Billerica Town (part 16 of 17)

By the time Memorial Day has come the marsh is alive; birds, bees and blossoms are everywhere. Far up the ridges are masses of pinkish lavender where the Shooting Stars are clustered. For a week, sometimes more, we can see at almost any hour of the day boys walking, boys riding wheels and boys with carts, carrying bunches bigger than their heads of these beauties, tightly bound together and drooping sadly. One asks where they go, and wonders how they have endured in spite of this devastation. This has gone on for many years, but an end must come. Just about the same time we find the Wild Lupines with ragged leaves and deep blue blossoms. There are fields of these, too. On the sand ridges we greet the scarlet and yellow of the Painted Cup, Castilleja coccinea, that quaint bit of leaf painting which the children always hail with delight.

Along the edge of the pools, like sentinels, stand the stiff straight leaves of the Wild Iris or Flag with the blossoms in their uniform of blue.

And the Violets, little sweet Viola blanda, nestling in the grasses at the water's edge ; V. pedata in solitary clumps on the clear sand in blazing sunlight - no wonder she looks a bit faded, the large dark swamp Violets and the meadow Violets with their long graceful stems; and Dog-tooth Violet, which is not a violet at all, but a lilv. John Burroughs calls it Spotted Trout Lily.

Where once grew hosts of Lady's Slipper, pink and yellow, we now call oui friends to witness our triumph when we iind one of these curious, dainty flowers growing in rfiady thickets, and we carefully conceal tlie plant that no one may molest it. Another member of the Orchis family still common on the marsh is that dainty little sprite, the Calopogon or Grass Pink. It is so small that the flower pirate - out for big game - passes it by. Now, the length of the dunes the Lilies flaunt their flags, acres of philadelphicum with here and there, conspicuous among the rest, a cluster of Lilium superbum with its delicately curled petals.

Here they come, thick and fast now, rank upon rank: Hoary Puccoon shows great splotches of yellow among the green ; Queen Anne's Lace, fragile as a fairy's kerchief, and its coarser counter-part. Yarrow, rise through the tall grass with Eupatorium, purple and white, while Blackeyed Susan grows wherever a tuft of grass will give her a foot-hold.

In one place is the wild Tickseed, and down a long swale between the dunes stretches a golden road, twenty feet wide and far as eye can reach, unmarred by any other color, the wild Calliopsis. We pause as the fragrance of Penny-royal, crushed by our feet, arises.

See, here is Blue-eyed Grass, while another friend greets us, the fragile Purple Gerardia, whose blossoms fall so quickly; but if a spray is carefully gathered the buds will open in water for many days. On the open sand again we find the queer pink Turtle-head and the Wood Betony whose other name, quite undeserved, we do not care to use. Here, wherever the soil is poorest, are patches of Butter-andeggs. How the children like to snap their queer dragon mouths! On the river we find White Water-lilies, pure and peaceful, and nearby the yellow balls of the Pond Lily. Back again on the dunes are the tall Blue Lobelia, dusty Indian Tobacco and Beach Pea or Vetch. Don't you remember the nest in the hollow where "Vetches leaned over it, purple and dim ?"

See the red twigs of the wild rose, Rosa humilis, with its flat crown of shell pink bloom and the buds so much prettier than blossoms. If they would only look well when gathered, but they don't; they need tlieir native setting. Few shrubs grow here; the Red Willow, Comus stolonifera, shows its coral stems all winter, and the yellow stars of Potentilla and Shrubby St. John's- wort rise above their gray green leaves. The Deciduous Holly or Winterberrv grew here in large patches, but the florists have exterminated it. My father walked miles last winter to find a single root for transplanting. It is in demand at Christmastide for its red berries, and has paid the penalty. Everywhere by August the spikes of the tall Mullein lift up pale yellow flowers. In shady places purple Crane's-bill appears, but Bouncing Bet likes to occupy the sunniest spot she can find, so sunny that soon her pink cheeks fade and her gown grows ragged, but naught cares she.

Spiderwort likes the sun, too, and the Artichoke or Swamp Sunflower tosses its golden head as Clytie did of old. Down by the pool we find Jewel Weed nodding over the water while the pure, white sprays of the Arrow-head are like a message of hope from the heart of tlie swamp.

A few years ago there were gi*eat beds of Wintergreen or Checkerberry while every boy, and some girls, knew the way to the "Wintergreen Patch.'' Now I doubt if there is one plant left.

In September we find in many place* clumps of brilliant orange Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa. We stand before it and absorb its wonderful color until, long after it has gone, we can call it to mind. Here also grow many other members of the Milkweed family. In the swamps and swales the Wild Rice waves its tassels to tempt any stray geeso and ducks that may be journeying to the South-land. Thousands of Asters, with their purple and whit^ fringes, gleam from the green.

In late August the marsli is clothed in royal robes of purple and gold. As far as eye can reach is a carpet of Golden-rod and Blazing Star, Liatris. Mile after mile it extends, broken here and there bv a gleam of water and the yellow green of the swamp grass.

varieties of Golden-rod in this one locality. I will not vouch for that, but there are manv, each wonderful in its way. Soon the ridges are blue with Gentians and the meadows starred with Grassof-Paniassus. Then come the fragrant,

Still the mystery and the charm cling about it, for the dunes are gay with the plume-like sprays of Juniper. This low trailing evergreen with its gray-blue berries was cultivated by Robert Douglas and by him introduced to the trade as Waukegan Trailing Juniper. Like the others it is feeling the effect of fires and of careless uprooting for Christmas decoration, and, unless preserved, must go the way of the rest.

We find an occasional plant of the upright Juniper with the trailing, but it is not so fine. Side by side with our Juniper is the lovely Arctostaphylos or Bearberry, also trailing, a mass of small, glossy, green leaves in the spring covered with a pale pink wax-like bell slightly resembling the Arbutus, though scentless. In the fall it is covered with scarlet berries which hang late. Then when Jack Frost's touch is felt the green leaves l)e<?onie russet and red. As the long trailers send rootlets into the sand they are easily pulled up, and, as they make exquisitely graceful Christmas wreaths and garlands, are in demand among florists. Needless to say that, due to pulling it up instead of cutting with care, long ridges that a few years ago were carpeted with it are now bare. One florist gathers it by the wagon-load and has cleaned it out completely in many spots.

How can these beauties be preserved to delight future generations and as a field for study unless we of the North Shore arise and call for wild flower p>reserves on the west shore, as the people of Michigan are demanding - and getting them - on the east shore and at the end of Lake Michigan ?

But it is out of the beaten path. I have walked miles there and for manv days without seeing a human being save an occasional hunter. You lovers of flowers and of the great out-of-doors, won't you try to see our marsh, this gift of God to the North Shore, in some of its phases ? You can^t see them all unless you visit it at least once a week the year around. I know it will cast its spell upon you.

Its vastness, its loneliness, the sound of the waves on the beach, the scores of flower-faces in the grass, the water of sluggish old Dead River reflecting the sky and the passing clouds, it will get you, too.

A Municipal Wild Flower

Highland Park is a city of ravines. It has five times as manv brido^es as Lake Forest; more, in fact, than any city in Illinois except Chicago. This fact, with the high wooded bluff of Lake Michigan and the tributar\' ravines, form the dominant landscape features of tlie city.

Forty-five years ago, a young surveyor realized the beauty of these natural features, and utilized them to the fullest extent in laying out the roads through the newly subdivided territory. While his main thoroughfares led without undue waste of time to the heart of the town, the railway station, he followed the ravines in gentle cunes wherever he could, and crossed them freely. He saved public outlets to the lake at frequent intervals, both by roads ending on toj) of the bluff and running down tlie ravines to the shore. This young surveyor was William M. R. French and lie later became the beloved director of the Art Institute of Chicago.

One of the three deepest ravine systems of the town begins at the railroad, about equally distant from the north and south limits, and runs a mile casterlv till it reaches the lake. Along, over and down this ravine runs the most beautiful street on the North Shore, called Ravine Drive. It is now under the jurisdiction of the Highland Park East Park District, organized about five years ago. The Drive winds down the ravine side about a quaiter of a mile west of the Lake, and then follows the bottom until it opens onto the Lake. The pavement is 20 feet wide, of macadam, with an unfortunately high concrete curb, making a somewhat stiff outline, 10 inches in height. On one side, the road is protected by a flat limestone rock wall, penning in the creek three or four feet below, dry in summer, but often unruly in the springtime. Both of the winding banks of the drive are heavily clothed with hardwood timber, of White and Red Oak, Maple, Linden, Ash, Hickory, Butternut, Walnut, Canoe Birch and Beech, with an appropriate undersetting of Hop-hornbean, Blue Beech, Witch Hazel, Hazlenut, Gray, Red and Roundleaf Dogwood. Sheepberry, Plum, Crab and Thorn trees. The crowning glory of the timber is the Beech grove on the south bank, tlie only colony between Chicago and the Wisconsin line, except for a scattering collection at Pettibone's Creek at the Naval Station. The legend is that the Indians planted them for refuge from lightning, as the tree is supposed to be free from its visits. While there are no giants among the Beeches, like there are in the northern woods, some of them are ?0 inches in diameter, and thev are flourishing, with hundreds of saplings pushing along among the Oaks and Maples. Only four saplings have crossed to the other bank of the ravine. Perhaps the prosperity of this wonderful grove is evidence of the theory that the Beech is dispossessing the Ma])le and Oak on rich, shady humus.

