Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-05-26
YOUNG BEAUT|F|ERS,
St. Louis Boys and Girls Improv
 ing Their Town.
UGLY SPOTS TRANSFORMED
The Plan of Offering Prizes For tk' Improvement of Home Grounds frov
 ing Highly Successful-WhoIe Block: of Residents interested In the Work.

Improvement of Home Grounds Frov' ing Highly Suceessful-4vhoIe Block:
 of Residents interested In the Work.
 The plan adopted in St. Louis to in duce the children to take up the worp of town improvement might be follow dd by any community to advantage The philosopher who pronounced the small boy natural savage would modify his opinion if he lived in tha' town today, for during the last few years the St. Louis boy has developed a taste for the aesthetic quite equal ir kind, if not in degree, to that shown by his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. In addition to the multifarious amusements and employments, the St Louis boy has acquired taste fo, flower growing, and all over the town in yards of both low and high degree the sound of the hoe is heard, together with the voice of it's operator, as he noisily consults with his fellows con corning the best things to plant and how the planting ought to be done. This sudden activity on the part os the boys is not due to aesthetic inspira tion SO much as to the stimulus fur nj led by the offer of prizes, says the St. Louis Globe Democrat. The small boy is not q natural garden maker. If he were to consult his individual pref erences in the matter of back yards jimson weed would suit him as well as a hibiscus; broken crockery, tin cans and halves of bricks would an. swer his purpose as well as green sward and bedding plants, but with 8 five dollar prize in view, together witE the distinction arising from it's attain ment, the boy is willing to hustle, anG in many parts of the town the hustlins has been followed by surprising re suits.
 Nearly ten years ago D. M. Hazlett we'll known citizen of St. Louis, whe in other towns and cities had beel identified with movements having civic improvement in view, took up the mat ter of yard identification as a specia, theme and delivered in one of the churches in the southwestern district lecture on the subject, dwelling espe. cially on what could be accomplished By boys and girls in making beautiful. the surroundings of the house. Much interest was aroused. The lecture was followed by others of practical char. acter, with illustrations showing what had been done elsewhere and what might be done here. The boys began tc bestir themselves. Competition was aroused. Residents in block in many cases determined upon common plan of improvement so as to give the neigh, borhood the appearance of unity. Small prizes were offered for back yard improvement by boys and girls. The idea spread, and soon neglected back yards began to blossom as the rose.
 Then the Suburban Railroad com pany had sudden inspiration. The greater portion of its line from Vande venter avenue to the city limit is locat ed on its own right of way, which runs through an alley fringed on both side> by back yard fences, ash heaps and the miscellaneous debris that always collects in an alley when, as in that case, no particular objection is made to its use as a dump The Suburban peo- pie heard criticisms of their roadway. Visiting strangers touring the city were advised to ride on other lines, so the Suburban management undertook tc improve its surroundings by offering prizes for the handsomest back yards.
 The boys and girls along the route were not slow to hear of those prizes. Spading, hoeing, planting and watering went on. with surprising results. Ash heaps, tin cans, broken crockery and bottomless barrels vanished, and or long stretches of the track the former unhandsome yards became bowers of floral beauty.
 There is general idea that flower garden is an expensive luxury, attain able only by the rich. That depends altogether upon what Is planted. One may spend hundred dollars and se- cure no handsomer results than by the expenditure of hundred cents Rare shsubs and plants are generally expen- sivs. but rare plants are not necessary to make a yard attractive. and az a general thiag the common plants and vinas. being vigorous of growth and thoseughly acclir1ated. make a better showing in the yard than the tender foreigners brought from a tropical cline.
 One boy in St. Louis last year beau tl6ed large yard at an outlay for seeds of $1.45. At the close of the season he gathered and stored away three or four times as many seeds as he will need this year. SO will have seeds to sell or give away to his neighbors. But he did not really need to spend as much as he did in the first place, for it is surprising how few plants are needed to give yard an aspect of tropical luxuriance.
 The Clean Town Grows.
 1 Just as you select clean store tn buy your goods in, so does the honl? l <N<NIv I~.~l