigantea), which attains a height of 300 feet. Proper Planting of Trees.— Having chosen what trees to plant, the next consideration is where and how they should be planted. And here a society's tree committee may be of great use in COMMITTEE ON TEEES 97 preventing serious mistakes. The most common error is in planting trees too close together. The planter should consider the future develop- ment of each tree and allow space accordingly. Elms, for example, should be planted not less than fifty feet apart, and the sugar maple not less than forty feet. When trees are first planted, however, it is possible to place between the trees of large growth and long life others that are short-lived, to be ultimately removed. Thus Gaylord sug- gests that the California poplar, a tree of very rapid growth, may be planted alternately with better trees, with the view of cutting out the poplar when the second species are large enough. As a rule, also, trees of one variety only should be planted on any given street, though different varieties may wisely be planted on different streets. The effect is not pleasing, for example, if a tall tree like the elm is planted on one side of a street, and trees of much less height, like the oak, or the maple, stand on the opposite side. Nor is the symmetry of the street enhanced if trees of a different growth 98 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT as maples, elms and oaks, are planted in a row. Where there is haphazard or undirected plant- ing, mistakes of this kind may be made which in after years it will be very difficult to remedy. It is well, also, sometimes, to plant with reference to particularly fine views, which should not be hidden from the highway. The famous Magnolia Avenue of Eiverside, Cali- fornia, has been severely criticised in this respect, because it shuts off all view of a beauti- ful landscape, which should be visible from the highway. So on country roads it is necessary to bear iu mind that the beauty of the open country is to have a place in the scheme of tree- planting. Here, in general, elms well separated and of high growth, will provide both shade and open vistas. In hilly country it may be well to remove some trees from the roadside where a particularly fine landscape exists, with glimpses of river, lake, or hills in the distance. All this emphasises the fact that an artistic element enters into the business of tree-plant- ing, and that it is advisable for each community in endeavouring to beautify its surroundings to employ a competent landscape-gardener, or at COMMITTEE ON TEEES 99 least to study its problems and plan out the work. Better still, and more fortunate is the community if among its citizens is such an expert who can be a permanent member of the improvement society. Students in schools of forestry would do well to consider this as a specialty. Then arises the important question, how are the trees to be planted? Probably in most rural communities there are many men who are familiar with the science of tree planting. They will need no advice. In some places all street- planting will be done by the town forester or tree warden. But ia other places, if great prog- ress is to be made, dependence must be placed upon the work of individuals in replanting upon their own grounds. Then, advice as to the kind of trees to be planted having been given, direction concerning the method of plant- ing will be needed; and for this purpose it may be well for the tree committee to prepare a printed statement, giving clear and explicit directions. One such committee prepared and distributed the following leaflet for this pur- pose: 100 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT THE PLANTING AND CAKE OP TREES Issued hy the Village Improvement Societies of the Town of Wellesley, Massachusetts. Spring planting generally is preferred to fall planting. Evergreens may be planted up to May 15 or in August, but never in the autunm. Do not plant several kinds of trees in one street. Select a good species which is adapted to the locality and hold to that. This will insure a uniform and dignified effect. Such a formal treatment is not de- sirable however on country roads. A more natural planting is better there. Well-grown trees from the nursery, about two inches in diameter and ten feet tall, will cost 50 cents to $1. On receipt of trees from the nursery, be very care- ful that the roots do not get dry. Exposure to sun and winds quickly dries the fine roots. Unless trees can be planted as soon as they are received, heel them in without any delay. This means placing them on a slant in a trench and covering the roots with soil. Be careful to press the soil firmly about the roots. This is especially important with evergreens. Evapo- ration is going on from their tops, and unless the roots are in direct contact with the earth they cannot draw in moisture to make up the loss. When ready to plant, uncover only one or two trees at a time and do not let their roots dry. If the land is wet, plant on the top of the general surface. Never plant when the soil is wet. Soil must be dry COMMITTEE ON TREES 101 to be worked in among the roots. The planting-holes should be made a little larger than the full spread of the roots, say six feet across by two feet deep. Mix half a wheelbarrow load of old manure, if possible, with the soil. Never put green manure in contact with the roots. It will kill them. Put some of the best soil into the hole first. Before putting the tree into the hole, be sure that all bruised or broken roots are cut off with a sharp knife in such a manner that the fall of the cut will be downward. In trimming, take off the lower limbs. Never cut off the leading shoot if it can be avoided. Pruning is a very unwilling task to many, but do not hesitate to prune vigorously. Remember that the root-system may have been deprived of half its feed- ing power, and if it has it can take in food and mois- ture for but half the leaf-system it had the year be- fore. Trees difficult to transplant nearly always can be saved by severe cutting back of their tops. It should not be foi^otten that a newly planted tree has but little hold on the soil, and that to prevent its being loosened by the wind a stake should be set close be- side each tree. It is better to set the stake first and plant the tree beside it. Then the roots will not be injured by driving the stake. Two or three stakes are of course better than one. Make a mound in the hole where the crown will rest so as to leave no air space under the root-stem. Set the tree so it will stand at the same depth it did before, allowing a little for settling. Spread out all the roots with a down- 102 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ward tendency rather than an upward. Break down the wall of the hole and make a trench for an extra long root rather than cut it off. With the fingers, work the finest and best earth among the roots, leav- ing every root in contact with the soil and no air spaces. The tree also may be shaken gently up and down. After the roots are covered, and before the hole is filled, tread the soil very firmly about the roots with the feet. This is very important. Its omission loses many trees. In spring planting, leave the soil dished around the tree so that all water will be held. In fall planting, crown the earth so water will be shed away from the roots. Guy the tree to the stake with a broad band so that the bark will not be chafed. Stable-manure thickly spread over the surface of the ground for about a foot beyond the spread of the roots will fertilise the trees and prevent the ground from baking. If no manure is used, keep the surface pf the soil light and loose, at least through all of the first season. Never allow weeds or grass to grow within four or five feet of a newly planted tree or shrub. They take from the ground moisture and food needed by the tree. Lastly, protect the tree from horses. An excellent and comparatively inexpensive guard is wire-netting, made from wire known to the hardware trade as No. 1 — 16, and the widths best adapted are 32 inches and 72 inches. If the guard is fastened to the tree by staples, and the staples are renewed every three years, the bark wiU not be pinched. For young trees, use COMMITTEE ON TEEES 103 72-inch; for a horse-guard for old trees the 32-inch is sufficient. PRUNING To be perfectly healthy, a tree, like a human being, must have a sound body covered with an unbroken and healthy skin. Broken bark and rotting stubs offer resting places for the scores of fungi which produce decay, and fields of enterprise for destructive insects. To restore trees to a healthy condition by healing their wounds should be one of the principal objects of the pruner. All cuts made which are of the size of a half-dollar or larger should at once be painted over. A good oil paint of a duU colour will answer ; but the best and cheapest coating is coal-tar, which can be ob- taiaed at small cost at any gas plant. Crossed and chafing limbs should be removed, as they are never sound and endanger the life of the tree. All dead limbs and stubs should be cut off. All cavities should first be carefully cleaned of all decay and then filled with cement. Do not use ordi- nary hard cement for filling a crotch cavity, as it will split up. The proper material is elastic cement, such as roofers use. If not carried by local dealers it can be bought by the keg of some cement company. FiU up cavities with small stones, and seal the openings with cement. Portland cement wiU answer where the cavity is not affected by, the swaying of the tree. The pruner should seek also to assist nature in giv- ing the trees a symmetrical form. The best existing books on this subject in English are "Tree Pruning," 104 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT by A. DesCars, translated from the French by Prof. Charles S. Sargent, and "The Pruning Book," by Prof. L. H. Bailey. Both are fully illustrated. According to DesCars, pruning may be done at any time when it is most convenient. An exception should be made, however, in the case of maples and coniferous trees, such as pines. These trees should not be cut when the sap is running. The summer is the best season in their case. Arbor Day. — Splendid educational work may be done by a village improvement society in connection witb the annual observance of Arbor Day. This day, it has been well observed, differs from other school memorial- days because it looks to the future instead of the past. One of the best influences of the day may be to impress upon the minds of old and young the duty of thinking ahead and planning for the generations to come. No street or town can be perfected in a day. The planting of a sapling with the thought of what it is some day to become, of the development of its beauty from year to year, of its mature growth and the pleasure it is to give others later on, is a valu- able educational exercise. Children should be taught the history of the day: that one man in COMMITTEE ON TEEES 105 the year 1872 persuaded the legislature of tree- less Nebraska to observe Arbor Day; that a million trees were planted in that year in Nebraska, and many millions since in other States all over the Union, are noteworthy facts in patriotism and good citizenship. The day should also have a practical place in the school course of nature study. To set aside one day a year on which to plant trees is of little value unless it indicates as well the love and study of trees at other times. If in the school lehildren who celebrate Arbor Day there is not awak- ened a love for trees and flowers, and a desire to know more about them, the day is hardly worth while, except in a national way. "It is because Arbor Day has other values than the merely commercial," remarked Carl H. Grato, in The Ghautauguan (June, 1905), "and because it has ceased to stand narrowly for the planting of trees, — ^though that is stUl its primary object, — that it is of such great significance in the growing movement for civic betterment. Arbor Day now allies itself with the general movement which makes for im- provement in civic conditions, a movement in 106 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT behalf of more beautiful surroundings and consequent greater pleasure in life. The arbor-day exercises in the school may consist merely in the beautification of the school- grounds — though that in itself is a great deal. But beautiful school-grounds must mean, in the end, more beautiful surroundings elsewhere. The children trained to study trees and flowers, and to take delight iu their cultivation, will, in time, see to it that city streets and country highways are also made attractive." Therefore the day should be observed even in towns where schools are well provided with trees and gardens, that the lesson of village beauty may be cultivated. It may even be the more useful way to observe it when some place not on the school-grounds, but elsewhere in the village, is to be made more beautiful by the planting of trees or shrubs. This is the place where the tree committee may most effectively co-operate with the school by having places prepared where trees are most needed in the community, as by the roadside, or in some park; and the committee may wisely arrange the programme for the day with the COMMITTEE ON TREES 107 idea of inculcating in children tlie larger duty of love for the town and care for its welfare. During the year, also, they should stimulate and aid the schools in their instruction of children concerning the varieties, nature and value of trees, and the important part they play in the life of the whole people, the town, the particular State in which the children live, and the nation. Guarding Trees.— After the trees are planted the work of the tree committee will centre upon their protection from various pests, and to pre- vent damage by horses gnawing the bark. The judicious placing of hitehing-posts is an im- portant part of this protective work. In many villages, where electric wires are strung along the streets, great care must be taken that the wires are properly insulated, and that the workmen do not ruin the appearance of trees by cutting through the tree-tops needlessly. Co'nstant watchfulness is necessary in this mat- ter, as whole streets may be damaged in a com- paratively short time. Where it is feasible, wires should be laid under ground in conduits, and even then it will be necessary to watch the 108 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT men while ditches are dug for the conduits, lest serious damage be done to the roots of neigh- bouring trees. Damage by insects and fungous growth is an equally serious matter. Careless pruning is responsible for much of the trouble. Lisects damage trees by eating the leaves or by boring into the bark. These can be destroyed only by the use of the proper insecticide; and the duty of the tree committee is to see that the work is done by the town authorities or by private individuals at the right time and in the right way. Some village improvement societies own spraying apparatus, which they rent at a nom- inal cost for use on private grounds. The im- portant matter is that they should be well in- formed in the matter of treatment of trees, should possess the necessary literature of the subject, and should disseminate information through the community. When new parasites appear, the coromittee should be the source of information concerning the necessary steps to be taken to combat the enemy. Profitable Forestry by Conmiimities. — The tree committee, or a special forestry committee, COMMITTEE ON TEEES 109 should also be a source of instruction concern- ing the larger question of the promotion and care of forests in the township itself, in the State and in the nation. Many communities, especially along river-valleys, are vitally con- cerned with the condition of forest-lands, often far remote, perhaps even in other States. Vast areas are directly affected by the floods that descend from mountains or hiUs that have been denuded of trees, and the whole nation suffers from the loss of life and the immense loss of property, as has frequently occurred in recent years. The local building of dikes and levees is not a sufficient safeguard, as the floods of the spring of 1913 effectively demonstrated. Such catastrophes are unnecessary and quite avoid- able. It has been estimated that over $25,000,- 000 a year, in ordinary years, are lost by floods in the Missouri and Ohio valleys alone, all largely due to the deforesting of the uplands. Not only may all of this be prevented, but instead of destruction sources of vast annual income can be created by the scientific con- servation of forest-lands, and of the waters that come from melting snow and spring rains. 110 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT The story of the Neisse Eiver, which rises in Bohemia and flows through Saxony and Prus- sia, and has been transformed from a danger- ously raging flood to a servant of the men along its valley, may be a lesson to us. By co-operation of the peoples concerned, and at comparatively small cost, great dams have been built on the upper course of the river, creating vast storage-reservoirs in which the waters of the flood are caged, and not only prevented thus from causing great loss of property, but re- served for future use, and distributed through- out the year as needed. The building of reservoirs in our own country should be undertaken at once, and meanwhile the slow work of reforesting the denuded hills should be begnin and carried forward until nature's method of holding the waters back in the soil of the forests has been fully restored. Nor is this the only reason why interest in forestry should be cultivated. The methods of the past have been enormously wasteful. We have expended of our national resources, both capital and interest. Our forests should be a constant and unfailing source of income. Even COMMITTEE ON TEEES 111 the lumbermen are beginning to understand the economic folly of stripping the land, and are applying scientific methods which provide for an annual and unceasing harvest. But there is a reason for the promotion of interest in forestry that comes still nearer home. It may sound like a fairy tale, but it is true, that a town may be absolutely freed from taxation, all its expenses paid and a good balance remain for improvements, by the in- come from a municipally owned forest. Here again we look to the old coimtries, especially to Germany, for instruction. George H. Max- well, of Chicago, in a pamphlet issued by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, tells us that there are a number of municipalities in Europe that levy no taxes on their citizens or their property for municipal purposes. The revenues from the town forests pay all the expenses of the town government. Mr. Maxwell gives the figures for large cities, as Baden, Freiburg and Heidelburg, which have an annual profit from municipal forests of re- spectively $66,000, $46,000 and $12,000. But his reports for smaller towns will be of more 112 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT interest. Villingen, in Baden, is a village of 7819 inhabitants, and owns 8822 acres of forest, the total income from which is $60,227 and the total outlay $17,810, leaving a profit of $42,416, or $4.84 per acre. He follows with examples of even smaller towns. "In the smaller towns and villages the idea of a town forest should go beyond the mere utilitarian plan of supplying wood and timber. Its greatest value should be as a part of the educational equip- ment of the community, to supplement the practical training that should be given in gardening and handi- craft, or, as it is usually called, manual training. We have much to learn from other countries. When we have learned to maintain in every town and village a public school combining the French schools for gar- dening with the Swedish schools for cooking and the Austrian schools for woodworking, and have located such a school in the midst of a growing forest planta- tion, where every child will learn to plant and care for trees, as well as to garden and to cook what comes out of the garden, then and not xintil then may we feel that as a people we have solved the problem of public education, as well as that of keeping the boys and girls on the farms and in the country towns. Those who should be thinking the most about all these questions are the farmers and the people now living in such towns who want their children near them in their old age. ' ' COMMITTEE ON TREES 113 Again, Mr. Maxwell says: "What a trans- formation will be made when the cut-over lands of Wisconsin and Michigan, for instance, have their original forest-wealth restored by the creation of 'hand-made forests,' as has been done in Germany; and these re-created forests belong forever to the people in the near-by mu- nicipalities. " And then he makes the applica- tion which immediately concerns ns: "A fore- cast of this splendid vision of the future for the TJnited States is found in the last annual report of the Committee on Forests and Waterways of the National Association of Manufacturers, where it is said: "One of the most promising fields for town and village improvement lies in the establish- ment of local forest-plantations belonging to the community, from which, after an interval of years, a revenue could be derived sufficient to meet all the expenses of the town government. It is done in Europe ; why should it not be done here? The national advantage of such a sys- tem would lie in the fact that every community that owned its own forest-plantation would be an active advocate. of forest preservation by 114 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT both State and nation. The nation could do much to promote the establishment of such local forest-plantations by creating a number of models near towns or villages with the purpose in view of allowing the local community to take over and own the forest whenever the local interest was sufficiently awakened." The promotion of State legislation providing for the election of a State Forester, for the ap- pointment of tree wardens in towns, and for the proper care of trees on streets and high- ways, is an important work to be undertaken by village improvement societies. The com- mittee on trees should know the laws of its own State and wherein they may be improved. The State laws of Massachusetts are printed in separate pamphlets and may be obtained on application. Massachusetts, New York, Penn- sylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois have the most progressive legislation with regard to the planting and care of trees. The admirable articles from which the quotations from Mr. Maxwell's pamphlet are made are reprinted in a pamphlet on Forests for Towns and Villages, by the Massachusetts Forestry Association. CHAPTEE VI ROADS AND STREETS The work of the committee on streets will be carried forward in co-operation witli the plans of the committees on trees and on parks. Streets are the arteries of social life. What railroads are to the development of the com- monwealth and the nation, streets are to the community. The values of the street are eco- nomic, social and aesthetic. The business of the committee on streets is to educate the com- munity to appreciate, and to plan for the culti- vation of each of these values. No class of people are more concerned with the existence of good roads than the farmers who must travel the highways to take their prod- ucts to the railroad, or the nearest market- place. An -interesting table in an article by Joseph H. Pratt, printed in the Annals of the American Academy (January, 1910) of the cost of transportation by horses and wagons, haul- 115 116 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ing one ton a distance of one mile on different road-coverings, shows the following compari- sons : On asphalt the cost of hauling is . $ 2.70 On stone paving, dry and ia order 5.33 On stone paving covered with mud , 21.30 On hroken-stone road in good order 8.00 On sand-clay road, dry and good 8.00 On broken-stone, with ruts and mud 26.00 On earth, dry and hard .... 18.00 On earth, with ruts and mud . . 39.00 On gravel, loose 51.60 On sand, dry 64.00 This is an estimate for level roads. For hilly roads the expense is yet further increased. Another statement of the comparative cost of grades is given as follows : On level grade a horse puUs, as a standard, 1000 poTuids. On a rise of 1 foot in 100 ( 1 per cent, grade) 900 lbs. 1 foot in 50 ( 2 per cent, grade) 810 lbs. 1 foot in 25 ( 4 per cent, grade) 540 lbs. 1 foot in 10 (10 per cent, grade) 250 lbs. It is evident then that the matter of grade must be considered in the making of roads. Often a road aroxmd a hill is no longer than a road EOADS AND STEEETS 117 over a hill. To use a familiar illustration, the handle of a pail is no longer when lying in a horizontal position than when it is raised ver- tically. But even if the road around is some- what longer than the road over a hill, it is more useful and economical for a farmer, since he may carry over it a much larger load. The amount which a team can haul is limited by the poorest parts of a road and by its heavy grades. Mr. J. H, Pratt, writing of road-conditions in the Southern States says: "We are advocat- ing that the maximum grade be four and one- third per cent." Economy in Good Roads. — This item of the de- crease in the cost of hauling by creating good roads is of great importance. The expense to the individual for making good roads is slight compared to the value returned. The cost of all marketable material is decreased both for the producer and the consumer. But the man who profits most is the producer. It is as- serted that the falling off of traffic at country stations is as high as fifty per cent, when roads are bad, and that the expense of hauling under such conditions is double or even four times the 118 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT normal cost. These facts, of course, affect the cost of living. Among other matters mentioned that bear on the economic value of good roads are their importance to those who are engaged in truck and small-fruit farming, the wear and tear on horses, harness and wagons, caused by bad roads, and the increased value of real estate where roads are improved. Good roads per- mit the cultivation of crops not otherwise marketable; they give a longer time for the marketing of crops; they permit marketing to be done when prices are most favourable ; they give a wider choice of marketing-places; they tend to equalise railway traffic, and they tend to equalise mercantile business between differ- ent seasons of the year. It is not possible, nor is it necessary here, to enter into details con- cerning the method of making good roads. In- formation on this matter may be obtained from State or county or national officials, and from books written on the subject. A good book is "Roads, Paths and Bridges," by Logan Waller Page, in The Farmer's Practical Li- brary; and a helpful guide is "The Road Red EOADS AND STREETS 119 Book" publislied by The Department of High- ways of the State of New York. Road Construction. — ^Wherever it is possible, especially in towns and villages, macadam should be used, with bituminous material for a binder, to prevent dust and to lessen the wear and tear by heavy carts and automobiles. In villages this is a matter of health as well as of economy, for dust is a carrier of disease; and the expense will be partly compensated by lessening the necessity of watering the streets. Under modern conditions much-travelled high- ways demand the bituminous macadam road as most economical in the long run, as well as most agreeable. In some States, where the cost of macadam is almost prohibitive, very good results have been obtained by building what is called a sand-clay road, composed of two parts clay and one part sand. This is much used in South Carolina and may be practical elsewhere. In Missis- sippi fairly good roads are made of "burnt- clay," lumps of clay that have been subjected to intense heat and partially burned, or baked. For a long time to come, however, the great 120 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT majority of roads raust continue to be what are called "earth, roads," and the matter to be considered is how these can be maintained in the best condition for the community. State Organisation. — The making of roads is not of local or community importance only: it concerns neighbouring towns, the county, the State, since the roads of a town, are not used simply by the residents of the town. It is as important for the distant city, where the larg- est markets are, that the farmer should have good roads over which to transport his goods, as it is for the farmer himself. The automo- biles that tear up the roads, or that suffer from bad roads, come from long distances and from every direction. Therefore the man who lives in the country and must drive to some more or less distant place, either to buy or sell, is hardly more concerned economically than is the merchant who wishes to buy of him or sell to him. The State, then, and the county, should share with the town in the construction and the care of roads. In some States this necessity for co-operation is already recognised, and it should be in every State in the country. EOADS AND STEEETS 121 Take New York for example. Not only is the State planning a magnificent system of highways, connecting the principal cities, but it also has created a Bureau of Town Highways to have charge of all highways of the State not included in the State or county system. "In each town of the State is elected bi-ennially an officer known as the Town Superintendent of High- ways, who has charge of all work connected therewith, hiring the necessary labour, procuring the necessary material, and giving personal supervision to the exe- cution of plans for the highway work in his town. In each county is an officer known as the County Superintendent of Highways, appointed by the Board of Supervisors of the county. The county superin- tendent has general charge of all town-highway af- fairs in his county, giving advice, assistance and di- rections to each town superintendent as the need therefor appears. "The revenues for the repair and maintenance of town highways are derived from taxes levied in each town for the maintenance of the highways within the town. These taxes are supplemented by moneys paid to the different towns by the State for the same pur- pose and forming, in connection with the taxes before mentioned, a common fund known as the highway fund. The amount to be paid by the State to the several towns is annually appropriated from the gen- eral funds of the State and is determined by the as- 122 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT sessed valuation per mile, the State aid being gradu- ated according to the valuation, varying from 100 per cent, to the poorer towns to 50 per cent, to the most wealthy ones. The giving of this aid allows the State Highway Commission to have direction and con- trol of the highway work as carried on in the various towns." The results of this method of State assist- ance have been extraordinary. It is reported that in four years over 70,000 miles of the country highvpays have been put in good shape, over 6000 miles of macadamised roads have been constructed, and over 8000 miles of good gravel-roads, and all of this has been accom- plished in the most economical and satisfactory manner. Much more might be said of the value of this work in the construction of permanent concrete culverts and bridges in place of the older and destructible structures of wood. Village improvement societies might well, therefore, co-operate in promoting for every State, where such road-management does not exist, the creation of a similar bureau of town highways. Meanwhile in each community the committee on streets may use its influence to see that the ROADS AND STREETS 123 local superintendent of streets and highways is the best man available, that he understands his task and that he be continued in office. The advice given in "The Road Red Book" of the New York bureau, is wise: "Permanency in office is an essential. In towns, local men have been selected, who necessarily must* gain their knowledge at the expense of the town. The best man obtainable, regardless of political affili- ations, should be elected or appointed as town superintendent. He should be a man of good practical judgment, capable of laying out the work and of handling and directing men. Where a town has a good superintendent, well educated in road-building methods, it is ex- tremely poor economy to discontinue his ser- vices and undertake the education of a new man. ' ' The committee should also have some method, perhaps through the district members of the society, of keeping watch of the roads, not only of the village streets, but of the radiating country roads, and reporting any places where, on account of storms, freshets, or wear and tearj the roadway, culverts, or bridges, need re- 124 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT pair. They should know enough about the sub- ject to understand whether repairs are made in the proper way, and they should educate the community ia the wisdom of replacing perish- able culverts and bridges with indestructible concrete. Social Value of Good Roads. — The social value of the road also needs emphasis. Prof. John M. GiUette has stated the matter emphatically : "Good roads lie at the basis of the social insti- tutions and the associational life of the rural district. Li a previous connection we saw the advantage and necessity of getting together to promote common interests. For the inhabit- ants of the land who do not have street-rail- ways, pavements, or sidewalks, recourse must be had to the highways. Their condition de- termines the amount of concourse of a neigh- bourhood. Visiting, exchanging of ideas and promotion of neighbourhood plans, interchange of courtesies, extension of fellowship, church and school attendance, the advancement of lodges, institutes, Societies of Equity and other farmers' organisations, entertainments, sports, amusements, spelling-matches, musicTclasses, EOADS AND STEEETS 125 women's clubs, and kindred bodies, are affected by the state of the highways. Should the churches of a region desire to consolidate, such a plan becomes feasible only where good roads exist. People in the outlying districts will not consent to drive far over bad roads. "School consolidation is dependent on the state of the highway. The transportation of pupils over long routes is impossible where their condition is very bad. In five bad-road States the average attendance of pupils en- rolled is fifty-nine, and in five good-road States it is seventy-eight out of a hundred. In parts of Ohio and Indiana where school-consolidation has taken place, children are carried to school, attendance is increased, their health is pro- moted, and the evils of isolation are reduced. School-consolidation is one of the very greatest agencies of the all-round improvement of rural society. This alone creates a mighty demand for good highways." This admirable summary might be enforced by many details. It emphasises the fact that all the plans which may be undertaken in a cen- tral village for the benefit of a whole commu- 126 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT nity are greatly assisted if there are good roads by which those living in the outlying homes can have access to the village. If improvement so- cieties are to promote lectures and concerts- and healthful amusements, especially during the winter months, it is manifestly within their province to see to the condition of the roads upon which so much depends for convenient transportation of the people. But the village street and the country road have aesthetic value also. It is, indeed, the beauty of the village street with which improve- ment societies have hitherto mostly been con- cerned. The country road has here received first consideration, in order to enforce the fact that an efficient improvement society exists for the interest of the whole town. At the same time, if there is a village centre, it should be the pride of the whole town; here the commu- nity life should be revealed at its best. Beauty in Village Streets. — ^In a previous chap- ter the value of shade-trees in making streets beautiful has been fully discussed. No city can present any more attractive sight than is seen in some himible country towns with their EOADS AND STREETS 127 streets lined with stately trees. At the same time trees alone will not make the streets of a village beautiful. Some of the older villages in the Eastern States are pathetic spectacles of struggle between a disappearing native popu- lation and an invasion of foreign families not yet trained in neatness and thrift. The old trees are there, and the village green, remind- ers of a race who loved the beauty of nature and lived in well-ordered homes. But neglect and untidiness now detract from the natural beauty. A new people have come who must learn, and in time will learn, how to find pleasure in the things that are beautiful and to labour for their preservation. The beauty of the village street depends up- on all its furnishings. Most important, of course, are the neat and weU-kept homes that line the street. We have placed first, there- fore, in the work of an improvement society the importance of the care of home groimds. Then trees are an added beauty. Next to these the chief ornament of a village street is its grassy spaces. The road-bed itself must not be too wide. Probably twenty-five to 128 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT thirty feet is wide enough for the main street, and less will do for other streets. But if the space between the private property and the street permits there should be ample grass- plots between the roadway and a sidewalk, and between the sidewalk and the private grounds. The inside grass-plot should be planted with the street trees ; or, if there is not room there, the trees should be planted in the grassy space between the sidewalk and the street. These grass-plots should be kept well trimmed. If there are fences on the front lines of the private property let them be removed. It is amazing what a change appears in the old vil- lage, once lined with wooden fences on either side of the maia street, when these needless barriers are taken away. The whole street gains apparently in width, and