The flora underneath this covering of the banks is unusually rich, especially on the south bank. Countless Hepatica, Trillium, White and Yellow Dogtooth Violets, Blood root and (^orn-flowers brighten the banks in the s})ring. In the autumn, various (xolden-rods and Asters on the sunny borders show nature's master hand in color effects. Rare colonies of Showy Lady's Slipper and the Showy Orchis delight some who visit them everv vear, and they have not yet been des])oiled. The Ferns are abundant, the Maidenhair, Sensitive, Ladv and Shield varieties.

The top of the retaining wall, between the curb and the stream, ranging from two to six feet in width, received a careless deposit of a few inches of mixed earth at the time the road was paved flve years ago. It is of great interest to observe the vegetation that has voluntarily clothed it since. The Park District this year has allowed the self-sown plants to grow as they would in order to break the stiffness of the low rampart. They have also experimented by letting the wild flowers grow even inside the curb for two or three inches, catching root in the stones, and so softening the stiflE little wall of concrete with a friendly covering. It was thought at first that this would merely result in an untidy looking gutter, but the plants have done their task so well that they now meet with approval of even the most orderly minded. The only plants cut by the commissioners this summer have been the Burdock, Sweet Clover and Bitterdock, as interlopers, and the Beggar Tick and Agrimony, because of their burrs. The Common Plantain, as well as the Poison Ivy, is too abundant, but has not been contested as yet.

Predominant on the narrow border is Jewel Weed, White Clover, Sweet Cicely, Pleabane, Elderberry, Spikenard, Wild Raspberry, Aster laevis, A. multiflorus and A. macrophyllus and various Goldenrods. Prickly and Wild I/ettuce, Blue Lobelia, Evening Primrose, Prairie Clover, White Snake Root, Mullein, Silver Weed (Potentilla Anserina), Cow Parsnip, Ground Nut (Apios tuborosa), Blue Violet, Sneezeweed, Alum Root, Baneberry, Helianthus, Day Lily, escaped from cultivation. Self-heal and Horsetail, fill in the ranks. The Frost and Fox Grapes, Bittersweet and Virginia Creei)er, formerly luxuriant on the spot, are spreading again their friendlv runners over . the concrete and the rock wall. Joe- Pye- weed, Bottle Gentian, Horse Gentian, Diervilla, Wliite Verbena and False Solomon's-seal are on the banks nearby, and will doubtless appear soon on top of the wall.

The beach at tlie end of the drive has unfortunatelv been injured bv the construction of a concrete septic tank and various retaining walls on adjoining property, which are far from beautiful. The Commissioners expect this fall to plant out the tank, so far .as possible, with Wild Currant, Gooseberry, Downy Arrow-wood and Wild Rose, and to encourage the work whidi nature has started with the Silver-weed, Ground Xut, Jewel Weed and Plantain, in clothing the most conspicuous faces of the stone walls. They will plant in the interstices more of these, and try a colonv of Phlox divaricata. Bittersweet,

Grape and Woodbine plants on top of the walls will mingle with the long runners of the Cinquefoil. In conjunction with the neighboring owners, it is hoped that a group of the native Evergreens, which occur in the region, the White Pine, Red Cedar, Arborvitae and Common Juniper, interspersed with Canoe Birch, may be planted to form a climax at the beach terminal.

The Park Commissioners plan not only to encourage the growth of the native flora in this beauty spot, but also to protect it as a wild flower preserve. Children pick and dig the delicate spring flowers in great quantities, and automobiles from Chicago stop with parties that fill their cars with great loads of flowers and plants. This it is hoped to check or prevent by the use of signs, either persuasive or minatory, setting forth that the roadside belongs to the public, and that picking and digging is forbidden. The owners of the neighboring banks will gladly join in this work, and the District has a caretaker, who will flourish a formidable star in the face of transgressors. By these means, it is hoped that next spring, when harmful picking would begin again, the experiment will make good, and the region become a sanctuary for the oppressed rarities of the native flora.

Common Names Of Plaistts

The common names of plants spring from the hearts of the common people. Scientific ones have the mustiness of the herbarium. Both aie essential. Common names change with localities and often skip from one i)lant to another, creating confusion. Take tlie Sycamore for instance. The biblical scholar claims it is a Fig-tree, Ficus Sycomorus, the Englishman insists that it is a Maple, Acer Pseudo-Platanus, while the lumberman of the Ohio River bottom swears it is the Platanus occidentalis, the American, or Western, Plane-tree. The Californian, Australian and New Zealander, each claims the name for separate and distinct species.

is correct, as the Common Wild Pig, Ficus Sycomorus, in biblical times was known as the Sycomore, or Sycamine among the common people. It was a large-leaved, low branching tree and on this account easily accommodated Zaccens when he climbed up into it in order to see our Lord pass by.

How came the name Sycomore, modernized into Sycamore, to be applied to the Maple? There is a curious history connected with it. During the middle ages the acts of our Saviour were dramatized, and desiring to represent Zacceus in his aerial position they wanted a Sycamore tree, the Wild Fig, but none were at hand so they did the next best thing they could. They chose a Maple, which in leaf somewhat resembled the ancient Fig-tree and called it a Sycomore. The tree chosen is known, botanically, as Acer Pseudo- Platanus, the False Plane-tree, and soon became known as the Sycamore by the masses. Later on this Maple was introduced into England, its common name following it. This accounts for the Englishman's authority, although he often modified it and called it the Sycamore Maple. When .Johnny Bull came to America "some of him" settled in Ohio and adjoining states and saw there a tree unknown to them, that in foliage somewhat resembled their Sycamore at home and it soon became a Sycamore to them. This is the Sycamore of conmierce, used extensively for interior house decoration and known as Platanus occidentalis, the American, or the Western, Plane-tree. The English settlers in California and elsewhere saw resemblances in other trees to their home Sycamore and the same name was given to them.

Here in Highland Park may be seen in bloom in early spring a charming Japanese shrub, known as Forsythia, named in honor of Wm. Forsyth, the king's gardener in Kensington. Its long, arching, rod-like shoots are completely covered with yellow, bell-shaped flowers before the foliage appears. In some places in Arkansas this shrub is known as the Oolden Rod, a name more suitable for it than it is as applied to our Golden-rod, a fall blooming herbaceous perennial, which blooms in racemes or clusters and not rod-like in appearance. In New England gardens the Forsythia is called Sunshine BusK,

The many curious common names given to the Three-colored Violet, Viola tricolor, are interesting in that they nearly all indicate some form of affection, such as '^Kiss Me/' "Tickle-my-fancyr "Ktss-Me-Ere^IRise," "Jumfhup-and-KisS'Me," etc. In *^01d Time Gardens^' Alice Morse Earle says in speaking of this flower "To our little flower has also been given this folk name, ^'Meet-her-in-th e-eniry-kiss-her-inihe-butiery," the longest plant name in the English language, rivalled only by Miss Jekyll's triumph in nomenclature for the Stone-crop, namely: "Welcame- Ihom e-li usband'he-h e-ever-so-drwrik."

A lady from the south visited Egandale one day and when passing a specimen of the Aralia spinosa remarked, "I see you have the Tar-tree/' I replied, "Fve known it called Hercules' Club, Devil's Walking Stick and Angelica Tree, but never heard of ''Tar-tree." She then said that the darkies called it tliat because the spines "tars" (tear) their clothes.

Perhaps in no country are common names used so freely as in England. There the masses cultivate them extensively and from them have sprung many of the names attached to their garden pets. The comparatively limited area of tlie country and the universal use of plants servo to perpetuate and understandingly dissiMTiinate any fanciful name. A glance at a compilation of these names is somewhat interesting. The word "grass" with some descriptive term is applied in four hundred and seventeen cases, including the Yucca and Gladiolus. The term "I'ly" is used over fifty times for flowers outside the genus Lilium. The use of the bark in medicine and the arts has given the simple name of ''Bark-tree" to some fifty different species. The resemblance in flower or fruit to an apple has caused that word to be applied in various form to seventy-three plants, among which we find "Love Apple," "lien Apple," and "Apple Pie," The word "Ash" is associated with seventeen genera outside the genus FraxinuB. Under the name ''Beech'' we find six genera and the appelation ''Bat/tree" covers eleven different trees.

The compilation removes some misconceptions that are prevalent. For example, the ^'hriar root" out of which pipes are made is not briar, but belongs to the Heath family. The word "briar" as used in this connection is a corruption of the French word ^T)ruyere" signifying Heather. Those who buy dried ''currants" for their puddings get the fruit of the Zante Grape Vine. Colocasia esculenta, which we also know under the name of Caladium esculentum, and called "Elephant's Ear," is also called "Bleeding Heart" One species of MvUein masquerades under twenty-seven names. The term "She's a daisy" must be rather indefinite, as it is applied to fourteen genera.

Queer names are numerous and it is hard to conceive what suggested them. Our temperance friends would not like to place in their front yards sucli plants as Brandy Bottles" "Bum-Nose-Tree" and Carbolic A aid Plant" nor would our legal advisor feel complimented if we presented him with a "Bush-Lawyer" We might send to our physician a "Belly- Ache- Bush" some "Bloody-Fingers" "Nose- Bleed" and "Fingers-and-Toes," but he would undoubtedly prefer a ^ Fai-JIenJ' "Fat-Pork," "Mut ion-Chop," "Ooose-anJGosling" and "Gooseberry Pie." The household cat is immortalized seventeen times, the least poetical of which is "Cat- Chop."

We find a "Melancholy Gentleman" at "Loggerheads" but by the "Grace-of-God" witli the chance of "Courtship and Matrimony." "Brown Betty" pulled "Jim Crow's Nose" while "Grim-the-CoUier" gave a "Blue-Kiss" to "Blooiyiing Sally." "Blue John" ascended the "Ladder to Heaven" to see the "Holy Ghost Flower'' and came down on the "Holy Rope" made of "Holy Hemp" while the "Cais-in- Clover" watched the "Apes-on-HorsebacJc."

