76 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PARK SUPERINTENDENTS 



OFFICIAL 

 G. S. AMRHYN, Pres., New Haven, Conn. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 

 R. W. COTTERILL, Sec.-Treas., Seattle, Washington. 



ASSOCIATION NOTES. 



I'resideut G. X. Ainrvlni lia'^ i ■•lUi il a conference of Executive 

 Committee memliers and nssociatiou members residing near Xew 

 Yorli City to take up tlie question of tln' fixing- of tlie date of 

 our San Francisco couveution, wliicli our laws leave to tlie dis- 

 cretion of the Executive Committee. 



The Society of American Florists has fixed its convention dates 

 as August 17 to 20. and it seems desirable that our convention 

 should be held at about the same lime. The matter will be 

 definilely decided before our next issue, when an announcement 

 will be made with sugge.stive itineraries. 



The proceedings of the Xewburgh-N'ew York convention, after 

 considerable delay, are now in the hands of the printer, and a copy 

 will be sent to every memljor in the near future. Unfortunately 

 many interesting discussions which took place, will not he re- 

 corded because of the fact that no stenographic report of the 

 convention was pro\'ided for and few notes of any kind were 

 made, hence your new secretary )ias had to do the best he could 

 with a coll"cticn of cdds and ends in the way of newspaper clip- 

 pings, rough notes and copies of papers. 



If any member has in mind and additions or aniendmi-nts to 

 the constitution and by-laws to present to the next convention, it 

 is well to remember that our laws pro\i(!e that a copy of any 

 change to be proposed must be filed with the secretary at least 

 thirty days before convention date in ordei that a copy may be 

 sent to every member. 



Oakland, Cal.. has been added recently to our honor list of 

 sustaining members, a membersliip having lieen taken out by the 

 Board of Park Directors of that city. Oakland is one of the 

 most progressive cities of the Pacific Coast, as our members who 

 attend the August convention will have an opportunity to observe, 

 as no doubt a tour of the Oakland iiark system will be made a 

 part of the programme of the .San Francisco convention. Lee S. 

 Kerfoot. the vr'ry capable superintendent, will i>rolial)Iy affiliate 

 with our as.sociation at the convention. 



F. L. Mulfonl. of the Department of Agriculture at Washing- 

 ton, and one of our most earnest members, has submitted to the 

 president and Executive Committee a letter of suggestion which 

 is worthy of consideration by the membership. 



ilr. JIulford's letter is in substance as follows : 



"Yon irill find enclosed a coptj of a memorniiduin of lltr fornui- 

 Hon of the Pari,- fnstitii.tc of Xrn- Eni/liuul. This itssociiition iras 

 formed to rncvt rrrtiiin nerds I linrc Joiirj felt the Anieriean Asso- 

 eintion of Park Superintendents should meet, to-irit: To make 

 arailahle to each of us and to the juihlic. knowlediie and e.rperi- 

 cnee arising from the methods and nianaiiements of parks and 

 plaiifirounds hij i-ities. Of eourse. in our annual nieetinf/s we 

 eoe.ld not eorer the field as this institute ean in New Enijland. hut 

 the formaiinn of an assoeiation of this sort shons how its need 

 is felt by the i/ounc/er men in park work. 



"I know I am not alone in our asso<-iation in thinking that we 

 need just this sort of cominii tor/ether, and I am hrinciinrf this 

 matter to i/our attention hrcansr I feel that our assoeiation lias 

 ieen on the wron// traek. 



"Yon man reeall that n-liile seeretari/ I endearored. with but 

 sliaht su(r(ss. to niaki our meetings more of a lime for papers 

 and discussions. 



"/ stilt feel that the assotiation should derote itself serioush/ 

 to the presentation a nil di<!enssion of topics of mutual interest, 

 eind that too much of the time of our meetinas has been deroted 

 to soeiabilit!/ anil to tours of inspection. Valuable as these fea- 

 tures arc. then should not he obtained at the e.rpense of meetinr/s 

 for discussions. 



"The sufifiestions that I made at the Boston meetinii lookin;/ to 

 two distinct classes of nu mhcrship was with this same idea in 

 view, that the trained park men of e.vpcrienec shotdd direct the 

 affairs of the assoeiation. and that the newer men of ineirperience 

 as teell as those interested in the subject from an amateurish 

 standpoint, should hare an opportunitii to -support the assoeiation. 

 attend its mr< liniis and take part in its discussions, but that the 

 control of the policies of the aisiocialion .<thrtuld remain in the 

 hands of the experienced park men." 