assumes a park- like aspect, and the front lawns also gain in size and beauty. If the householders object that they lose that privacy and seclusion which is needed for the home, the objection can be re- moved by planting ornamental shrubs in ap- propriate positions, or a low hedge of barberry or some similarly attractive shrubbery may be EOADS AND STEEETS 129 placed on the old fence-line. Hedges on the side-lines, also, are better than fences, or wire fences may be used and covered with running vines, which add greatly to the general beauty of the grounds. But in general it may be said that no fences or barriers of any kind are neces- sary, either in front or on the side-lines of private property in most country villages, and where they do not exist an air of friendliness prevails, and the sense of largeness gained from the view of unobstructed stretches of at- tractive groimds creates a park-like appearance not otherwise possible. Sidewalks. — ^What about the sidewalk itself? It should not be more than five feet wide, and four feet is wide enough, while neat walks only three feet wide, on some streets, may be very attractive. Ordinarily, for country towns, there is nothing better than good gravel for the material of which the walk should be made. Granolithic walks seem to be preferred in some communities, and they possess certain advan- tages. But in the country town, which we con- stantly keep in mind, a well-made gravel walk is more in keeping with the surroundings, ex- 130 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT cept, perhaps in front of the stores, or in the business sections of the town, where brick or granolithic walks are suitable. Then the sug- gestion, by J. Horace Macfarland, may be remembered, that "the colour of a granolithic sidewalk has much to do with its fitness, just as the colour of a rug relates to a weU-furnished room." It should not be a glaring colour which wiU dazzle the eyes, nor should it be like the walk in a certain prosperous city to which Mr. Macfarland refers, "made of patterned blocks of black and white, something like a kitchen oU-cloth, with a distracting effect upon a nearby beautiful river-view." A strong argument against the use of any kind of concrete pavement is the danger that it may deprive the shade-trees of the needed mois- ture. This is especially to be considered where the street is macadamised and a grassy space between the street and sidewalk is lacking. Then, indeed, if the tree is crowded between the stony street on the one hand and the cemented sidewalk on the other, it wiU have a hard strug- gle for nourishment. . Moreover in laying the walk the earth must ROADS AND STEEETS 131 be excavated to some depth and the roots of the trees are often seriously damaged in the pro- cess. In such cases, therefore, gravel walks are best for the protection of the trees; and next to gravel flag-stone walks are least in- jurious. Where the street is narrow, however, and the trees are placed on the inside, between the sidewalk and the line of private property, the trees will be less damaged by the hard side- walk and can draw from the neighbouring soil. In any case, if a hard sidewalk is made it should not be laid close up to the trees, but a space should be left around each tree that it may be deprived as little as possible of needed moisture. The share that a village improvement society may have in this part of the furnishing of a street, is shown in the following report. "Our Society is now five years old. In that time we have built nearly two miles of sidewalks. They were not of brick and cement, but good cinder walks, from four to eight feet wide, with a solid or compact bed or surface. Our mate- rial for curbing was sod. This was banked up sufficiently high, then filled in the centre and 132 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT back, and top-dressed with a heavy coat of hard cinders. As to sod for curbing, I wish to state that it has proved extremely well suited for the purpose. The grass grows up the entire side or surface of the bank, the roots become interlaced, holding it securely to its place. We have now a continuous sidewalk of more than a mile in length, leading from the nearby borough to our vil- lage school-building. This gives our school- children and other pedestrians a good, solid and safe sidewalk to use at aU seasons of the year." {Rural Manhood, August, 1910.) Street Lighting. — ^Having bmlt the sidewalk, the next thing this society imdertook was the lighting of the street. They first provided lamp-posts and oil lamps, but did not find the results satisfactory. They then took the mat- ter up with a neighbouring electric-light plant, obtained reasonable rates, raised the necessary funds and provided abundant electric lights for two miles of their village streets. Some communities may be compelled for a time to be content with oil lamps for street- lighting. A society's committee on streets may EOADS AND STREETS 133 wisely take this matter in charge where lights are needed. They should plan for lamp-posts that shall he ornamental if possible, see that they are so placed as to provide the best light where it is needed, and arrange for a man, or men, to light the lamps and care for them. Sometimes the nearest residents will agree to care for the lamps. But it is wiser to have paid and responsible lamp-lighters to attend to the whole work. Where it is possible, however, fifty-candle- power tungsten electric lamps, provided with reflectors and erected nine or ten feet from the street surface, and about 200 feet apart, has proved to be the most satisfactory method of street-lighting. Arc lamps in country towns are not as satisfactory as these single lamps. If in some central space more light is needed it can be provided by clusters of lamps. Hitching-posts. — Hitching-posts are deemed a necessary part of the street furnishing in some villages. It is better to do without them if pos- sible. But if needed they may well be made of re-enforced concrete. This is more durable than wood and more sightly than iron. 134 VILLAaE IMPROVEMENT PoBntains. — ^A very important part of the street furnishing and decoration for every vil- lage should be a drinking-f ountain for man and beast. For sanitary reasons cups should never be used, but the modern bubble-fountain should be provided. The best material is either gran- ite or concrete. In many communities the im- provement societies have raised the necessary funds to provide one or more of these foun- tains. Often some public-spirited citizen may desire to make a gift of a fountain for the vil- lage. In either case, however, caution is needed that the gift, which is to occupy a promi- nent and permanent place, be made of good material and well designed. Street-signs. — ^Not the least important of the street's furnishings are the name-signs. Hand- some signs, legible, lighted at night, well placed and kept in good condition, are an ornament to the town and helpful to the traveller and the stranger; at the intersection of much-travelled roads they show in clear lettering where each leads, and the distances to near-by towns. Upon lighted streets the light should be so placed with respect to the sign that its information can be ROADS AND STREETS 135 easily read. One of the evidences of an intel- ligent and thoughtful community is the neat- ness and usefulness of its street and road signs. Bill-boards — The question of bill-boards should be carefully considered. The com- mittee on streets might well take the matter in hand. In many communities the bill-boards are the most disreputable and objectionable ob- jects in the landscape, a blot upon the beauty of the "wayside. Sometimes the glaring bill-board is not only aesthetically objectionable but is immoral or indecent. The statement is not too emphatic that "bill-boards and posters, des- ecrating landscapes and disfiguring buildings, indicate a community's dormant sense of the beautiful and congruous; and, if improper or indecent, show an even greater lack of solicitude on the part of the public for its own welfare." In England an organisation has been formed, popularly known as the "Scapa" (Society for Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising), with more than a thousand members, which has promoted legislation reducing this nui- sance. In Hawaii advertising on rocks and other public places is prohibited by law. In 136 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Bermuda public sentiment is so strong against such desecration that legislation is not neces- sary. In many American towns so heavy a tax is placed on bill-boards that they become un- profitable. In other communities there is a general understanding that merchants who ad- vertise in this way shall not be patronised. Of course the subject should be considered seri- ously and with discrimination. The safest method to adopt, in most cases, may be to have the whole matter of public advertising put in charge of the public-art committee of the local society, who shall decide where the advertising shall be placed, what advertisements are most importMit to the public welfare, and least offen- sive to the aesthetic sense. Supervision of Public Art. — ^It would be well if in every village community there were a com- mittee on public art, to whom aU designs of a monumental nature should be submitted before accepted by the town. Mr. Macfarland rightly emphasises this point. "Surely they who give the sites, the occasion, may properly, and not too meekly, ask to be consulted as to the struc- ture for which they are to furnish the position. ROADS AND STREETS 137 the security and the audience. To the local mayor, or burgess, and engineer, there could be added without pay a resident architect and one or two others acquainted with the fine arts. If every gift, and every structure erected at the public cost, must have its design accepted and approved by this commission or committee, the eyes of the next generation will surely be glad- dened." In many communities both large and small, such committees have already been appointed. Such a body should have among its members men or women of trained taste who should guide the local society in this matter, so vital to the very purpose of its existence, lest in its passion for improvement it commit errors which it will be difficult to correct. In the mat- ter of placing fountains, even so simple and practical as drinking-fountains, and monu- ments of all kinds, they should be guided by expert advice. In some villages soldiers' monuments poorly designed, fountains in- tended for decorative purposes, statues of nota- ble men connected with the history of the town, and other memorials placed in prominent posi- 138 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT tions, are far from ornamental, and yet, once put in place, it is difficult to have them re- moved. Before any memorial gift is con- structed designs should be submitted to the public art committee, who may so advise that both the donor and the community will have cause for gratitude. The village improvement society, thus pre- pared for its work, may seek memorial gifts that shaU add greatly to the beauty and interest of their village. The little town of Stock- bridge, Massachusetts, referred to, furnishes a notable example. In the course of years the Laurel Hill Sodety has been instrumental in placing a number of interesting memorials. It has marked the burial-place of the Stockbridge Indians with a rough granite shaft brought from the near-by hiUs, erected upon the burial- mound, with a granite slab in front of it, of the same unhewn material, marked with the in- scription "To the Friends of our Fathers." What could be more appropriate! Not far away, at the intersection of the roads, it has placed another monument, of polished Scotch granite, in memory of the famous philosopher EOADS AND STREETS 139 and minister Jonathan Edwards, who was the third pastor of the yillage. On the site of the original church the sons of the famous Field family have had built a beautiful campanile, with a clock and a chime of bells. In the centre of the village is an appropriate soldiers ' monu- ment, a simple shaft, with fitting inscriptions on its sides. Farther up the street is a simple drinMng-fountain. On the crown of Laurel Hill, near the open space where the annual out- door meetings are held, is a large, artistic, semi- circular granite seat, placed there in memory of a well-known citizen, for many years a hearty friend of the Society. A pretty walk from the Laurel Hill grounds to the Housatonic Eiver, not far away, was constructed, and is main- tained as a memorial to a former beloved phy- sician who was for many years president of the society; and a graceful concrete foot-bridge across the river leads to a beautiful wood-path which wiuds through Ice Glen. The bridge is a memorial to Mary Hopkins Goodrich, the woman who sixty years before was most in- strumental in organising the Laurel Hill So- ciety. Not many societies have such a record 140 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT of achievement; but it must be remembered that this is the result of many years of per- sistent and judicious effort. Other societies may follow in the same way. The idea of a memorial path, perhaps through a beautiful piece of woods, or along the bank of a river or lake, is worth consideration : and the creation of a permanent rest-place, a granite seat, where one may look out upon a beautiful river, is a better kind of memorial than an equally expensive sculptural monument, and may be a finer and more permanently pleasur- able work of art. The building of substantial bridges or culverts has already been referred to in connection with the matter of good roads. But here, also, the artistic effect should be taken into consideration. Even a culvert made of concrete may be not only far more durable and in the long run more economical than the old wooden culvert ; it may also be more ornamental to the roadway. Concerning bridges there is nothing more beautiful than the old-fashioned arched stone bridge. If properly made it is as durable as any kind of bridge. But if stone cannot be EOADS AND STREETS 141 used, at any rate the steel-truss bridge should not be adopted. Here again reinforced con- crete is not only the most permanent material but it is also the material from which the most beautiful structures may be made. Concrete lends itself to easy manipulation and can be moulded into graceful outlines. The most en- during structure, it should be remembered, is the most economical. Under present con- ditions, with wood increasing in price and de- creasing in quality, and considering the con- stant cost of repairs and the increasing weight of loads being hauled over roads, wood is the most costly material. Much practical instruction on this topic, with helpful illustrations, may be found in "The Eoad Eed Book" of New York State. CHAPTEE Vn VILLAGE PAEKS: LAEGE AND SMALL In the planning of new towns it would be well if the model of the old Colonial days were more often followed, for the men of New England al- most invariably built their houses around a large open space called "the common" be- cause it was common property. The common at first was planned for utilitarian purposes, as pasture-land for the village cattle, but when this custom came to an end the common was still preserved as the town's chief adornment. So it comes to pass, for example, that Boston stUl possesses its famous fifty acres of open park in the very heart of the populous city, preserved virtually intact in spite of the con- stant assaults of commercialism. In many a New England village, as well, the old common remains, a place of natural beauty in its very centre, around or facing which are grouped the principal public buildings of the town. 142 VILLAGE PAEKS 143 It would seem also, and it is worth remember- ing, that the old Puritan settlers must have had some deep sense of the value of natural beauty, else they would not have surrounded these com- mons and planted them, here and there, with the graceful elms, now, in their majestic old age, the chief adornments of many a humble village. It is pathetic to remember that when in Eevolu- tionary days the British troops were cutting down the trees on Boston Common for firewood, the selectmen of the town petitioned the gov- ernor to put an end to the vandalism. The old Puritans were not without their appreciation of beauty, and oftentimes in town-planning they showed more forethought than has been ac- credited to them, and more than the builders of the newer towns have usually exercised. Village Commons. — ^Where it is possible, then, there should be located, in or near the centre of the town, an open space, which may be treated as a small park, with convenient paths, trees planted where they will furnish grateful shade, groups of decorative shrubs, and here and there comfortable benches for resting places. Here, particularly, the services of a 144 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT landscape-gardener will be necessary if mistakes are to be avoided and satisfactory results ob- tained. It is best that no structures of any kind be permitted on the common. A possible ex- ception may be made of a band-stand, which, however, should not be the cheap and ugly struc- ture so often seen, but should be made to fit in shape and material into the general scheme : and then great care should be employed that it be so placed, in a large, open space, that shrubs and other decorations be not injured by the crowds that gather about it. But besides the common, and especially if there is no common, some other place, accessible to the village, should be found that can be de- voted to the open-air recreation of the people. To quote the words of Daniel W. Clarke : "Right near the village there should be acquired a small tract of landscape, possessing woods, meadows, streams, and, if possible, the shore of some pond or lake. This would be an invaluable place to frequent for picnics, a spot to visit for the enjoyment of rural scenery without fear of trespass, an area secure from intrusion with the expansion of village bounda- ries. So it is that villages as well as cities should give heed to the need for public grounds and should VILLAGE PAEKS 145 make provision for their realisation. Yet their char- acter should be very different from those of the cities. There should be no attempt at formal terracing, no introduction of classic fountains, or of poor monu- ments, and no use of carpet bedding. They should be made useful and attractive in as straightforward a manner as possible. They should be simple, quiet and dignified, thoroughly in keeping with the rural atmosphere of the village." — {Sural Manhood, Octo- ber, 1912). A notable instance of a village providing itself witli such, a place of pleasurable out-of-door en- joyment is a town in Vermont, where a local commercial club has purchased an area of about forty acres to be held as a park for the benefit of the townspeople. The summit of a mountain at an altitude of about 2600 feet is within the tract, and a wood-road to it has been put in good condition. It is about three miles from the vil- lage to the top of the mountain, but there a scene of rare beauty is spread before the vision. Mountain and Lake. — Not every village, indeed, can find a mountain to flee to for rest and re- freshing of spirit. But many a community pos- sesses in its neighbourhood some scene of beauty, some hill, or forest, or lake, or river, to 146 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT which the public has no access without trenching upon private property, except, perchance for a glimpse from the highway. The land where such an outlook exists is the place for a pleasure park. Especially should a village take advantage of the lake or river which exists within its own boundary. Frank A. Waugh, writing of the village improvement society in Georgetown, Massachusetts, describes a lake in the town, ly- ing within a few rods of the centre of the village. "The lake is surrounded by good trees, and pre- sents most attractive scenery. In former times it had been used for swimming by the boys, and for boating, skating and similar sports by aU. At the present time, however, the entire shore is owned by private parties, and the public is being rapidly excluded from the lake. The vil- lage improvement society has realised that the public should be allowed to have access to the lake, and that a reservation should be secured at once." The experience of Georgetown is that of many other of the older towns where private wealth has bought desirable land before the town has VILLAGE PAEKS 147 realised what it was losing, so that in some cases towns can get no access whatever to the shores of a lake within their own boundaries. No boating, skating, or fishing is possible ex- cept by the consent, not always given, of those who own the land on the shore. The village im- provement society of any community should look ahead and plan, before it is too late, or before exorbitant prices must be paid, to provide an ample pleasure-ground for the village on the shores of its lake or river. The beauty of such natural scenery is an asset of the town which should not be permitted to pass into private hands. The Greenville Plan. — ^In Grreenville, Pennsyl- vania, a town of about 7000 people, the wisdom of such planning for the future has been realised and taken shape in what is called the "Grreen- ville Park Idea." The town has very little money which it can put into either purchasing or maintaining parks, but it possesses great pos- sibilities for future development, as it lies at the junction of two streams and has considerable broken land which at the present time has very little value. The Greenville Park Idea is : 148 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT "First. To secure low lands, broken lands, trian- gles and other lands which are of very little value, vesting the title in the borough for park purposes. "Second. Where adjoining owners are helped by the opening of the park some financial aid is sought from them. "Third. Where it is impossible to buy lands nec- essary to complete a future park-system, which will be increased in value by opening a park adjoining, be- fore accepting land already available to secure op- tions for as long a time as possible on the adjoining lands, so that later on the lands can be taken over by the borough without being obliged to pay the in- creased value which has been made by the establish- ing of the adjoining park. "Fourth. To maintain the same in a natural con- dition, incurring as little expense as possible, and re- lying for the most part upon neighbourhood associa^ tions and organisations of the young people to keep such parks in order." Greenville has evidently adopted the right plan. It does not expect to develop all its parks at once, but with a long look ahead it is planning for the future and making its improvements step by step as opportunity offers. Meanwhile it is providing against paying higher prices for lands made more valuable by its own improvements. And it possesses a body of public-spirited young VILLAGE PAEKS 149 people who are willing to help in making a beautiful Greenville. The situation of the town on the junction of two streams gives it an oppor- tunity which it fully appreciates to include its water-scenery within its park-system. Riverside Improvement. — Cranford, New Jer- sey, is an example of a town which has wisely chosen to make the river which flows through its territory its chief scenic asset. "There are two ways to treat a river that courses through the centre of a town: one is to let it severely alone, except for the necessary bridges ; and the other is to help it to exhibit itself somewhat more generously than nature had intended, by broadening it out here and there by dams and retaining walls." The second has been Cran- ford 's method in recent days. J. A. Eawson describes the changes as follows: "The canoe succeeded the cattle; and to broaden out the stream and give it more depth, retaining walls were placed here and there, and dams were built at points of vantage. Elsewhere the banks were left precisely as before, and in some sections nature is still allowed to run rampant without the least resemblance to constraint. ... On the out- skirts of the town there was an old mill which secured 150 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT its power from a badly damaged old dam. When the homeseekers began to approach in his direction, the owner of the mill did not want to move. What was more, he wouldn't move. But fortunately his mill was a most venerable and respectable-looking old building — a touch of quaintness for the general scene if kept in good repair. The mill-owner would con- sent to anything but moving. So the . forces of ad- vancing civilisation proceeded to repair the dam, clean things up a bit, and build a few walls to keep the river in proper course, and dry up a few stagnant pools. The final result was most gratifying. The miU is now one of the interesting features of the land- scape, and the course of the water, while less aban- doned to nature, and thus a bit more artificial, has at this point a special set of attractions, to be found nowhere else along its banks. "Although both banks are lined with private prop- erty throughout most of the town, the river is re- garded as the common possession of all the citizens, young and old, rich and poor. At one place there is a piece of land set aside as a public park, and there are the grounds of the Casino and the canoe clubs, open to the members and their friends. In any event, if one demands evidence that the river itself belongs to the people, a view of it during the canoe- ing or the skating season will suffice as the proof. ' ' So far as the river is concerned, there really is no landscape-architecture about it. The freedom with which it is enjoyed by all who have the slightest in- clination to enjoy it, the care with which its beauties VILLAGE PAEKS 151 have been preserved, the determination of the town fathers to 'insult not nature with absurd expense' by taking undue liberties with the stream and en- deavouring to improve upon nature, all combine to constitute an object-lesson in the preservation of natural beauties which many suburban towns might do well to emulate." — {Suburban Life, April, 1913.) The reference in this article to the setting aside of a piece of land on the bank of the river as a public park, is especially to be emphasised. "When it is not possible at once to go to the expense of buUding dams and retaining walls it may be possible to obtain a piece of land by the side of the river to be preserved as a park for the public, and as time goes on, year by year, the improvement society or other organisations can undertake, a little at a time, the setting out of trees or shrubs where necessary, and other judicious improve- ments can follow. The important matter to re- alise is that a town which is so fortunate as to possess a river in its borders has an object of natural beauty which cannot be surpassed. Parking in Small Spaces. — ^Li the general plan of making a town beautiful it is often possible, also, to take advantage of little pieces of land 152 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT where streets intersect, for the creation of small park-spaces. Especially where the streets meet at a sharp angle a triangle is created, not nseful for building purposes but admirable for the creation of a small park. "Cities are giving much attention," says Eichard B. Watrous in the Annals of the American Academy for March, 1912, "to the adornment of triangles and squares formed by the jimction of cross-streets. The same possi- bilities exist in the rural districts. How much improved the view might be if at the conjunction of roads a triangle, here and there, might be made a spot to pause at, for rest, yes, refresh- ment, of the inner man and beast. On main travelled roads such triangles might be made to serve a very useful purpose for the installation of drinking fountains, the surround- ings cleared and parked, speaking plainly that somewhere, and by someone, or by some organ- ised group, advantage had been taken of an opportunity for the expression of civic art. Even coimtry roads, with the glories of nature visible everywhere, may grow monotonous, and the touch of man's hand be appreciated. Such. VILLAGE PARKS 153 triangles, shaped into order and beauty and so maintained, wonld speak ia no indistinct tones of an awakened and ever-awake public spirit." The town of Stoekbridge, Massachusetts, has four such triangles along its main street where other streets enter the village, and on each tri- angle is a monument or a fountain. Two of these triangles are large enough to allow room for several beautiful trees and in one benches are placed under the trees. Sometimes the residents on adjoining prop- erty may be induced to club together to pur- chase such a triangular space and give it to the town as a part of the park-system. Both the town and the neighbouring property will thus be benefited. In the town of Wellesley Hills, Massachu- setts, a hotel, not an ornamental building, occu- pied this position, at the intersection of two streets. "When officers of the local improve- ment society learned that the building was about to be put on the market, they at once obtained an option from the owners and began a cam- paign to raise funds for the purchase of the whole property. The ladies of the village pro- 154 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT vided a breakfast for the town, cooking and serving it in the hotel itself, and charging fifty cents to each person for the meal. On foot and in automobiles the people came from all parts of the town, before the men started for their places of business. It was a jolly affair and realised a considerable sum of money, but the chief amount was obtained by private subscrip- tion. When half the sum needed was assured the town was asked to appropriate the balance on condition that the property be deeded to the town for park purposes. The total amount re- quired was $20,000, which might seem a large sum to be raised in a small community. But public spirit and wise foresight prevailed, the property was purchased, the hotel and its barn were torn down, the land was graded and planted with several groups of ornamental shrubs, and now the space which once disfigured the centre of the village has been transformed into its chief adornment. Another illustration of the work of a society is given by Miss Zona Gale in the pamphlet published by the American Civic Association on VILLAGE PAEKS 155 "Civic Improvement in the Little Towns." Describing the work of the Outdoor Art Com- mittee of the society of which Miss Gale is a member she says, "One of the most attractive bits of ground in the town was a little tract, 300 X 100 feet, lying at the end of a bridge at the turn of the river, and looking southwest to water and hills. The place was a sandbank, however, and had nothing of its own save a huge boulder, and a wooden seat placed there by the one man in the town, who, it appeared, had for years held an individual membership in the American Civic Association, and, an exUe in the West for health, used to dream what might be done in the little town. "At the request of the Committee, Mr. John Nolen, a landscape architect, came to see the little triangle, and he made a plan for it, with a stretch of grass, an irregular planting of native and other hardy shrubs, and two flights of rough steps leading down to the water. The committee kept the plan for a year and more, without the means to develop it. Then, through the generosity of the author of a successful play then running ia New York, and of its managers, Messrs. Liebler, this play was given one production in the town by a local cast of amateurs, without roy- alty. The eiffect of this gift was immediate. Not 156 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT only did the actors give their services, but the man- ager of the theatre gave its rental, the coal-dealers gave the heating, the electric-light company the light- ing, the printers gave the tickets, the newspapers the advertising and programmes, and the local shops the properties. The play was given absolutely without expense, and netted enough to pay for the park's planting, the town agreeing to do the grading and put on the top soil." This is a good illustration of the way in which a community will bestir itself to co-operate for work of this Mnd when someone gives the work a start and the town is awake to the oppor- tunity by which it is confronted. Moral Effect. — The value of this park improve- ment to a town cannot be computed. It is not simply aesthetic. It braces the moral tone of a community and it bears direct economic results as well. A. D. McChandlers, telling of his park-work at Wymore, in the bulletin of the Nebraska State Horticultural Society, explains that the town had politics and pool-rooms, saloons and churches, race-tracks and banks, but no parks and no money to buy land for them. As the sentiment in favour of them took root and grew, however, the results became appar- VILLAGE PAEKS 157 ent, the six saloons went out of existence and six parks were receiving the loving support and tender care of a city full of people, awakened to clearer, cleaner and better views of life. One case shows the results in dollars and cents. Two blocks and the street between were taken for a park : adjoining land rose from $50 and $100 to $400 and $1000 per lot, and what had been a weed-patch is to-day the most desirable resi- dence portion of the city. Mr. McChandlers advises small parks, cen- trally located and easy of access; large parks, he thinks, are apt to develop into race-courses and beer-gardens. "The first great step is to get the people interested; and then induce the governing board to levy a tax of a mill, or even less and soon the civic pride and business sense of the tax-payer will lead him, in nine cases out of ten, to seek to have the tax increased." The experience of "Wymore in following up the building of parks with the banishing of the saloon is not unique. It is a very common ex- perience to find that a town in which the spirit of civic beauty is aroused realises that the saloon is out of place, and its appearance more 158 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT odious than the village dump. Instances are not rare where, even in towns that have voted for license, the town authorities have been un- able to find any place where a license granted would not be an injury to property, a blot on the landscape, and an indirect antagonism to the work of town improvement. The Cemetery. — The care of the village ceme- tery is another important matter which should be the charge either of the committee on parks, or better still, since the matter is so important, of a special committee on cemeteries. Too often are the words of John Greenleaf Whittier applicable : "Our vales are swept with fern and rose, Our hills are maple crowned: But not from these our fathers chose The village burying-ground. "The dreariest spot in all the land To death they set apart: With scanty grace from Nature's hand And none from that of art. "For thus our fathers testified, — That he might read who ran, The emptiness of human pride, The nothingness of man." VILLAGE PAEKS 159 But in these later days we are beginning to realise that a neglected cemetery is a disgrace to the eommnnity where such conditions are permitted. The place where our beloved dead are laid to rest should be beautiful and sugges- tive of quiet repose. In many towns it is the appropriate custom to have the cemetery owned by the town. Its grounds are laid out with the greatest care, with graceful trees, ornamental shrubs, grassy triangular spaces, and curving roads giving easy access to all the family lots. It is an attractive place, and if near the centre of the village it adds to the beauty of the town. Instead of a perishable modern fence around the grounds, a gruesome black and too often rusty iron fence, there is a beautiful and well kept hedge. And, best of aU, the lots are free to rich and poor alike, and perpetual care is provided out of the town treasury, the common fund. Surely this is a wise and humane plan. The cost of burial should be reduced to a mini- mum which the poorest family can bear. The care of the lots should be the same for all, for the graves of the rich and for those of the poor. It is best that the ground be levelled over all 160 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT the graves, so that they may be easily mowed, and there should be a regular plan for marking the head of each grave and deciding the direc- tion in which the graves shaU be laid. AU of this means, of course, expert guidance, and the cemetery should be planned and cared for with the same trained skill that is required for the most beautiful park in the town. One practical matter may be referred to here for the thought of the committee having these things in charge. A tent should be a part of the equipment of every cemetery, for use in stormy weather. Made with three sides and a roof, it provides shelter for the family and friends during the burial. Such a tent is de- scribed as having a fourteen-foot opening in front, eight feet nine inches high. The walls draw together as they come back, seven feet deep. The roof slopes down from eight feet to six feet nine inches. The tent is set up with comer poles and gas-pipe connecting theni. It can be set up by the side of the grave. Its cost need not exceed $15.00. The comfort of such a shelter will be fuUy realised by everyone who, VILLAGE PAEKS 161 during a storm, has stood -withiii the shelter of one at a committal service. "With regard to the situation of the cemetery, if a new one is to be created the place chosen should not be on low land, liable to be saturated with water which will fill the grave in wet weather, nor should it be in very hilly land, where steep places will make the burial in some cases exceedingly difficult; moreover, abundant opportunity for expansion of terri- tory must be kept in mind, for whatever else may be imcertain it is certain that this place for the burial of the dead will grow, and in due time wiU need to enlarge its borders. In conclusion we may add an accoimt of the work which some women have done in one com- mimity. "A decided step in advance was made last season in the beautifying of the cemetery at Mason City, Iowa. For years it has been the custom to expend a large sum of money on plants and flowers (annuals) for the planting of certain portions of the cemetery. These were arranged in set beds, and on account of frosts could not be safely placed in the ground until about the last of May. Then, if all went well, there 162 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT would be a very, pretty display for about six weeks before the frost came again to put an end to it aU. Every spring found things exactly as they were the year before. "The women of the flower committee, to whose charge this work was committed, determined to have at least a few perennials and shrubs. Through the influence of a member of the Women's Outdoor Art department of the American Civic Association the committee became affiliated with that body, and ap- pealed to it for advice in regard to the planting of a driveway from the entrance gate to the pretty stone chapel, a distance of several rods. There was sent a fine working-plan for the effective planting of this section with hardy shrubs and perennials. The plan was carried out as far as circumstances wotdd permit. "It was not anticipated that there would be much of a showing the first year, especially as the shrubs were not in the ground until about the middle of May, but by midsummer the effect was very pleasing. The shrubs all thrived marvelously, and in some places, which would otherwise have been rather bare, quick- growing annuals were planted, as nasturtiums, mari- golds, bachelor's buttons, etc. The shrubs used were those which stood the test of the severe Iowa winters, — as Spirea von Houtte, Berberis Thunbergii and vulgaris, hardy hydrangea, snowberry, Rosa rugosa, Persian lilac and scarlet honeysuckle. These were massed according to the plan, and not mixed indis- criminately. The perennials selected were peonies. VILLAGE PAEKS 163 Shasta daisies, Iceland poppies, phlox and delphini- ums. "Other portions of the cemetery not included in this plan were planted in many cases with large clumps of flowering shrubs, as Eosa rugosa, or with phlox or other perennials, where before annuals had been used. In the spring further details of the plan were carried out. The satisfaction of working from a plan, knowing that each bit of work done is so much toward a harmonious whole, adds to the satis- faction of the work, as well as effects a great saving in the cost of effort and money." Under the general title of this chapter it would have been appropriate to consider the making of a village playground and the im- provement of the land around schools, railway stations, and other public buildings. But these are topics of such importance that they will be given space in subsequent chapters. CHAPTEE Vm PUBLIC BUILDINaS AND INSTITUTIONS Any committee on public buildings has ample field for its persistent and profitable activities. In some villages there will be a town ball or other building in which the town officials will have their headquarters, where records are preserved and the town meetings are held. Is the building attractive in appearance, a credit to the community? It may be dignified in architecture, surrounded by well-kept grounds, on which trees and ornamental shrubs are appropriately placed, a testimony to the self- respect and public spirit of the community, or it may be quite the reverse. There is nothing more fitting in type for this kind of a building, whether it is constructed of wood or brick, than the old colonial architecture. The assembly room should be available not only for town meetings but also for social gath- erings, lectures and concerts. Therefore its 164 PUBLIC BUILDINGS 165 acoustic properties should be good, and it should be so arranged that the stage or plat- form is wholly visible from every seat in the room. It is exasperating to have a hall, where dramatic entertainments are given occasionally, with a large number of seats at the sides of the hall that are undesirable, because the depth of the stage is hidden by the walls, or where the speaker or singer cannot be easily seen and heard. On the other hand a good hall, in which amusements of various kinds can be presented, is of great value in promoting the social life of the community. The Public Library.