The Russellville Democrat., 1881-04-21
Premiums for Beautiful Towns. San Francisco Bulletin.

i A citizen of Berkeley has offered { l.premium of twenty dollars for the bes hedge, other than cypress, in front of tho l lot of any resident of that town.
 The Berkeley Town Improvement SO ciety has designated suitable trees fol | the various streets of that town, and has
 offered to plant trees, water and cultivate l them in front of the lots of non-residents 1 for one year. at the low cost of one dol | lar for each tree. As half this sun
 would be expended for the purchase O trees alone, it is capital opportunity fol all who have unimproved lots in that
 promising town. This improvement so
 ciety is now in vigorous operation; and il
 may be safely predicted that in five years this society will have wrought work 1 which will attract the attention of the entire State.
 | We learn that the town of Santa Rosa has an association which is directed to 1 local improvements, and that considera. i ble in that way has been accomplished 1 in that pleasant town. In two or three
 other towns of the State kindred associa, ! tions have been organized, or are in pro. cess of formation. There is now hardly a State in the union which has not one or more of these town improvement SO 1 cleties, which have originated within a | few years, and all since the organization of the parent society about forty years
 ago in Stockbridge, Mass, although the first real improvement society was or. | ganized in New Haven nearly seventy five years ago by James Hillhows and others, and resulted in the planting oi the elms which are now the most dis tinguishing feature of that handsome city.
 It is not yet too late in the season ts
 do good work in the way of tree plant ing in towns and villages and along | country roads. In theory, every real estate owner in the country is supposed
 to have interest enough in the enhance
 ment of the value of his own property to
 make the improvements suggested. But
 these generally go by default for the lack
 of the stimulus of good examples. A few
 enterprising citizens, men and women
 making practical demonstration of the
 way the work can be done, will often stimulate hundreds of others by such an example. The greater number of the small towns in California to. day have a very repulsive appearance. A collection of cheap wooden houses, standing out in l b0lhs way Oll Niit llitS Ol dusty streets, with no breadth of fore ground, and nothing to hide the exter- nal ugliness, never can be an attractive sight to the stranger. A little taste and energy can work a wonderful transform ation. There is not one of these towns or villages which can not be made at tractive in its approaches and attractive internally by twenty resolute and enter prising citizens, who set their hearts on such an improvement. These villages ought not to be so unattractive that a stranger wants to get away as soon as possible, but should be made SO inviting that he will naturally go there for pe- riod of rest, and liking the place, will buy property, and influence capital to take the same direction. Something in this direction has already been accom- plished. A great deal remains to be done. If the initiative is to be taken this season, there are only few weeks left which are available for tree-planting.