As for ladies, they were not forgotten. The "Lady-in-the-Bower" could entertain "Lady -Birch ," "Lady-Ferti/' "Lady- Grass" "Lady-Poplar" and "Lady-of-the- Meadow" but would hardly admit the

"Naked-Lady." Before the entertainment she could take the "Lady's-Ear-Drops" from the "Lady's-Pin-Cushion" and with the "Jjady's-Fingers" put them on. Standing before a "Lady's Looking-Olass" she could arrange the "Jjady's-Tr esses" put on the "Lady's-SUppers" "Lady's-Mcmtie" and "Lady's-Qloves" but before doing so should remove her "Ladtf's-Seal," put on the "Lady's-Thimble" on her "Ladys-Thumb" and mend the "Ladys- Smovk" and when all was over could rest on "Lady's-Bedstraw."

In England where tlie common names are quite familiar, the knowledge of them is often tested at social gatherings where a skeleton story, prepared beforehand, is given each guest. The paper containing the story has blank spaces to be filled in witli such common names as might complete the story. A certain time is allowed to finish and prizes awarded according to merit. A very complicated one would read somewhat like the following:

" Youlh-and-Old-A ge" wandered forth one day at "Four-o'clock" A. M. The "Sun-Rose" above the '^Mountain-Fringe" heralding the full ^'Morning Glory" of the "Farewell Summer' "Thyme" "Old Age" was a "Quercus." He had on a "Leather Jacket" and a "Skull Cap" with a "Purple Fringe." An old fashioned "StorV encircled his neck while his legs, which were nearly "All-Bone," were enclosed in a pair of "Dutchman's Breeches" and on his feet were a pair of "Mocca.sins." In one hand he carried a "Cane and strapped across his "Leather Jacket was a "Poor Mans Weather Glass," and, I am sorry to add, a "Brandy Bottle" was hidden in his pocket. Of course, ''Old Age" was the "Elder." "Youth" had all the sj>irit of a "Wild Irishman," the Brawn" of a "Wild Savage," free from Care" and "Bent" on having a sweet 'Thyme." His days were always "Fair Days." He was very "Poplar" and the "Fair-Maid.s-of -France" thought "Noneso-Preiiij" but common "Honesty" compels me to record that "Thyme" and "Thyme" again he would " Go-To- Bed- At- Noon." But after all he was "Anise" fellow and full of "Spunk." He wore a suit of "Pink Crape" and on his head was a "Soldier's Cap," while his "Bright Eyes" were shaded by a "Chinese Parasol."

Suddenly "YotUh" exclaimed, "Toppy/ what thoughts are 'Currant' in your mind? I fancy your footsteps 'Flag/ We are 'Cumin' to a 'Virgin's Bower' and can rest. Won't that 'Gladden your heart?" " 'Yam' somewhat tired"' answered "Old Age." "'Lettuce rest. I will 'Cast-Me- Down' upon this 'Lady's-Cushion/ "

"All riglit, 'Myrrh' dear fellow/ exclaimed "Youth.'' "Do it 'Quii'i'\ but look out for that 'Nettle/ that 'Radish' looking one. A rest will do you 'Much- Good' and it will 'Tickle-My- Fancy' to lie down also. Now if you will stretcli out and 'I Alar* a sleeping babe it will do you good."

'^'Ilaw Haw!'" laughe<l the "Youth" "you cannot 'Cast-me-Down with such advice. I call that 'Gali: That's sharper than a ' Serpen t\s Tongue/ Say 'Poppy' there goes an Indian, one of the 'Crow Bells/ Vm going to make love to her."

" 'Besom' what carefnl of the 'Red- Legs', rash 'Youth/ Don't tread on her 'Indian Corn* or there mav be trouble. I owe the * Races* a grndge. One more 'Indian Shot' so as to nuike another *Indinn Turnip' his toes to the 'Dasiea' causes but few 'Indian Mourners/ *' " 'Holy Hoke', old man, you are getting crazy. Do you suj)pose there is no 'Indian Heart f "

" 'Beqonia/ foolish fellow." replietl "Old Age." "Dost thou see 'Onion' hill that 'Maid'Of'the-Meadow' 'Plantain Lilies'? You 'Lire-in-Idleness' and are at 'Loggerheads' witli 'Industry/ Your 'Maudlin' tongue will do you 'Little- Good/ TTave a 'Care/ Are vou 'Ware' that she desires to 'Mate?* You should 'Over-Look' her 'Modesty* and 'Rush' towards her and vou will never *Rue* it. She is a 'Spring Beauty* and has a 'Mint' of money. She is inclined to 'Matrimony' and vou mav 'Marin old/ Any 'Don- wood' like to do that. Drive 'Careaway' and 'Gladden* her heart. Declare your 'Boy's- Love/ nuvt her at the 'Garden Gate* and exclaim, 'Jnmp-ujy-nnd-Kiss-Me/ You're 'Arum' fellow, if vou don't."

me a 'Meddlar/ Let her 'Pine' away. No maiden's heart can ever 'Bjake/ Let her join the 'Nuns/ Your talk is 'Bombast/ I could never 'Stick-Tight' to her. My love 'Wood-waxen cold. Such sl' Yoke- Wood' not be 'Paradise/ I would rather 'Poke' along as I am."

Bellis hortensis proUfera Epilobium hirsutum Pimpinella Anisum Stellaria Holostea (^ailla palustris Nuphar lutea Daphne tinifolia Kubus australis .latropha gossypiifolia Digitalis purpurea Scsibiosa succlsa Epilobium angustifolium Kudbeckia hirta irsttlngo segetum Psamma arenaria Euphrasia offlclnnlis Begonia tuberosa Artemisia Abrotanum Osmunda regalis The genus Gossyplum Saccharum offlcinarum Andromeda Leschenaultf Mesembryanthem um

Cuuiinum Cyminum Lavandula Stoeckas Sell la nutans Carum Carul Dicentra Cucullarla Corn u a Sambucus Helichrysum Briza media Lotus corniculatus Chenopodium album (Musia flava Mira bills dichotoma Asters

Serpenfs-tongue Spring- beauty Stick-tight Soldler's-cap Thyme Tread Softly Tickle- my -fancy Virgin's-bower Wild Irishman Wild Savage Wake Bobin Ware

Tpie Kelatiox Of Exgineering To Landscape Gakdening

Tlie close connection between the works of the Landscape Architect and the Civil Engineer makes it eminently desirable that tliere should be liaiTnonj between them. What the former devises it frequently falls to the latter to execute, and perhaj)s the ideal of excellence would be most nearly attained when the same individual should unite the qualities of the skillful landscape architect and the practical engineer. The courses of training however, for the two vocations, are so totally different, both in their general tone and in the character of their details, that they produce types of men of a decidedly opposite character. The successful landscape architect is distinctively a man of artistic tastes, and an enthusiastic lover of nature, and he should be, besides, an accomplished practical gardener and agriculturist. The engineer, on the other hand, is educated in the exact sciences, is accustomed to aim at practical utility with little reference to questions of taste, and regards whatever accomplishes his purposes successfully as good engineering. The one is the artist, the other the man of science. This is the broad distinction between the two professions, though it frequently happens that an engineer is a man of taste, and a landscape architect a student of science. To such persons as unite in a greater or less degree both characters, it has been a cause of regret heretofore that there has been a certain jealousy between landscape architects and engineeiH, growing out of tlie different standpoints from which they are in the habit of viewing the same subjects. Whoever is familiar with engineers' offices, knows the disrespect in which the plans of landscape architects are held in them. The high coloring by which the landscape architect endeavors to convey effects, and the indefinite lines which too often detract from the value of plans made by those unfamiliar with the processes of exact surveying and construction, furnish the subjects of derision to those who make these things their sole study. And this feeling is not altogether without excuse. It is, in fact, no uncommon thing for landscape gardeners, more enthusiastic than practical, to run their roads - on paper - over impossible places, and to devise bridges and other works of construction in such positions and of such a character as to render them impracticable or unreasonably expensive. It is not too much to say that some of the most original and capable landscape architects in this country have failed of professional success, and the country has been for the most part deprived of their services, for no other reason than a deficiency of sound practical judgment as to what is and what is not practicable and feasible in their art. On the other side, the landscape gardener is not without his subjects of complaint asrainst engineers. He finds them a class of men bound bv conventional rules, dealing with straight lines and geometrical curves, frequently unable to understand or «?ympathize with his designs, and often defeating or marring his plans by their formal treatment. If he wants the bank of an artificial lake built in gentle curves and varying slopes, the engineer constructs a formal canal bank, .possibly sinuous, but scarcely following the rounded irregularities of a natural shore. If he desires a rustic bridge, he is furnished with a structure of some conventional iron or timber pattern - ^and, in short, wherever he asks for bread he gets a stone. Such misunderstanding between the representatives of two professions, petty in their character and injurious to both parties, would scarcely be entertained by the broader minded men of either ; but they have been common enough among the rank and file.

The practical solution of the difficulty is sought in such an association of the landscape architect and the engineer as shall enable each to understand the peculiar wants of the other, and to profit by the other's advice in every work in which the services of both are required.