— In every town, also, there should be a public library. If one does not exist let the village improvement society take the matter in hand, find a room, perhaps in the town building, or in a school-house, and begin with a few books. In some towns it is the cus- tom to appropriate the dog-tax for the purchase of books. Any town, when the project is fairly started, will make a small annual appropriation for this purpose. The room need not be open every day or all day long. Here are some ex- tracts from the story of a little library in the 166 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT small town of Brimfield, Massachusetts, as it is described, in a Massachusetts Civic League Bulletin, by Miss Mary Anna Tarbell, who has been for many years its devoted librarian. "The Brimfield library represents the type that has struggled upward and outward with limited means and under many disadvantages. It has had no building of its own; it has been confined to one room ; it is open only during a part of two days each week; it has had no ap- propriation from the town except the dog-tax, by the accumulation of which for several years its small beginning was established twenty- seven years ago. At that time the dog-tax averaged less than $100 annually, now it is usually $200. It had no endowment fund until lag's, when it received a bequest of about $2000 from a woman who had spent her life in school- teaching. The town, formerly the most wealthy and influential in its section, has come to be among the poorer ones, and has suffered a great decrease of population. "The secret of whatever success and influence the library has attained lies in the purpose to keep it a live organism, putting forth buds and PUBLIC BUILDINGS 167 shoots by natural development, and being grafted with new ideas and activities according to the needs of its environment and suggestions from without. And perhaps there is compen- sation for its lack of ways and means, conveniences and tools, in the absence of con- ventionality, fettering rules and formalities. There is probably nowhere a freer free public library than the one in Brimfield. "Now I will ask you to go with me into the cheer- ful library room In the town house where the library has increased its collection from a few hundred vol- umes to nearly five thousand, where it has gained its present measure of freedom by outgrowing early restrictions, developing new ways of influence, and becoming a power felt to the outermost parts of the community. 'How pleasant!' you will be likely to say, as at first glance you see the books ranged around the sides of the room within easy reach, the bright colours of the bindings enlivening the walls; for the books were freed from their dingy wrappers a few years ago. Above the books, on the wall op- posite the entrance, is the cast of Michael Angelo's 'Holy Family,' and facing it, on the side of the en- trance, is 'Victory Tying on her Sandal.' On the third side is a Braun photograph of the 'Aurora.' These decorations were presented when it was found that we should welcome and appreciate such things. 168 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT Other decorations are steel engravings of statesmen, and crayon portraits of former citizens, associated with the library. You wiU be attracted by' photo- graphs of scenes in Venice on a home-made screen in the rear of the room, and then you will observe a large print on an easel, to find that it is the new Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of New York. Near it is a piece of the pure white marble of which the monument is made. "As you examine the books you will probably re- mark, as visitors always do, 'What a fine collection!' Yes, the library was started on a high plane and it has been kept there. The per cent, of fiction is not over large, its character is of the best, and the library is especially rich in biography and American history. We mean to get the representative works of aU classes, even if but a few volumes, and I try to get recommendations of books from those who have espe- cial acquaintance with certain subjects. The library has grown from within, outward, according to needs, and to form a balanced whole. "There is a good proportion under Education, purchased to assist the teachers, and under this sub- ject are a number of books relating to child study, quite as valuable to mothers as to teachers. These were discovered through our kindergarten friends. All the children's books are selected with the same care. Under the class Philosophy, which includes Ethics, and under Religion, we have some of the books representing the progressive thought of the day. If such books are read by only a few people, PUBLIC BUILDINGS 169 they should be bought for the benefit of these few, and the influence radiating from them. "You notice that the people, old and young, are taking the books directly from the shelves. This sensible freedom has been granted for a long time, the Brimfield library having been among the first to allow this privilege. The opportunity to handle the books is not only of practical help in making selec- tions, but promotes acquaintance and friendly inter- course with the books, and puts patrons on terms of afEectionate regard and cherished intimacy with the library. People may take out as many books at a time as they wish. There will then be several thou- sand left on the shelves. At first, when the library was small, only two books to a family were allowed. A few years ago the number limit was entirely re- moved; but people never want an unreasonable num- ber of books. You, perhaps, would like to take out some books. You are at perfect liberty to do so. The stranger within our gates for a night, or the so- journer for some weeks, whether road-surveyor or summer-boarder, has all the privileges of the inhabi- tant and native." Arrangements were also made by which books were transported to other parts of the town for citizens who could not conveniently visit the library, and additions to the collection were an- nounced annually in the town report. Maintenance of a Library. — Perhaps the most 170 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT important matter in connection with the main- tenance of a library is the choice of a librarian. It should be someone who loves books, who knows the people intimately and can advise peo- ple in the choice of books. There should be co- operation, also, between the library and the school, books for supplementary reading being placed in the school-room as they are desired. In some commimities the school itself may be the best place in which to begin a collection of books for the community, the needs of parents being considered, as well as those of the chil- dren, in the choice. Massachusetts, Iowa, Wis- consin, and other States, have laws intended to stimulate or assist in the creation of public libraries. Sometimes a State appropriation is made to assist towns raising a certain amount for the maintenance of a library. In some States provision is made for travelling libraries — collections of good reading, boxed and sent out to clubs, improvement societies and other organisations. In Wisconsin 35,000 volumes have been sent out in a single year by the State commission to villages and country dis- tricts. Indiana has a number of libraries with PUBLIC BUILDINGS 171 the townsliip as tlie unit, each library serving not only the city or town in which it is located but also outlying rural districts. A county library system has been effectively operated in Van "Wert County, Ohio, as de- scrihedia Rural Manhood (September, 1912) by Corinne A. Metz, Librarian. Van Wert is a county-seat of a rural community in which the largest town has a population of 860. A cen- tral library exists in Van "Wert with branches wherever necessary, fifteen in number. Each branch station is in charge of the local post- master, or the owner of a general store, with a salary of $50 a year for the task of receiving and returning the books, delivering to borrowers and keeping the records. Every three months a new collection of 100 books is sent to each sta- tion and the old collection is returned to the central library. Some stations receive larger collections, and special requests for books are promptly granted. Through a school-library department each school desiring it is also sup- plied with a library for its special work. There are 90 schools that take advantage of this oppor- tunity. The. report of the librarian that in one 172 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT year over 73,000 volumes were thus circulated, over 15,000 in the rural schools, shows how such an opportunity is appreciated. This library was started by bequest of a public-spirited citizen who left $50,000 for the erection of a building with the provision that the county sup- port and maintain the library. For mainten- ance the tax-levy of less than one-fourth miU has been adequate thus far. The librarian's com- ment is reasonable : "What Van Wert County is doing, other counties can do, and with the placing of good books in easy reach of all the people of a county, with attractive reading- rooms in every village and town, with the stand- ard of reading in the farm-home improved and broadened, the rural problem in many a rural community would be a little nearer solution." Distribution of Benefit.— Another interesting method of making a central library available in a surrounding territory of small towns is that employed in Washington County, Maryland. In Hagerstown a free library was established as a county institution. The population of the county (50,000) consists largely of farmers who were not, at first, very desirous of books to read. PUBLIC BUILDINGS 173 Indeed they were inclined to grumble at the ex- pense of building and maintaining a library. But Miss Titcomb, the librarian, was determined to get these books into the farmers' homes. If the people would not come to the books the books must go after them. After attempting several plans to bring about this desirable result she finally hit upon the happy idea of a library on wheels, a covered wagon fitted with shelves that could take the books directly to the homes of her people. "Miss Titcomb worked out the plan and had the wagon built. When it had been completed two hun- dred books were selected with the greatest care and placed on the shelves. Then a man who had lived among the people for years was given the reins and told to fill the county with books. He proved to be a man of unfailing tact and wisdom, but he needed both. Many farmers and even a preacher spurned his proffered volumes. He was told that the women, like the men, had no time for idle reading. Yet he continued to go his rounds, patiently and persist- ently, offering his books without price. He stopped at each house. Colour and previous condition of servitude made no difference ; and these things count in Maryland. Gradually the wall of prejudice was broken down, until the appearance of the book-wagon came to be hailed with delight all along the way. 174 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Presently an accident put the wagon out of conmuB- sion. Then it was replaced with an automobile, simi- larly equipped, and within a comparatively short time it was in daily operation, serving the farmers of the county even better than the wagon, because it could cover the ground much more rapidly. It would be hard to overestimate the benefit which this library on wheels has already been to the county. Probably it would be impossible to find a better-informed rural population in any section of the country." With a knowledge of good books comes a de- sire for agricultural bulletins and for good pa- pers and magazines. If Miss Titcomb has her way, the farmers of "Washington Coimty will be the most widely read farmers in the country. Much has been accomplished, but more is being planned. This energetic woman wants regular branches in the larger towns, weekly stories in all the country schools, and still more books to give out. "For," she says, "given a rural population inoculated with the reading habit, aU the other things which makes for rural nplift will be added unto them." So writes E. I. Far- rington in Holland's Monthly (May, 1913). Some States not only provide travelling libraries but travelling art exhibitions. New PUBLIC BUILDINGS 175 York State sends out such an exhibit of 1586 large pictures, of "the finest subjects and the best edition," over 21,000 mounted photographs to be hung on the walls of school-rooms for six months at a time, with proper labels and notes ; also thousands of lantern-slides, with lanterns, screens and attachments for oil, oxyhydrogen, acetylene or electric lights. An Art Collection.— It might be possible for a small town to have, in addition to its public library, a good art library. In one small town of about 2000 inhabitants a citizen with only about $1000 at his disposal created a village art museum in the following manner, as described in the New York Evangelist : "The first step taken was to secure a proper place in which the articles to be bought could be deposited. By an arrangement with the school authorities a room was obtained, and at an ex- penditure of less than $50 it was papered and painted and furnished with curtains, so ar- ranged as to give the best possible light for the display of art objects. The walls were cov- ered with warm grey plain paper, with a dado of Pompeian red matting, and the woodwork 176 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT painted a dark greenish grey. The curtains were of dark grey, and rolled at the bottom. Pedestals were made of pine, painted like the woodwork, and draped with cotton staff of a red colour, harmonious with the dado. At an expense of $100, good four-foot plaster casts of the Venus of Milo, the Apollo Belvedere, and three or four other works of a like character, were bought and placed on the pedestals. A long table was made by a village carpenter, its woodwork painted black, with stencilled gold ornaments, and its top covered with red cloth. A bookcase was made by the same workman, and similarly painted. The entire cost of the two articles was $20. A dozen armchairs were bought, 'in the wood,' at $21, and these were painted to match the furniture, at a cost of $6 more. Cushions were made for them, and covered with red cloth at an added cost of $9. A specimen was procured of every kind of en- graving on an interesting subject, and the best impression obtainable. These were framed in natural-wood frames. Their cost, framing in- cluded, was $98. Then the sum of $200 was PUBLIC BUILDINGS 177 spent in standard art books, and this nearly filled the bookcase. . . . "After much study, a selection of fifty photo- graphs was bought, most of them carbon-prints, illustrating the history of painting, as it had advanced chronologically. These were framed and disposed about the walls of the room, each frame bearing a card giving the name of the artist represented. The photographs, most of which were imported, cost $125, and the framing $35 more. Good specimens of the more ordi- nary kinds of lace were obtained in half-yard lengths, and placed in a frame where they could be easily inspected and their character studied. Most of these specimens were given, and should not have been mentioned here, but that the fram- ing and supplying deficiencies involved an ex- penditure of $16 more. At this point, let me say, that no sooner was the project of a village art museum broached, than several gifts were sent in for it. This will nearly always be the case. The most valuable of these gifts were some twenty pieces of old china, some of the pieces exceedingly rare, all of them valuable. 178 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT The village carpenter and glazier were called upon to make a cabinet. This was done at an expense of $16. In it was placed the china that had been given, and $40 was spent in specimens illustrating the modem ceramic ware of Japan. Two hanging lamps were placed above the table at a cost of $10, and two bracket-lamps on the wall at a cost of $4. Subscriptions to the more prominent art periodicals were provided in the sum of $83, and nearly $200 remained as a fund for such needs as might arise. "But who was to take care of this $800 worth of property? Here was a question of import- ance. It was solved by the formation of an art club, of ladies and gentlemen, who met fort- nightly for art study, one of whose number vol- imteered to keep the rooms open three evenings and one afternoon in each week. The room be- came at once a resort for all who had the least interest in art. Its books were used freely for reference, and the history of art and the meth- ods of art processes became plain to many through the examples on the wall. Having a habitation, the art club grew, and, instead of drawing on the fund for improvements in the PUBLIC BUILDINGS 179 room made from time to time, at once increased the fund, and improved the room with funds obtained from a course of lectures. "Such an art museum is possible in almost any village. Its benefit to the community is incalculable. If properly managed, it will soon make art study fashionable where it has not been thought of before. School boards could well afford to pay for the fitting up of such a place as a part of the educational machinery. And one of the most beneficent gifts that any public-spirited citizen of such a town could make to the community would be the small fund re- quired for such an institution. An art museum, no matter how small it is in the beginning, is sure to grow; only care needs to be assured. "Loan-exhibitions and lectures naturally follow its establishment, and in time it be- comes a repository from which art sense and understanding spreads to all the departments of life and work in its neighbourhood." These are undertakings quite worthy of the consideration of many a village improvement society. In a county town in an agricultural community, it could promote a county public 180 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT library with its distributing stations in the smaller neighbouring towns; and it would be quite possible not only to create a local art museum but to make it also a distributing centre from which photographs could be loaned for a period of three or four months for the decora- tion of the schools, the collections being shifted among the schools at regular periods. Beautifying Railroad Stations. — In towns that are situated on raUroads, one of the most im- portant buildings from the village improve- ment point of view is the railroad station. Here is the entrance to the town, the place where first and most vivid impressions are made, not only upon passengers alighting, but also upon those passing through the town and viewing it from the car windows. Not many years ago the railway station was about the most dismal building to be found in any community and its grounds were shabby and disreputable as any back yard. In too many towns the same untidy and unattractive condi- tion still remains. But on the whole there has been a widespread change for the better. Many of the great railroads, east and west. PUBLIC BUILDINGS 181 have accomplished notable results in this direc- tion. In New England, the Boston and Albany road is famous for the beauty of its stations and their surrounding grounds, its architectural standards having been created by the late H. H. Eichardson, one of America's greatest archi- tects, and its landscape work by Frederick Law Olmstead, the best known landscape-architect America has produced. It is well to remember that the work was initi- ated by a man, E. A. Eichardson, who was baggage-master of the suburban station at New- tonville, and began in a very humble way by en- deavouring to improve the conditions about his own station. His work attracted attention and presently won the hearty assistance of the officials of the railroad. Finally he was made superintendent of a department to carry for- ward the work throughout the railway system. The idea is to beautify the line as a whole, dec- orating the embankments as well as the grounds around each station. The method employed is not to create flower-beds, which can last only a part of the year, but to set out shrubs and trees which remain beautiful after the leaves 182 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT have fallen. "A railway station is a place for all the year round, and its surroundings must be treated accordingly, and the means nearest at hand, the hardy native trees, shrubs and vines, may be considered both aesthetically and practi- cally the best material to be used." In some villages, where the railroad company has not undertaken the improvement of its stations, village improvement societies have carried out the work successfully. This was one of the early undertakings of the society in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It created an at- tractive park about the station, and when the buUding itself was destroyed by fire it raised enough money to have a beautiful stone edifice erected instead of the wooden structure planned by the railroad authorities. The residents of several Long Island villages are co-operating with the railroad officials in the work of beautifying the station-grounds. At Patchogue, for example, a woman's club, called Sorosis, has bent its energies toward helping the station park along. The village lends its street-roller, scrapers and other instruments, the railroad furnishes land and labour, and prO!- PUBLIC BUILDINaS 183 vides rock for the drives and walks. Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been set out, and beds of phlox and hydrangeas. The plot around the station contains about three acres. It is being bordered with trees and bushes. The freight- yard at one end is completely hidden from view. There are large, graceful stretches of green lawn on each side of curving macadam roads. In some communities school-garden work has been maintained on land near the station, leased from the railroad. This is the case in James- town, North Dakota, where the children were enlisted by Mr. Crane, the Superintendent of Schools, in the work of beautifying the city. Through the influence of the ladies of the Civic Improvement League a plot of land in front of the railroad station was secured. The company fenced it and laid surface water-pipes to carry the water, which was furnished free by the city. Then the ladies offered to provide seeds and plants if the schools would furnish the workers. Over a hundred children volunteered. The ground was then mapped out iato a sufficient number of beds. The details of this kind of work will be ex- 184 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT plained later in a chapter on school-gardens. Here it is sufficient to say that this plan of beautifying the ground near the station was a complete success, and during the season of the year when flowers are in growth and bloom it turned an ugly spot into a place of beauty. It also awakened civic pride and resulted in other efforts to beautify the city. The only objection to work of this nature is that already mentioned in connection with gar- den-work for station grounds. It does not last all the year around. In addition to the making of flower-beds, and more important for per- manent beauty, trees and shrubs should be planted, which will preserve the park-effect be- fore the flowers come and after they are gone, in winter as well as in summer. Recognition in the West. — Some years ago the Passenger Manager of the Chicago and North- western Eailroad in a letter to the American Civic Association said: "There are 1700 stations on our line with a tribu- tary population of 7,600,000 and the importance of a policy by means of which the traveller, on alighting from the train, finds himself in the midst of a pleasing PUBLIC BUILDINGS 185 landscape of flowers, shrubbery and well kept lawns, is one the full value of which can hardly be computed. This value is felt not only by the traveller, but in each community so fortunate as to be thus favoured the influence of an example of this kind extends into the civic life of the community very rapidly. The most important features of this systematic campaign for the beautifying of what is one of the most gener- ally used and widely noticed places in the community — ^the railroad station — ^is the educational effect it has upon each community, whereby the universal beauti- fying of houses and streets has been rapidly brought nearer a fruition that is ideal." CHAPTER IX THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN When a town is thoroughly imbued with the "village beautiful" spirit it will need no special clean-up campaign. It will keep clean all the year around. Paper will not be thrown care- lessly m the streets nor tin cans and other rub- bish in the back yards. There are towns of this kind, where neatness out of doors is so abso- lutely the rule that one would no more think of throwing bits of waste paper or banana-sMns, into the street, than he would of dropping them on the carpet or rugs of the house in which he lives. A Clean-up Campaign. — But imtil that habit of outdoor neatness has been acquired, it may be wise to begin cultivating it by instituting per- iodic, public, deaning-up times. The idea of a public clean-up campaign is spreading to many cities and towns. Even a great city like New York may undertake it. In May, 1913, the 186 THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 187 clean-up idea captured the city, and for a whole week there was exhibited an unprecedented effort not only to clean the streets, but also the attics, cellars, back yards, alley-ways, vacant lots, and all other places where rubbish and dirt collect. For a week in advance, municipal inspectors had scattered official notices, calling upon householders and proprietors of premises to get all their rubbish ready for the men that would call to take it away. They sent out 1,200- 000 of these notices. Other organisations co- operated with the city officials. The Babies' Welfare Association of the Housewives' League sent out folders to the tenement houses, printed in English, Yiddish and Italian, explaining the value of keeping their homes clean. Many min- isters of the city read notices of the "clean-up" from their pulpits. The Metropolitan Life In- surance Company distributed 50,000 circulars, which they prepared themselves, and 280,000 four-leaf folders, prepared in English, Italian and Yiddish, by the Department of Health. The city's men finally carried away not only dirt but old furniture, boxes, trunks, and everything else which wise housekeepers desired to be rid of. 188 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT An even more notable campaign was carried on in Texas in 1912 at the instigation of Hol- land's Monthly. The following announcement was made in the May issue of this magazine : CONDITIONS FOB CLEANEST TOWN CONTEST "To encourage the enforcement of better sanitary measures, thereby lessening the danger of disease and the spread of epidemics, Holland's Magazine offers $1000 in cash prizes to be divided among three Texas towns of 1000 to 10,000 population mak- ing the best record for cleanliness in 1912, as shown by inspections to be made under the rules of the con- test. "All towns in Texas having a population of not less than 1000 nor more than 10,000, according to the United States census of 1910, are eligible for entry. In order that the conditions of the contest may be equalised so far as possible, the towns have been di- vided into classes as follows: Class A — Towns having 4,000 and not more than 10,- 000 population : Prize $500. Class B — Towns having 2000 and less than 4000 pop- ulation: Prize $300. Class O — Towns having 1000 and less than 2000 pop- ulation: Prize $200. "Each town entering the contest will be inspected and scored on the following points: Condition of streets, parks and alleys. Water-supply and drainage. THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 189 Collection and disposal of garbage. General appearance of homes. Condition of vacant lots. Ventilation and care of public buildings. Public conveniences, especially those for schools. Presence of flies, mosquitos and other disease-car- rying insects. Handling and exposure of meat, fruit, pickles and other food products offered for sale. Such special conditions as may directly affect the health or cleanliness of a town. "All inspections will be made wholly at the expense of Holland's Magazine, and will be under the per- sonal supervision and direction of Dr. M. M. Carrick, medical director in charge. "Inspections will begin August 15, 1912, and will be continued until all of the towns entered in this con- test have been inspected. No information will be given as to the date on which any town will be vis- ited by inspectors. All towns must be ready for in- spection without warning on and after August 15." Eighty-three active towns entered this con- test, seventeen with a population between 4000 and 10,000; twenty-four with a population be- tween 2000 and 4000; and forty-two with a population under 2000. The large number of small towns engaged in this campaign is the matter of greatest interest to the readers of this book. The clean-up work may be carried 190 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT on as thoroughly in a small town as in a large one when the people are thoroughly aroused. Several matters in this contest are worthy of attention. In the first place its purpose was sanitary as well as aBsthetic. Probably the im- pelling motive was in many cases mainly to im- prove the health-conditions of the community. Dirt is a breeding-place of disease. That ter- rible malady spinal meningitis is a filth-disease, so probably is infantile paralysis, not neces- sarily caused by conditions in the home of those who suffer, but caused by unclean conditions somewhere in the community. Sanitation is a community necessity. The children of the wealthy may suffer from unhealthful conditions in the homes of the poor. Sickness in one part of a town may be spread by unrecognised agencies to remote places. So this clean-up campaign not only undertook to remove refuse but it took into consideration such matters as the ventilation and care of public buildings, the condition of public conveniences, especially in schools, the presence of disease-carrying in- sects, the handling and exposure of meat, fruit THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 191 and other food-products, and also of milk and ice, which in 1913 were added to the list. Another matter to be emphasised is that the date of the expected visit of the inspector was not known^ and the length of time during which clean-up conditions must be maintained covered several months. Th^ tendency of such a plan was to create not simply a clean-up day or week, but permanently clean conditions. It is impos- sible to estimate the value to any community of such a prolonged campaign. The carrying on of the clean-up work was undertaken by many agencies in the different towns. Of course the city or town officials, as a rule, gave aid by sending around men at stated intervals to collect rubbish. Commercial clubs, women's organisations, civic leagues, improvement societies, and in some places the Boy Scouts, enlisted in the work. In many towns the school-children were of great assist- ance, and at the same time they received valu- able practical training in good citizenship. Then, of course, the public press lent its aid. Local papers everywhere were full of the topic, 192 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT creating public spirit and imparting an immense amount of useful information. In some cases published pictures of particularly disgraceful conditions led to swift improvement, and again the mere knowledge that such pictures might appear caused reluctant citizens to fall in line ! Holland's Magazine kept its readers informed from month to month of the conditions of the contest, and helped to keep things moving. Need of Public Cleanliness. — ^In the February- issue of the magazine Dr. Manton M. Carrick, medical director in charge of the Cleanest Town Contest, wrote an article on "Some of the Things I Saw." Here he mentions dairy con- ditions as among the most important to be con- sidered. "That which is pre-eminent, — so far as it affects the growth, health and life of chil- dren in the home — ^is the condition of the milk supply. This is a matter of vital importance. Not alone does it affect children, but it stands second as a cause of typhoid in adults. And, although the agitation for supplies of clean and wholesome milk has been going on throughout the country for some years, in many places noth- ing has been done." HOW THE HOUSEFLY AIDS IN CARRYING DISEASE Although fhes feed regularly upon human foods in houses and stores, they are equally fond of all sorts of filthy matter, and will wander back and forth from one to the other. Dragging their germ-laden feet and bodies over food stuflFs, or depositing their excrement as "fly specks," they carry disease germs from infected filth to food. We may thus take into our stomachs any germs accessible to the flies. Summer complaint, which causes the death of many young children every season, is nearly always the result of germs in foods. These are often carried to foods by flies. The Board of Health makes regula- tions to protect the health of all our household, but these regulations will not save us from illness if we allow flies to scatter disease germs over our food. A USEFUL PLACARD. It may be printed in two or more larger sizes, and distributed for posting in schools and other public buildings, or out of doors. THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 193 Equally important was the inspection of the water-supply. Typhoid, diarrhoea and dysen- tery are largely spread by polluted water. But many cities and towns obtain their water-supply from polluted streams. Many towns drain their sewage into rivers, for other people to drink! Some States have legislation against the pollution of streams, large and small, but legislation alone is powerless. It needs the backing of a people educated to understand the importance of this matter. Here is work for an improvement society. It can provide leaf- lets containing instruction concerning the dan- ger of polluted drinking-water, the criminality of emptying sewage into streams, and the im- portance of the location of wells. In some com- munities the improvement society has been able to promote the creation of a water-supply com- pany, or, better still, to induce the town to sup- ply its own water from a lake, or from driven wells in an unpolluted district The society should also study the question of sewage-disposal, both for communities where a sewage-system exists, and for the rural com- mnnities in which such a system is impossible 194 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT and but-houses are used. There are methods of disposal where sewage instead of being peri- lous to the health of the home or community is converted into fertiliser and used for the enrich- ing of the soil. Here, for example, is a statement made by Dr. L. K. Hirshberg of Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Holland's Magazine for June, 1913. "Why do modern municipalities neglect one of the cheapest methods as well as one of the most sanitary of schemes for annihilating this poUuting material, to wit, table-garbage? How is it that sewage-systems are built, contagious diseases limited, hospitals built and health departments fitted out completely, yet that hotbed and home of the house-fly, food-remnants, al- lowed to procreate living things in the open and un- der the heat of a noonday sun? Yet the simple ex- pedient, effective and economical, of triumphantly get- ting rid of this threatening breeder of bacteria is merely a matter of burying the refuse. When gar- bage is buried, bacteria multiply, if possible, even more rapidly than above the earth. This increased incubation helps to digest thoroughly much of the wasted vegetables, fruits and meat. The salts of the earth aid in dissolving the mess, and if enough oxy- gen is mixed with the fermenting material no odours are obnoxiously discernible. Garbage, to insure the THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 195 ideal outcome, should be buried just far enough down net to interfere with microbic manifestations, yet drained with air and water. "Sanitary engineers now advise that the refuse be spread in a thin layer over the surface of the ground, and a plough or harrow be run firmly over it to dry it. Others have proved that each day's garbage is best buried in a long, narrow gutter, this alley being then covered lightly with the soil obtained in digging a new ditch for the next day's stuff. Many western cities, such as Milwaukee and some Ohio towns, in- cluding Columbus and Cleveland, have adopted this plan with a remarkable improvement in the death- rate." This plan is as feasible for small towns, even for the farmer, as for mimicipalities. In larger places cremation of garbage may, be the more practical method of disposal. ' ' The cost is only about a dollar for each ton of garbage inciner- ated, and both coal-fires and high-temperature furnaces are successfully used for destroying this waste. The first cost of construction of such a place is well under a thousand dollars for each ton capacity, and may be half of that. A forty-five-ton furnace — for each of twenty-four hours — ^is enough for every fifty thousand souls, 196 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT or ten thousand families. A city the size of Baltimore or Cleveland should have a dozen of such furnaces. "The real economy comes from the increased efficiency of the people served, the saving of money and health because the incidence of many summer maladies is hereby reduced, and the great reduction in the breeding of many other pests besides the malicious house-fly." Disease-Spreading Insects — A campaign against the house-fly and the mosquito is an essential part of the work of an up-to-date improvement association. Here, also, educational efforts may stUl be necessary. Malaria and typhoid fever are essentially coimtry diseases, and both are preventable. Malaria, it is now thoroughly understood, is contracted only through the bites of mosquitos of the genus Anopheles. These mosquitos are found almost everywhere in the country except in high or very dry local- ities. Wherever there are pools of still water, or marshy places, there they breed. Irrigating ditches are prolific breeding-places for mis- quitos, and equally favourable are water-barrels or tanks, horse-troughs, pools of rain-water, THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 197 cisterns, cess-pools, or even tin cans holding water. Wherever there is standing water there the malarial mosqnito breeds. Hundreds of mosquitos may be bred in a single tin can hold- ing stagnant water. Kjiowing these facts, the method of extermi- nation is greatly simplified. It is almost impos- sible to get rid of grown mosquitos, but they can be prevented from breeding, either by filling the pool with earth, or by draining, or by spraying the surface of the water with kerosene, or by introducing certain fish which feed upon the larvae, such as top-minnows, young sunfish, sticklebacks or goldfish. Even large swampy places, such as have made "the Jersey mos- quito" famous, may be drained and thus the pest abolished, or they may be sprayed with kerosene from time to time. It is pretty well settled that these mosquitos do not fly for great distances, but the ground should be covered for the radius of a mile at least. Where large tanks are used for storing water for irrigation or other purposes they should either be covered, or the surface of the water sprayed with a thin film of kerosene. 