THE SUMMER HEAT OF CITIES. 449 



management of its accomplished secretary, Prof. Lewis Collins, is a 

 model organization of the kind, and has accomplished a vast amount 

 of good in this field in that city. But it may well be questioned if we 

 have not reached a period of sanitary reform in cities when a work 

 of the kind we contemplate in New York should not be undertaken 

 by the strong arm of the city government, as a matter of public- 

 policy, and carried steadily forward to its completion. The growth 

 of the greater city is far too rapid in every direction to await the slow 

 movements of the people under the pressure of voluntary organiza- 

 tions. The best work can be done in those outlying districts where 

 the streets are as yet but sparsely built upon, and the soil has been 

 undisturbed. Again, it is of the utmost importance that a work of 

 this kind, which will largely prove one of city ornamentation, should 

 be under the exclusive direction of a skilled central authority having 

 ample power and means to harmonize every feature of the work 

 from the center of the city to its remotest limits. Finally, the suc- 

 cessful cultivation of trees and other vegetation in our streets can be 

 successfully carried on only by experts in the art of tree culture, who 

 devote their entire time and energies to these duties, and are sus- 

 tained by the power of the city government. Mr. Frederick Law 

 Olmstead remarks, " Not one in a hundred of all that may have 

 been planted in the streets of our American cities in the last fifty 

 years has had such treatment that its species would come to be if 

 properly planted and cared for." Mr. Richards, in the paper re- 

 ferred to on Tree Planting in the Streets of Washington, makes the 

 following statement: " The selection, planting, and care of all trees 

 in the streets of Washington are under the direction of the District 

 authorities; individual preferences and private enterprises are not 

 allowed to regulate this improvement, as is generally done in other 

 cities. Moreover, the city has its own nursery, where seeds planted 

 from its own trees grow and supply all the needed varieties." 



It is apparent that to accomplish such a work as we propose the 

 undertaking must be placed under the jurisdiction of a department 

 of the city government, skilled in the performance of such duties, 

 fully equipped with all needful appliances, and clothed with ample 

 power and supplied with the- financial resources necessary to over- 

 come every obstacle. Fortunately, we have in our Department of 

 Parks an organized branch of the city administration endowed 

 with every qualification for the performance of these duties. The 

 charter provides as follows : " It shall be the duty of each commis- 

 sioner ... to maintain the beauty and utility of all such parks, 

 squares, and public places as are situated within his jurisdiction, and 

 to institute and execute all measures for the improvement thereof for 

 ornamental purposes and for the beneficial uses of the people of the 



VOL. LIV.— 32 



