ed, in the way of stimulating
citizens to adorn their private grounds, or at least to keep their
grounds and fences in good order, removing weeds and rubbish from the
sidewalk, keeping the grass well trimmed and free from litter and
leaves. What most detracts from the good appearance of any village is
the slovenly look which comes from badly hung gates, crooked fences,
absent pickets, and general shiftlessness about private places; and it
is by encouraging citizens to take a pride in attention to these minor
details, that the association will do its best work. This result may be
accomplished almost entirely without the expenditure of money. It is in
attention to little things and in securing the co-operation of private
owners,--a co-operation which will call for an inappreciable amount of
labor,--that the most telling work of the officers of the society is to
be done.

So far as these details are concerned, it is hardly necessary in a paper
of this sort to do more than to call attention to them. They are within
the capacity of every citizen, and they will naturally suggest
themselves to any person who would be likely to undertake the direction
of an improvement association. There are other and really more important
objects looking to a certain amount of landscape gardening and
engineering, on which specific instruction may be desired, and often in
cases where it will be impracticable to employ professional assistance.
These are as follows:--

1. The construction of sidewalks.

2. The construction and care of roadways.

3. The supply of water, and the construction of drinking-troughs.

4. The laying-out and adornment of public squares and other open spaces.

5. The establishment of a system of sewerage or sanitary drainage,
including the removal of excessive soil moisture.

SIDEWALKS.

No one thing has more to do with the comfort of those living in country
villages than sidewalks which are good at all seasons of the year. Those
fortunate villages which are built on a gravelly soil, with a perfect
natural drainage, need little more in this direction than such a
conformation of the surface as will prevent water from standing on the
footway when the ground is frozen. At all other times it sinks naturally
away into the earth. It is much more often the case that the character
of the soil or subsoil prevents a settling away of water, or that
subterranean oozing from higher ground keeps the earth throughout the
spri