198 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT To get rid of the house-fly, the agent in spread- ing typhoid fever, is a more difficult matter, but not impossible. Horse-manure is the preferred food of the larvae of the house-fly. It is asserted that twelve hundred house-flies, or more, will issue from a poimd of horse-manure. The fly does not breed typhoid fever, but is the carrier of the germ of the disease from one place to another. It is fond of human excrement and in feeding on or walking over the excrement of a typhoid patient some of the disease-germs ad- here to its feet or body. Then the fly goes to the house, falls into the mUk or walks on the food to be eaten in the house, and leaves the typhoid germs that are later taken into the human system. He may fly from a house in which is a typhoid patient and carry the disease- germ to other houses, or to passing carriages. Observations have proven conclusively that it is chiefly in this way that typhoid fever is borne from place to place ; though it should be remem- bered, as already stated, that typhoid germs may also be spread by polluted water or milk. To get rid of the house-fly is, therefore, a very important matter even though it involves eon- THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 199 siderable care and some expense. It is not enougli "to screen the house, though that should be done. Nor is it enough to "swat the fly." This is ahnost a dangerous catch-word, since it may divert attention from the more necessary task of preventing the fly from breeding. The only radical and effective treatment is that recommended by the Department of Agriculture (Farmers' Bulletin, No. 155) : "All horse-manure accumulating in stables or barns should be collected, if not daily, at least once a week, and should be placed in either a pit or vault, or in a screened inclosure like a closet at the side or end of the stable. This closet should have an outside door from which the manure can be shovelled when it is needed for manuring purposes. Each day's or each week's accumulations, after they are shovelled into the closet or pit, should be sprinkled over the surface with chloride of lime, and a barrel of this substance can conveniently be kept in the closet. If this plan be adopted (and these recommendations are the result of practical experience), house-flies will have almost no chance to breed, and their numbers will be so greatly reduced that they will hardly be noticeable. Many experiments have been made in the treatment of manure-piles in order to kill the mag- gots of the house-fly, and the chloride-of-lime treat- ment has been found to be the cheapest and most effi- 200 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT cacioos. It has been stated above that the closet for the reception of manure should be made tight to pre- vent the entrance or exit of flies. A window fitted with a wire screen is not desirable, since the corroding chloride fumes will ruin a wire screen in a few days." If it is not well understood in a community that the breeding of house-flies and malarial mosquitos should be prevented, and that it is a work in which every householder should share, then the improvement society should prepare circulars stating the facts in simple, intelligible fashion and distribute them through the town. Such a circular has been prepared by the society in Woodstock, Vermont, and is reprinted by the American Civic Association (Special Series No. 1 ) , of whom it may be obtained. * ' Mosquitos, ' ' published by Hampton Normal Institute, in June, 1906, is also an admirable leaflet for its purpose. Boy Scouts as Scavengers.— Keference has been made to the use of the Boy Scouts in promoting "clean-up" work. In Ottawa, Canada, the fol- lowing plan was adopted. The city was divided into sections and different scout-masters with their scouts were assigned to different districts THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAiaN 201 and made themselves responsible for their dis- tricts. On certain convenient dates the sec- tions were to be scouted for breeding-places of the fly, such as stable refuse, heaps of gar- bage in yards, etc. The scouts made notes on scribbling-pads provided by the city, of ad- dresses where garbage, rubbish, refuse, etc., liable to breed flies, occurred. Those addresses were handed to the patrol-leaders, who handed them to the scout-masters, by whom they were given to the mayor. The mayor then handed over the list to the city engiaeer for immediate attention of the scavenging department. "In this way the scavenging department had a sanitary survey made of a far more thorough character than would have been possible with- out the appointment of a large number of sani- tary inspectors at great expense. Nor could one enlist the assistance of a more reliable and thorough band of inspectors than the keen- eyed, swift-footed scout. In addition to making this special survey, the scouts were impressed with the necessity of personal responsibility in abolishing the fly and the need of continuing their efforts in regard to their own homes and 202 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT surroundings, perhaps the most important point of all." A Village Dump. — One of the matters in which the improvement society must take the initia- tive in many communities is the provision and care of a village dump. Some kinds of refuse, as tin cans, etc., cannot be readily destroyed. Papers accimiulating in great quantity cannot be burned at home. But a community dumping- place may be secured, in some inconspicuous location, where papers can be burned and ashes, tin cans, etc., used for filling in. But care must be employed that this dump does not become a breeding-place for flies, mosquitos, the gypsy- moth, and other pests. The "Woodstock Improvement Society de- scribes its work as follows: "After a proper dump was secured, a systematic removal of rub- bish was begun. At present a man is employed by the society to remove at regular intervals all waste and refuse from the houses and shops. When collected this refuse is carted to the vil- lage dump. All that can be burned is so dis- posed of, the balance is out of sight and cannot possibly be a nuisance to anyone. . . . The THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 203 coiDinittee has also purcliased six barrels which are painted green and marked 'Woodstock Im- provement Society: Throw Rubbish Here.' These are placed in different parts of the village for the reception of aU refuse which otherwise would be thrown on the sidewalks or street. These barrels are emptied three times a week on the regular trips of the refuse cart. "The society has hired a man to sweep all street-crossings in the business part of the viL lage, every morning, Sundays included. ' ' Hospital Service. — ^Another interesting com- munity undertaking which concerns the health of the toAvn is the forming of such an agency as the Samaritan Association, in Whitinsville, Mass. This association has purchased hos- pital appliances which it loans, free of expense, where there is sickness. Among the articles most in demand is a mechanical bed which makes it possible to change the bedding without moving the body of the patient. Another ap- pliance is the invalid-lifter, a cleverly contrived derrick by which a patient can be gently lifted from a bed to a chair. Adjustable chairs, wheel-chairs, window-tents, baby-carriages, 204 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT nursery-refrigerators, and electric fans, are some of the other useful properties of the asso- ciation. It has been in existence now for twenty-four years, and owns apparatus valued at over a thousand dollars. A salaried cus- todian has charge of the supplies, having been fully instructed in their use by a graduate nurse. The physicians of the town and nurses are supplied with order-blanks. The annual fee for membership is only fifty cents; but mem- bers and non-members are served alike. The value of such an organisation is apparent. In any community a beginning could be made by the purchase of invalid-chairs, and some of the simpler furnishings so helpful in the sick room. Of course they should not be loaned where there is contagious disease. In some communities, also, a district nurse could be engaged, supported by a common fund, and her services provided wherever there is need, for a nominal fee, under direction of the regular physicians. Such aid in homes where a trained nurse could not be afforded, or where a little skilled help daily is all that is necessary, is of inestimable value. No more THE CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN 205 beneficent work could be undertaken than to provide the constant presence of such a nurse in a community. Emergency cases often arise where the possibility of obtaining such help at once means the saving of life. In Montgomery County, Maryland, there is an organisation of this nature. It is called the Montgomery County Social Service League. This league, which was formed in 1908, has for its objects : "To assist in the care of the poor, of the sick, especially tuberculosis cases, and of destitute and deficient children in the county ; to direct public attention to the causes and the promotion of disease and suffering, and to arouse general interest in securing provisions for the needy in their homes and in institu- tions. It was the first association of its kind to be formed in the State, and from the start has had generous support. At the present time (1911) it is supporting a resident tuberculosis nurse, who gives her entire time to visiting the houses of the poor and instructing them in the care of the sick."* • Prom A Rural Survey in Maryland, Board of Home Mis- sions of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. p. 46. 206 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT A Neighbourhood House. — ^Another interesting undertaking which illustrates the very desirable exhibition of neighbourliness between country and city people, where both come together at certain seasons in the year, is the building of a "Neighbourhood House" in a certain country community in the Adirondacks. The nearest hospital is twenty-four miles away and difficult of access; therefore this neighbourhood house contains "a sunny, airy infirmary and a per- fectly equipped little operating-room." There are also rooms provided for a district nurse, and the necessary articles for confinement eases. Crutches, invalid-chairs, wheel-chairs, and emergency articles, are among the furnish- ings of the house, for the use of rich and poor alike. The neighbourhood house is, however, not simply an infirmary, it is a social centre, where the local woman's club meets, and the girls' club. One room is set apart for a village ex- change in the summer months, and is used for the meeting of boys in the winter. Another large room is used for a summer kindergarten, THE CLEAN-TJP CAMPAIGN 207 and here, also, are held classes for adults in domestic science, sewing, embroidery and dancing, also cliurch fairs, suppers, informal village meetings, etc. In manifold ways the neighbourhood house ministers to the varied needs of all the country around. The beautiful story of its creation, continued maintenance and wide usefulness, is told by Sarah Laurie in The Survey for April 5, 1913. This chapter may be closed with the words of a report from an improvement association in the little town of New London, Iowa : "We have had a great many things to dis- courage us, have been held up to ridicule, and have thought many times, 'Does it payT But when a year ago our town was visited by an epidemic of typhoid fever, and there were 60 nurses here where a professional nurse had never been; when so many homes were darkened with death, all because of the filthy condition of one drain that ran into an alley and poisoned a near-by well that supplied the water for our popular restaurant ; then our physicians and men of better judgment (and women, too). 208 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT realised the need of getting the help of the Im- provement Association in cleansing and purify- ing our town. We are now considered an asset, and I believe we have come into our own." CHAPTER X LAW AND OEDEE In every town, presumably, there is a "lock- up," or prison-cell, or two or three, in which human beings are confined temporarily until they can be taken to the county jail. It is safe to say that as a rule these places are a disgrace to our Christian civilisation. Here is an extract from a recent (1912) official report made by the inspector of a Prison Commission in one of our oldest and largest States : "The lock-up consists of three iron cells in a room on the first floor of the town hall and post-office building. The size of the room is 12 by 22 feet and about 11 feet high. The size of the cells is about 7 by 7 by 51/2 feet high. The cells have narrow doors of flat bars, and while better than wooden cells, they are not as satis- factory as cells of the steel-cage type. The bunks in use are of wood and the cracks in- 209 210 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT fested with vermin. No bedding is provided. The room is narrow and the cells do not face the windows; they front toward the plastered partition which separates the lock-up from the main portion of the building. The floor is wooden and badly worn ; in one case it had been torn up by a prisoner who escaped. There is a flushing closet and small sink with running water in the corridor; buckets are used in the cells and these were found in a filthy condition. "Sunlight and ventilation are given by one window behind and above the cells, and two transoms. The room is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. The entrance is from the rear of the building while the court adjoins, with no doorway between, making it necessary to take prisoners around the building. It is claimed that, owing to the bad smell from the lock-up, it is not deemed wise to have it con- nected with the main portion of the building. If the lock-ups were provided with the proper means for sanitation, and cared for, there would be no odour, "The average arrests are about 150 a year. There is no separate room for women or minois, LAW AND OEDER 211 During the winter a considerable number of lodgers are housed in tb© lock-up. No officer is on duty during the night." Let the imagination dwell a little on this picture. No humane man would let his dog live under such conditions ! And yet the report does not describe a very exceptional situation. This particular account is chosen because of the comment of the President of the Prison Com- mission appended to the report, "It is a pity there is not a law whereby those who are re- sponsible for continuing such a vermin-infested, foul-smelling and pestiferous place could not be punished by keeping them confined there until they consented to make it sanitary." Responsibility.— But who is responsible for such conditions? Not the town officials only, but the citizens of the town who permit such a state of affairs to prevail, and in the very build- ing with the town hall, post-office and court room! If some dread disease were to spread from that filthy plague-spot it would probably be considered a mysterious dispensation of Providence, instead of the natural result of the town's neglect of common decency. 212 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT What is the condition of the lock-up in your own community? Let the improvement society take this as one of the questions for them to consider. If it is necessary to maintain a place for the detention of human beings, it should at least be clean and decent. In small country communities where there is rarely more than one prisoner at a time to be confined, where the lock-up is seldom used, there is likely to be the most neglect. But it is vitally important, as well as decent, that that one per- son should be humanely treated. Our whole prison-system is open to the charge of prop- agating crime. Too often each step taken in treating the offender tends to degrade him, and confirm his career of ill doing. The filthy, inhuman lock-up is the worst feature of the whole system. Never should more than one person be shut up in a cell. Certainly never an old offender with a young man, perhaps for the first time arrested. Never should men and women be confined in the same room, even though in separate cells. One of the worst features of the penal system is that often it is an innocent man who is thus confined, awaiting LAW AND ORDER 213 trial. He is tried, f oimd innocent and acquitted. But there is no redress for his inhuman and de- grading experience. One remedy which might be more often em- ployed is by issuing summonses instead of war- rants. A man with a home will respond to a su mm ons, in most cases. If his offence is of such a nature that the judge can impose a fine, by way of penalty, he may be spared the in- jurious effects of imprisonment. In the case of first offenders this experience may be sufficient for a warning; and if the man is too poor to pay the fine he may be given the chance, under a suspended sentence, to work out his fine ; mean- while he is not separated from his family and retains his place of employment. Juvenile offenders should never, under ordi- nary conditions, be locked up in a jail; but should be dealt with as "delinquents" and placed on probation, under the charge of a pro^ bation officer. Not infrequently the parents of the youth should be dealt with by the judge and made to feel their responsibility. In a large proportion of cases the probation treatment will be sufficient to arrest a thoughtless youth in a 214 VILLAGE IMPEOYEMENT career when imprisonment with criminals would tend to make him permanently vidous. If there is no Juvenile Court and no system legally devised for the use of probation then it may be the privilege of the improvement sodety to study the matter, create public opinion, and promote this modem, sane, and effective method of treating the delinquency of youth. The Problem of the Tramp. — ^Another important problem is presented by the tramp. The vagrant, the tramp, should not be "lodged" in the town lock-up. There are other and better ways of dealing with the tramp problem. In the first place the inveterate tramp should be distinguished from the accidental tramp. By the accidental tramp is meant the honest man who, perhaps through no fault of his own, is out of work, and is willing to work for his living. The poor and self-respecting man who is driven to tramp from town to town to seek work, should never be housed in the lock-up. A pretty safe method of discrimination is provided by what is called * ' the work test. ' ' Let every conmiunity provide a clean and decent place of night lodg- ing for any man who is willing to do a piece of LAW AND OEDER 215 hard work to pay for Ms meals and bed. When in any community this rule is adopted and strictly enforced, the vagrant-tramp class will, as a rule, avoid that place. If in addition to this a bath is required the test will be final ; for no cat dreads the water more than a confirmed and filthy tramp. On the other hand the honest workman will welcome both, when decently arranged for his use. In a small New England town on the tramps' highway the application of tramps for lodging was reduced in a single year from several hundred to about sixty, by the simple use of the work test. In succeeding years tramps practically disappeared from the town. It became known by the fraternity that in that town the tramp would have to dig in the field, or chop wood, or break stone to pay for lodging and meals. At the same time neat and clean lodgings, good food and humane treat- ment, were assured any poor man who was in genuine need of help. The State of Massachu- setts has almost eliminated the tramp from its borders by the extension of this custom. In Switzerland, farm-colonies are provided by the state ; one kind where men out of work may be 216 VILLAaE IMPEOVEMENT given work to tide them over hard times; another colony where men who will not work are compelled to do so. Germany has a thoroughly organised system of thirty-two tramp-colonies which have practically rid the coxmtry of the troublesome vagrant class, while it has also provided for snch as remain, in a way both economical and humane. At the same time, while such humane con- sideration is urged for the treatment of social offenders and vagrants, it is necessary to re- member that the hand of the law should be strong, and its grasp on the criminal should be sure. The rural community, the isolated farm- house, should have the assured protection of the law; and crime must not be encouraged by sentimental clemency. Rural Police. — ^At this point, rural communities are sometimes weak. They are not sufficiently well policed. Some countries maintain a rural mounted police which patrols the rural high- ways and lanes, and is swift and effective in its pursuit of criminals. The splendid reputation of the Canadian Mounted Police is well known. Some States have small bodies of State police LAW AND OEDER 217 who keep track of the "wanderings of well-known criminals, and are ahle to enforce law in com- munities where public spirit is weak and un- willing to act with requisite severity against resident offenders. In Massachusetts special State police to deal with the tramp problem have had much influence in bringing about the present improved conditions. Sometimes, also, the local oflEicials are not supported as they should be in the performance of their duties. "The town constable," says J, J. Kelso, "is one of the most important links in the chain of social service, and yet he is seldom taken into consideration by the active workers for social betterment." If the con- stable learns that he will not be supported by the community in the enforcement of law, that his position may be endangered if he does his duty faithfully, who can wonder that often- times he is inefficient. The constable must know that he will have public sentiment with him in the enforcement of law. The following description of a certain town is true of other towns. ' ' The idea got into the constable 's head that his duty was to carry out the law, no matter 218 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT what people thought about it, and to his great surprise it was not long before his resignation was insisted upon. He did splendid work and reaUy frightened law-breakers, so much so that they got busy in bringing about his downfall. "Where were the good people! Entirely miss- ing. Church members, in the council, allowed themselves to be made the tools for his destruc- tion. Public meetings in that town still con- tinue to denounce the well-known evils, indif- ferent to the fate of the officer who thought he had aU the forces of good at his back." Mr. Kelso concludes his article with these words: "Social and church workers, let the town con- stable know that he is appreciated, let hiTn feel that good work is recognised, that if he is at- tacked because of the fearless discharge of his duty, he will have behind hirn an unflinching body of men who wiU. make his troubles theirs and fight for a righteous cause as weU as talk at church meetings." — The Survey, April, 1913. The words may fitly be addressed to any im- provement society. In the first place the so- oiety should use its influence to see that good men are appointed to the office of constable or LAW AND ORDER 219 police, and in the second place it should let the officers know that their work will be backed by the influence of the society. If there is a Chief of Police he should be a member of the executive committee of the society, or at least he should frequently be invited to confer with the exec- utive committee. Then he may both report conditions as he knows them to exist, and learn from the society of conditions it is willing to assist in improving. In a certain town such an improvement society devotes some sessions dur- ing the year to conference with the different town officials, when existing conditions and im- provements necessary are fully and openly dis- cussed. Immorality in Country Towns. — Much has been written about the immorality of country com- munities. As a rule the statements have origi- nated in conditions existing in certain decadent towns which for many years have suffered de- crease of population by migration. It is slander to apply these conclusions to rural con- ditions as a whole. Government statistics prove conclusively that there is less pauperism and less crime in the country: than in the city. 220 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Moreover many erimes committed in the country are the acts of tramps and hoodlums from the cities. Although 54 per cent, of our population lives in the country, less than 17 per cent, of the male criminals are reported in the census as from agricultural communities. It is true that much crime in the country goes undetected. But the same fact holds for the city. Allowing a wide margin for errors of statistics, it stiU seems true that there is much less crime in the country than in the city. This is a fact which anyone who has lived many years both in the country and in the city will be ready to confirm from his own observation and experience. So far as moral influences are concerned, there is good reason to believe that the average country town is a better place in which to bring up children than in any city, with its manifold and ever present temptations. Social immo- rality, gambling, drunkenness, thieving, house- breaking, murder, and other forms of vice and crime, must be fought everywhere. Political dishonesty and graft are not peculiar to either urban or rural life. LAW AND ORDER 221 Perhaps the most common and notorious evil of the country is drunkenness. In the report of the Commission on Country Life this is the one evil which calls for special mention. "The liquor question has been emphasised to the com- mission in all parts of the country as compli- cating the labour question. It seems to be re- garded as a burning country-life problem. In- temperance is largely the result of the barren- ness of farm life, particularly of the lot of the hired man. The commission has made no in- quiry into intemperance as such, but it is impressed, from the testimony that has accumu- lated, that drunkenness is often a very serious menace to country life, and that the saloon is an institution that must be banished from at least aU country districts and rural towns if our agri- cultural interests are to develop to the extent to which they are capable. The evil is espe- cially damning in the South, because it seriously complicates the race problem. Certain States have recently adopted prohibitory regulations, but liquor is shipped into dry territory from adjoining regions, and the evil is thereby often increased. Dry territories must arouse them- 222 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT selves to self-preservation in tlie face of this grave danger, and legislation must be enacted that will protect them. When a State goes dry it should be allowed to keep dry. "There is most urgent need for a quickened public sentiment on this whole question of in- toxication in rural communities, in order to relieve country life of one of its most threaten- ing handicaps. At the same time it is incum- bent on every person to exert his best efforts to provide the open coxmtry with such in- tellectual and social interests as will lessen the appeal and attractiveness of the saloon." The last sentence from this report calls atten- tion to preventive work, a matter which will be considered in some of the later chapters of this book. It is incumbent on the forces striv- ing for viUage improvement to work directly for the abatement of all kinds of social evil by making and enforcing law. But, in addition to this, they must also cultivate more healthful influences which tend to prevent the evil. Not only must the saloon be banished but something better must take its place. It is better to pre- vent crime than to punish the criminal. The LAW AND OEDEE 223 cultivation of social life, the strengthening of influences that work for moral welfare, the pro- vision for healthful entertainment, are all influences that tend to decrease law-breaking, drunkenness and immorality. CHAPTER XI EDUCATIONAL AND CO-OPERATIVE WORK Improvement work is not concerned chiefly with material conditions, but first and last and all the time with the enrichment of hmnan life. If beauty is sought in streets and parks and public buildings it is because of the refining and elevating effects of beauty on human life. We have already been guided by this principle in our consideration of hygienic conditions, the care of jails and treatment of tramps. The present and succeeding chapters enforce this principle more emphatically. Any association, especially in country towns, working for local improvement, should seek to promote educa- tional and co-operative organisations. It is generally recognised that the chief draw- back of country life is its comparative isolation. This is much greater in some communities than in others, but everywhere, year by year,, it is 224 ' EDUCATIONAL WOEK 225 growing less and less. Eural free delivery of mails, the telephone, the trolley-car, the auto- mobile, are counteracting the influences of isolation. There are also a large number of organisations springing up all over the land that tend to bring the people together more frequently and for more useful purposes. The United States Government, through its Depart- ment of Agriculture, is serving the country splendidly by disseminating information and promoting educational organisations. Adults as well as children and youth need instruction. This is true everywhere, in cities and towns as well as in country villages. New problems of government must be studied by all the people if the modern political methods are to be suc- cessful. The increase of the use of the initia- tive and the referendum demands an intelligent people to judge correctly on important matters submitted to them for decision. All educa- tional organisations for adults, therefore, where consideration is given to the problems of life, in the home, on the farm, in town, and city, State and national government, are of greatest importance. They should be heartily encour- 226 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT aged wherever they exist, and where they do not exist they shoidd be organised. Farmers' Institutes. — The Farmers' Institute is one of the oldest of such organisations. As far back as 1785 the first Society for the Promotion of Agriculture was formed in Philadelphia, In 1842 the New York State Board of Agriculture began a series of winter meetings for farmers. Michigan has had annual institutes since 1876. The present wide-spread institute work began about 1880. It was reported in 1904 that insti- tutes were held in aU the States and Territories except six, conducted under the direction of a State official or agency. In forty-five States appropriations amounting to over $200,000 were made for institute purposes. To-day every State in the Union makes some arrange- ment for institute meetings. Methods differ in different States, but usually meetings of one, two, or three days, are held in different coun- ties. The one-day meeting seems to be the most general. Addresses of a practical nature are made by experts ; sometimes local farmers also speak. The addresses are followed by discussions; then the audience is invited to EDUCATIONAL WORK 227 ask questions pertinent to the topic under consideration. In some places the programme is arranged by the appointed State oflScials in charge of the meetings; in others the local authorities choose the topics and arrange the meetings. In some States separate meet- ings are held for the women, when questions of domestic science are discussed. Exhibits of local products are generally made. So great is the recognised value of these insti- tutes that the U. S. Department of Agricul- ture has employed an experienced man to devote his whole time to their promotion; and has established a central office where statistical data can be gathered for the benefit of State directors and institute instructors, and for information concerning the institutes. This is " a recognition of the fact that society in its large sense needs education fully as much as the individual, and that any system of instruction that reaches the masses of men with valuable truth is worthy of national support. ' ' The gov- ernment official also visits and addresses insti- tute workers in the several States, and assists in securing Department experts to visit farm- 228 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ers' meetings and deliver lectures upon their several specialties. Among the good results of these institutes the following are evident. They have aroused farmers to an appreciation of the possibilities of improvements in agriculture. In no depart- ment