The reconciling of foolish jealousies is by no means the main object to be gained by such an association. There are many obvious and actual advantages in executing sun^eys and works of construction in tlie same office where they are designed, which will be manifest if we consider the ordinary requirements of a landscape architect in accomplishing any work of improvement, either upon a private estate, a public park, or a section of a city or town. His first requisite for such a work is a good topographical plan of the ground, which shall exhibit correctly all its important features - hills, depressions, trees, buildings, forests, streams, etc. If he employs a surveyor with whom he is unacquainted, the chances are that he does not get what he wants. Not unlikely his plans will come in from the country deficient in the very points in which they should be most perfect. A hill or a swampy spot is left out or its position imperfectly defined, the scale upon which the drawing is made is not indicated, perhaps the meridian line, by which alone one may tell which is north and which is south, is omitted. If the surveyor is careless, or has not an adequate idea of what is required, the landscape architect is vexed and chagrined to find that his design is worth- less, simply because objects are not where they are represented, and the plan cannot be fitted upon the ground. The extent to which these troubles extends is surprising. There are, it is true, plenty of good surveyors in the country, but there are also quite too many bad ones, and our leetangular land-system does not tend to elevate the science. There are scores of professed land surveyors in the west, who are utterly at a loss, if they are required to survey or lay out a curved line.

A good plan having been secured, and a personal examination of the ground having been made, the landscape gardener proceeds to perfect his designs. Whether he has need of further assistance from u surveyor or engineer depends upon the character of the ])ro posed improvement. If the work involves nothing more than the planting of trees, and the cutting out of gravel walks, it may be done without difficulty by iin])iofessioiial hands; but frequently there is work to be done which can be executed best and chea])est under the advice and direction of an engineer. The running of boundary lines, the construction of roads and walks, the earth work and dams necessary in making artificial lakes, the systems of drainage required upon any extended scheme of improvement, are all proper subjects for the attention of the Landscape Engineer.

And closelv allied to these duties are those which in foreign countries are committed to the Agriciiiiural Engineer, a profession as yet hardly recognized in this country, but sure to become of importance, as our farm in": lands are more fullv occupied. The leading subjects embraced in the province of the Agricultural Engineer, are the improvement of farm lands by drainage or irrigation, the commodious arrangement of farm buildings, and the application of machinery - wind-mills, steam and water-power, improved tools and mechanical contrivances of all kinds - to tlie purposes of agriculture. Tt is believed that the time is already at hand, when such engineering skill will be in demand if it can be found.

The subject of ])roperly staking out and recording irregular boundary lines is one of great importance under our western land laws - a subject indeed of so great importance and difficulty that it has been thought worthy of deliberate discussion by the Engineers Club of the Northwest, at Chicago - and an easy and cheap way of accomplishing it is yet to be invented. The fact that our roads ought to accommodate themselves more than thev do to the natural features of the ground is insisted uj)on by the landscape architects, and is getting to be well enough recognized. There is indeed no better reason for their always going straight than was assigned in the case of the sergeant of volunteers who was distinguished as a good left guide, because he was too lazy to deviate from a straight line. If our roads run in curves, it is necessary that curves sliould be accuratelv recorded - and not everv countv survevor can stake out curved lines smoothly, to say nothing of devising a system by which they may be recorded. That careful surveying is expensive - (hat the cost of the surveying required in laying out an irregular subdivision is double, possibly fourfold that necessary for a rectangular subdivision - is entirely true. Tt is for each land-owner to settle for himself what is for him the cheapest and most satisfactory way.

As this magazine is prepared to stimulate A KEENER APPRECIATION OF THE LANDSCAPE AND VEGETATION BEAUTY of the North Shore above Chicago; TO AID IN CONSERVING AND INCREASING THIS BEAUTY BY CO-OPERATIVE EFFORT ; to lecord tests of old and new plants, made to determine their special values for the creation and enrichment of landscapes, woodlands, lawns and gardens; IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT PROPERTY OWNERS CO-OPERATE IN EXTENDING AND NAMING THEIR ROADSIDE PLANTATIONS UNTIL ALL RELIABLY HARDY WOODY PLANTS ARE THUS MADE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC ENJOYMENT AND INSTRUCTION, and that they ALSO CONSIDER THE VIEWS OF THE PUBLIC FROM THE HIGHWAIN'S and public reservations in the design of their places.

INCLUDING PARTS OF CHICAGO, AND THE TOWNS OF EVANSTON. WILHETTE, KENILWORTH, WINNETKA, LAKESIDE, GLENCOE, RAVINIA, HIGHLAND PARK, HIGHWOOD, FORT SHERIDAN, LAKE FOREST, LAKE BLUFF, NORTH CHICAGO AND WAUKEGAN . . . .

In the earlv davs of our American colonies the importance of the shores of the sea and of the navigable streams led to the establishment and maintenance by towns of landings for the common use of the public, mucli as they established and regulated the common lands, and determined the num])er of live stock that a man could jiasture, tlie sticks of timber or even the number of reeds tliat he could cut for his own use. Ftilitv and conmioJi convenience were the paramount considerations, especially in the North where the homes of the ])eople were seldom deliberately made to face the water, unless

It was the custom at that time to make the Jiouse face the street regardless of the outlook. Even up to fifty or twenty-five years ago this custom of placing the house entrance and principal rooms on the street often led to the placing of the kitchen and back yards on the side of superb views over river, valley, lake, or sea. The beauty of landvscape was not recognized as it is now.

In the South many of the old colonial mansions faced the river because it was the main thoroughfare for the traffic of the plantations, and for the coming and going of guests.

In recent years there has come, among the majoiity of the people, a very marked recognition of the beauty of landscape, and esfK'cially of that in which water takes an important place. As a result of this, one can find, in almost any city with notable river valley or shore outlooks, such as at Des Moines, Iowa, St. Paul, Minn., I?ichmond, Va., or Boston, Mass., old houses being modified to provide living rooms in the place of the kitchen that lies toward the view, or being replaced by new homes with all the princij)al living rooms and terraces so placed as to take the best advantage of the best views, with kitchens and yards at the ends of the iiouses, or facing the public street.

It is this increase in the appreciation of shore frontages that makes the problem of sliore protection an important one. So important are the shores regarded by the State of Illinois that it issued in 1911, through its Submerged and Shore Lands Legislative Investigating Committee, a three volume report of nearly 600 pages, the conclusions of which, so far as tlie rights of the shore owner are concerned, have been sunmiarized by our editor in the *'purpresture" article'of this issue.

It would appear that, while individual shore owners have pretty clearly defined rights of access over the beach to the shore, the general })ublic have little if any rights to the ve of the shore, unless they wade in the hrater, for it seems that the state is the owner of the lake and the land beneath tlie lake onlv.

rights is coniinii^ to be more and moie recognized in eities In' the aeqiiirement of extensive shore frontages to be hehl open for the use of the public for purposes of recreation and for the enjoyment of the beauty and majesty of great waterscapes in various moods. It is even the practice of the transportation companies in some cities to infonn the public of the spectacle of the great waves following a storm, just as they advertise the spectacle of the autumn foliage days, and provide sj)ecial excursions thereto.

The extension of shore holdings cannot be expected to include the very expensive lands of the fine private estates of the Xorth Shore that exclude the public from the enjoy numt of a shore drive for many miles, one that w'ould give great beauty to the shore line as seen from the lake.

The suggestion is made in the June issue of Billerica that a drive be built in the waters of the lake to give a view of lake and shoie, and to ])rovide an enclosed lagoon for safe water recreation.

With an average of about 15 piers to the mile placed about 350 feet apart with an approximate cost of $2000 per pier, the $30,000 per mile that is thus expended at private cost would represent a very considerable part of the in-lake drive cost. This estimate does not include the frequent repairs or replacement of piers. Furthermore, does anyone regard the piers as objects of beauty?

Protecting The Lake Front

The Great Lakes form the largest body of fresh water in the world. Each lake is like an ocean in its expanse, and like the ocean, the winds and waves strike the shore with all the violence of those from the sea. In may places the shore line shifts as much from the agency of the wind as on the sea-beacli from combined wind and tide. The southern shores of Lake Michigan are greatly exposed to the violence of the north winds which cut soil from tlie two long sides and push it southward.

bv wind and wa\e when the wind is northeast. Many phices have no beach at all, l)ut the waves pound on the base of the bluffs and uiKlcrmine tliem. In other ])laces, as at Waukegan, h>ng sandy flats stretch ahmg the shore - land stolen by tbe waves from some otiier more exposed situation. A ghince at the Coast Chart of the War !)e|)artment or at the lake itself in high n(jrt beast wind, when the deep blue of deep water vivi<lly contrasts with tlie yeHow of shallow water, shows that there is a broad shallow shelf running out into tlie lake, some of it once dr\' land and appropriated by tlie waters.

On several estates along the shore it has be<»n necessary to j)rotect the bluff. On the estate of Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick three wooden piers were put out nearly fifteen years ago, a beach about one hundred feet wide has ])een formed and maintained. The first sand was caught by Willows planted at the base of the bluff. Now the beach drive i*uns back of thes^, at the foot of the bluff, where once the waves were beating. Tlie result of work of this nature is shown in the picture on the front of the June number of Billerica, North Shore Edition.

Similar work was begun on the estate of Mr. A. A. Sprague, 2nd, in the fall of 1911, under the direction of Mr. Warren H. Manning of Boston. Careful record was kept of the result upon the shore line, as the accompanying diagram shows. The parallel lines in pairs represent the piers, the heavy black lines show the new* shore line in each case ; the meaning of the other lines is indicated on the plan.

During the first winter, brush was piled at the base of the slope, after grading and planting were finished, to catch the windblown sand. Where the weaves beat close to tlie foot of the bluff, sand traps w^ere built, long lines of logs laid parallel to the shore and held in place by stakes. Whatever sand was w^ashed over them w*as caught and held ; these logs are now deeply buried in the sand of tlie beach. 'Three wooden piers, weighted with coarse gravel and concrete rocks, were built out at right angles to the shore, extending out into a depth of four to six feet of water, and rising about a foot above normal high water. Only the northern pocket caught any sand the first winter. Between the piers the shore was dug out and laid against each j)ier to the south; while helow the southernmost pier the hank was carved out con side ral)ly, undermining the massive concrete wall on the proj)ert\' to the south and tinea ten ing the shore anchorage of the southern pier from hehind as it were, for attrition comes from the north, and the danger threatened from the soutli. See Diagram 1.

