THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



303 



ing it niDre desirable to li\'e in, which is the fuiula- 

 niental motif under all yiark work. P'urtherniore, this 

 conception of park service makes every man's home 

 become i)art of the park system, and connects his front 

 yard with the public parks by means of the street tree 

 planting and park strips, thereby providing a channel 

 of influence between the park dejiartment and the pri- 

 vate home, similar to that which exists between the 

 street, water and sewer de])artinents. 



History demonstrates, and observation conlirnis the 

 fact that the influence of ])lant life and rural scenes are 

 essential to strong enduring, well regulated and well 

 balanced home life. Those cities that have amjile park 

 and recreation systems well distributed, developed and 

 maintained, have raised the stanchird of the character 

 of its citizens. 



Gradualh' and almost unconscioiisl}' recreation work 

 has come to be a part of park work. It came first, be- 

 cause parks were open grounds, and recreation needed 

 open grounds : but as the work has gone on, the reali- 

 zation has come that park and recreation rec[uirements 

 are so closely related and united, that neither can be 

 successfully maintained without the other. 



What then is now meant by recreation? Much has 

 been written about "Municipal Recreation," esjjecially 

 during the last ten years. At first it meant pla)- for 

 children, but its meaning has exjianded until now it 

 includes whatever is done during the leisure hours of 

 the people as individuals, or as groups, or as a whole. 

 It has three divisions : 



1. Private recreation which takes place at home or 

 sociallv with friends and neighbors, and in which the 

 public has m i part. 



2. Public recreation privately owned and explniled 

 for private gain. 



3. Public recreation publicly owned, which is either 

 free or furnished at cost or nearly so. 



Recreation is helpful in four ways; 



First. It provides the means for growth in children, 

 and gives an even development of mind and body. A 

 boy is the man in the making. To form him, ])arents 

 and teachers try to mold his habits and character. 

 Work and study are but outside influences and forces 

 to lead or compel him to fit into the mold wdiich has 

 been nre-determined. In doing so there are used onlv 



a comparatively small proportion of the number of 

 muscles and faculties that go to make up the boy. 

 Recreation allows for free use of all those muscles 

 that are not sufficiently used in work and study. It 

 responds to nature's call to move or to atrophy. It is 

 a force within, working out. Work and study are 

 forces without working in. Lloth are needed to make 

 the man. 



Second. Recreation provided refreshment and res- 

 toration to the tired or over-strained body and mind. 

 Nature will replace used or abused muscles and tis- 

 sues, if suitable rest is given them, and used or 

 ])artiallv used muscles and tissues have exercise. 

 Recreation provides just this. It may consist of 

 just comfortably resting in the fresh air, or 

 ieisurelv walking about, or something that makes one 

 forget himself. It may be music or entertainment, or 

 exercise, but whatever it is, it nuist be ot une's ')wn 

 free will and accord. 



Third. Recreation prevents evils and weaknesses of a 

 city, providing it is sufficient to provide wholesome 

 and amjile o])])ortunity to do so. The great majority 

 of people prefer good to evil, if an overwrought body 

 or mind and environments do not lead him otherwise. 

 If the recreation provisions of a city are as sufficiently 

 prcjvided for as is the fire department for fighting fires, 

 the\- will prevent or destroy evil weaknesses as eft'ect- 

 iveiv as the fire department does fire. But too often 

 the recreation provision is no better prepared to do its 

 work than the fire dejiartment would be if it had only 

 a hand pump and a bucket brigade. 



I'^ourth. Recreation is the balance wheel for work 

 and plav. Any machine which is subjected to irregular 

 work, needs a regulator or balance wheel or both. 

 Machines that do not have them must find a balance 

 Ijetween their endurance and the power which drives 

 them, otherwise they are destroyed by the force which 

 was given them to use. The mission of a balance 

 wheel is to store up force when not needed, to give it 

 back when it is. Work and study are the constructive 

 forces of a city. They are irregular in their eft'ect 

 u])on the human body and mind, and differ widely as 

 to their re(|uirements and application. Recreation 

 stores up human energy when in abundance, and gives 

 it out when the strain comes. 



TEX.\S ST.\TK Fl.OWF.R SHOW. III.Ili I\ HOUSTON', TKXAS. IH-RIXC TUr.Il KK WKKK. (SEE PACE iU9.) 