of industry, indeed, have greater improve- ments been made in the last score of years. The institutes have shown farmers that if they have failed to make themselves profitable the fault is with themselves. They have demonstrated the value of science to agriculture. They have changed popular opinion concerning the value of agricultural institutions, proving that education in agricultural affairs is as necessary to success as in law, or medicine, or mechanics. They have taught farmers self-respect, esteem for their occupation, a new sense of its great importance in the life of the nation. They are showing farmers that their particular industry is the best and the most profitable that exists, that it provides more comforts for the people than any other, is less exacting in its requirements, gives more leisure and purer joys, and is the only occupation in which absolute and unqualified EDUCATIONAL WORK 229 independence exists. They have broadened the farmers ' view, brought them out of their isola- tion, brought them into touch with other men, with leaders in their own kind of life and in other pursuits. The results of scientific treat- ment have given them new conceptions of natural law. As nature's methods in the won- derful transformations that occur in the life and growth of animals and plants are explained by the instructors, many farming people have re- ceived their first inspiration and incentive to ex- periment for themselves, and to study the operations of the laws that have effected these remarkable results. Their eyes have been opened and their view enlarged, with the result that their occupation has been lifted out of the routine of drudgery into the realm of a most interesting and delightful occupation. Moreover, these institutes have impressed upon farmers the lesson of the value of organ- isation and co-operation, both in the promotion of their own industry and in other matters for the common welfare. National Grange. — ^Another eflScient organisa- tion which should be vigorously promoted is 230 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT the National Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, which is reported in 1913 to have established 30,000 subordinate granges in 44 States and Territories. It is very strong in the Eastern States. In New York State alone it has over 66,000 members and over 150,000 members in New England. The purpose of the grange is educational and social, to make better homes, better manhood and womanhood as weU as im- proved agriculture. It holds lectures, debates and entertainments. Its members are men and women and young people over 14 years of age. The National Grange has favoured legislation for increased rural free delivery, postal savings- banks, direct election of United States senators, pure-food laws, parcel-post, telephone and tele- graph in the mail-service, national and State aid for highway improvement, and other im- portant matters. Some granges are strong enough to have haUs of their own in which to hold their weekly or fortnightly meetings, but very valuable work has been accomplished by smaller granges meeting in the homes of their members. The social, educational, and practi- cal value of these organisations is immeasur- EDUCATIONAL WORK 231 able; and they should be liberally supported and kept up to a high standard. Co-operation. — In New England, where the Grange is very strong, valuable experiments in co-operation have been made. Of these the most successful have been the co-operative stores, notably the Houlton Grange Store, of Houlton, Maine. Co-operative stores have been successfully conducted in Minnesota and Wisconsin by the Right Relationship League, on the Roch- dale plan. "The Pepin County Co-operative Company in Wisconsin, with nine retail stores, did a business amounting to about $230,000 in 1909." But in the raising and marketing of fruit, in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast regions, co-operation has been most successiul, facilitating the gathering, packing, shipping and marketing of oranges, apples, peaches, lemons, pears and small fruit. Such societies are to be found in aU fruit-growing sections of the country. The results are not only economic but also of high educational and moral value. (Eyerley) In a pamphlet issued by the University of 232 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Wisconsin on "The Social Centre and the Farmer's Home," the plan of co-operating for creating co-operative rural laundries is pro- posed. "What about the farm woman in this last twenty-five years!" the writer asks, after speaking of the great improvements in the farm- ers ' machinery. "I find in looking over the State she is still washing her dishes three times a day in much the same way her grandmother did. She is still cooking her meals in much the same way as her grandmother did, six days a week. She is still doing her wash- ing on Monday, and her ironing on Tues- day, just as her grandmother did." In other words the man's labour has been greatly light- ened, but not the labour of the woman on the farm. Then he proceeds: "Now take this laundry proposition; that is so simple that I am astonished that farmers have not instituted it years and years ago. You can put it alongside of the co-operative creamery — a co-operative laundry. The only advantage in putting it alongside of the creamery is that when the farmer's wagon brings the cream he can just as well bring the soiled clothes, and EDUCATIONAL WORK 233 three or four days later lie has his empty wagon again ready to haul back the clothes. A co- operative laundry with 300 patrons, each con- tributing $10, gives $3000 for equipment, and there is no farmer who is not obliged to invest more than that in washboards and tubs, and these things wear out every year and have to be replaced. "You can equip a laundry for $2500, and that leaves $500 for a working capital. With this equipment you can do all the work necessary except the expert finish, which is used on the 'biled' shirts and collars, for which you have no need in the country laundry. The farmer can still take his collars and cuffs to the city. But 95 per cent, of the farm washing and iron- ing can be done with this equipment. For this kind of a laundry you will need a man — an ex- perienced man — and four girls. You will have to pay the man from $15 to $18 per week and the girls a dollar per day, and this will do the work for 300 farmers' wives. "It has been figured out that a woman saves 10 cents a day when she does her own washing, and when I put this up to one audience, one 234 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT farmer got up and said, 'Vel, vat my vomans been doin' ven she don't save that 10 cents f I asked how large a family he had and he said nine children. I left it to the audience whether a woman who took care of her house, with nine children and a big husky husband, had not enough to do without saving that 10 cents." This is only a suggestion of the way in which, by co-operation, the hard drudgery of the home may be greatly decreased, when the farmers have put their wits to work to have it done. It is a matter which the grange and similar organi- sations may well consider. Farmers' Unions. — ^lii the Southern States an organisation known as The Farmers' Union undertakes work similar to that of the grange. It was organised in 1902 and is said to have more than three million members. The stated object of the Farmers' Union is : " (1) To dis- courage as much as possible the present mort- gage and credit system. (2) To assist our members in buying and selling. (3) To labour for the education of the agricultural classes in the science of crop-diversification and scientific agriculture. (4) To constantly strive to secure EDUCATIONAL WOEK 235 entire harmony and good will among all man- kind, and brotherly love among ourselves. (5) To form a more adequate union with those in authority for a more rigid and impartial en- forcement of the law, that crime, vice and im- morality may be suppressed." Demonstration Farms. — The Farmers' Co-oper- ative Demonstration work is another educa- tional effort for improving rural conditions, which has been remarkably successful. It is carried on by the Department of Agriculture in co-operation with individual farmers who re- ceive expert instruction in the best methods of raising standard crops. The director has as- sistants, 10 State agents, and 188 district and local agents. The local agents are practical farmers who receive their instructions from State and district agents. Public meetings are called in October in every district to be worked, and the farmers are shown that they can in- crease their crop-yield two, three or four fold by adopting better methods. Farmers agree to follow instructions and demonstration-plots of one or more acres are so located as to place a sample of best farming in each neighbourhood 236 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT of a county or district. The necessary work on these is done by the farmer himself, not by the State agent; the man thereby understands the work better, and his neighbours come to see that what he has done they can do. Each month during the season instructions are sent to every such demonstrator, clearly outlining the plan for managing the crop. In addition a local agent is expected to call on each demonstrating farmer monthly and explain any- thing not understood in the instructions. Then what is called a "Field School" is held at some appointed date, when all the co-operating farm- ers meet at a chosen demonstration-farm, and the crops and farms are thoroughly discussed. At one of these meetings in Alabama a farmer described his experience as follows : "I was born in a cotton field and have worked cotton on my farm for more than forty years. I thought no one could tell me anything about raising cotton. I had usually raised one-half a bale on my thin soil, and I thought that was all the cotton there was in it in one season. The demonstration-agent came along and wanted me to try his plan on two acres. Not to be contrary, I agreed, but I did not EDUCATIONAL WOEK 237 believe what he told me. However, I tried my best to do as he said, and at the end of the year I had a bale and a half to the acre on the two acres worked his way, and a little over a third of a bale on the land worked my way. You could have knocked me down with a feather. This year I have a bale and a half to the acre on my whole farm. If you do not believe it you can go down and see. Yes, sir ! as a good cot- ton-planter I am just one year old." This is an illustration of a common experi- ence. To choose another crop, for example, take the case of Mr. T. C. Sandy of Burkeville, Va., where work began in 1907. Hay had been imported for home consumption and the aver- age yield of corn had been 5 to 10 bushels to the acre. On Mr. Sandy's demonstration-farm the yield was 4 to 6 tons of hay, or 75 bushels of corn to the acre. The report of the district says, "The effect of these yields was to increase the number of demonstration-farms from 27 one year to nearly 1200 the next, and to stop the importation of hay just as fast as land could be prepared and seeded to grass. Nearly all the lands about Burkeville have doubled in value and some advanced three-fold since the 238 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT demonstration-work began." Similarly good results have been accomplished wherever the demonstration-work has been undertaken. Among the coloured people this work is equally effective ; in the main, it is reported, the coloured farmers respond as readily to the demonstration-work as do the whites. Booker T. "Washington is quoted as saying in The World's Work for July, 1908: "If I was to name a single instance of this new policy of tak- ing education to the man on his job, an instance which seems to me more thoroughgoing and fruitful of good than any other which I know, I should refer to the work that the General Education Board is doing in conjtmction. with the Agricultural Department of Washington, in order to instruct the farmers of the South, by practical demonstrations, in the newer and bet- ter method of cultivating the soil. No other single agency, I am sure, is destined to do more in the task of creating the New South." That the results of such improvement work are far reaching will be readily understood. Improve the farmers' methods, so that he re- ceives a greatly increased and profitable return EDUCATIONAL WORK 239 from his efforts, and new hope, new interests, are aroused in his life. Some of the results of the demonstration work that have been ob- served are, first, of course, unproved equipment for farming, better horses and mules and imple- ments; increased yield of crops; more intel- ligent choice of seeds ; but also better homes and better schools, more months of schooling follow- ing an increased perception of the value of edu- cation, better highways, improved social life and a new interest in the agricultural life, a new sense of the importance and value of fanning. Sixteen Clubs — In some States this new spirit for the improvement of farming has led to the formation of what are known as Sixteen Clubs, the membership composed of sixteen farmers and their wives. These clubs meet once a month at the homes of the members. They in- spect the farm, the barns and all the arrange- ments of the place, and after dining together they make suggestions of improvement for the benefit of the host. When a second meeting i* held at any place the minutes of tiie last meet- ing at that place are read, and the description of conditions as they were are brought up for 240 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT comparison, to see what improvements have been made. The results are said to be very satisfactory, as these sixteen farms become models for others to follow, and at the same time the social life of the members of the club is catered to and fostered. Wisconsin Farmers' Clubs. — The movement for the formation of Farmers' Clubs in Wisconsin is worthy of special notice because of the activ- ity of the University of Wisconsin for the aa- sistanee of such clubs. The University Exten- sion division stands ready to reply to inquiries for information and to loan material for study on the great social, industrial and political prob- lems of the day. The material presents both sides of debated questions for the purpose of stimulating full and free discussion. The Uni- versity leaflet on Farmers' Clubs says: "The department of debating and public discussion of the University Extension division has a large number of package libraries which will be lent to farmers' clubs without charge, upon application by their secretaries. Such li- braries include reports, speeches, articles from magazines, and newspaper clippings. EDUCATIONAL WOEK 241 "Package libraries on the following general subjects will be found of special interest to Farmers ' Clubs : Parcel-post. Schools as social centres. Highway improvemeii^ Travelling libraries. Income tax. Recent progress in agri- culture. County agricultural schools. Protection of birds. Conveniences in the home. Prison reform. Civil service system. Centralisation of schools Free textbooks. Co-operation. "Woman suffrage. State parks in "Wisconsin. State forests in "Wiscon- sin. County sanatoria. County training-schools. Prevention of fire losses. Conquering tuberculosis. International peace. Short ballot. "Farmers' Clubs which desire to use these li- braries should plan their programme some weeks in advance. The officers should also have copies of the Extension bulletin ' General State- ment,' which describes the package libraries and gives the rules for their use." This is only a hint of the varied assistance which the University is ready to render. Doubtless in other States similar aid may be obtained. If not already offered, steps should 242 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT be taken to create such a central bureau of in- formation. In tbe circular referred to the fol- lowing sample constitution is submitted by way of suggestion. The Skillet Creek Farmers' Club, in the vicinity of Baraboo, is one of the most pros- perous and successful of the older clubs of Wis- consin, and has helped to make the neighbour- hood noted for its homes, gardens, orchards, schools and highways. As a suggestion the constitution of this organisation is printed be- low. CONSTITUTION Article I. — ^Name. The name of this club shall be the Skillet Creek Farmers' Club. Article II. — Object. Its object shall be to promote sociability and general prosperity among its members. Article III. — Membership. Any person is eligible to membership who is old enough to be interested in the meetings, and young enough to enjoy them, by making application to the secretary and paying an annual fee of ten cents. Article IV. — Officers. The officers shall consist of a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, and two advisory members, who, with the other offi- cers shall constitute an executive board. They shall be elected by ballot. EDUCATIONAL WORK 243 Article V. — Duties of Board. The Executive Board shall have general direction of the affairs of the club. Article VI. — Annual Meeting. The annual meet- ing for the election of officers shall be held on the third Saturday of November. Article VII. — ^Regular Meetings. Regular meet- ings shall be held every two weeks on Saturday even- ings at the residence of the members. Article VIII. — Amendments. This constitution may be amended at any regular meeting by a two- thirds vote of the members present and voting, if no- tice that the amendment will be offered has been given at the meeting next preceding. The Hesperia Movement. — ^Another educational movemeiit which, origiaated in the desire to im- prove rural schools, especially hy hringing par- ents and teachers together, is described by Mr. Butterfield as "The Hesperia Movement," be- cause it originated in Hesperia, Michigan. Locally it is known as the Teachers' and Pa- trons' Association. It is mainly a county organisation and is composed of the teachers and parents. It is confined chiefly to rural communities and holds one or more meetings a year in some country village. It originated in 1885 among teachers who found it difficult to attend the teachers' institute, and conceived 244 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT the idea to have an institute of their own to which the farmers should be invited. Beginning as a one-day meeting it grew into a three-day conference, from Thursday even- ing to Saturday evening. The best speak- ers in the country have been obtained to address the gatherings, and the association has grown to such an extent in numbers and influence as to be popularly known in western Michigan as "the big meeting." A newspaper report of it in 1906 says: "For three evenings and two days the big hall is crowded with patrons, pupils and teachers from the towns and cotmtry around. The plan has been adopted by other coxmties in Michigan, and other States both east and west. Its possibilities are well-nigh unlimited and its power for good is immeasurable." Mr. D. E. McClure, the Oceana County School Commis- sioner, speaking of tiie results of these Hesperia meetings says: "The immediate results are better schools, yards, out-buildings, school- rooms, teachers, literature for rural people to read. Many a father and mother whose lives have been broken upon the wheel of labour have heard some of America's orators, have EDUCATIONAL WORK 245 read some of the world's best books, because of this movement, and their lives have been made happier, more influential and more hopeful. Thousands of people have been inspired, made better, at the Hesperia meeting." This shows what may be done in a small country village, many miles from any railroad. It cannot be done in a day, but, as in Hesperia, it can begin humbly and, with the co-operation of teachers and intelligent patrons, it can grow in usefulness from year to year. It is the kind of a movement to which the people will respond more and more. In Kent County, Michigan, the plan was successfully adopted of holding five or six meetings a year and in different towns, the meetings being held generally in some grange hall. Tamalpais Centre — For another important un- dertaking in a rural community we may now turn to California. "Tamalpais Centre," in Kentfield, Morin County, is an organisation providing rest, recreation and instruction for men, women and children. For its purposes 29 acres of land with a splendidly equipped club-house were donated by Mrs. A. E. Kent. 246 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT Her son, Wm. Kent, gave a fund of $10,000 to fit out the grounds, and another benefactor, John Martin Ross, provided suitable apparatus and equipment for a children's playground. Sufficient space is set aside for a base-ball field, and there is a half-mUe track for the speeding of horses. No betting is allowed. Tennis, basket-ball, a runniag-track, and other acces- sories of an athletic field are also provided. In this Tamalpais Centre fourteen different organisations have their headquarters and hold their meetings; a -woman's club for the women of the coimty, with a membership of more than 160; a Friendly Circle, for working men and women, with a membership of sixty ; a Literary Class ; a Playground Association for the women teachers of ten different school districts; Knights of King Arthur for the boys ; a Driv- ing Association, etc One of the most interesting features of this Tamalpais Centre is its non-sectarian religious organisation known as "The Sunday School of the Neighbourhood. ' ' Ernest Bradley, Dean of the Centre, describes it as follows : EDUCATIONAL WOEK 247 ' ' The nearest churches or Sunday Schools lie in the towns and villages about us, so that Kentfield itself is peculiarly deficient in this respect. Eealising that something should be done for the children, the Dean of Tamalpais Centre gathered his own children about his own fireside every Sunday morning for religious instruction. It was not long before other children asked permission to attend this fireside Sunday School. Then as the school grew in numbers and the winter came on the children were transferred to the Centre building, and organised under the name of the Sunday School of the Neighbourhood. The instruc- tion is non-sectarian, and we have four teachers and over thirty boys and girls. At Christmas we held a Manger Service, and invited aU the young people in- terested in the Centre from the surrounding towns and villages to bring presents of toys, and books, and games for the children of the Catholic and Presbyte- rian orphanages of the county. Over two hundred boys and girls accepted the invitation, and it was an inspiring sight to see them march up to the Manger and deposit their simple gifts for their little orphan friends. In connection with the Sunday School I was asked the other day what I thought was the best piece of moral work Tamalpais Centre was doing in the im- mediate community. I answered that it was teaching boys and girls, many of whom have been in the habit of running around aU day on Sunday in old clothes, to put on their best 'bib and tucker,' as a mark of respect to God, and to a day which civilisation had 248 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT set aside for worship. The boys and girk come down to Sunday School looking as spick and span as it is possible for them to look, and the result is at least civilising, if not indeed religious." This is an example of a "social centre" movement which is spreading all over the coun- try. In most places the social centre is con- nected with the school and holds its meetings in school-buildings. This movement wiU be further considered in a later chapter; but in many places the citizens meet in some other place, in the town building or the public library. These buildings belong to the people and some room in them may well be used for the reg- ular meeting-place of citizens. In the city of Rochester, New York, the common council chamber is used on Sunday afternoons as a forum for the presentation and free discussion of public questions. Country communities may make a similar use of a public building for Sat- urday afternoon meetings of civic leagues, twentieth-century clubs, and similar organi- sations of men and women ; or the meeting may be held on some convenient evening. No effort has been made in this chapter to EDUCATIONAL WORK 249 cover the ground of organisations for the edu- cational improvement and co-operation of adults in small communities, but only to give illustra- tions of various methods which may be adopted by those who have village improvement work in charge. CHAPTEE Xn THE PUBLIC SCHOOL No more important work for town improve- ment can be undertaken than that which is con- cerned with the public schools. This is true of city and country both, but it is most neglected in the rural districts. Of all recent efforts for the improvement of the country school that which has proved most effective is the wide- spread movement for school-consolidation. This, therefore, first demands our attention. Consolidation of Country Schools. — School-con- solidation is the abandonment of the district, or one-room school, for the large and better equipped central school-building to which pupils are taken from the different districts by conveyance, wherever distance demands. That this is the coming method of solving the coun- try-school problem is indicated by its adoption in many States, both east and west, whose ex- perience, as shown in their official reports, has 250 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 251 been so satisfactory in results that no one would think of returning to the former district system. "What are the advantages of consolidation? The most important only can be mentioned. First, better teachers, fewer in number, paid better salaries. The teacher in a one-room dis- trict school must attempt to teach many sub- jects ia a large number of small classes. In a consolidated school each teacher has more time for each subject and fewer subjects to teach. Second, a better school-building and better equipments for teacher and pupils. Third, the advantage of special teachers for special work, such as nature-study, gardening, sewing, domestic science, manual training, etc., which can hardly be introduced in the small district school. Fourth, in the consolidated schools high-school work can be introduced, with the great advantage that the older pupils do not need to go away from home to city schools. Fifth, actual decrease in cost, per pupil, in spite of the improved conditions and increased range of studies. It is no slight advantage, also, that the chil- dren become acquainted with a large number of 252 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT companions from different parts of the com- munity, this proving a social factor of great value. In the matter of supervision, no argu- ment is needed to show that it may he greatly improved through the employment in the con- solidated school of a competent male principal, and by the greater ease with which the superin- tendent of schools can carry on his important work of visitation. There are no serious argmnents against the consolidated-school plan; most criticisms upon it are made through conservatism £ind before the method has been adopted. Bad roads, mak- ing conveyance difficult, are the greatest ob- stacle, but that is only an added argument for the improvement of highways. First and foremost, and aU the time, then, the friends of town improvement in rural com- munities should seek to promote the consoli- dated school, located in some carefuUy selected central place, not necessarily in a village, but where it can be most conveniently reached, and with plenty of land about it devoted to school uses. Attractive Schools.— The school-building and THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 253 the school-grounds should also be remembered. If the district school is still retained let the im- provement organisation seek to make it attrac- tive, both within and without. Children are more seriously influenced by the nature of their surroundings than many people realise. The schoolroom should be attractive. No textbook is more important as an educational influence than the whole effect of the place itself in which the instruction is given. Children are even more responsive to the influence of what is really beautiful than are adults. Every child is possessed of the artistic instinct to some de- gree, an instinct which too often becomes atro- phied in the very process of education by which it should be developed. Is there anything in or about the average rural school to develop the love of the beautiful? As a rule the school- room with its cracked ceilings, bare walls, and ugly furnishings is depressing and degrading. The schoolhouse is a bare, unattractive, box of a building. The school-grounds are devoid of tree, or shrubs or flower. "Bare, harsh, cheer- less, immodest," such, it has been said, are the characteristics of the average rural school. No 254 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT wonder the cMldren have little sense of attrac- tion for education -lylueh is represented in such a guise. On the other hand, the schoolroom, the build- ing, and the grounds, may be of such a nature as to cultivate the children's pride, and nurture their love of the place itself, and of that for which it stands. It may create in them a love of cleanliness and neatness, of flowers and pictures and simple decorations, which will show its results in their homes and in all their after lives. Is not this an important part of education? Fortunately this fact is being widely appreciated and there is a general move- ment for better buildings and grounds. It is weU, therefore, for the citizens who ap- preciate the need of improvement in these directions to take the matter in hand. In North Carolina there is an organisation for this purpose, called "The Woman's Associa- tion for Betterment of Public Schools." "The object of this Association shall be to unite the women citizens of North Carolina for the purpose of awakening an interest in the improvement of the public schools in our State. It will undertake to have THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 256 local associations in every coiinty. Through these it ■will endeavour to interest a volunteer association in the neighbourhood of every public schoolhouse, which will help to protect the school property, beautify the premises by planting trees, and flowers, placing pic- tures on the walls, or otherwise improving the school environment of our future citizens: to furnish enter- taining and instructive amusements and to encourage the establishment of local public libraries ; to strive to secure the best teachers possible and to build up in the community a strong school spirit." The bulletin of this association may be ob- tained from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction at Raleigh, N. C. Other suggestive bulletins containing full information for such improvement work are issued by the Depart- ment of Public Instruction, Richmond, Va. ; the Educational Department of the State of Maine, at Augusta, Maine; and the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia. (Leaflet No. 4, April 1907). Undoubtedly the educational board of each State will also be glad to provide information adapted to local conditions, and to co-operate heartily in the efforts of any body of citizens seeking to pro- mote better schools. 256 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT If no large organisation in the State exists, therefore, let those who have local improve- ment at heart take np the matter of improving their own schools and push it forward. This has been the work of village improvement so- cieties in many country towns. Improvement of School-buildings. — ^What should be done? The following is a brief statement of some recommendations. First, for the in- terior of the schools. Walls, ceilings and floor should be in good condition. For the ceiling white, slightly tinged with blue, is the best shade ; the walls may be tinted an olive green ; some prefer light cream, light grey, or light buff. For floors yellow birch is recommended; or a good quality of spruce. The floor sur- faces should be "filled" with oil and treated with two coats of shellac. All schoolrooms should have double floors with heavy building- paper between, to prevent the air passing from the basement to the schoolroom. The wain- scoting should be a light tan colour. There should be pictures on the walls ; and a table on which there are two or three pots of growing plants will add to the colour and interest of THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 257 the room. The pictures need not all be pur- chased at once. In some schools the pupils give entertainments annually and use the pro- ceeds to purchase pictures and other decora- tions for the room. This increases the interest of the children in the school. The choice of pictures should be in the charge of someone of educated taste. All windows should be provided with heavy green shades, with the roUer a few inches from the window-sill so that the curtain may be pulled upwards, letting in the light from above. These things have to do with the attractive- ness of the interior. Other matters, such as seats, desks and other furnishings, light, heat, ventilation, and sanitary arrangements, are of great importance for the health and comfort of scholars and teachers. Information concern- ing them would require more space than can be given here, but it can be obtained in full from any State board of education. Now concerning the exterior of the building. It should be attractively painted and kept in good repair. It should compare favourably in appearance with the better dwellings in the 258 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT community. Light yellow with white trim- mings, the colonial style, is very attractive for exterior colouring; or plain white walls with green blinds is pleasing and durable. A cupola with a vane and a bell of good tone will add to the attractiveness and usefulness of the building. The grounds around the school-building should receive careful attention and constant care. Generally the area actually devoted to the school is far too small for the development desired. In such cases more land should be obtained, if possible. Some schools have two to five acres, allowing room for a lawn in front of the school and playgrounds and school-gar- dens at the sides and rear. The Oakdale School at East Dedham, Mass., has abundant space on each side for pupils' flower-gardens, and at the rear for a girls' playground, a boys' playground and a vegetable-garden with over fifty individual beds. The space in front of the school is too thickly planted with shrubs and trees, but the general plan indicates what may be undertaken to provide the pupils with ample facilities both for nature-study and play. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 259 In the average rural school something much less ambitious -would be equally satisfactory. In the first place, if the school-building is old and unsightly, the recommendation of the Hampton bulletin is good: "We will cover our building with vines. The Virginia creeper and beautiful trumpet-vine are of the easiest culture and flourish in almost any soil. Both of them will, as soon as well established, send up vines which grow twenty feet in a season. The splendid fall colouring of the Virginia creeper, its glowing crimson in mid-autumn, more vivid than any flower, makes it particu- larly suitable for a school-building, enhancing its charms just at the season to greet the re- turning school children. The English ivy is also attractive and remains green all winter. Another vine which must be named for its rare beauty, and the fact that it continues its attractions imtil late autumn, is the bitter- sweet." Other vines named are the Virginia clematis, the honeysuckle and the morning- glory. In planting trees and shrubs the general rule is, plant trees on or near the boundary lines. 260 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT not less than thirty feet apart; hide the founda- tions of the biiil(Kng and cover the comers with shrubbery; preserve wide, open spaces of lawn, avoiding scattered planting. Some reconunend planting the common apple-tree and crab apples, as well as maples, ehns, oaks, beeches, and some trees of pine or spruce or hemlock. Around a schoolhouse exposed to winter storms some trees should be planted for a wind-break. The admirable Bulletin (No. 134) prepared by the U. S. Department of Agriculture says: "There should be both purpose and method in school-ground planting. The trees must be so ar- ranged as best to serve both for protection and for ornament. At the same time, to grow well they must be adapted to the soil. On a small ground but little planting is possible ; a group of trees or shrubs placed where they wiU look well or hide some unsightly feature of the schoolhouse or ground is sufficient. But in the country there is usually an acre or two of grounds. The schoolhouse is nearly always in the middle, and the playgrounds are usually about half- way between the building and the outer boundary. This arrangement leaves open the outer portions of the ground, where the greater part of the planting is needed. Oakcale School East DeohA'^./>\a«s t,Ji|iiiir» |gjS^_ WW Hii Boys Plavspound km. m # K, x.tVk LANDSCAPE GARDENING ABOUT A SCHOOLHOUSE. