The Institute of Horticulture, which held its Conference at Dunedin recently, has been taking an interest in the question of beautifying railway stations, and at the Conference it was stated that about £150 was spent in Oamaru last year on horticultural improvements to portions of the railway at the entrance to the town.

The interest displayed by the public in the appearance of railway stations is gratifying, and at those places up and down New Zealand where the railway staff have realised the opportunities which the precincts of their station offered for the effective cultivation of flowers and shrubs, and have put that realisation into practical effect, the general improvement in the appearance of the premises has been most marked.

A well laid out station garden with abundance of flowers abloom is particularly pleasing to the eyes of train travellers on some of the longer runs, but everywhere it attracts attention and elicits favourable comments.

People are influenced by their surroundings, and a place that is made pleasant and picturesque by an artistically conceived and well tended garden “with borders, beds and shrubberies, and lawns and avenues,” is more likely to attract their custom and hold their interest than one at which there is nothing to relieve the intolerable drabness of bare utility.

The effect of orderliness combined with beauty, which decorative efforts of this kind have on members of the staff, must also be taken into account when considering the matter even from a purely utilitarian standpoint.

Pride in the appearance of one's station is a reinforcement to pride in the quality of one's work. It tends towards a natural harmony, a unity of action and outlook likely to result in better regulated attention to business, a brighter view of duties to be undertaken, a greater kindliness and courtesy towards the public and fellow-members, and the rendering of more efficient all-round service.

Members are in-invited to forward photographs and notes on the progress made at or about their station (whether officered or tablet) in the direction of horticultural improvement, for publication in the Magazine.