Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-08-13
YOUNG BEAUT|F|ERS,
St. Louis Boys and Girls Improv
 ing Their Town.
UGLY SPOTS TRANSFORMED


 Improvement of Home Grounds Prov
 ing Highly Successfui-Nhola Block
 of Residents Interested In the Work.
 The plan adopted ill St Louis to i1 lnce the children to take up the wors if town improvement might be follow ,d by any community to advantag ge The philosopher who pronounced tht small boy a 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 taste for the aesthetic quite equal in kind, if not i'll 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 foi flower growing, and all over the town in yards of both low and high degree the sound of the hoe Is heard, togethe, with the voice of it's operator as he noisily consults with hs fellows con corning the best things to plant and how the planting ought to be done.
 This sudden activity on the part ol the boys Is not due to aesthetic inspira. ton so much as to the stimulus fur n, led by the offer of prizes, says tho St. Louis Globe Democrat. The small boy is not a natural garden maker. Ii he were to consult his individual pref. erences in the matter of back yards. jimson weed would suit him as well as hibiscus; broken crockery, tiI l cans and halves of bricks would an. | swer his purpose IS we'll as green sward and bedding plants, but with 1 five dollar prize in view, together with the distinction arising from it's attain ment, the boy is willing to hustle, anc in many parts of the town the hustllne has been followed by surprising re suits.
 Nearly ten years ago D. NJ. HaZlett well known citizen of St. LOuis wht in other towns and cities had beer identified with movements having civic Improvement ill view, took up the mat ter of yard Identification as specia, theme and delivered in one of the l lecture on the subject dwelling espe cially on what could be accomplished by boys and girls In making beautiful the surroundings of the house. Mucf interest was aroused. The lecture was 1 followed by others of a practical char acter, with illustrations showing whal 1 had been done eisewh,ra and wha. | }<rv,k J>o ,J TI,A t, bestir themselves. Competition VA aroused. Residents in block in man. cases determined upon common pla, l of improvement 50 as to give the neigh | borhood the appearance Of unit Small prizes were offered for back var Improvement by boys and girls. Th' idea spread, and soon neglected bac! yards began to blossom as the rose. Then the Suburban Railroad com pany had a sudden inspiration. The greater portion of it's line from Nand" venter avenue to the city limit is loca, ed on it's own right of way, which run> through an alley frlnged 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 tc it's use as 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 a flower garden Is an expensive luxury, attain able only by the rich. That depends altogether upon what Is planted. One may spend a hundred dollars and se- cure no handsomer results than by the expenditure of hundred cents. Rare shrubs and plants are generally expen- stve but rare plants are not necessary to make yard attractive, and as q general thing the common plants and vines, being vigorous of growth and thoroughly acclimated, make a better showing in the yard than the tender foreigners brought from q tropical cline.
 One boy in St. Louis last year beau tif1ed large yard at an outlay for seeds of S1.45. 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 all aspect of tropical luxuriance.
 The Clean Town Grows.
 Just as you select clean store t.. buy your goods in. so does the hont HQoxar lOO}- for a plaop tCvxy,, ip al