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 261 "By so planting, the schoolhouse will be protected on all sides from the wind, while in summer shade will be provided near all portions of the open play- ground ; at the same time inclosing the ground with a border of trees will give a pleasing ornamental effect. Instead of being continuous around the ground, the border should be broken in places to preserve attrac- tive views of the exterior landscape. "In many cases the first necessity is to plant a belt of trees across the rear of the lot. If the ground is large, this may be several rods wide and cover an acre or more. Possibly it may be extended around the outbuildings so as to hide them from view. Solid planting should be the rule. But it often happens that the rear views from a schoolhouse are quite as attractive as those toward the front. In that case the planting must be planned so as to preserve them, while hiding the unattractive features and giving the necessary protection to the ground and building. "After the rear belt, the side planting is of the most importance. Here again the trees should be in belts. To allow room for a playground it may be necessary to make the side belts narrower than that in the rear. Openings in them for walks or views of the exterior landscape may also be desirable, but these need not affect the general plan. "A formal arrangement with the trees in straight rows along the sides of the lot will in many instances be appropriate and satisfactory. It gives opportu- nity for cultivation, and is both simple and attrac- tive. On large grounds a better effect will often be 262 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT produced by spacing the trees irregularly. Some at- tention will be required to leave passages open for cultivation without the trees appearing to stand in rows. The appearance of the entire ground will be improved by varying the width of the belts so that they will project into the interior open space in some places, and in others retreat almost to the boundary of the ground. "The front ground in most cases should not be sol- idly planted. If it is necessary to hide the objection- able buildings and other objects on the front sides, or to prevent the trespassing of stock, either a hedge or an irregular belt of shrubbery may be made to serve the purpose. Two or three groups may be introduced where they will not interfere with the playground or obscure attractive views." It should be remembered that shrubs are to be planted as well as trees. In some situations they are more desirable and more decorative than trees. They are more quickly useful than trees, which need some years of growth before they add the desired beauty to the grounds. Among the varieties recom- mended for groups, or hedges, are barberries, box, black currants, smoke-tree, spireas, vibur- nums, sumacs, elders, azaleas, rhododendrons, THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 263 roses, lilacs, forsythias, hawthorns, and bush- honeysuckles. School-gardens. — ^Another important service which improvement societies are undertaking in connection with the schools is the promotion of gardens cultivated by pupils. This work has been most useful in cities like Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Pitts- burg, etc., in factory towns like Dayton, Ohio, Billerica, Mass., Charlotte and Greensboro, N. C, Gaffney, S. C, wherever children are not familiar with the cultivation of the soil. It was thought at first that in rural communi- ties gardening lessons would not be useful or practicable. But even the farmer's children know little about the forces of nature amidst which they work, and in connection with nature- study the making of school-gardens has been found exceedingly profitable even in farming communities. The best place for a school-garden is on the school-grounds ; and, where it is possible, room should be provided there for the cultivation of both flowers and vegetables. In many cases, 264 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT however, the work is conducted effectively where some near-by vacant lot is used. Some- times the work of supervision is carried on, not by the already over-worked teadiers, but by members of the improvement society in co- operation with the school-officials. The essen- tial plan, in any case, is that each child who desires it shall be provided with a little plot of its own in the garden, and with seeds, gar- den-tools, and instruction for the planting of its own flowers or vegetables. The size of the full garden will vary with the number of chil- dren engaged in gardening. The size of each child's lot may be from four feet by six feet for the kindergarten children to ten feet by fifteen for those of the eighth grade. All the labour of preparing the land, planting the seed, and caring for the plants, should be done by the children. Professor W. A. Baldwin, in an admirable pamphlet on "School Gardens in their Relation to other School Work," prepared for the Amer- ican Civic Association, shows how this work may be correlated with the regular studies. Seed is to be purchased, catalogues are con- THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 265 suited, quantities are calculated' and cost is estimated; here are lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. Plots are to be measured and laid out; more arithmetic, and drawing. As the plants develop accounts are written, and descriptions given orally, demanding practice in language. As conducted at the school in Hyannis, Mass., in the eighth grade, arith- metic and book-keeping were found to be neces- sary. "The children bought seeds, receiving a bill for the same. They copied this bill in blank-books which were furnished for the pur- pose, preserving also the original. They sold vegetables and learned how to make out bills of their own. They collected money and checks and went to the bank and deposited the same, learning how to fill out deposit-slips. They paid for the seed and other things with checks. Thus they learned all the business forms needed by the ordinary man for his every-day business, in a perfectly natural way in con- nection with their own business." This is cer- tainly bringing education in close touch with life. At the same time the children were learn- ing constantly about the workings of nature. 266 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT the laws of germination, growtli and develop- ment. Not less important than these lessons are the opportunities offered for instruction in practi- cal ethics. Mr. Baldwin presents the following illustrations: "One boy raked the debris from his plot over on to the plot of his neighbour. One boy was not willing to do his share of the work on the class plot. One little girl was sick, and several boys and girls vied with each other in taking care of her little garden dur- ing her absence. All of the above furnished opportunities for live discussions, the conclu- sions of which crystallised into actions. The toad was found to be a helper in ridding the garden of insect-enemies, and the whole atti- tude of the children toward toads was changed. One day, two of the neighbour's hens escaped from their yard and scratched out some fine pansy plants which had just been transplanted. The children were very much disturbed. Their teacher quietly discussed the whole mat- ter with them, allowing them to appoint a com- mittee to wait upon the neighbour, and pro- ceeded to lay a good foundation for the THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 267 consideration of similar questions when, in the future, these same children might be trespassers and the neighbour the aggrieved party." It is obvious that there are many good re- sults from this school-garden experience. It is healthy, out-of-doors work. It involves labour and cultivates respect for labour. It teaches respect for property rights. It brings educa- tion into close touch with daily life. It gives opportunity for nature-study, not only of plant- life but also of birds and insects, heat and cold, sunshine and rain; and it may be so employed as to make reading, writing, arithmetic and other studies of close and immediate interest. It possesses many of the advantages of manual training in stimulating the intellect and de- veloping the brain of the growing child. In giving children something to do it diverts their physical energies into useful and profitable channels. It has been recognised in both city and coimtry as an effective preventive of truancy and crime. It is especially desirable that it be continued, where possible, during the vacation months. It has been said that school-gardens should 268 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT be promoted in country districts as well as in the larger cities and towns. Mr. O. J. Kern, the well-known superintendent of schools in "Winnebago County, Illinois, ardently advo- cates school-gardens even in connection with the one-room rural school. His annual re- ports show that a large number of the schools are using them. In the report for 1912 he says: "It is one thing to study in a book about a plant and quite another thing to recognise that plant in field or garden. It is another thing to grow that plant. Plants and children may be brought together in a new relation ia the school-garden. For children to actually prepare the seed-bed, plant seed, cultivate the growing plant, and reap the harvest of fruit and flowers on the school-grounds, is an edu- cational process of highest value in supple- menting the printed page." In 1909, in Win- nebago County, the "Lincoln Garden Contest" was inaugurated. A silver cup is provided as a trophy for the best garden. A school win- ning the contest for three years in succession retains the cup. The report contains many THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 269 fine photographs of school and home garden- work. In some rural communities the school-gar- den work is conducted not only on the school- grounds but at the homes of the pupils, the teacher inspecting the gardens and enlisting the interest of the parents in the work. This has obvious advantages where the number of families is not too large. In some rural schools the plan has been adopted of conducting what are called experi- ment-gardens, for the demonstration of the principles of plant-growth, plant-nutrition, the methods of propagation, etc. Suggestions for this undertaking are made in Farmers' Bulletin No. 218; The School Garden, by L. C. Corbett. Other work of a similar nature is conducted by the boys' and girls' corn-clubs, which will be described in a later chapter. Schools as Social Centres. — ^Another important use to which public school-buildings are put is in connection with the promotion of what is called the schoolhouse social centre. A social centre is a meeting-place of all the members of 270 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT the oommunity for purposes of an educational, recreational or social nature. Many new school-buildings in all parts of the country, in cities, towns and rural communities, are being constructed with this end in view, having an assembly room, and sometimes other rooms equipped for community use. The Eussell Sage Foundation has put forth the following definition: "A community may be said to have a schoolhouse social centre if one of its school-buildings is thrown open to the public on one or more fixed nights a week for at least twelve weeks a year, for activities of a social, recreational or civic character, regularly directed by one or more trained leaders." It is not necessary, however, that the social centre be under trained leaders. Adequate super- vision may be given by volunteer leaders such as an improvement society might provide. One society, for example, arranged for a course of lectures and entertainments to be given monthly, for the benefit of the people in the neighbourhood of a district school, using the kindergarten room in the school-buUding, THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 271 the school committee providing light, heat and janitor. An investigation made by The American City shows that in 101 cities forty-four have school centres, with paid workers: Fifty-seven other cities reported schoolhouses used for the same purposes with volunteer workers. In all, 338 schools were reported as used for social centres. This, however, is a very imperfect report, as it is evident that all over the country, in rural communities, the consolidated schools, and in many towns the regular school buildings, are being used in the evening for community purposes. One hindrance to this use of the schools is the inconvenience to adults of the seats and desks. Therefore in many schools seats and desks are fastened to skids which permit of their being easily moved to one side, leaving room for chairs to be occupied by men and women; or in place of desks chairs with one broad arm are used. Some idea of the spread of the movement may be gained from several bulletins prepared by the executive division 272 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT of the University of Wisconsin. The following quotation from a report on "The Southwestern Social Centre Conference" is illustration of the movement : "For 29 years Colonel Holland, publisher of Farm and Ranch and of Holland's Magazine, had urged community co-operation through his farm journal. For fifteen months we have kept the social centre idea constantly before the public. On the first day of last February, the time was deemed ripe for a gen- eral conference. Colonel Holland issued the call and financed the gathering. We had just sixteen day's time to work up an attendance; but 350 delegates came, and 150 were from outside Dallas. "This conference held two sessions in the audito- rium of the Dallas high school. We threshed out Southwestern problems pretty thoroughly, and began a great 'get-together' movement for our section. One or two things ar« notable about this meeting. From labourer to capitalist, from clergyman to tailor, from landlord to tenant, every class was represented. There was no dissension. And the press of the Southwest hailed it as the most unique and one of the most important gatherings ever called together; while publications in the East and North recognised it as the first of its kind to be held in the world. "Since that first meeting, this conference has kept up a systematic agitation for social centres. "As an aid to communities we placed a library be- I^^^^^^^HHHHHWI .. i.-«i>^^s^^M9minR^ ^1 ML. '.jjjjdijDyii*" ■■]■ A WIXXEBAGO BOY AXD HIS SUGAR-BEETS. 1 '/ -" .V, ■ i * A NEBRASKA CORN-CLUB BOY AKD HIS CROP. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 273 fore the schools. This was in co-operation with the State's department of education, and is based on ac- tual cost to us. "We also furnished a plan whereby any school district can secure a small library, and add to it each succeeding year. We began with the library because not one country school in forty has any books at all; and there is but slight provision for State aid. Eesponse has been gratifying. Over 300 schools have aided themselves by this community plan. "We have already distributed 10,000 volumes, - and from ten to fifteen communities are now taking up the plan each week. "We know that for every book we distribute four are got by these communities. "We have also urged that county superintendents and school districts secure stereopticons and talking-ma- chines. Many county superintendents have already done this. Others are waking up. "State-wide organisations of women, educators, farmers, and business men have lent their co-opera- tion ; and the press has not only given generously of its space, but also editorial endorsement of the strong- est kind. So effective has been this combined agita- tion that very few school buildings will be built in the future without regard to their possible use by com- munities for other than school purposes. Since the Dallas Conference, Fort Worth has opened up one school building as a social centre. Houston is spend- ing half a million dollars socialising her schools, and every ward building is the meeting-place of mothers and improvement clubs. Dallas has combined the so- cial centre with the playground movement, and the 274 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT Dallas Playgrounds and Social Centre Association is the result. We are working to open the Dallas schools for social-centre activities, and hope to accom- plish something worth while in the immediate fu- ture."— (BuUetin No. 497.) But not only in the Southwest, all over the country, the movement is spreading, with enthusiasm. The first national conference on social-centre development was held at Madi- son, Wisconsin, in 1911, and was attended by delegates from New York to California, from North Dakota to Texas. The University of Wisconsin is promoting the movement in Wis- consia by offering invaluable assistance, not only through its bulletins, but also by sending to any local centre loan-collections of books and other literature to assist in debates and discussions. In other States, lanterns, slides, photographs, lectures and lecturers, are sup- plied from the agricultural colleges, and depart- ments of education. The authorities are, as a rule, quick to see the advantages of the move- ment and may be relied upon to co-operate ia every effort to make the schoolhouse of use to THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 275 the community, not only for the children in the day-time, but also for the adult population in the evening. CHAPTER Xni BOYS' AND GIELS' CLUBS Among the most important, interesting and successful efforts for the enrichment and im- provement of country life has been the forma- tion, during the past few years, of agricultural clubs for boys and girls. In different States these have taken on different forms, but in general they are clubs for improvement in growing potatoes, cotton, or fruit; for rearing poultry; for live-stock study, bird study, home- culture or domestic science and school furnish- ings. A corn-growing club for example, is an association of boys who enter into a compe- tition to determine which can grow the most or the best com on a certain area of ground under definite rules of planting, cultivation, and exhibit of their product. For girls the contest may be in bread-making, in sewing, or in com- 276 BOYS' AND GIELS' CLUBS 277 petition with the boys in gardening or poultry- raising. The initiative in promoting these organisa- tions, which now include many thousands of boys and girls in all parts of the country, has generally been taken by State agricultural col- leges, or by county superintendents or farmers' institutes, and in many instances by the county Y. M. C. A. The first State-wide movement originated in New York, in 1898, with the de- partment of agriculture at Cornell University, in the forming of farm boys' and girls' clubs, which have now about 75,000 membership in New York State alone. Nebraska, beginning this work in 1905, has clubs of boys and girls in every county. The method of procedure is typical. "Early in the fall a local contest is held in each school, and the prize-winning exhibitors, and three best essays, are taken to a township show, then to a county exhibit, and finally to a State corn- growing and corn-cooking contest at Lincoln. This State meeting includes a grand 'corn banquet' which gathers from 2000 to 3000 boys and girls from over the State." 278 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Corn-Clubs. — ^Describing this country-wide movement Prof. W. E. Hart, in a paper on "Corn-Clubs and Eecreatiop," says: "A few years ago 500 Nebraska boys engaged in a friendly contest of raising prize-corn. The numbers now run into the thousands. The most striking exhibit at the industrial exposi- tion held in New Orleans a few years ago was an immense pyramid of corn. It was made from samples raised by the 3000 members of the junior corn-growers of Illinois. Only last year (1911) more than 10,000 boys and girls in Massachusetts were trying their hands at culti- vating com and potatoes. Between 40,000 and 50,000 boys in eight or ten of the Southern States taken together were engaged in a friendly corn-growing contest ia 1910. Cali- fornia is planning a State-wide contest for the near future. Oregon has started her young people in poultry-husbandry. Georgia begins a friendly contest among the boys in the care of pigs. Last year Iowa sent a delegation of young prize-winning corn-growers to Washing- ton. They were accompanied by a prize-win- ning breadmaker, a twelve-year-old girl, the BOYS' AND GIELS' CLUBS 279 champion among 1200 competitors. A num- ber of Southern States sent similar delegations. Illinois and Massachusetts, perhaps a number of other States, will send such delegations this year. There is a mass of available facts simi- lar to the foregoing." How are these clubs organised? Where there are no county or State organisations the boys and girls in a community may be called together under the auspices of the local im- provement association, the purpose of the club explained, simple organisation formed, seed provided, together with instructions, and some simple form of awards agreed upon. A club may be formed in a school and may make its own exhibit: better stUl, all the schools in a town may organise and at the close of the sea- son hold a competitive exhibit. Where there is a county superintendent of schools it will be best for him to call the meeting early in the spring and get together all the boys and girls of the county. The seed to be given the contestants may be provided by the local grange, or by the farmers' institute. In Winnebago County, Illinois, the 280 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT officers of the Illinois Fanners' Institute gave each boy 500 kernels of high-bred seed-corn one year, and another year a beet company provided 525 pounds of approved beet seed. In Massa- chusetts the Agricultural College gave each boy in the potato-clubs five potatoes for seed. A great variety of prizes have been offered. The following are some offered in the Southern States in 1910: A trip to "Washington (a favourite prize) ; a nice buggy ; a first-class bicycle; a strong two-horse plough; a double- barrelled shotgun; a gold watch; a $5 hat; an up-to-date corn-planter; a ton of fertiliser; a pair of registered pigs; a pair of full- blooded chickens ; a fine colt ; and money prizes from $5 to $50. Some of the immediate, practical results as seen in crops have been remarkable. A report from Alabama says: "The movement has been eminently successful wherever it has been undertaken with energy and determination. In the great agricultural States of the central "West the boys' corn-club work is looked to as the prime factor iu stimulating interest in bet- ter farming, and ia arousing the boys on the jBOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 281 farm to the possibilities of agriculture as a profession. "In Alabama the work is well under way. At present (1911) there are about 3800 boys listed in the work in about 52 of the counties. Last year there were about 2000 boys in the work in about 17 counties. In these 17 counties the boys were entered for the State prizes where they competed directly with the men, and the boys won 13 out of 17 prizes, the average yield of the boys being 86.9 bushels per acre, and the average of the men 83.5 bushels per acre. At a meeting of a club in one of the best corn-club communities last fall, the boys reporting showed a total yield of 2000 bushels of corn. The yield in this case was from 40 to 110.5 bushels per acre, and the average yield was over 70 bushels per acre. The average ordinary yield in this section was about 15 bushels per acre!" Increase from an average of 15 bushels to an average of 70 bushels and a maximum of 110.5 bushels is a convincing demonstration of the advantage of scientific farming. Further, "the average cost per bushel of this corn was 282 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT slightly more than 27 cents. While this crop was being made the farmers of Alabama were paying about $1.00 per bushel for com." Similar results might be reported from other States and other kinds of crops, as in Mass- achusetts, where the boys ia the potato-clubs raised double the amount of the average crops. Good Effects. — ^It is evident that such results are followed by others of even greater im- portance, — ^a new attitude on the part of boys and girls toward farmiog, a new interest in the study of agriculture, a new appreciation of the opportunities of the cotmtry life. Contact with others broadens the view, and visiting other places, observing the results of skilfully di- rected work, give a new desire to learn and improve. The value of co-operation and organ- ised effort is realised, a very important result. This is well expressed in a recent bulletin stat- ing the purposes of the Oklahoma Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs: 1. "To acquaint the boys and girls of Oklahoma with the State system of agriculture and industrial education, extending from the common schools through BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 283 the District Agricultural Schools to the A. & M. Col- lege. 2. "To vitalise the studies for children in the com- mon schools. 3. "To develop in due course a system of education in common schools suited to the children of the com- mon people. 4. "To lead men and boys to study farm problems on their own farms. 5. "To lead women and girls to study home and family problems in their homes. 6. "To awaken our people to the importance, the advantages and the possibilities of farm Ufe. 7. "To inculcate a class sentiment and a sense of independence in the minds of farm-reared children. 8. "To organise in the rising generation the farm community as an independent social unit." In addition to these clubs many other organi- sations for boys and girls have been accom- plishing splendid results, and each of them is worthy of consideration. County School Pairs. — The county school fair has been thoroughly developed in Virginia. In 1912, 44 counties held school fairs, where more than 30,000 children competed for the various prizes, and between 75,000 and 100,000 people attended the exhibits. Compositions were pre- 284 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT pared by the children on such topics as good roads, the value of scientific methods of farm- ing, how to make a country home comfortable and attractive, the cause and prevention of con- sumption. These happy school fairs, with their athletics, exhibits, speeches, and parades, are taking the place of, and doing away with, the evils of the old-fashioned coimty fair. School Literary Societies, — ^Virginia also has done splendid work in the development of liter- ary societies, especially in the high schools. A bulletin on the subject explains their methods : "The society meetings should be open to the public, and patrons and others should be en- couraged to attend. In many communities the membership is extended to people outside of the school. This should be done wherever prac- tical, but such questions as membership, time of meeting, frequency of meeting and the like, pre- sent different problems in different places, and each society will have to solve these problems for itself." The following extracts from the letter of a teacher in a consolidated school in Albemarle county clearly set forth the advantage of such BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 285 a society, the way it can be successfully con- ducted and tlie great work it is doing for that school and community: "All the pupils above the fifth grade are eligible for membership, and persons in the community, who are interested, may be elected active or honorary members. Our teachers take an active part and strive in every way possible to have members do work that will be most creditable to the society. "Our programmes are varied. "We have vocal and instrumental solos, duets, quartets, and choruses; also a string band of the town takes an important part. Every programme has a good question for de- bate, and in addition has one or more selections from the following: Declamations, orations, extemporane- ous speeches, soliloquies, prophecies, book reviews, dialogues, short plays, biographies with quotations, essays, pantomimes, descriptive and humorous read- ings, and imaginary visits to other countries. Much interest is manifested when the people of the com- munity debate against the students and teachers. We post our programme in a conspicuous place, and everybody seems anxious to attend. Our large haU is frequently fiUed to the utmost capacity on these oc- casions. "We have found that under the right leadership people will take up this work with enthusiasm. In- directly, the work of the teacher is dignified and made more interesting. Social barriers are removed, and a more democratic and wholesome spirit pervades the 286 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT community. Moreover, the society has proved a great means for the recreation and entertainment of the patrons. The days of loneliness and toil are bright- ened by these semi-monthly musical and literary pro- grammes. All our members pay small dues. "With our surplus funds we buy library books and other school equipment. During the term we have debates with other schools. At the close of school we have some noted speaker to address us. On this occasion refreshments are served, and each member is allowed to invite a friend." Y. M. C. A — ^For the development of athletic clubs great credit must be given to the splendid work of the Young Men's Christian Association in its county organisations. In many a country community it has entirely changed the life of the boys, not only developing a healthy physical life, providing a normal outlet for pent-up ac- tivities, but it has also inspired them with high and fine ideals. Rural Manhood, a magazine especially devoted to this county work, is full of records of the good accomplished in country communities from Maine to California. This work is so important that it will be considered more fully in the next chapter. The Young Women's Christian Association is also active in country work BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 287 Boy Scouts. — The Boy Scouts is an organi- sation which originated in the cities, and it is especially adapted to the conditions of city life ; but it is also admirably suited to country com- munities. All boys, country or city, are fas- cinated by the Scout idea, delight in the Scout achievements and are captivated by the Scout uniform. The ideals ctdtivated by this organi- sation are as greatly needed by the country boy as by the town boy. The greater obstacle in the country is the difficulty of getting leaders. Here, too, the Y. M. C. A., has often come to the relief of the situation by providing the necessary leadership. In Kansas, says Prof. E. L. Holton, the Agricultural College Council is organising com- panies of Rural Life Boy Scouts in all parts of the State. The aim of the council is "a com- pany in every community." There are 160,000 boys in Kansas eligible to membership. Its leaflet distributed among Kansas Boys says : "Boys, if you want to learn the secrets of the prai- ries, the streams, and the forests, and be able to read nature as well as books ; if you want to have a grow- ing bank account, and to do some type of work better 288 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT than it has been done by anyone else, join a company of Rural Life Boy Scouts. That is what the scouts are doing for the boys. Read carefully the constitu- tion on the following pages. Find some man in whom you believe for an adviser, and organise a company at once. There is a Handbook for Boys published by the Boy Scouts of America at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York Those who are to be lead- ers have also a separate "Scout Masters' Man- ual" prepared for their guidance. The little Handbook is fascinating reading, with abund- ant directions about wood-craft, camp-craft, tracks, trailing, and signalling, chivalry, first aid to the injured and other topics. Some of the qualities, cultivated by scout training are cour- tesy, loyalty, self-respect, respect for others, honour, faithfubiess, cheerfulness, thoughtful- ness, service, obedience, cleanliness, courage, reverence, and kindness. The scout motto is "Be Prepared." The scout begins as a "ten- der-foot" and even for this he must qualify. Then by passing tests he may become a second-class scout. To become a first-class scout he must pass a dozen more tests, and the rank is by no means easy of attainment. A o c s < BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 289 first-class scout may well be proud of the rank he has gained. There are already about 7000 scout-masters in charge of 300,000 scouts throughout the coun- try. It is impossible to estimate the value of this healthful, moral and physical training. Churches, improvement societies, business men's clubs everywhere, impressed by the worth of the movement, are giving it their approval and support. In order to promote it in any community the way to begin is first to write for literature and directions to the State organi- sations, or to the national headquarters. Camp Fire Girls. — More recently an equally at- tractive organisation of a similar nature has been created for girls. It is called "The Camp- Fire Girls," and has headquarters at 118 East 28th Street, New York City. The purpose of this organisation, as set forth in the manual, is "to show that the common things of daily life are the chief means of beauty, romance and adventure : to aid in the forming of habits mak- ing for health and vigour, the out-of-door habit and the out-of-door spirit; to devise ways of measuring and creating standards of women's 290 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT work; to give girls the opportunity to learn how to keep step ; to learn work through doing it; to help girls and women to serve the com- munity, the larger home, in the same ways they have always served the individual home ; to give status and social recognition to the knowledge of the mother, and thus restore the intimate relationship of mother and daughters to each other." The "law of the camp-fire," which each mem- ber promises to follow, is "to seek beauty, give service, pursue knowledge, be trustworthy, hold on to health, glorify work, be happy." There are various achievements by which honours are won, and these are of an athletic, aesthetic and practical nature: such as first-aid diploma secured, tramping forty miles in any four days, swimming in any of four standard styles ; cook- ing (a great variety of tests), laundering, house- keeping, care of the sick; also achievements in nature-lore, in camp-craft, in hand-craft, in busiaess. The romance of the Camp-Pire Girls' life is admirably set forth in a beautiful story called "The Torch Bearer," by J. T. BOYS' AND aiELS' CLUBS 291 Thurston. This, as a supplement to the hand- book, "Camp-Fire Girls," published by the National Committee, will provide information for those who may desire to start a local lodge. CHAPTER XIV PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD One of the important discoveries of the past quarter of a century is the value and import- ance of play in human life. To be sure there is a very old and familiar proverb, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Nevertheless, in these strenuous new days of industrial activ- ity that truth seems for a while to have been forgotten, but at last has been re-discovered and applied not only to the young but to adults as well. The application of this principle is sadly needed in the crowded city and industrial town, with their throngs of over-worked men and women in shops, factories, miUs and mines. But it is needed in the country, also, where too often no special provision has been made for any healthful recreation. Warren H. Wil- son states the case: "The departure of many persons from country communities is due to the 292 PLAY, FOE YOUNG AND OLD 293 lack of social life: and the fascination of the city for bright and energetic young men and women is due to the variety of recreation and interest which it provides to those who expect to work and are willing to work. Regular work means regular play. This fact cannot be too well learned by those who study the religious and moral life of the modern man. The need of play is as real as the need of food or of sleep." For children, it should be remembered, play is a right, essential to the healthful physical de- velopment. It is also essential to healthful moral development. Joseph Lee says: "The whole question of juvenile law-breaking, or at least nine-tenths of it, is a question of children's play. ' ' This has been demonstrated in the cities where the largest proportion of juvenile crime is found in those crowded sections where there are no playgrounds, and where the establish- ment of playgrounds properly supervised has always resulted in the decrease of juvenile offences. To quote again from Joseph Lee, and there is no better authority on the matter of play and playgrounds: "The boy has no 294 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT especial desire to come in. conflict with the laws and usages of civilised society. He shows, it is true, in most cases no morbid or precocious aversion to doing so. If there is a man clothed in dignity and a blue coat, especially hired and paid to chase you if you will only take the neces- sary means to gain his interest and attention, — and if there is nothing else to do — ^it is a wasting of opportunities, or flying in the face of Providence, as it were, not to make the most of what fortune so considerately sends. . . . But give a boy a chance at foot-ball, basket-ball, hocky, or 'the game,' give him an opportunity to perform difficult and dangerous feats on a horizontal bar, on the flying rings or from a diving-board, and the policeman wiU need a gymnasium himself to keep his weight down." It is obvious, then, that in a consideration of town and village improvement, civic or rural, an important place must be given to the pro- motion of play. The Young Men's Christian Association, in its department of County Work, is one of the heartiest advocates and the wisest of guides in the provision it makes for games, athletics, and play-festivals for boys and men; PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD 295 and the Young Women's Christian Association is doing like work for girls and women. Developing Athletics.— There are many ways of developing the athletic spirit in country com- munities. One which has many advantages is that reported by 0. 