Mr. Mulford's ideas may not meet with the approval of all of 

 our members, ind the sccrciary woidd be pleased to receive ccn- 

 tributions en the subject, which will be /river, publicity thron-ii 

 these columns in subserjuent issues. 



The organization of branch or auxiliary associations and the 

 reduction of social features at conventions are subjects which are 

 uor npw to the association, but both are worthy of serious con- 

 sideration. 



PARK DEPARTMENT PERSONALS 



Theodore Wii'tli. the genial su]ienutendent at Minneapolis, wdio 

 is certainly caie of "ilie pillars of the church." as far as the asso- 

 ciation Is concerned, is already beginning to think about the 

 convention at San Francisco, and is urging his friends to come 

 West via the northern route. 



The -Minneapolis Park Commissmn h.-\s a reputation for enter- 

 tainment and hospitality which is well known to many of our 

 iiK»mbei.~. and as they stand ready to repeat members Westward 

 liound M'ho do not jiut Minneapolis on their route will miss .1 

 treat. Mr. Wirth has a habit of attending conventions every 

 other year, his capable assistant, C. A. Bossen, attending on the 

 off year, but they are both such good members as well as such 

 good fellows, that we hoi)e they will break the rule this year and 

 both III' on hand. 



L. r. .renson. superintendent of grounds at Busch Place, St. 

 Louis, lias been spending many of his winter evenings, deliver- 

 ing illustrated lectures on the parks of the country before his 

 fellow citizens, and thus arousing interest in local park develop- 

 ment. Mr. .Tenson was not with us at the Xew York session, 

 the first cnnvention he has missed in years, but states that he will 

 sure be at San Francisco, and will have a bunch of applications 

 from superintendents in Southern cities. Did you read Mr. .Ten- 

 son's article in the .January Chronicle on "The Relation of 

 Birds to Parks"? If not. you missed something good. 



George W. Hill, for many years superintendent at Tacoma, 

 Wash., will in a future issue have an illustrated article on the 

 park system of that wonderful Puget Sound city, which he hopes 

 will assyst members in arriving at a conclusion to go to San 

 Francisco viii the Pacific Xorthwest. 



Tacoma has taken out a sustaining membership in the associa- 

 tion, and can be counted uiion to show a good time to those who 

 may visit that city. 



-Vt Seattle and at Portland you can .see Mount Rainier in ail 

 its glory, but the only place in the country from which you can 

 see Mount Tacoma to advantage is from Tacoma. 



Laurie D. Cox. until recently landscape engineer at Los An- 

 geles, has turned up at .Syracuse. X. Y.. where he has accepted 

 a position as assistant professor of landscape engineering in the 

 Xew York State College of Forestry, the first institution in the 

 country, according to Mr. Cox. to specialize on such a course. 



William R. Reader, superintendent at Calgary, Canada, has 

 signified his intention of becoming a member of the association 

 and will probably lie at the San Francisco convention. 



Robert It. JIoss. of Rosemont Farm, Berryville. Va.. is desirous 

 of securing an assignment as superintendent of some public park 

 or small park system. Jlr. Moss has had twenty-five years' prac- 

 tical ixjjerience on priva'e places, and is ambitions to enter 

 liublic service. 



A circular letter of inquiry has been sent by the secretary to 

 our members in the larger cities, seeking data regarding the opera- 

 tion of park concessions and methods and policies in use in dif- 

 ferent cities. This will make a most interesting subject for a 

 future bulletin as the problem is one which is under consideration 

 in many cities. 



.7. .1. Levison. former secretary of the association, forester for 

 the Brooklyn Park Deiiartment. is the author of a recently pub- 

 lished book ".Studies of Trees." which is just about the best thing 

 in the way of a tree book that has ever been published. No, 

 gentle reader, this is not an ad. : just a word of tribute to an 

 author and fellow-member who has put out something worth 

 while. 



If you would like to see ,vonr cit.v. your work or yourself men- 

 tioned in these columns, just drop a few lines to the secretary 

 and tell him what you are doing or what you have on your mind 

 which might be of interest to other members. The secretary 

 would be delighted to have to answer a letter from every member 

 everv month, and perhaps the correspondence might produce some 

 chatter which would make these columns more interesting. 