During tlie next summer much sand was added to the two upper pockets, showing that the movement of the sand along the shore was southward, due to the greater wave action resulting from the long sweej) of northeast wind which in miles of free way exceeds many times that coming from east, southeast or south. Below the southernmost pier more of the l)ank on the next property was cut away ; so a short pier was huilt at right angles to tlie southern pier, near the shore, in the fall of 19\2. Tliis short pier was similar in cross section to the letter "A" and filled with gravel to the peak of the roof, where a two inch open slot allowed washing sand to filter in. thus maintaining a maximum weight to enahle the structure to withstand the tremendous hlow of the hreaking waves, to which it presented its entire length simultaneously. See Diagrams 2 and 3.

In the winter of lJ)r^-13 the greatest additions were made; the two northern pockets were filled nearly to the ends of the piers, while ])ehind the short pier at the south the sand hegan to fill in. While the supply of southward moving sand fnmi the noith was entirely retained in the northerly pockets, the scouring action further to the south had been maintained and 100 feet of beach and 20 fei^t of hlul! had been lost. Property owners there were compelled to put in similar piers or jetties until a continuous series of them extended from those established long before at T-.ake Forest to those installed by Mr. Sprague. Once these were in, stability became merelv a matter of recoverv of balance needins: but a year or so. The effeet was early felt behind the "A" shaped sand trap. See Diagram 3.

pocket became nearly full, while below the southern pier the neighboring wall and short "A*' shaped wooden pier were completely buried in sand. See Diagram 4. The line of the shore had then reached nearlv its maximum distance from the bluff, and is now permanent, save for minor changes in storm.

The bank above the beach was in 1911, a barren sliding slope, in places perpendicular, both on the estate of Mr. Sprague and that of Mr. Stanley Field adjoining it on the north. The beach of the Field estate seemed naturally to be building, and as it was wide enough to protect the bluff, no piers were needed.

The soil of the bluff slope was blue clay alternating with gravelly sand strata, two of each, and too steep to hold permanently owing to the removal of the toe of the. slojjc by wave action. Wiieii the security ' of the toe was assured by the building of the jetties, then the matter of the stability of the slope for planting received the attention of the land.scape engineer in charge, who in this case was Mr. Herbert L. Flint of Mr. Warren H. Manning's office. Accordingly, the top of the bluff was loosened and the soil meihanically worked down the slope by an ingenious arrangement of horse j)0wer ()j)erating a scraper by means of a wire rope. This work was done mostlv in the fall of 1911. See Diagram 1. The trees on the bluff edge, as it was undermined, were moved to new positions down on the slope. The grading continued till a slope of about 1 to 2^ was secured.

Water soaking down into the bluff from the lawn above, and seeping out on the impervious clay layers caused the new coat of loose soil on the slope to slide. Grading of the surface back of the bluff was arranged to prevent any surface water going over the edge, running instead into catch basins behind a rim. To protect the bluff from this seepage water a ditch was dug along the bluff top, a few feet back from the edge, and down at least one foot into the upper clay stratum on which the water travelled to the face of the bluff; and the water so caught was led off in underground tile. The bluff slope was then only worn by the w^ater falling upon it, and this was taken care of in one season

Following the grading operations the planting was put in : the two estates were treated similarly. Three planting zones were made. The lowest zone, that at the base of the IdufT, was set out with I^ociists and Willows for ({uick growth-; or loots and more permanent Basswoods with a few scattered Seoteli Pine and Arbor Vitae. The middle zone, the st^jepest part of the slope, was planted with Sumacs and White Poplars, for immediate results, with Rosemary Willow for additional gray effect, and White Birch set here and there to harmonize with the surroundings.

In the upper zone, below the top of the slope and the edge of the lawn, stand groups of native shrubs - Wild Boses, Blueberry, Elder, Sjjirea, Sumac, Sweet Fern and the taller species of Cornus, Viburnum and Evonymns, so placed as to leave open the view to the lake. From them to the edge of the lawn, vines were planted in a tangle - Bittersweet, Virginia Creeper, Matrimony Vine and Wild Blackberrv. The lawn itself was carried several feet down the slope.

In three years this planting has largely hidden the once bare slope except some of the most exposed portions and a permanent beach has been made upon the shore. So different is the appearance of the whole bluff from the effect that seemed to please Nature that it almost seems that a magic wand had been waved over it. How much would this North Shore gain if other places along the shore could have a similar transformation !

One or two points should be noted as fundamental in consideration of shore and bluff conservation. First: this type of conservation is useful onlv where there is no tide. Secondly: the point of the compass from which the maximum wave action is to be expected must be observed and the supply of sand on the shore in that direction. Just south of the Great Lakes Naval Station the inroads of the lake into the bluff are likelv to be serious, for the supply of southward moving sand is shut off entirely bv recent harbor operations on a large scale. It is from this point of lake encroachment on the clay bluff that the gray discoloration spreads storm. At such a locality small timber jetties will be valueless, but wheie there is a shelving sand beach a series of jetties will unquestionably extend the beach line and maintain it. The laws of Illinois regarding shore maintenance are in need of revision, to encourage [irivate owners to make stable the shore line. This is especially true along the North Shore, for the greater tlie stability through the construction of these small and numerous piers, the less huge will be the sums needed to maintain, free from sand, the harbors about the southwest angle of the Lake.

The bluff along the North Shore varies in structure every few feet almost and no geneial method of treatment can be laid down. Instead a special study of local conditions is essential to success, otherwise money can be poured out lavishly with little result.

The principles of drainage as employed in the work outlined above are correct, but their application will vary utterly in any two localities along the shore. Even on the two properties here described there arose variations and local problems requiring exploration with the pick and shovel, and the careful arrangement of special drains before anything approaching success was attained. A cially favored. 1 have seen localities where short-lived trees were dying out and no others taking their places. Such spots will hereafter take their places above the timber-line, which seems to me to be a line governed by circumstances more than by altitude or quality of soil.

There are a few exceptions where Pines will succeed Pines in a burned-down forest. Pinus Murray ana grows up near the timber-line in the Rocky Mountains. This tree has persistant cones, which adhere to the trees for manv vears. I liave counted the cones of sixteen years on one of these trees, and examined burned forests of this species, where many of the cones had ap- ])arently been bedded in the earth as the trees fell. The heat had opened the cones, and tlie seedlings were growing up in myriads; but not a conifer of any other kind could be seen as far as tlie fire had reached.

In the Michigan Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, P. Banksiana, a comparatively worthless tree, is replacing the valual)ie Ked Pine (P. resiuosa), and in the Sierras P. Murravana and P. tuberculata are replacing the more valuable species by the same process.

In this case, also, the worthless trees are the shortest-lived, so we see that Nature is doing all that she can to remedy the evil. Man only is reckless, and especially the American man. The Mexican will cut large limbs off his trees for fuel, but w^ill spare the tree. p]ven the poor Indian, when at the starvation point, stripping the bark from the Yellow Pine (P. ponderosa), for the mucilaginous matter being formed into sap-wood, will never take a strip wider than one-third the circumference of the tree, so that its growth may not be injured.

We often read that Oaks are springing up in destroyed forests where Oaks had never grown before. The writers are no doubt sincere, but they are careless. The only Pine-forests where Oaks are not intermixed are either in land so sandy that Oaks cannot be made to grow on them at all, or so far north that they are beyond their northern limit. In the Green ^Fountains and in the New England forests, in the Pine-forests in Pennsylvania, in the Adirondacks, in Wisconsin and

Michigan - except in sand - I have found Oaks mixed with the Pines and Spruces. In northwestern Minnesota and in northern Dakota the Oaks are near their northern limit, but even there the Burr Oak drags on a bare existence among the Yellow Pines. In Colorado we find them as shrubs among the Pines and Douglas Spruces. In New Mexico we find them scattered among the Pinons. In Arizona they grow like Hazel-bushes among the Yellow Pines. On the Sierra Nevada the Oak region crosses the Pine region, and scattering Oaks reach far up into the mountains. Yet Oaks will not flourish between the one hundredth meridian and the eastern base of the Sierras, owing to the aridity of the climate. I recentl}' found Oaks scattered among the Redwoods on both sides of the (.-oast Range Mountains.

Darwin has truly said ''The Oaks are driving the Pines to the sands." Wherever the Oak is established - and we have seen that it is alreadv established wher- ever it can endure the soil and climate - there it will remain and keep on advancing. The Oak produces comparatively few seeds. \Miere it produces a hundred, the Ash and Maple will yield a thousand, the Elm ten thousand, and many other trees a hundred thousand. The acorn has no provision for protection and transportation like many tree-seeds. Many kinds are furnished with wings to float tliem on the water and carry them in the air. Nearly every tree-seed, except the acorn, has a case to protect it while growing, either opening and casting the seeds off to a distance when ripe or falling with them to protect them till they begin to germinate. Even the equally large seeds of other kinds are protected in some way. The Hickory-nut has a hard shell, which shell itself is protected by a strong covering until ripe. The Black Walnut has both a hard shell and fleshy covering. The acorn is the only seed I can thing of which ia left by Nature to take care of itself. It matures without protection, falls heavily and helplessly to the ground, to be eaten and trodden on bv animals, vet the few which escape, and those which are trodden under are well able to compete in the race for life. While the Elm and Maple seeds are drying up on the surface, the Hickories and Walnuts waiting to be cracked, the acom is at work with its coat off. It drives its tap-root into the earth in spite of grass, and brush, and litter. No matter if it is shaded by forest-trees so that the sun cannot penetrate, it will manage to make a short stem and a few leaves the first season, enough to keep life in the root, which will drill in deeper and deeper. When age or accident removes the tree which has over-shadowed it, then it will assert itself. Fires may run over the land, destroying almost everything else, the Oak will be killed to the ground but it will throw up a new shoot the next spring, the root will keep enlarging, and when the opportunity arrives, it will make a vigorous growth, in proportion to the strength of the root, and throw out strong side roots, and after that care no more for its taproot, which has been its only support, than the frog cares for the tail of a tadpole after it has got on its own legs.