0. Stanchfield, County Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. in Hillsdale County, Michigan. {Rural Manhood, August, 1910.) The aim there was to give every mem- ber of the organisation a chance to play on a ball-team. To this end baseball was part of the work of each of the eleven groups. Each group, made up of eighteen or twenty boys, organised three teams. The members were divided into two equally matched teams, each with its captain. These two teams played a series of games between each other, thus giv- ing ample opportunity to have games at home, an opportunity which is seldom found in small villages or communities. In several towns a very interesting series of games was played, as a result of which boys who had never had a chance to play before made rapid strides in mastering the use of their bodies and wills. ' ' The third team organised in each group was 296 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT the representative team, picked from both teams. This team had its own captain, and of course played the representative teams from the groups of other towns. All games played by any of the three teams of a group were arranged by the chairman of the athletic com- mittee of the group. Whenever a team played away from home the players paid their own railroad expenses and were entertained for dinner or supper by the opposing players of the team visited. While no regular league games were played, it was no unusual thing to have from three to seven games in as many places on a Saturday." In some places other methods may be pre- ferred. John Brown, Jr., International Secre- tary of physical work in the county work, in an article (Rural Manhood, October, 1911), out- lines a plan by which all boys in all schools, large and small, are divided in groups, accord- ing to the boys' weight; those from 60 to 80 pounds in one class, 81 to 95 pounds in another group ; 96 to 110 pounds in a third, etc. Then each group is allowed to contest La sprinting, standing broad jump, running broad jump, PLAY, FOE YOUNG AND OLD 297 running high jump, baseball throw, etc., accord- ing to a carefully graded scheme. "In the contests proposed each boy has a chance to play in a number of events, gets credit for what he does, and plays with no unequal advantage." This is a plan which ha a been many times tested and proven fairly practicable and satis- factory. (See Athletic Badge Test for Boys, Appendix C.) Whenever it is desired to undertake an organisation of boys in an athletic club the best way to proceed is to secure the direction and guidance of the county secretary of the Y. M. C. A. If no such official exists then no better step can be taken than to apply to the State Y. M. C. A., and co-operate with it in securing the appointment of a county secretary, whose ser- vices, not only in this line, but in many others, will be of the greatest value to the young life of the county. An example of a similar work for young women and girls, undertaken by the Young Women's Christian Association, is shown in Coryell County, Texas, where Bible Class work and athletics are promoted together, each 298 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT assisting the other in "the all-around develop- ment of the more abundant life." Parallel with this is the promotion of play- grounds under the direction of school authori- ties, in connection with all public schools. It is now increasingly realised that with every school sufSdent ground should be taken for a playground and the abundant enjoyment of games. Teachers should know how to promote wholesome play. At the risk of repetition we call attention here to a statement made in a pamphlet published by the Oklahoma State Department of Education on "Improvement of Conditions in Eural Schools:" Play in Rural Schools. — "It is sometimes claimed that play is not needed in rural schools, where the daily work of pupils affords them much exercise. If exercise were the only mo- tive for play, this would be true, but country children need the refreshing reaction, develop- ment of social instincts, and training for good citizenship which comes from play, equally as much as do the city children. More play in the rural districts would relieve the monotony of country life, and be an attraction to offset the PLAY, FOE YOUNG AND OLD 299 lure of the city. The work performed by the boys and girls on the farm may afford plenty of physical exercise, but it is not always pleas- ant exercise, and it frequently over-develops some parts of the body, leaves other parts un- developed, and causes the formation of habits of slow and clumsy movements. Properly directed play will correct improper develop- ment, overcome awkward movements, afford pleasurable exercise, and bring about a develop- ment of both mind and body that will make better and happier citizens." Then follow, in this bulletin, directions for the playing of half a dozen school games, and a chapter on track and field athletics. Field Day Games. — One excellent outgrowth of this development of school athletics is the crea- tion of the field day and play picnic, in which, not infrequently, both old and young partici- pate. We have already reported one community in which it was proposed one year that in place of the usual county fair a Play Festival should be held. The farmers and their wives and children all assembled and spent a day in play- ing various games in which old and young took 300 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT part. There was a good dinner and some time given to brief addresses. It was a play-day for all the people, and voted a great success. In the Rural Manhood for October, 1911, three such events are reported for Iowa : ' ' The Pleasant Hill Rural Association in Greene County organised and carried out a Fourth of July celebration. Nearly four hundred people were in attendance in spite of the fact that several neighbouring towns held celebrations. Flag-drills by the ladies, games for men, women and children, and a picnic dinner, were features of the occasion. Some fellows who, in previous years had been accustomed to going to places where they could secure liquor, pronounced it a splendid way of celebrating the Fourth, and said they had never had a better time. This association has organised baseball every Satur- day afternoon, and some of the fellows who have been accustomed to go away and play ball on Sunday afternoon are now engaged in the Saturday afternoon sport instead." One more report from Windsor County, Ver- mont {Rural Manhood, September, 1912), may PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD 301 be added to emphasise the value of this kind of affair and the variety that may he introduced. "The fifth annual Play Festival, held on the Woodstock fair grounds, Saturday, June 15, was a great success. Fifteen hundred people, men, women, children, even the babies, were on the grotmds during the day. It was a great day of joy and activity on every hand. Aside from the athletic features and games, of which there was a great variety, there were some spe- cial features, such as an aspect of pageantry, in which the little folks, costumed like real In- dians, stole across the greensward stage, captured a soldier and tied him to a stake. Apparently the worst was going to happen, but he was rescued by his comrades in the nick of time and the savages disappeared. The Camp Fire Girls also won their rounds of ap- plause in their folk dancing and other charming novelties. Trap-shooting interested the men, and, since its introduction a few years ago at the carnival, this sport is growing in popu- larity in the country. Fly-casting was the new feature this year, under the direction of an 302 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT expert from New York City, The military band, the track oflScials, the men and women who took care of the boy and girl contestants, the social picnic-hour at noon, during which the W. C. T. U, restaurant served the lunches for those who came unprepared, a school orchestra, a harnessing contest, and innumer- able other features, helped to make this carnival a red-letter day in Windsor County." Jjo. this connection may be mentioned an in- teresting and successful experiment reported by George E. Johnson in The Playground for April, 1913. It was an athletic meet between four teams of one hundred boys each. The age of the boys was from ten to fifteen years. "The object of the experiment was to dem- onstrate, if possible, the practicability of con- ducting an athletic meet in which individual competition should be entirely displaced by group competition; to demonstrate the feasi- bility of handling teams of extraordinary size, and to demonstrate also that such a meet would be of very great interest both from the stand- point of the spectators and of the participants. PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD 303 The events chosen were a five-mile relay race, each boy to run 88 yards; the standing broad iump, and the tug of war." After explaining the preparatory drilling necessary for such an event Mr. Johnson says : "The events were conducted as follows: For the relay race the teams were deployed in squads of ten to each of the ten 88-yard lines of the half-mile track, one boy of each team taking his place on the line, the rest being sta- tioned within the oval, adjacent to the track. The boys at the scratch carried sticks wound with the colours of their respective teams, which they handed to the next runner as they finished their distance. When the boys at a given sta- tion were released their places were taken by the boys composing the next relay at that station. Once started the race was continuous until every one of the 400 boys had run his distance and the five miles had been covered. "Nothing could exceed the spectacular features of this race. It was an ordinary relay race multiplied by 25, in time, in space, in changing fortunes. The accumulation of interest was immense and the out- 304 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT come was uncertain to the very end. In teams so large, if the age or weight basis is faithfully applied, the average difference between the members of the team is reduced to the very minimum and a close con- test inevitably results. "For the standing broad jump the teams were formed in single file, all facing in the same direction. The leaders of the several teams jumped, then took their places at the rear of their respective teams, the Hues meantime advancing to the marks made by the first jumpers. The second men on the teams jumped and took their places at the rear as did the first, and so on, until all had jimiped. The teams advanced down the track continuously and commensurately with the distance covered by the jumpers. The team cov- ering the greatest distance in the one hundred jumps won. "The tug-of-war was the ordinary standing pull, all four teams pulling at once. The two winning teams then pulled the final. The time allowed was one minute. This event proved very spectacular and exciting, contrary to the expectation of some who had never before experienced the thrilling suspense of a real tug-of-war." Those who are interested in the promotion of this kind of unprovement work by athletics should write for advice to The Playground and Eecreation Association of America, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. A little pamphlet called PLAY, FOE YOUNG AND OLD 305 "The Field Day and Play Picnic for Country Children" (Survey Associates, publisher), will be found very helpful. The Public Eecreation Commission of Columbus, Ohio, publishes valu- able handbooks, giving rules and advice. Pageants. — In the report from Windsor Coimty, Vermont, we have seen that "pag- eantry" and "folk dancing" were a part of the play festival programme. Each of these forms of recreation, recently coming into prominence among us, should be given special emphasis. The pageant, or festival, which we have particu- larly in mind, is an out-of-door spectacle cele- brating local history in dramatic form, the peo- ple of the present day rehearsing the life and celebrating the traditions of their ancestry in the past. Such pageants have been given in Thetford, Vermont; St. Johnsbury, Vermont; D'eerfield, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, to the great delight of the people and with most satis- factory results. Or the event may take the form of festivals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, or Easter; or for patriotic celebrations of "Wash- ington's Birthday, Patriot's Day, Memorial 306 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Day, or the Fourth of July. Mr. "William Chauncy Langdon has prepared a pamphlet with full instructions, including dialogue, for "The Celebration of The Fourth of July, by Means of Pageantry." There is no restriction on the use of this pamphlet except that those who use it are asked to report results later to the Eussell Sage Foundation. Various books also have been recently published which will be of assistance to those who desire to pro- duce pageants or festivals in their own community. Among these may be mentioned "Festivals and Plays, in Schools and Elsewhere," by Percival Chubb, "Folk Festivals," by Mary M. Needham; "Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People," by Constance D. Mackay; "The Dramatic Festival," by Anna A. T. Craig and "Pageants and Pageantry," by Esther W. Bates. Further assistance may be obtained from the published plays. "Words of the Pageant of Thet- ford" (price 25 cents), may be obtained from Marga- ret Fletpher, Thetford, Vermont; "The Words of the Pageant of St. Johnsbury," from Chas. E. Peck, St. Johnsbury, Vt., and information concerning the "Meriden Pageant" from Chas. A. Tracey, Meriden, N. H. Accounts of these and other pageants may be found also in The Playground and other magazines. If desired, arrangements may be made for an illus- PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD 307 trated lecture on the subject by application to the Russell Sage Foundation, 400 Metropolitan Tower, New York. The interesting fact about these pageants is that they can be given by the people themselves, even in a country town, though of course a leader, or director, will be needed to instruct and drill the people in the parts. A typical instance is that of Lancaster, Mass., where a prologue and four historical scenes were pre- sented. The prologue represented May Games in an English fete of the period 1575-1625; then followed four historical scenes, one repre- senting the settlement of Lancaster in 1650, another the massacre by the Indians in 1676, the third the departure of the Minute Men in 1775, and finally the reception tendered to Lafayette in 1824, — all connected with the actual history of the ancestors of Lancaster, Every section of our country is rich in his- toric episode, from the life in the log cabin to the present time. To have the local history thus brought to mind is of great value in foster- ing local sentiment and promoting the sense of 308 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT loyalty, not only among the descendants of the old residents but also among the new peoples who have come into so many of our villages. The pageant is also a splendid means of pro- moting the social life of a community, bringing together, as it may, a large part of the popula- tion; it provides opportunity also for expres- sion of the dramatic instinct which dwells, often unsuspected and unfed, in every life; and it is a fine, educational and interesting form of recreation. Folk Dancing. — There is special reason for emphasising, at the same time, the value and beauty of folk dancing — that is, dancing which is symbolic in its nature. Folk dancing is the reproduction of the old European coun- try-dances, by which the people rehearsed in action the sowing of grain in the springtime, the reaping of the harvest, the pursuit of the enemy, the hunt, weddings, birth, death and other events of human experience. For ex- ample there is a Danish shoemakers' dance, a Swedish reap the flax, a Norwegian mountain- march, the English May-pole dances, a Finnish harvest dance, etc. The Highland reel, the PLAY, FOR YOUNG AND OLD 309 Irish jig and the Italian tarantella, are all folk dances. These old-country dances are beautiful and healthful, full of excitement and interest. Never was the graceful art of dan- cing in more danger of degradation than now, with the new and often vulgar forms it is assum- ing in many places. In the country dancing is not always a harmless recreation any more than it is in the cities. The cheap dance-hall in many cities and towns is a centre of evil. The remedy is not to abolish dancing. That cannot be done permanently, and need not be attempted. Eightly conducted, dancing may prove a health- ful and useful form of recreation, better than some other Mnds of play allowed to young peo- ple; and now selected folk dancing is being taught as a regular part of the curriculum in many public schools. The tendency of this kind of dancing is to cultivate a distaste for the vulgar dances, just as education in good read- ing makes the cheap and vulgar in literature distasteful. An ardent advocate of folk dancing in the home and the school is Luther H. Gulick, than whom the young people have no 310 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT better friend and adviser, and a fascinating account of the new form of recreation may be found in his book on "The Healthful Art of Dancing," in which, with many illustrations from the public schools, the whole matter is clearly presented. CHAPTEE XV THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT Nowhere is the church of greater importance than in the country community. There it is pre-eminently the institution that holds the key to the situation. A book might be written — books have been written — on this subject. Our purpose in this chapter is only to emphasise some of the leading facts, and to point out sources of further information and guidance. The Basic Position of Agriculture. — In the intro- duction to the Report of the Commission on Country Life, Mr. Roosevelt well said: "We were formed as a nation of farmers and in spite of the great growth of our industrial life it still remains true that our whole system rests on the farm, that the welfare of a nation, of the whole community, depends upon the wel- fare of the farmer. The strengthening of country life is the strengthening of the whole 311 312 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT nation." Further on the Report continues: "Upon the development of this distinctively rural civilisation rests ultimately our ability to ... . supply the city and the metropolis with fresh blood, clean bodies and clear brains, that can endure the strain of modern urban life ; and to preserve a race of men in the open country that, in the future as in the past, will be the strength and stay of the nation in time of war, and its guiding and controlling spirit in time of peace." Now no institution ia the country is better fitted to recognise these ideals and to keep them before the people than the country church. He whose privilege it is, as a country minister, to provide inspirational and moral guidance, can find no nobler or worthier task. There is no institution to which the country community should be more loyal than to its church and no leader whom it should support more effectively and unselfishly than its minister. The temptation is great to present here in support of these statements, the whole of sev- eral pages on the subject from the Report of the Country Life Commission. On no subject THE COUNTEY CHURCH 313 does it speak more forcibly. "Any considera- tion of the problem of rural life that leaves out of account the function and the possibilities of the church, and of its related institutions," it declares, "would be grossly inadequate. This is not only because in the last analysis the country-life problem is a moral problem, or that in the best development of the indi- vidual the great motives and results are re- ligious and spiritual, but because from the pure sociological point of view the church is funda- mentally a necessary institution in coimtry life. In a peculiar way the church is intimately related to the agricultural industry. The work and the life of the farm are closely bound together, and the institutions of the country react on that life and on one another more inti- mately than they do in the city. This gives the rural church a position of peculiar diffi- culty and one of unequalled opportunity. The time has arrived when the church must take a larger leadership, both as institutions, and through its pastors, in the social reorganisa- tion of rural life." One of the most encouraging signs of the 314 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT times is the fact that the principle, so emphat- ically presented here, is being realised as never before. To an increasing extent theological seminaries recognise it and are considering ways of preparing students for special work in country parishes. Agricultural colleges recognise it and are holding summer confer- ences for the assistance of country ministers in their work. The Young Men's Christian Association is focussing its attention on country work, and offering invaluable assist- ance in many ways to churches and ministers. And the ministers themselves are beginning to understand that their work is not simply to preach theological sermons, champion denomi- nationalism and increase church membership, but also to serve their communities in every way that will enrich the common life. The Country Minister as a Leader. — To quote again from the Commission on Country Life: "The country pastor must be a commtmity leader. He must know the rural problems. He must have sympathy with rural ideals and aspirations. He must love the country. He must know the country life, the difficulties that THE COUNTRY CHURCH 315 the fanner has to face in his business, some of the great scientific revelations made in behalf of agriculture, the great industrial forces at work for the making or the unmaking of the farmer, the fundamental social problems of the life of the open country. . . . The country minister is the key of the country-church problem." This does not mean that the minister must necessarily be an expert farmer, or that he should attempt in his preaching to instruct the farmer in technical matters, but he should un- derstand the situation so well that his people will know that he appreciates their difficulties. He should be able to idealise for them their life and their labours, and enable them to realise the value' of the work in which they are en- gaged. He should endeavour to promote among his people and in his community the spirit of social service. In many ways the church in any community may promote the social spirit. It is a part of its function every- where to do so, in city or in country. The spirit of brotherhood, of fellowship, of service, is an essential characteristic of the loyal and living Christian church, whatever its denomina- 316 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT tional name. Without this spirit something vital is lacking. Where it exists wise leader- ship only is needed to make it a mighty force for the welfare of the community. A vivid example of the value of the church in a country town is given by Gifford Pinchot in his introduction to a recent volume on "The Country Church, ' ' * which contains an account of surveys made in Vermont, and New York, mainly under the direction of the Rev. Charles Otis Gill. Speaking of the peculiar fitness of Mr. Gill for this work, Mr. Pinchot says: "For fifteen years Mr. GUI has been a country minister. One of his tasks was to establish a church iu a country community in Vermont which had been without one for more than twenty years. When Mr. Gill came to it, the moral and social laxity of the whole community was flagrant. Disbelief in the existence of goodness appeared to be common, public dis- approval of indecency was timid or lacking, and religion was in general disrepute. Not only was there no day of worship, but also no day of rest. Life was mean, hard, small, self- •The Country Church. Gill and Pinchot. The Mae- millan Co. THE COUNTRY CHURCH 317 ish, and covetous. Land belonging to the town was openly pillaged by the public officers who held it in trust; real estate values were low, and among the respectable families there was a general desire to sell their property and move away. "Then the church was organised. The change which followed was swift, striking, thorough, and enduring. The public property of the town, once a source of graft and de- moralisation, became a public asset. The value of real estate increased beyond all proportion to the general rise of land values elsewhere. In the decade and a half which has elapsed since the church began its work, boys and girls of a new type have been brought up. The rep- utation of the village has been changed from bad to good, public order has greatly improved, and the growth of the place as a summer resort has begun. It is fair to say that the establish- ment of the church under Mr. Gill began a new era in the history of the town." Combining Weak Churches. — This kind of testi- mony is not unique. It is familiar to everyone who knows anything of the history of the 318 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT clnirch. Still it is not the whole story. To revive a community there must be not only a church organisation; the church must be a living body of people inspired with a vision of work to be done, of service for the community to be performed. A keen analysis of the country situation is made in this book by Mr. Pinchot and Mr. Gill. It appears that not every town in which there is a church is pro- gressing. Some churches are losing their grip. Attendance is decreasing and the condition of the rural community in those towns is depre- ciating. In general it may be stated that where a small town is over-churched, where a little community is cut up iato rival religious groups, lacking in co-operative effort, there the situa- tion is most discouraging and often seems well nigh hopeless. On the other hand, as a rule, one-church towns are prospering. The one effort which all who seek community improve- ment must make increasingly, therefore, is to promote church federation at least, and church union if possible. It is sometimes feasible for two churches of different denominations to come together in some mutual agreement by THE COUNTRY CHURCH 319 which, for a time at least, the organisations may be kept distinct, but services be held in one building, one minister being engaged for both bodies. Thus economy can be practised and fellowship promoted, while the minister will be better supported. Every such movement for inter-church federation should be warmly supported by those who seek the increasing wel- fare of rural communities. In the book by Pinchot and Gill there is an account of the most promising Inter-Church Federation of Vermont. Here is its pro- gramme, as publicly announced: "1. "We propose to take for our first endeavour the economic, social and intellectual and the religious improvement of the small tovms of the State. "2. "We pledge our help to communities of this kind, especially in securing for them an efficient re- ligious leadership. (a) By the promotion of summer conferences for instruction and inspiration for religious work in the open country. (b) By extension work, including correspondence courses in the country church, and in modem agricul- ture. "3. We agree to outline plans for the uplift of cer- tain districts, to assume the task through a common 320 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT effort to be made under the leadership of a committee to be chosen under the separate churches of that dis- trict, and further requesting, that these churches be- come responsible for the special field assigned, and labour for its uplift by all possible means, but in- cluding : (a) The approach of the people on the side of the work whereby they earn their daily bread, and the endeavour to stimulate better farming and better liv- ing, so that Vermont boys may understand that they have a chance in Vermont. (b) The organisation of towns for recreation and common social amusement, to cure the ills of isolation and neighbourhood jealousy. "4. We believe that each religious body represented in Vermont should work first for the welfare of Ver- mont, and should subordinate its own promotion to that end. "5. We promise to lay to heart the condition of our rural schools — ^teachers underpaid and frequently changed, insufficient books and supplies, inadequate buildings and grounds — and we pledge our co-opera- tion in any movement looking to the equalising of educational advantages between country children and city children." This splendid churcli-federatioii movement is sure to accomplisli beneficial results for Ver- mont, and its programme may well be a model and a stimulus for weak churches in other States. THE COUNTRY CHURCH 321 Social Service of the Country Church.— But again •we return to the fact that the great need is for ministers who see the opportunity and the duty of the church to lead in social service ; and that they must receive the hearty and generous sup- port of all public-spirited men and women who desire to promote community improvement. The town of Hartford, Vermont, provides a good illustration of what a community may accomplish by way of reformation and progress under efficient leadership. It is a town of about 4000 population, cut up into five villages. Not long ago there was no co-operation among these villages, but rather a spirit of suspicion and jealousy which made it impossible for the town to secure good local government. Morals were at a low ebb and the worst vice flourished almost unrebuked. At the same time it was evident that if the right-minded citizens of the town would unite, better conditions might be secured. The minister of one of the churches then advocated and succeeded in organising a Civic Committee, composed of one hundred members, and this committee began a vigorous assault on evil conditions. So successful were 322 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT their efforts that it was decided to form a town organisation for wider development, and this was finally accomplished. The story of the de- velopment of this plan and the successful work- ing out of its elaborate programme, now known far and wide through Vermont as "The Hart- ford Forward Movement," should be an inspi- ration to similar communities. The leader in this work was the Eev. J. A. Scheuerle, subse- quently Secretary of the Hampden County Im- provement League. Mr. Scheuerle says, "It is our endeavour to get the churches aroused to the possibility of rural-life development. The churches must get into the work and get into it quick or they will be left high and dry without a programme in rural districts." Du Page Church.— The church under the leader- ship of its minister, should heartily co-operate with the Grange, the T. M. C. A., the Farmers' Institute, or any other organisation which exists for community progress. Where such organisations do not exist let the minister lead his people in becoming the social-betterment agency for the town. Many ministers are do- ing thus. Another notable example of such THE COUNTEY CHUECH 323 leadership and its eflScient results is told in the now famous story of the Du Page church in minois. This was a church in the open prairie, not located in a village, the town itself being six miles from the nearest railroad. When Eev. Matthew P. McNutt went to it from the seminary, he found the church losing its grip. No one had entered its membership for five years. Other organisations were providing for the social life of the town, mainly by pro- moting dancing. The church people were faith- ful and devoted. They needed the right kind of leadership. Mr. McNutt came with the idea that the church, that religion, concerned the whole man, his social life, his business life, his education, his amusements. He realised that times and conditions had changed and the church must adapt itself to the new conditions. He began by organising an old-fashioned sing- ing-school, and soon had a strong diorus choir, a male quartette, a ladies quartette, an orchestra and some good soloists, with im- mediate effect on the services of the church and Sunday-school. He started two or three base- ball teams and encouraged the boys in field- 324 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT sports. He promoted sociables, held in the different homes. Ultimately the church build- ing was replaced with a new structure suited to the new life and its many needs. The story is a long and interesting one, and it may be found, by those who desire to know details, in a little pamphlet called "Modem Methods in the Country Church," to be had on application to the Board of Home Missions of the Presby- terian Church, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Another leaflet to be obtained from the same source is "The Parish House in the Country Community," by Anna B. Taft, from which we quote two further illustrations of good church work iu country communities : "An example of a successful and inexpensive Par- ish House, directly under the care of the one church, is in the village of "West Cummington, Mass., a little community fourteen miles from a railroad or trolley, back in the hills of Hampshire County. The work was started by the women of the church, and bom of a realisation of the absolute necessity of giving a wholesome social life to the young people of the local- ity, or facing the problem of rural degeneracy in the next generation. "An abandoned church of another denomination was purchased for a small amount, renovated, and a THE COUNTEY CHUECH 325 very suitable parish home was the result. This sug- gests a wholesome use for many superfluous churches in communities where overlapping is an aggravated problem. "The equipment for the Parish House was partly contributed by friends, but largely obtained by the people themselves, who gradually raised the money by entertainments and social gatherings. Regularly one evening a week the house is open for the parish — often many evenings besides — ^with a diversity of programme that is extensive and interesting. Ama- teur dramatics are a very popular form of entertain- ment, and creditable and artistic results are often obtained. The house is patronised not only by the young people, but is a meeting place for the older ladies, who bring their fancy work, enjoy a social hour of common interest, and sympathetically share the more joUy time of the young people about them. "Another interesting and successful Parish House is in McClellandtown, Pa., under the charge of the Rev. Charles 0. Bemies, a Presbyterian minister." The Church and the Boys. — Other information concerning the church as a leader in promoting rural recreation may be found in The Play- ground Magazine, for October, 1912, the whole number being devoted to the consideration of "Eural Eecreation and the Church." It tells, for example, of the village of Eedwood Falls, 326 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT Minnesota, where there is a church which has three boys' clubs which are Sunday-school classes on Sunday, and baseball, hockey and skeeing teams during the week. They have monthly socials and weekly club-meetiags, and "the boys are learning the principles of co- operation, fair play, and sportsmanship — and having a buUy time in the process." The writer who tells this story also made an investigation into the relation of the Boy Scouts of America to country churches and pas- tors. He found that 1545, or 32 per cent, of the whole number of 4481 scout-masters were in rural communities of 2500 or fewer inhabi- tants; and 844 of the masters were in com- munities of 1000 or fewer people ; 413 masters in communities of 500 or fewer people, and 25 per cent, of the rural masters in towns of 2500 were ministers and 30 per cent, of the masters in towns of 500 or less were ministers. This is a most encouraging report, not only of the extent to which the country community is adopt- ing the Boy Scout movement, but also of the degree in which the coimtry minister is awak- THE COUNTRY CHUECH 327 ening to Ms opportunity to work with his boys. Mr. Eastman says further: "The country pas- tors of our land are foremost among the local leaders in recreative rural play. Where rural playgrounds exist the eases are exceptional where the ministers are not either the leaders, or vitally interested. The rural parish house is becoming increasingly prevalent. The great- est ally of the average country church is wisely directed community play." A large amount of further information on this important topic may be found in the special religious-work issues of Rural Manhood for the month of February in 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913, each number containing specific material and concrete illustrations of the work of country churches, country ministers, and county Y. M. C. A. secretaries in the healthful development of rural life. It is impossible to speak too highly of the work of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association in this respect, in their co- operation with the churches and ministers. Where local church leaders cannot be found, and often it is difficult to find men suited to the 328 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT task in small towns, the Association is gen- erally able to provide a leader, or better still to train one. The Church Building and Grounds. — One matter which must not be forgotten in this discussion is the importance of the church building itself as an influence in the community. It should not only be useful and adapted to the needs of the community, it should also, by its very appear- ance, stand as a symbol of the importance and sacredness of religion. By its dignity, its beauty, and its attractiveness, by the care be- stowed upon it and upon the grounds by which it is surrounded, it should reveal the affection and respect which religion holds in the hearts of the people. It is the outward and visible symbol of their religious faith. A shabby church building, lacking in every element of beauty, out of repair, out of keeping with the homes around it, speaks its own message of the lack of devotion on the part of the people. As in the case of other public buildings, so, even more emphatically, the church building reveals the character of the people. If the religions teaching is highly esteemed, if religious influ- THE COUNTRY CHUECH 329 ences are deemed of supreme value, if the church is considered to be the most important institution in the community, then the church edifice should receive the most faithful and de- voted care. One reason why the religious life does not seem attractive to young people is the imat- tractiveness of the things that symbolise re- ligion. Therefore the interior of the church building should be beautiful, and outwardly it should be inviting. It should be surrounded by well-kept grounds, adorned with trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers. The Tabernacle of Israel was a centre of beauty within the camp. The Temple of Solomon was more glorious than the palace of the king of Israel. The modern house of worship should be the most beautiful of all the public buildings. And whether there be one church or many in a community, a part of the work of a village improvement society should be to promote interest in the adornment and care of all church grounds. Loyalty to the Church. — ^In laying stress on the relation of the country minister to the social life of his community, we have not lost sight 330 VILLAGE IMPEOVEMENT of the real purpose of the church. It would be a serious mistake to fall into this error. The function of the church, ia the city or coun- try, is not primarily to furnish entertain- ment for the people. Its primary function is to develop the spiritual life, to lead the peo- ple in worship and to teach the fundamental and eternal religious truths. No other organ- isation exists to cultivate the religious life. If the church does not do it the work will not be done. Religious life is essential to the welfare of any people, and it is the church alone which exists for the promotion of the religious life. But it is the great privilege and duty of the church to show that religion concerns the whole life, every normal activity, all social re- lationships, and it may become the inspiring force in the right direction of everything that promotes the welfare of the community, the making of all-round, fully developed manhood and womanhood. Therefore, we say again, there is no organisation to which the people of a community should be more loyal than to the church, the school of its highest hopes, inspira- tions and ideals; and the minister should be THE COUNTEY CHUECH 331 generously supported. He should not be handi- capped by the limitations of an inadequate salary, hut should be heartily seconded, not only in his efforts to enrich the services of the church, but also in his endeavours to lead his people in the largest and most healthful life for the community. Only so can the country church gain and retain the leaders whom it needs. The church that starves its leaders im- poverishes itself. On the other hand there are men enough who will respond to the call of the country church which is conscious of its great opportunity, and ready to accept and maintain a wise, unselfish and devoted leadership. It would seem from the illustrations which we have considered, from the encouraging reports that come from all parts of the land, that there is a new appreciation of these facts, a new feel- ing of hope, new ambitions and a better outlook for the future. Never were so many forces combining to invigourate country life, to enrich it at its sources and to continue its existence, as the most healthful and useful part of our great developing American nation. APPENDIX A CONSTITUTION OF THE CTTY IMPEOVEMENT SOCIETT OP WICHITA, KANSAS Article I. — ^Name. Article II. — Object. The object of this Society shall be the improvement of Wichita in Health, Growth, Cleanliness, Prosperity, Attractiveness and Industrial Education. Article III. — ^Members. Section 1. Any person may become a member of this Society by signing the Constitution and paying to the Treasurer twenty-five (25) cents. Sec. 2. All members agree to do what they can to promote the objects of this Society; (1) by informing their neighbours of the purpose of the Society, and soliciting them to become members of the same; (2) and especially in the care, cleanliness and improve- ment of their own grounds, walks and alleys adjacent. Article IV. — OflBcers. Section 1. The officers of this Society shall be a President, Vice-President, Sec- retary and Treasurer, who shall perform the duties common to these officers in other organisations. Sec. 2. These officers shall constitute an Executive Committee who shall make provisions for public meet- ings as to speakers, music recitals, etc., also perform such other duties as may be ordered by the Society. 