The "cleaning-up" movement, with a public house-cleaning day twice a
year when all refuse is carted away, and streets, alleys and back-yards
cleaned, had its origin in this way. The care and beautifying of
cemeteries is another branch of the work.

In many places, flower and vegetable seeds are distributed free or at a
nominal cost among the school children, prizes are offered for the best
garden, the largest vegetables, the most attractive back-yard, the best
arranged flower-bed, and other good results; the work is examined by a
committee, and the prizes awarded at the end of the season either by the
club or by merchants who have become interested in the contest.

This provides the children wholesome outdoor work and exercise
throughout the summer, and promotes a pleasant rivalry among them,
besides increasing their knowledge of plants, and the results have been
found to be far-reaching, for not only the pupils, but their parents as
well, are interested in neater, more orderly methods of living, and in
beautifying their homes.

In the movement for public beauty, as in all other progress, it is the
work of individuals that counts most. Every house that is built with a
thought for its beauty, every home, farm-building and fence kept in good
repair, every neat back-yard and flower-surrounded home has its part in
making America more beautiful, and this influence in countless homes is
certain to count in the making of better citizens.

A country where beauty meets the eye at every turn will invite the
tourist and the home-seeker, will be deeply loved by its own people, and
will be an inspiration to poetry and art. It rests largely with the
people of to-day to decide whether we shall make of our own land such an
ideal place.

CHAPTER XIV

IN CONCLUSION

No one can read the record of facts presented in this book without being
impressed by two things: (1) How these resources depend on one another
and that proper care of one results in the saving of another, and, (2)
the fact that every one of our most valued resources is decreasing so
rapidly that its end is in sight, even though far in the distance. When
the end comes we know that it will mean the end of progress for our
country in that direction.

It is also plain that the great, in fact the only, reason for this
scarcity lies not in use but in waste. And lastly we see that there is
yet time to prevent serious shortage in most directions if we set about
a