There is no mvsterv about the succession of forest-growths, nothing in Nature is more plain and sini|)le. We cannot but admire her wisdom, economy and justness, compensating in another direction for any disadvantage a s])ecics may have to labor under. Every kind of tree has an interesting history in itself. Seeds with a hard shell, or with a pulpy or resinous covering, which retards their germination, are often saved from becoming extinct by these means.

Tlie Hed Cedar (.Jiini|)erus virginiana) reaches from Florida to and beyond Cape Cod; it is among the hills of Tennessee, through the Middle States and New England. It is scattered through the western states and territories, at long distances apart, creeping up the Platte River, in Nebraska. (I found onlv three in the Black Hills, in Dakota, in an extended search for the different trees which grow there. Found only one in a long ramble in the liills at Las Vegas, New Mexico.) Yet this tree has erept across the continent, and is found Iutc and there in a north-westerlv direction between the Platte and tlie Pacific Coast. It is owing to the resinous coating which protects its seeds that this tree is found today scattered over that immense region.

Forest College

The Editor is in receipt of a notice of a series of lectures and demonstrations in Landscape Architecture to be offered at Lake Forest College this coming summer from June 24th to August 5th under the direction of Professor Ralph Rodney Root of the University of Illinois. This summer school has been made possible through the interest of the Garden Club of Illinois, with the co-operation of the President and Trustees of Lake Forest College and the University of Illinois.

This course will be open to anyone interested in gardening and outdoor life, whether professionally as designers of landscape or students, or as owners of private estates. Mrs. Byron L. Smith, whose estate has given so large a number of species to our list of species in the North Shore to date, has offered the use of the fine collection of trees and shrubs for class study. The whole North Shore region gives unusual opportunity for tlie study of landscapes.

The work will be divided under three heads : Historv and Theorv of Landscape Architecture, Applied Landscape Design, and Plant Study and Planting Design. Each series will consist of lectures, illustrations, observations in the field, and readings in standard works. Mr. Hollister will give the indoor lectures on plants. Professor Root will give his personal attention to this work, and those who are thinking of taking up any of these courses would do well to get acquainted with liim through his l)ook, ** Design in Landscape Gardening," published in 1914 by the Century Co. This book is designed to sum up the principles of landscape gardening as a fine art, and show their })ractical applications. The illustrations are the work of Professor C. F. Kellev of the Department of Art, Ohio State University, and are a distinct addition to the practical value of the work.

Bilj.Erica

Tlie following is a j)ortio!i of the contract for the construction of piers built on the lake front near Lake Forest, describing the material to i)e used in tlie building of one pier:

Finished top of pier at tlie end farthest from the shore will be two feet (2 ft.) above still water, and at the end nearest the shore shall be four feet (4 ft.) above surface of still water.

Side timbers extending lengthwise of the pier shall he six inches by eight inches (() in. x 8 in.), and from twelve fwt (Vi ft.) to twenty feet ('^0 ft.) in length.

Bottom course of cross timbers to be six inches by eight inches (6 in. x 8 in.) spaced not more than four feet (4 ft.) on centers, and dovetailed into side timbers at either end.

All other side timbers to be four inches by six inches (4 in. x i\ in.) placed on everv other course, dovetailed into side timbers and spaced not more than ten ^eet (10 ft.) on centers.

The space between the side timbers of the pier shall be covered with a solid floor of two-inch (2 in.) plank, laid lengthwise of the pier on the bottom tie timbers. These plank to be secured with spikes to the bottom timbers with thirty-j>enny spikes, and laid sufficiently close to prevent sand or gravel from passing through.

The pier shall have a firm foundation on eight by eight inch (8 in. x 8 in.) 'T)ed" timbers, twenty feet (20 ft.) in length; these ])ed timbers to be strongly bolted to bottom of pier with the middle of each timber under the middle line of the pier.

When placed in the required location, the shell of the proposed pier thus formed shall be filled to a depth of one foot (1 ft.) above the surface of still water with stone, coarse gravel or concrete.

The pier shall be covered with a floor made of two-inch (2 in.) plank laid crosswise and spiked at each end with two sixty-penny spikes into the side timbers.

pier shall be bolted to top of pier with *'drift" bolts made of three-quarter inch square iron, headed and jiointed from twelve (12 in.) to twenty inches (20 in.) in length, one at each end of the timbers and one or more in the center, as may 1h» required.

Five (5) piles shall be plactnl at each comer of the pier, and one pile shall be driven on each side sixteen feet (1(> ft.) from the outer end of the pier. A second pair of piles shall be driven one on either side of the pier at a distance of thirty-two feet (32 ft.) from the outer end.

The piles shall be not less than twelve inches (12 in.) at the butt end and shall be driven not less than seven ft»et (7 ft.) into the solid clay or hard pan.

The corner piles after being driven are to be cut off at a uniform height of one foot (1 ft.) above the top of the said pier and shall be chained together with a one-half inch cable chain and well spiked.

The two inside pairs of piles shall have an iron rod, connected across the top of said pier, extended through the piles to hold them in place.

As this magazine is prepared to stimulate A KEENER APPRECIATION OF THE LANDSCAPE AND VEGETATION BEAUTY of the North Shore above Chicago; TO AID IN CONSERVING AND INCREASING THIS BEAUTY BY CO-OPERATIVE EFFORT ; to record tests of old and new plants, made to determine their special values for the creation and enrichment of landscapes, woodlands, lawns and gardens; IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT PROPERTY OWNERS CO-OPERATE IN EXTENDING AND NAMING THEIR ROADSIDE PLANTATIONS UNTIL ALL RELIABLY HARDY WOODY PLANTS ARE THUS MADE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC ENJOYMENT AND INSTRUCTION, and that they ALSO CONSIDER THE VIEWS OF THE PUBLIC FROM THE HIGHWAYS and public reservations in the design of their places.

INCLUDING PARTS OF CHICAGO, AND THE TOWNS OF EVANSTON, WILHETTE, KENILWORTH, WINNETKA, LAKESIDE, GLBNCOE, RAVINIA, HIGHLAND PARK, HIGHWOOD, FORT SHERIDAN, LAKE FOREST, LAKE BLUFF, NORTH CHICAGO AND WAUKEGAN . . . .

When asked again to help, Mr Egan retaliates with the present article on the choice of a National Flower, with the suggestion that the Garden Clubs of our country consider the matter. Copy of this article has been sent to the President and the Secretary of the Garden Club of America, and I am informed that the matter will be considered by tlie Council of Presidents of the Garden Club of America on March 29. Whctlier or not it is decided that the present moment is a proper one to push the matter, a copy of this issue will be ?ent to each of the various Garden Clubs of the country.

Much of the material on the National Flowers considered to date is taken from Vol. II of Garden and Forest. Information as to the standing of the Columbine

We are glad to have something of the broader consideration of the future of a region like the North Shore as influenced by the near presence of a large city like Chicago. As you are interested in the writings of Mr. Kobinson I would suggest that you read his books: "Modern Civic Art," "The Improvement of Towns and Cities," and his recent work, "City i^lanning," a revision of "The Width and Arrangement of Streets," all of which should be in your Public Library.

In order that garden lovers of the North Shore may get a little acquainted with the work of Mr. Ralph Rodney Root before he comes to Lake Forest College for the Summer School of Landscape Architecture, he sent in, on request of the Editor, a discussion on the use of color in the garden. He takes a broader aspect than the usual consideration of flower color, and shows how the study applies to all the features of the garden.

Our National Flower

The historic associations before the reign of Louis VII led him to adopt the Fleur-de-Lis as his talisman, and thus made this the national flower of France. The English soldier who stepped on a thistle, and, by his exclamations, gave warning of a surprise attack on the army of James I of Scotland, caused the Thistle to acquire undying fame in that country, and it resulted eventually that it became the national flower of Scotland.

method by which a national flower will become established. If the deliberate action of a majority of all civic, social, patriotic and educational associations should, for example, favor the Trailing Arbutus, because of its associations with the Pilgrims of Plymouth, or the Goldenrod with its nation-wide distribution, or if any other flower should be accepted by the people, and then established in the craftsmanship of the nation by American designers and artists, then a dramatic event, when it comes, may not be able to displace the flower that has been deliberately selected by popular favor.

Whether or not a national flower may be established, we ought to strive to become a floral nation by adopting for general use such flowers that can be readily established in the old fields and along the roadsides of each locality. While such local flowers are likely to be aliens, they will soon come to be accepted by reason of their persistence, vigor and beauty in the landscape.

and Chicory. Many of the drumlin hills of eastern Massachusetts are made hills of gold by the Woad-wax. The Yellow Bedstraw is spreading in the gravelly plains and ridges. In the western part of the state carpets of Thyme and low thickets of Shrubby Cinquefoil are spreading in the open lands. The Purple Loosestrife is a blaze of glory in the moist swales along the Hudson, above New York. The ^Scotch Broom is making the winter green and the summer golden under the woods of Virginia. The Japanese Evergreen Honeysuckle is established throughout the South on raw sunny banks and in shady woods.