332 APPENDIX 333 See. 3. Said officers shall be elected by ballot at the first regular meeting of each year, and shall hold their offices until their successors are elected. Sec. 4. The Treasurer shall make a written report at end of the year, of all receipts, disbursements, and at such other times as may be ordered by the Society. Sec. 5. The Treasurer shall pay out money only on the order of the Society or Executive Committee. Article V.— Meetings. The Society shall hold at least one meeting each month, and at such other times as may be ordered by the Society or called by the Ex- ecutive Committee. Article VI. — Committees. The following standing committees shall be appointed by the Society at the first annual meeting of each year, consisting of not less than three members each, viz.: 1 — A Committee on Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks; 2 — ^A Committee on Tree Planting, Tree Culture and Street Parking; 3 — ^A Committee on Public Parks, Lawn and Floral Culture; 4 — ^A Committee on Sanitation, including drainage, sewerage and purity of water for domestic purposes; 5 — A Committee on Education, touching industrial departments in our public schools, also the enforcement of the law for compulsory attendance at school. Article VII. — This constitution may be amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the mem- bers present, such amendment having been presented in writing at a previous meeting. APPENDIX B CONSTITUTION OF THE NEIGHBOXmHOOD IMPROVEMENT CliUBS OF KANSAS We, the citizens residing in the neighbour- hood, believing that this community deserves the best economic, civic, health, social, moral and educational conditions that it is possible for its citizens to bring about ; and further believing that a better understand- ing of the fundamental problems of community life and a wider acquaintance can be accomplished by open and free discussion of all neighbourhood ques- tions, therefore . . . constitute ourselves a Neighbour- hood Improvement Club. Article I. — ^Name. Article II. — Object. Article III. — ^Membership. Every person living in the neighbourhood is eligible. Article IV. — Officers and Elections. Section 1. There shall be the following officers: President, First, Second, Third Vice Presidents, Secretary and Treas- urer. Sec. 2. All the officers shall be elected at the an- nual meeting of the Club, which shall be held on , to serve for a term of one year each. Only active members will be allowed to vote for officers and only active members are eligible to office. 334 APPENDIX 335 Article V.— Duties of Officers [as usual]. Article VI. — Committees. There shall be three com- mittees of the Club namely, the Executive Committee, the Improvement Committee, and the Programme Committee. Article VII. — ^Duties of Committees. Section 1. Ex- ecutive Committee: The Executive Committee shall consist of the elected officers of the Club. It shall be the duty of this committee to confer upon questions regarding the welfare of the Club; to consider and recommend matters of importance to the Club; and in unusual matters, requiring haste, to act for the Club. Sec. 2. Improvement Committee: The Improve- ment Committee shall consist of the Second Vice Pres- ident and four other members chosen by him. It shall be the duty of this Committee to investigate all questions of local improvement, which may be referred to it by the Club ; also, to suggest matters upon which the Club should act. It shall also be the duty of this Committee to make or supervise the making of all sur- veys suggested under "Methods of Work." Sec. 3. Programme Committee: The Programme Committee shall consist of the Third Vice President and two other members chosen by him. It shall be the duty of this committee to arrange programmes for aU of the meetings of the Club ; to secure speak- ers; and to suggest topics of discussion, which shall assure profitable and interesting meetings; to pro- mote the publicity of the Club through the local news- papers, the announcement of programmes of the meet- 336 APPENDIX ings of the Club, and otherwise to carry on the work of publicity for the Club. Article VIII. — Meetings. [To be locally arranged.] Article IX. — ^Dues. There shall be no regular dues of the Club. Active members of the Club may con- tribute cents per year to pay . . . such inci- dental expenses as may be incurred. Article X. — Quorum. Eight active members of the Club shall constitute a quorum. Article XI. — ^Amendments. The constitution may be amended by two-thirds vote of the active members present at any regular meeting. By-law 1. The meeting shall be called to order by eight o'clock or earlier, so that the business routine may be disposed of and the speaker of the evening may be introduced not later than fifteen minutes past eight. The main address should be finished and the subject thrown open for general discussion at or be- fore nine o'clock. This discussion should not last longer than forty minutes [no speech longer than five minutes] , and should close with a ten minute summing up by the speaker. METHODS OP WOEK 1. Surveys. Make a careful survey of the actual economic, social, health, moral and educational condi- tions in the neighbourhood. These surveys will in- clude the following data and more: I. Health Conditions: 1. Source of water supply. If open wells, where located? How walled up and enclosed at top? APPENDIX 337 2. Condition of back yards, barnyards, alleys, etc., as to garbage, manure, filth, etc. ? 3. House-fly. Few or many in the community? Breeding-places. Is there horse manure or other filth left exposed near the house? 4. Sanitary condition of the dairy barn ? 5. Condition of the outside privy vault ; nearness to house and well. 6. Distance of barn from house? 7. How garbage is disposed of? 8. Drainage about the house and bam ? 9. Ventilation of bedrooms and schoolhouses? 10. Amount of patent medicine used? II. Economic: 1. Total number and breeds in the neighbourhood of: Horses, mules, beef cattle, dairy cows, hogs, sheep, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, etc. Value of each, and total value of all. 2. Total number of acres of corn for last season. Total bushels of corn. Average yield per acre. Highest yield per acre. Lowest yield per acre. Value of corn crop. 3. Same for wheat, oats, alfalfa, kafir, barley, cane, clover, potatoes, beans, and all garden vegetables. 4. Total number of acres of the different kinds of hay. Total number of tons per acre. Highest yield per acre. Lowest yield per acre. Value of hay crop. 5. Total number of apple trees. Total yield. Av- erage yield per tree. Highest yield. Lowest yield. Value of apple crop. Were any of the trees sprayed? 338 APPENDIX Effect on the crop. Same for peaches, pears, plums, cherries, etc. 6. Niunber of quarts of strawberries; value of strawberry crop. Same for raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants, etc. 7. Number of different kinds of farm implements, as ploughs, harrows, mowers, binders, headers, etc. 8. Number of buggies, carriages, automobiles. 9. Number of farmers who own the farm upon which they live. (If in town, number who own their own homes.) 10. Number of tenant-farmers. (If in town, num- ber of renters.) 11. Financial condition of the community; amount of indebtedness ; amount of money in banks. 12. Number of modern homes. 13. Number of modem barns. 14. Is there an organised Farmers' Institute? Grange? Farmers' Union? 15. Number of miles of well-kept roads ; number of miles of poorly kept roads. III. Social and Moral Conditions: 1. Is the school or church building used as a meet- ing-place for neighbourhood meetings? 2. Is there a farmers' organisation? A woman's club? Boys' club? Girls' club? How often does each meet ? "What is the purpose of each ? Nature of the programmes? 3. Is there a one-day agricultural fair held at the school or church? How often? APPENDIX 339 4. Does the church work for the entire commumty or just for its members? 5. Is the church exploiting the community or is it building up the community? 6. "What is the general neighbourhood opinion of the neighbourhood church as a community-builder? 7. What is the school doing to build up higher levels of social life in the neighbourhood ? 8. Are there neighbourhood entertainments? If so, how often are they held? Where held? 9. Is there a public playground in connection with the school or church ? Is the play supervised ? 10. Are there any neighbourhood athletic contests — ^base-baU, basket-ball, croquet, pitching horseshoes, etc.? How often held? Are they attended by all members of the neighbourhood ? 11. Is the pastor a resident member of the neigh- bourhood? Is he paid a salary sufficient to support a family? 12. Find out the number of rural telephones. Does the rural delivery reach every home ? 13. Does the community observe by way of neigh- bourhood entertainments the recognised holidays ? 14. If in town, how many churches? Are there too many? Do they work in harmony for community building? Is there any movement toward federating the churches? Does each pastor get a sufficient sal- ary to support his family? 340 APPENDIX IV. Educational: 1. Number of rooms in school building. Condition of the building as to paint, repairs, etc. 2. Apparatus and equipment for the school. 3. Size of school grounds. Number of trees. Con- dition of playground. 4. Age of teacher. Male or female. Preparation of the teacher. High school graduate. Normal school graduate. College graduate. Where born, country or city. 5. Is the teacher a resident member of the neigh- bourhood? Does he take an active part in commu- nity-building problems? 6. Is agriculture taught in the school ? 7. Is home-economics taught in the school? 8. Is there a proper equipment for the best teaching of these subjects? 9. Is there a workshop in connection with the school ? 10. Does the school have a boy's corn-club or some other boys' club? Is there a girls' domestic-science club? 11. Does the school have any one-day agricultural fairs ? If so, how often are they held ? 12. Is the school teaching civics and health to the community ? Is it a strong force in community build- ing? 13. Is there a library in connection with the school or church? 14. Do the adults of the community use the library? APPENDIX 341 Do any of the books treat of country life and commu- nity-building ? 15. Does the library have a complete set of the Farmers' Bulletins from the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture ? The Year Books of the Depart- ment of Agriculture ? A complete set of the bulletins published by the State Agricultural College? The biennial reports of the State Board of Agriculture? State Board of Health bulletins? 16. Does the school take any farm papers? How many? 17. How many monthly magazines are taken in the community? Weekly papers? Daily papers? 18. How many homes have a library of twenty-five to fifty books? Fifty to one hundred? Over one hundred ? 2. Regular meetings. After the survey (or a part of it) has been made, and the facts of the community known, the best methods of improving the conditions will be taken up in regular meetings. When possible to do so someone who is an authority on the particu- lar subject for discussion will be invited to discuss the question for a short time, after which there will be open discussion on the subject. (See by-laws.) In order that the discussion may not end in just talking, action Avill be taken leading to definite steps in the improvement of the conditions under discussion. APPENDIX C THE ATHLETIC BADGE TEST FOB BOYS The Playground and Recreation Association of America has adopted the following as standards which every boy ought to be able to attain: First Test Pull Up (Chinning) 4 times Standing Broad Jump 5 ft. 9 in. 60 Yards Dash 8 3-5 seconds Second Test Pull Up (Chinning) 6 times Standing Broad Jump 6 ft. 6 in. 60 Yards Dash 8 seconds or 100 Yards Dash 14 seconds Third Test Pull Up (Chinning) 9 times Running High Jump 4 ft. 4 in. 220 Yards Run 28 seconds As these standards have been tested in the public schools of several cities it has been found that the boys of 12 years of age should be able to qualify for the badge under the first test, elementary school boys of 13 years and over for the second test, and high school boys for the third test. It does not seem, how- 342 APPENDIX 343 ever, to those who have had experience with this form of athletics, that the different standards should be limited to these age groups. Accordingly no age or even weight limit is fixed. Any boy may enter any test at any time. Similar tests are now in use in many cities and in some country districts. The Association has at- tempted through a committee of experts from differ- ent parts of the country to establish standards which would be simple, consist of events which are interest- ing, and be generally acceptable. The tests require only simple apparatus, a comparatively small space. They can be conducted in a short period of time even with a considerable number of boys, and the measure of each boy's performance can be accurately deter- mined. CONTESTS The following general rules shall govern the final competition: 1. No boy is permitted to receive more than one badge for any grade in any one year. 2. It is necessary to qualify in all three events in any one class in order to win a badge. 3. There shall be but one trial in chinning, one in the dashes, and three in the jumps. These badges bear the design of a youth leaping a hurdle, exquisitely represented in low relief; and so jealous is the Association in respect to them that no sample-badges may be had by the field-secretaries, and no picture even may be printed except in the Association's own publications. The badge for the first test is distinguished by one 344 APPENDIX star in the space below the hurdler, the badge for the second test by two stars below the hurdler, the badge for the third test by the Greek word APISTON be- low the hurdler. All the badges are in bronze. The Association recommends that each boy passing the tests be allowed to pay for his own badge (15 cents) just as a young man or woman at college elected to Phi Beta Kappa pays for the key awarded. Public schools, private schools, playgrounds, even- ing recreation centres, settlements, church organisa- tions, and other organisations of good standing in any city, town, village or rural community may use the tests adopted by the Association and certify on blanks furnished by the Association, the names and addresses of boys passing the tests, ordering the num- ber of badges of each kind required. The American Committee on Athletic Standards for Boys will pass on each list certified. If such list is accepted by the committee, the badges ordered will be forwarded on receipt of the money for such badges. The association will reserve the right to test boys whose names have been sent in, if in the judgment of the committee, it seems desirable to do so. APPENDIX D COUNTY FAIK ATHLETIC PEOGRAMME The following programme is presented by Dr. John Brown, International secretary of Physical Work in the County Work (Rural Manhood, May 1912), se- lections being made for local conditions, and bearing in mind that trained leadership is essential. Dr. Brown invites correspondence in reference to the sub- ject and offers to co-operate in every way practical with those who are interested. (1) Demonstrations by clubs, schools, scouts, Young Men's Christian Associations or other organi- sations, including both sexes : 1. Pageants and Chorus Singing. 2. Mass Calisthenic Drill. 3. Dumbbell Drill. 4. Wand Drill. 5. Club Swinging. 6. Folk Dancing. 7. Marching. 8. Fancy or Maze Running. 9. First Aid. 10. Social Work. 11. Life Saving Land Drill. 12. Gymnastic Team. (2) Group play games. Several groups may play, playing the same game simultaneously, or several games may be played simultaneously by several groups. Boys of ten and under: 1. Ring Tag or Drop the Handkerchief. 2. Cat and Mouse. 3. Blind Man's Buff. 4. Double Tag, etc. The following series of games may be played by 345 346 APPENDIX older boys separately or both sexes plasdng together: 1. Three Deep. 2. Hand and Tail Tag. 3. Right and Left Face. 4. Good Morning. 5. The Beater Goes Around. 6. Dodge Ball. 7. Touch BaU. The following games can be best demonstrated by groups of older boys: 1. Skin the Snake. 2. Hustle BaU. 3. Horse and Eider Ball. 4, Medicine BaU Tag. 5. Dodge BaU. 6. Spud. (3) Competitive Games: 1. VoUey BaU. This may be played by teams composed of boys, girls, young men, young women or adults. 2. Captain BaU. Teams composed of girls. 3. Basket Ball. 4. Play- ground Ball. This is an exeeUent game for adult men, from the standpoint of both spectator and player. 5. Base BaU. 6. Soccer. 7. Field Hockey. 8. Tug of War. 9. Semi-finals or finals of tournament games which may have been running just previous to the county fair, in any of the above, or in tennis or hand-baU. (4) Athletic Events. 1. Girls' Events: 10 years of age and under, 25- yard dash ; 11 to 15 years of age, 50-yard dash ; 8 po- tato Eace; Throwing the base baU. 2. Boys' Events: 69 to 80 Pound Class— 50-yard dash. Standing Broad Jump, Base BaU Throw. 81 to 95 Pound Class — 75-yard dash. Standing Broad Jump, Base BaU Throw. 96 to 110 Pound Class— 100-Yard Dash, Eunning Broad Jump, Eunning High Jump, Jump, Standing Hop, Step and Jump, Base BaU Throw. Ill to 125 Pound Class— 100- APPENDIX 347 Yard Dash, 440- Yard Dash, Eunning Broad Jump, Running High Jump, Putting Eight Pound Shot. 3. Unlimited Class: 100-Yard Dash, 220-Yard Dash, 440-Yard Dash, 880-Yard Run, One Mile, Run- ning Broad Jump, Running High Jump, 12 Pound Shot Put, 12 Pound Hammer Throw. 4. Open Events: Obstacle Race. Sack or Hobble- Skirt Race. Three Legged Race and other freak events. 5. Relay Races: 440-Yard High School Relay Race — Boys over 14 years of age, 4 boys, each to run 110 yards. 330-Yard Sunday School Relay Race — Open to members of Sunday School, 14 years of age and under, four boys, each to run 75 yards. 300-Yard Grade School Relay Race — Pour grade school boys, each to run 75 yards. 440-Yard Town Relay Race — Teams to be composed of four young men employed in different towns. School or college students not allowed on these teams. Each man to run 110 yards. Events open to amateurs only. No cash prizes of- fered. No individuals to be allowed to enter more than three events and one relay race. All competi- tors to be medically examined before event. APPENDIX E CONSTITUTION OF THE KANSAS BUKAL LIFE BOY SCOUTS Article I. — ^Name. Article II. — ^Membership. All real, live boys who are twelve and not over twenty years of age are eli- gible to membership. Article III. Organisation and Officers. Local. — A local company may be organised in any community where six or more boys desire to become members. If there should be more than twelve boys, the com- pany may be divided into two or more squads. There should never be less than six boys in a squad. The officers shall be a captain for the company and a ser- geant for each squad, who shall be elected by a vote of the company. Their terms of ofSce shaU. be one year, or until their successors are elected and quali- fied. The election shall be held the second Saturday of September of each year. The captain shaU be the leader in all scouting or campiag expeditions and chairman of all meetings of the company. The ser- geant shall act as secretary and perform the duties of the captain in his absence. If there is more than one sergeant, the captain shall appoint one of them to act as secretary and perform the duties of the cap- tain in his absence. After a company has been or- ganised any boy living in the Community, meeting the 348 APPENDIX 349 age requirement and getting the approval of the ad- viser, captain and sergeants, may become a member of the company in his community. The captain and sergeants shall select a man who shall act as an adviser, who must be approved by the Agricultural College Council. County. — There shall be a County Council consist- ing of all of the advisers and captains in a county, and a chairman who shall be appointed by the Agri- cultural CoUege Council. Article IV. — ^Meetings. There shall be regular meetings of the local company once a month. During the month of July or August there shall be a five to ten days' Eural Life Camp of Instruction in each county, which shall be attended by all com- panies of the county. This Camp of Instruction shall be under the direction and management of the County Council. The programme shall consist of: 1. Games and athletic contests. 2. Contests in judging farm crops and stock. 3. Naming birds, wild animals, fish, flowers, trees, shrubs, etc. 4. Eeporting on the savings bank accounts. 5. Contests in any other lines of work carried on in the county. 6. Talks on rural life subjects. Article V. — Duties. [The duties and obligations are substantially the same as those required in the several classes of the Boy Scouts of America] . BIBLIOGRAPHY. General Books. Art for Life's Sake. Caflffin. (Prai^.) Challenge of the Country. Fiske. (Association Press.) Chapters in Rural Progress. Butterfield. (University of Chicago Press.) Charles Eliot, Landscape Architect. Eliot. (Hough- ton-Miffin.) Constructive Rural Sociology. Gillette. (Sturgis & Walton Co.) Country Town, The. Anderson. (Baker & Taylor.) Evolution of the Country Community. Wilson. (Pilgrim Press.) Improvement of Towns and Cities. Robinson. (Put- nam's.) Modern Civic Art. Robinson. (Putnam's.) Report of Commission on Country Life. (Sturgis & Walton Co.) Rural Life Problems in the United States. Plunkett. (Macmillan.) Home and School Gardens. Among School Gardens. Greene. (Survey Associates.) How to Make School Gardens. Hemenway. ( Double- day, Page & Co.) School and Home Gardens. Meier. (Ginn.) 350 BIBLIOGEAPHY 351 Children's Gardens for Pleasure, Health ajid Recrea- tion. (Sturgis & Walton Co.) Trees, Shrubs and Vines. Arbor Day. Schauffler. (Moffat, Yard & Co.) Care of Trees. Farrow. (Holt.) Conservation of Water. Mathews. (Small, May- nard & Co.) Diseases of Trees. Hartig. (MacmiUan.) Our Native Trees. Keeler. (Scribner's.) Shade Trees in Towns and Cities. Salstaroff. (Wiley.) Trees in Winter. Blakeslee and Jarvis. (Maemillan.) Trees of North America, Sargent. (Houghton-Miflain.) With the Trees. Maud Going. (Baker & Taylor.) Vines, and How to Grow Them. McCallom. (Double- day, Page & Co.) Rural Health. Health on the Farm. Harris. (Sturgis find Walton.) Home Water Works. Lynde. (Sturgis and Walton Co.) Animal Competitors. IngersoU. (Sturgis & Walton.) Insects and Disease. Doane. (Holt.) Mosquitos or Man. Boyce. (Dutton.) Schools. American Rural School, The. Foght. (MacmiUan.) Among Country Schools. Kern. (Ginn.) Helping School Children. Denison. (Harper.) School Hygiene. Dunbar. (MacmiUan.) School Sanitation and Decoration. Burrage and Bailey. (Heath.) Social Aspects of Education. King. (MacnuUan.) 352 BiBLioaEAPmr Flay and Becreation. American Play Grounds. Mero. (Baker and Taylor.) Education by Plays and Games. Johnson. (Ginn.) Festivals and Plays. Percival Chubb. (Harper.) Festival Book. Lincoln. (Barnes.) Games for the Playgrounds, Home, School and Gym- nasium. Bancroft. (Macmillan.) Graded Games for Primary Schools. Newton. (Barnes.) Healthful Art of Dancing, The. Gulick. (Double- day, Page & C!o.) Neighbourhood Entertainments. Stern. (Sturgis & Walton Co.) Play. Angel. (Little, Brown & Co.) Plays and Games. Parsons. (Barnes.) Vacation Camping for Girls. Marks. (Appleton.) The Church. Country Church, The. Gill and Pinchot. (MacmiUan.) Country Church and the Rural Problem, The. But- terfield. (Univ. of Chicago Press.) Rural Church, The. (Association Press.) Rural Church, The. Nesmith. (Univ. of Chicago Press.) MisceUaneons. Artistic Bridge Designing. Tyrell. (Clarke Co.) Co-operation Among Farmers. Coulter. (Sturgis & Walton Co.) Electricity for the Farm and Home. Koester. (Stur- gis and Walton Co.) BIBLIOGRAPHY 353 Elimination of the Tramp, The. Kelley. (Putnams.) Farm Boys and Girls. McKeever. (MaemUlan.) John Frederic Oberlin. Beard. (Pilgrim Press.) Penal and Eeformatory Institutions. (Survey As- sociates.) Principles of Rural Economics. Carver. (Ginn.) Eoads, Paths and Bridges. Page. (Sturgis& Walton.) Social Duties. Henderson. (Univ. of Chicago Press.) Social Center, The. Ward. (Appleton.) Training the Boy. McKeever. (MacmiUan.) Wisconsin, an Experiment in Democracy. Howe. (Seribner's.) Govenunent Documents. Beautifying the Home Grounds. Corbett. Farmers' Bulletin No. 185. Boys' Demonstration Work. Bureau Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 644 Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs. Farmers' Bul- letin No. 385. Community Work in the Rural High School. Farm- ers' Year Book, 1910, page 527; also sepa- rately. Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. Farmers' Bulletin, 134. Cultivating the School Grounds. Bureau of Educa- tion, Bulletin 28. Facts About Milk. Farmers' Bulletin, 42. Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work. U. S. Dept. of Agric. Year Book, 1909; also sepa- rately. 354 BIBLIOGRAPHY How Insects Affect Health in Rural Districts, Farm- ers' Bulletin, 155. Modern Conveniences for the Farm House. Farmers' Bulletin, 270. Progress in Agricultural Education. Reprint from annual report, U. S. Exper. Stations, 1903. School Exercises in Plant Production. Farmers' Bulletin, 408. School Gardens. Farmers' Bulletin, 218. Some Types of Children's Garden Work. OflSce of Experiment Stations, Bulletin No. 252. School Gardens. Office of Experiment Stations, Bul- letin, 160. Sewage Disposal on the Farm. Farmers ' Bulletin, 43. Society Bulletins, Etc. A Rural Experiment. Am. Unitarian Assn., Social Series, No. 24. Beautifying School-Houses and Grounds. Hampton Institute Leaflet, April, 1907. Beautifying Our Schools. Dept. of Pub. Instr., Rich- mond, Va. Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs. Department of Education, Augusta, Maine. Boys' Com Clubs. Agricultural College, Auburn, Ala. Boys' and Girls' Potato and Corn Primer. Massachu- setts Agricultural College. One-Room and Village Schools. Dept. of Pub. Instr., Illinois, Circular No. 65. Community Clubs for Women and Girls. Hampton Institute Leaflets, Vol. 6, No. 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 355 Consolidation of Schools. Dept. of Pub. Instr., Eich- mond, Va. Corn Clubs. Annual Reports, Winnebago, 111., Coun- try Schools. County School Fairs in Virginia. Dept. of Instr., Richmond, Va. Farmers' Clubs, Social Centres, Etc. Bulletins of the University of Wisconsin. Furnishing the Streets. Am. Civic Association. Good Roads. Am. Civic Association, No. 12. House and School Gardens. Reports of Home Gar- dening Association, Cleveland, Ohio. House Fly, The Common. Am. Civic Assn., Special Series No. 1. Improvement of School Buildings and Grounds. State Educ. Dept., Augusta, Me. Play and Playgrounds. Am. Civic Association. Railroad Improvement. Am. Civic Association. Road Red Book. New York Bureau of Town High- ways. Rural Cemeteries. John De Pen, Connecticut Board of Agriculture, 1896. Rural School Consolidation. University of Missouri. Rural Schools and their Consolidation. Normal School, Greeley, Colo. Rural Survey in Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, In- diana, etc., by Board of Home Missions of Pres- byterian Church, New York, 156 Fifth Avenue. School Clubs for Virginia Boys and Girls. Dept. of Instr., Richmond, Va. School Gardening. Hampton Institute Leaflet, No. 4. 356 BIBLIOaEAPHY School Gardens. Am. Civic Assn., Pamphlet No. 2. Shade Trees. N. Y. Conservation Comm., Bulletin 7. Social and Civic Centres. Am. Unitarian Assn., Social Series, No. 24. Woman's Association for Betterment of Public Schools. Supt. Pub. Instr., Raleigh, N. C. Young Peoples' Farm Life Clubs. Supt. Pub. Instr., Raleigh, N. C. Magazines for the Country Library. The American City, Monthly, 93 Nassau St., New York City. Annals of the Arruerican Academy, Philadelphia, Pa. The Playground, Monthly, 1 Madison Ave., New York. Bural Manhood, Monthly, 124 East 28th St., New York City. The Survey, Weekly, 105 East 22nd St., New York. Suburban Life, Monthly, 200 Crescent St., Harris- burg, Pa. INDEX INDEX Alabama, demonstration-work in, 236; corn-clubs in, 280. Appearance, community judged by, 10. Arbour Day, 104. Art, collections of, 175; super- vision of public, 136. Ashfleld's ehildrens' exhibit, 38. Athletics, .badge test for boys, 342; developing by clubs, 295; programs for, 345. Baldwin, W. A., on school- gardens, 264. Beauty, the value of, 3-12. Bibliography, 350. Bill-boards, 135. Billerica improvement work, 77. Boys' and girls' clubs, 276- 291. Boy Scouts of America, 200, 287, 326; Rural Life, 348. Bradley, Ernest, 246. Bridge, a memorial, 139; of concrete, 140. Brown, Jr., John, 296. Burkeville, Virginia, crop im- provement, 237. Calhoun, Georgia, Woman's dub, 28. Camp Fire Girls, 289. Cemeteries, 158, 355. Church, building and ground^ 328; social service of, 321. Clarke, Daniel W., 144. Clean-up campaigns, 186-208. Columbus, Ohio, recreation commission, 305. Common, the, 142; Boston, Cone, Caesar, work of, 78. Co-operation among farmers, 231. Constable, the town, 217. Corn-clubs, 276, 278. Country church and ministers, 311, 331, 396. Cranford, New Jersey, river- side work at, 149. Dakota women's well, 34. Dallas Texas, a social centre, 272. Dancing, folk, 308. Demonstration-farms, 235. De Peu, Rev. John, on Ceme- teries, 355. Disease-spreading insects, 196. District nurse, 204. Drunkenness, 221. Dump, the village, 202. Du Page Church, 322. Educational Work, 224-249. Eliot, Charles, landscape architect, 8. Eliot, President C. E., 55. Enosburg Falls, Vermont, 37. Elivironment, power of, 5. Expert advice necessary, 21. 369 360 INDEX Farm Boys' and Girls' Clubs, 276. Farmers, ideals of, 60. Farmers' Institutes, 226. Farmers' Unions, 234. Fatigue and efficiency, 65. Fences on village streets, 128. Field day aai play-picnic, 299. Financing a society, 23. Flies, prevention of, 198. Floods, how prevented, 110. Folk-dancing, 308. Forestry, by communities, 108-114. Forests and floods, 109. Fountains, drinking, 134. Gale, Zona, describes a small park, 154. Garbage, disposal of, 194. 263. Gardens, home, 68; school, Garfield, Charles W., 83. Gaylord, F. A., 91. Georgetown, Mass., lake at, 146. Gill, Rev. Charles Otis, 316. Gillette, John M., 124. Grato, Carl H., on Arbour Day, 105. Grange, the National, 229. Greenville park idea, 147. Gulick, Luther H., 309. Hagerstown, Maryland, 172. Hamilton County, Ohio, Fede- ration, 44. Hart, W. R., on corn-clubs, 278. Health, contribution of trees to, 87; in the community, 188; in the home, 84. Hesperia movement, 243. Hitching-posts, 133. Holland's Monthly, 174, 188, 272. Holton, Edwin L., 43, 334. Home, the value of, 59, 62, 68. Honesdale, Pennsylvania, 36. Hopkins, Mary G., 17. Hospital service, 203. Household conveniences, 63. H y a n n i s, Massachusetts, school-garden, 265. Illinois Way, the, 79, 81. Immorality in country com- munities, 219. Inter-Church Federation, 319. Iowa, improvement of New London, 207. Jamestown, North Dakota, 183. Juvenile ofienders, 213. Kansas Neighborhood Clubs, 43, 334; Rural Life Boy Scouts, 287, 348. Kelso, J. J., 217. Kern, O. J., on school-gardens, 268. Lancaster, Massachusetts, pageant, 307. Langdon, W. C, on pageantry, 306. Law and Order, 209-223. Lee, Joseph, on play, 293. Library, the Public, 165, 171, 172. Lock-up, the town, 209. Macfarland, J. Horace, 130, 136. Madison, Wisconsin, confer- ence at, 274. Malaria, cause and cure of, 196. INDEX 361 Mason City, Iowa, cemetery- work at, 161. Maxwell, George H., on forests. 111. McChandlers, A. D., 156. McNutt, Rev. M. B., in Du Page, 323. Milk, the care of, 192. Mill-town improvement work, 76. Miller, Professor Wilhelm, 79. Montgomery Ckranty Social Service Iieague, 205. Mosquitoes, how to get rid of, 196. Neighbourhood House, 206. Neighbourhood improvement clubs, 43, 334. Northampton, Mass., garden competitions in, 68. North Carolina, betterment of schools, 254. Northrup, B. S., 3. Oklahoma, Agricultural Clubs, 298. Ottawa, Canada, clean-up, 200. Pageants, value and character of, 305. Parks, large and small, 142- 163. Patchogue, Long Island, N. Y., 182. Paton, Iowa, play-day at, 30. Pelzer Manufacturing Co., South Carolina, 77. Pinchot, Giflford, on the country church, 316. Play day, character of, 30, 299. Play, importance of, 292; needed in rural communi- ties, 298. Police, rural, 216. Porterville, California, parks at, 32. Prisons and lock-ups, 209. Prizes, giving of, discussed, 18, 40. Proximity Mills, North Caro- lina, 78. Public buildings, care of, 164-185. Bailroad stations and grounds, 180. Rest-room, value of a, 28. River-side improvement, 147, 149. Road Red Book of New York State, 118, 141. Roads, construction of, 119; value of good, 116. Robinson, Charles Mulford, 6. Royce, Josiah, on village im- provement, 56. Samaritan Association, the, 203. Scapa, name and purpose of, 135. School buildings, 252; con- solidatioU) 250; fairs, 83; gardens, 263; grounds, 258; literary societies, 284. Sewage, disposal of, 193. Shade-trees, 86-104. Shaler, N. Si, on the South, 56. Sidewalks, 129. Sixteen Clubs, 231. Skillet Creek Farmers' Club, 242. Social centre work, confer- ences on, at Dallas, 272, at Madison, 274; results of, 248 ; schools as centres, 269. 362 INDEX Social value of good roads, 124. Stoekbridge, improvement work, 14, 138. Street lights, 132; signs, 134. Sunday School of the Neigh- bourhood, 246. Survey, plan of a rural, 336. Taft, Anna B., 324. Tamalpais Centre, 247. Tarbell^Mary Anna, librarian, 166. Taxation met by forestry. 111. Teacher's and Patrons' Asso- ciation, 243. Texas elean-up campaign, 188. Town hall and grounds, 164. Tramps and vagrants, 214. Trees and shrubs on home grounds, 82; on school grounds, 260; on streets and highways, 86-114; pro- tection of, 107; value of, 86. Van Wert County, Ohio, library system, 171. Village streets, 126. Vines, decorative value of, 80, 259. Waring, Colonel George, 53. Washington, Booker T., 238. Water supply, 84, 193. Waugh, Professor F. A., 146. Wellesley Hills, Massachu- setts, 153. Wichita, Elansas, City Im- provement Society, 332. Wilson, Warren H., on play, 292. Winnebago, Illinois, 268, 279. Wisconsin farmers' clubs, 240; University extension, 240. Woman's work on the farm, 64. Women in improvement work, 25, 28, 46. Woodstock, Vermont, 301. Woonsocket, South Dakota, 34. Wymore, Nebraska, work at, 156. Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, 277, 294, 297, 327. Young Women's Christian As- Bociatioa, 297.