The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-07

Let us draw the contrast. Look at
the downtown section" of any city;
here man reigns supreme, alone; here
we find the prevailing custom rarely
permits anything but bare pavement.
brick, iron, mortar and stone-every-
thing cleared for utility to wage the
great warfare with business! Restful
grass and protecting green boughs,
having made heroic struggle, have re-
tired routed from the conflict! Yet
there Is not citizen who will not ac-
knowledge to a sensation of relief to
tired brain and eye. when he gazes upon
our beautiful avenue to the green
| oasis amid the desert of brick, or turns
| into Perry Street. where a few heroic
elms exc out a thirsty existence.
1t is granted most meekly, that we
have progressed" but we must weigh
what We have gained against that
which we have lost-and there is an
account In each column! Yet there
| is happy medium ground upon which
Beauty and Utility may be induced to
dwell together in harmony, as we are
promised the lion and the lamb shall
do.
Come. then. and let us reason togeth-
er; let the women, with their finer SEN
sloilities--a gift from above-join their
powers to the wisdom, experience and
energy of the men who have made our
city what Ii Is in the estima ton of the
| outside world--Join forces to work out
a more exceeding weight of glory" for
| this, our beloved home.
The, gracious women of our civ
with no abating of their desire to re-
main strictly within the proper sphere
OF true femfntnity--desire to cooper
ate with the powers that be" in all
movements for the identifying and
sanitation of their beloved homes. These
women have proved themselves practi-
cal housewives, devoted mothers, good
citizens: are they, then, not worthy a
place upon the committee whose bus
mess 1t shall be to plan the beautify-
ing or our city? Shall they not express
| a preference concerning the trees to
be planted? Are there not many waste
places within our borders that are
shouting to these women Come and
| rid me of my ugliness! BY a little
expenditure Of thought in planning, we
might have greenery and possibly flow
ers, all the year round on our public
streets. With the same loving thought
and care that the growers of Mont
gomery's famous old gardens bestowed
upon theirs, we can make to come
again those same true friends.
Just think of a rank and file" of
pink crepe myrtle between the trees of
larger growth on any of our res
idence streets. Then, there are the OLE
anders, the laurestinas. the petisporum,
the altheas. the lilacs, the syringas,
the hardy orange the wild plurns, the
dogwood and the haws; all of these
are capable of being utilized on the
streets and little parks.
The beautiful arrangement of the
broad grass plots between the sidewalk
and street proper. lends itself to the
planting and training of any of the
above named shrubs In the spaces be-
tween the shade trees. When once
this Is started different parts of tho
city will vie with others, to grow the
greatest variety and transplant most
successfully the beauties of our wood
land.
Then the fame of our aesthetic en-
deavors would go abroad, and the many
cultured people of means and leisure
would not hasten through our city as
they do now, but would come to see us
and stay from choice.
OF our trees. what section Is more
enriched by nature! Do we need to
borrow from any other region? Nay!
Our swamps. our fields, our hedgerows
will yield an infinite and valuable va
riety. The whiteoak. the water oak
the willow oak, the live oak the sugar.
berry the redbud, the silver maple,
the tulip, the graceful Lombardy pop
lar-but never the cottonwood. or the
A>oieH Ndioliha poPi"i. ao 'H0y oio too
scant of limb and foliage to prove
satisfactory.
Is 1t possible to awaken "the boy"
in the hearts of these powers that
be-" and rouse that longing for the
woods and all "woodsy' things, so that
they will enthusiastically say to the
gracious women who long to bring
these wholesome joys to the little
jewellers in the city:
Come and help u.s. Let us have a
Tree and Flower Commission: and 1t
will be imperfect without you, for our
mothers and grandmothers helped their
men to grow the trees and gardens we
love to remember.