Nearly all these plants represent happy aliens of the old world that are vigorously establishing tliemselves in the new world and driving out the natives as we people of European descent have driven out the native American Indian tribes.

Although in times past several attempts have been made to authoritatively choose an emblematical National flower, the question still remains an open one. Thirtyfive states have selected their State flower, but Uncle Sam does not yet know what to wear in his button-hole on national occasions.

The last energetic effort to adopt a National flower was made in 1896 by one Chapter of The Daughters of the American Revolution, who passed a resolution petitioning members of Congress from their state to urge the passage of a bill in Congress adopting the Trailing Arbutus as a National flower.

It requires organized activity in order to accomplish any great event. The lack of organization working to accomplish one end is the cause of the failure of all attempts hitherto made towards the selection of a suitable National flower.

Since 189G Garden Clubs have sprung up all over tlie country, composed mainly of intelligent flower-loving women who give tlieir personal attention to their gardens. These clubs are located all over the United States, each beins: a unit of an organized national Garden Club. No class of people is so competent to select a National Flower as are the members of these clubs. It is the knowledge and love of flowers that liave brought them together.

Now that these clubs are riding the waves of enthusiastic prosperity why not have them consider the question, select a flower, interest their congressmen, and get it ordained? What method to adopt in the proceedings is a question^ and an intricate one at that, but a woman's brain is fertile, and a way out of the woods could certainly be found.

Local preference should not prevail. It is a national affair and a flower should be chosen that is abundantly seen in every state of the Union, We can teach our children to love and revere the Stars and Stripes, as the flag is easily attainable at all times, and may be placed before their eyes; so, too, must be the National Flower. Flowers like the Trailing Arbutus are entirely out of the question as they are seen abundantly by but few people. If a simple vote was taken, without the whole question in all its parts being fully considered, there is danger that the eastern clubs, being in the majority, might select a flower that is not national in its distribution, and not found in the west.

Suppose that one or more members of each club read a paper on the subject before their club, copies of which be sent to each club in the national organization. It might be well if the President of the national organization would issue a mandate requiring all clubs to have these papers read at meetings held, say, in June and July, and request that enough meetings be held between then and September or October to read and consider all papers on the subject read before the other clubs. When all this is done a vote may be taken by each club and the result forwarded to headquarters in time for the annual meeting to announce tlie flower receiving the most votes.

In all considerations of the subject the main factor that should be uppermost in the mind is to choose a flower that may be seen and known by the greatest number of the people. It is to be a national flower and should be national in its distribution. The characteristics of the flower should be considered. Take the suggested Trailing Arbutus. It is botanically known as Epigaea repens. Its generic name is composed of two words : epi, upon, and gaia, the earth; and repens means trailing or creeping; so that the whole name given to it means **T railing upon the ground." Is that characteristic of American manhood ? Six of the states have chosen the Golden-rod. How many of them considered the fact that one of the most common species is known as Solidago canadensis, the Canadian Golden-rod. And as for the Columbine, the most widely distributed species is Aquilegia canadensis.

'Tjet us consider the humble Sunflower, Who has not seen it ? Who does not know some form of it ? Its generic name, Helianthus, is from helios, the sun, and cmthos, a flower. What brighter, more glorious emblem could we choose than that flower, that in itself suggests the orb that controls our destinies? As the sun rises in the east and pursues its course towards the west, so did our civilization in its onward march from Plymouth Hock to the Paciflc Coast. In mythology the sunflower is the symbol of fidelity, constancy, and with it is connected the helpless love of Clytie for the god Helios. These two words, fidelity and constancy, are surely suitable ones to be associated with our National flower, nie Helianthus is not, as is the Trailing Arbutus, confined to a limited area, but is found everywhere. It does not resist cultivation, but thrives under almost any conditions and holds up its head as proudly in the back yards of the poor as the gardens of the rich. It does not trail upon the ground, but boldly stands erect, and faces the sun from morn to eve. Is it a typical American plant? Yes. Nearly all the known species are indigenous to North America, the few exceptions found in Peru and Chili, countries of the New World.

the subject is remote. That is, how well would the chosen flower lend itself to its reproduction by the artist? Occasion will come when artistic reproductions are necessary. The Golden-rod, while graceful in itself, is so minute in its parts as to render it difficult of a pleasing reproduction. The Columbine is easily copied, but the Sunflower can be reproduced on more decorative lines than almost any other, especially adapting itself to conventional form."

The Choice Of A National Flower

In a letter to Garden and Forest printed July 10, 1889, Mrs. Van Rensselaer says: "A flower might have been selected when the flag and the eagle were chosen; and chance may some day give us one, in some great national crisis, when we are least thinking about it. But to choose deliberately by 'popular' voting, and then to impose the choice upon a nation so immense and so widely scattered over different soils and under different skies - this seems, indeed, a hopeless effort."

She then states that the four favorites to date are : First of all the Golden-rod, then the Mayflower, the Sunflower and the Mountain Laurel.

The Golden-rod "is widely distributed throughout the United States, and familiar enough to be beloved by all Americans ; and though it grows in other countries it does not grow in Europe, (unless as introduced in gardens), except in the higher parts of Switzerland. It has no associations, therefore, which unfit it to be our national emblem ; it ife a good flower to wear on the person as a badge - individual, bright, pliable, graceful and lasting."

Speaking of its use in art, she says: "The flower of the Golden-rod has no individuality, when we stoop to study it; isolated from its fellows it looks like numerous other flowers of the vast family of Corapositae. And, moreover, we never do isolate it; the Golden-rod as we think of it is not a flower but a panicle of minute heads, and to separate them would be to ruin the type." Similarly the foliage "is never really beautiful or individual or well adapted to use in the arts."

As to its adaptability in design she says '*it is by no means a good flower for the artist. Tt is not strikingly individual; it is ineffective; it is weak in form and somewhat trivial; it lacks the two indispensable qualities - dignity and special character."

'*The Sun-flower, like the Golden-rod, grows everywhere in our country, varying in different localities, but keeping its special character throughout; and it is nowhere a native of the easteni hemisphere. But cultivation in this case has largely undone the favor which Nature did us in making this flower our own. It is so commonly grown in Europe that today it can hardlv be called a true American. What would the Esthetes' of England sav did we exalt the Sunflower to be our National emblem? And should we not feel like English esthetes instead of American patriots, did we go about with a Sunflower on our bosoms? Seriously, whenever an American sees or hears of Golden-rod, Kalmia or Trailing Arbutus, he thinks of his own country' and nothing else ; but the case is very different with the Sunflower, and 1 think the difference seriously invalidates its claim to be adopted as an emblem of the United States."

As to its decorative use, she continues: "The Sunflower is a cousin of the Goldenrod, and one of its great heads resembles in large the tiny head which we scarcely notice as such in a Soli dago. But tins increase in size and distinctness makes all the difference in the world as regards use in the arts. A Sunflower is a flower meant to be seen alone, and it is so formal, so massive, so stately that it could admirably serve every purpose of the designer. But the same unfortunate fa6t again confronts us. Modern ^esthetieism' has made this flower its own, and so frequently reproduced it, with more or less artistic felicity, on a myriad of objects of a most trivial sort, that it would seem absurd for the American people to try to read into the reproduction any sign of patriotic meaning * * * * A: generation ago we might have made this flower our emblem and rejoiced in its use. I fear it is spoiled for the purpose today."

As to the Mountain Laurel: "The same lack of universality affects the claims of the Mountain Laurel. Prom south to north, eastward of Kentucky, it is very familiar, but our occidental regions know it not. Yet it is another true American, seen in Europe only in gardens, and it is a good flower to wear, while its evergreen leaves, with a distinctive character of their own, would be available at all seasons."

"Here is a plant which neither art nor sentiment has touched as yet, but which seems to have been created for the artist's hand. Its leaves are so like those of the Laurel, which from time immemorial has been an artist's favorite, that its popular name has sprung from likeness; liey are fine in outline, solid in aspect, and beautifully grouped on the stem, needing but a trifle of arrangement to fit them for the weaver's or the carver's use. Still more beautiful, infinitely more individual, is the fiower of the Kalmia in every stage of its growth. Look at the conical bud with its deeply-cut, symmetrical flutings, and admirable contrast between the upper and the lower portions, and the ten strong points where they meet; see how architectonic it is, whether viewed sidewise or foreshortened from the top. ***** How easy it would be to conventionalize this blossom, seen from the inside or the outside, and how beautiful it would be, in paint or tissues or carvings, when thus conventionalized. * * * * 'p^^ flower could be almost literally copied and be systematic and dignified enough. * But size means less to the artist than *form,' Character,' - and no flower in the

At about this same time in school- 4)ook8 appeared an impassioned poetic plea for the adoption of corn as our emblem, and these words still stick: "But the shield of the Great Republic, The g\oTy of the West, Shall bear a stalk of the tasselled corn, Of all our wealth the best." The Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) has also been suggested, as distinct and beautiful in both flower and leaf, and also the White Pine as typical of this country.

In a letter printed Nov. 13, 1889, in Garden and Forest, some objections to the common names of Kalmia latifolia are urged, principally because of the chance of confusion with the classic Laurel, and Magnolia grandiflora is put forward. It is the most dignified, beautiful and individual of American trees ; its leaves and flowers are stately, graceful ; it has all the artistic possibilities of the Egyptian Lotus, dignity, variety and adaptability for the designer's purpose in bud, blossom, and fruit; it was one of the favorite trees of George Washington, and still grows at Mount Vernon. "It is symbolic of the power and strength, liberty and freedom of the great American Eagle." - ^The great objection to it is its comparatively restricted range, and the fact that Magnolia is found in many species in Asia.

The Native Asters have much the claim of the Golden-rod. "It is more abundant in North America than elsewhere. One hundred and twenty-four species belong to our flora. It ranges from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to Central America. It is beautiful ; it is hardy ; it is perennial ; and deserves the sentimental regard of all who see it yearly adorning our fields and woods in summer and autumn." 'T^jet the wild Aster be our country's

A booth was opened at the World's Fair at Chicago, July 4, 1893, and visitors found a j)leasant occupation in voting for a national flower. Nothing definite came from this, but from the association of the word "(Columbian" and the extensive use of the Columbine in the flower beds at the Fair, the suggestion of the consideration of Columbine as a National Flower took the form of a society, The Columbine Society, which is still in existence. A booklet, '*The National Flower Movement," is still procurable (at 3 cents) from the Secretary, 50 Garden St, Cambridge, Mass.

Through the organized efforts of this society more has been accomplished than for any other flower, but interest of late years has lagged. In its sentimental qualifications the Columbine has the advantage over its competitors, for though its I^tin name, Aquilegia, may have no relation to the word for eagle, its common name Columbine is by derivation associated with Columbus and Columbia. It grows in every state in the Union, both wild and cultivated, and blooms in the national colors, red, white and blue ; while it is always obtainable for decoration at all occasions of a national character in spring and summer, and it is easily adapted in manv forms to conventional decoration.

"It was to the short-spurred type that the names Columbine and Aquilegia were originally apj)lied. The latest dictionaries confinu the view that Columbine comes from the l^tin i*olumba, dove, and was given to the flower I)ecau8e of its resemblance to a grou[) of doves. The same authorities state that Aquilegia is from the Latin aquila, an eagle, most probably because when the flower is reversed the curved nectaries suggest the five talons of an eagle's claw. Of straight-spurred fonns we have seven species, as follows : the small red-flowered Aquilegia canadensis, which is the one most familiar in this region ; two very similar to this in the far west; another, Aquilegia caerulea, with blue, lilac, or white flowers, often three inches broad and with gpurs two inches long; and three, including Aquilegia chrysantha and A. longissima, with golden or pale yellow flowers, having nectaries like horns of plenty, ranging from one to six inhces long. The |lowers of all our species present in front view" the outline of a beautiful five-rayed star, immediately suggestive of the stars of our star-spangled banner. The time of flowering for the whole country is given as extending through the spring and early summer. Thus, as will be seen, Columbines are available on our only national holiday, namely, the Fourth of July, which is celebrated in every state ; and are at their very best on Memorial Day, when we have the most use for a national flower." The Columbine is claimed to fulfil all the conditions of a proper national floral emblem, as recommended by the National Flower Convention (1896) :

5. It should bear what in the popular sense is called a flower, and should not be merely a foliage plant or one chiefly valued for its fruit.

7. The features characteristic of its form should combine such simplicity and gracefulness that, when used conventionally in decorative design, the flower may be readily recognized independently of its color.

8. It should be a flower which has never been used by any other people as their floral emblem, and not resemble such a flower in general form.

"If our Flag is a necessity of war, the argument continues, the Columbine as an emblem is a necessity of peace. Neither can truly be said to be entirely indispensable, but both are invaluable as means of inspiring effort to patriotic achievement. Each is fitted to serve its special purpose better than anything else possibly could. We need the Columbine for our emblem of peace. Nothing else can so fitly express Columbia's mission as the prophetess of peace, the peacemaker of the nations. No other emblem can hold so persuasively before the people that Christian Ideal which prompted our great warrior to say "Let us have peace."

The great merit of the Columbine is that it combines within itself the highest merits of all rivals. Accordingly it has come as the peacemaker among the flowers. Advocates of other flowers are ceasing to contend with one another and are rallying to the cause, since in the triumph of this, they see the realization of more than the highest promise of their former hope.

Moreover, in its role of peacemaker, and as pre-eminently the emblem of peace, the Columbine brings the National Flower Movement into most opportune relations with the present peace movement in the world. In the words of President McKinley, "The citizens of the United States have the right to be proud that their country is in the van in the efforts which are being made for international arbitration."

Hence, it especially becomes us to adopt such a perfect emblem of peace as the Columbine would be. Not onlv would tliis emblem announce to the world the idea of Christian policy which our Nation has so long maintained, but it would also, by ever directing the thoughts of our people to the responsibilities of our high mission, aid us in maintaining the right. Thus the Columbine idea, bom at the Columbian Exposition, - our country's greatest celebration - of the victories of peace - becomes a part of that world-wide movement which the ages shall deem the greatest glorv- of this glorious nineteenth century." I^ederick L. Sargent.

The Pervasive City

The North Shore, whatever its special attractions, may in a larger sense be taken as a type. It is typical of those areas, near all modern cities, which are sought for residence by those of the well-to-do who, feeling able to choose their place of abode, select the more or less open country, with its spaciousness and quiet, in preference to the crowded, blatant city. How far is their choice successful? To what extent do they escape the city's influence ?

The question is pertinent. .On the ouo hand, many besides the wealthy have an interest in its answer. For in the train of the migrated well-to-do come the larger number of those who serve them in hou.iehold and in shop, and these also for the most part are voluntary exiles - chojsing whether they will earn their living in the garish city with its narrow quarters or m the duller but more spacious country. The true answer to the question must vilally affect the lives of all these hope-sujjport'^d emigrants, rich and poor alike, determining their responsibilities. On the other hand, the answer is of interest to more than country dwellers only. Of vital significance to the city is the question whether it still has any claim upon tho*5e who seek a home just beyond its boundaries. Freed of economic and political obligations to the city, do they escape the other urban obligations? Does the city lose its hold upon its children when t'ley are established bevond its walls? Can it no longer look to them to assist in the solution of its problems?

It is a familiar Yankee trick - of which, however, Socrates was an early and distinguished exemplar - to answer a question by asking one. Why, then, do not these people who seek a country home go further from the city - why do they settle within the possibile sphere of its influence if they do not still feel bound to it by ties of business or of pleasure ?

These ties are strong. Watch the frequent trains, loaded witli people drawa from their country homes day after day into the city's activities;, and, estimating the relative energy required for a trip to town, think what the lure must be. Or watch in these country homes the reading of the daily city papers, and hearing tlie discussion of city topics^ know that ihe interests of the town still lie close to the heart. Tlie toll-cables of the telephone lines are burdened with city messages ; of the notes and letters that bind these country dwellers to the outside world, and t^f the dividends or other checks that pay their bills, how many are from the city - in short, how many thoughts are focustcd there ?

In some parts of tlie nearby country one sees at night the city lights reflected, in a glow in the sky. That glow is .'ymbolical of the city vision which hovers still above the country, drawing the eyes and thoughts of country-dwellers; beyond the reach of which they wUl not go. \t is the proximity of the city, whose dust they have shaken off, that gives its special residential value to their property.. If property fifty minutes from town is worth more than property three hours away, it is not because the nearer country is more countrified, or its scenery necessarily better. It is because it is within nearer reach of town. Leaving the city; taking up country life; returning to nature. These people leave the city phy.sically, but not in spirit; theirs is a country life tied to the city's apron strings. Perhaps it is the better - not the worse - for that. It is a broader, richer, fuller life. It may be their high privilege to have the- best both of country and of city. If ihey are not successful in complete relinquishment of the city, they are at least as successful as they desire to be.

It is well, in the rush of life, thus to pause at times and take one's soundings. If to go into the nearby country is not to leave the citv, it is to retain some of the city's obligations. We cannot expect to enjoy its opportunities - social, cultural and financial - and shift all its problems to shoulders more hurdeiiod than our own. The city still needs, and properly claims, the help of those who, reared and prospered by her, have built new homes beyond her walls, and it may be that they are in a position to help her more than any. Just enough detached to take dispassionate views, to look at questions broadly, to judge without the bias of personal interests, they can serve her with a hi^h efficicncv.

The city's problems, the whole range of questions involved in the study of city planning, are still then, within the scope of the residents of such adjacent areas as the North Shore typifies. These people have not escaped responsihility for a knowledge of such subjects ; they can even bring to them a special interest and wisdom, and have it in tlieir ])ower to make their knowledge count for mucii in the solution of the city's problems.

Xor is the application of these principles limited to the city. Each suburban settlement has its own town planning problems; and over all, united all and tying up with the city, there is the great problem of the extending city. This does not mean that tlie citv boundaries are sometime to include Lake Forest, for example - though even that might happen. But it docs mean that all the region we have been considering, near whatever city, lies witliin the metropolitan district of which that city is the central, or focal, point: that with the extension of rapid transit facilities and with the growing uinquity of the teleplione and motor car, thip whole region is to be considered a residential area, to be prepared by the intelligent arrangement of streets and roads

On the North Shore, for example, the topography provides natural boundaries which definitely define the problem. Within those limits haphazard development, due to the carelessness of intelligent peo^ pie, is inexcusable in these days of scientific studv and of the assured future for the area.

The whole region is bound to develop as a great residential park, made up of many little centers and all bound by converging lines to the great city. A wise preparation of it will affect closely the lives of thousands of people, rich and poor, and property values to the extent of millions of dollars. ^Fhis preparedness involves, first, a study of city planning principles, and, second, the application of these principles to the gi'ound, in solution of the concrete problem.

(^ity planning is, then, no remote and abstract study, as respects the residents of this region ; it is no theoretical discussion without practical bearing on the questions of daily life. Sense of duty, of obligation to the city that has meant, and still means, so much to near country-residents : of responsibility to future generations and for the welfare of one's own children; humanity, tlirift, sheer common sense, all call for it. Than this studv none will be found on trial to be more fraught with interest and |>ertinence and inspiration.