40 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



discretion, iu the name of the United States, to make excliauges ot 

 specimens, and to administer tlie said Zoological Park for the advance- 

 ment of science and the instruction and recreation of the people. 



Sec. 3. That the heads of Executive Departments of the Government 

 are hereby authorized and directed to cause to be rendered all neces- 

 sary and practicable aid to the said liegents in the acquisition of col- 

 lections for the Zoological Park. 



Approved, April 30, 1890. 



As it seemed desirable to have at once expert advice on the subject 

 of laying out and iinproving the park, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, a 

 distinguished landscape gardener, was requested to make a preliminary 

 inspection of the ground. and to express an opinion as to what, under 

 the conditions imposed by the primary objects of the law, would be 

 the best general disposition to make of it. It soon became evident that 

 a further survey was necessary in order to fix the boundaries of the 

 maximum rise to be expected from Eock Creek. This stream, ordina- 

 rily small, drains a watershed having an area of some S3 square miles, 

 with a slope so considerable that after copious rains the water rapidly 

 rises far beyond its usual limits and becomes destructive to any build- 

 ings or other fixtures situated along its course. A remarkable inunda- 

 tion of this character occurred in June, 1889, the extent of which was 

 noted at several points along the creek. It would be evidently im- 

 practicable to j)lace any buildings of importance within the area sub- 

 ject to these heavy floods, and the suitable locations and plans for the 

 bridges to be constructed could not be prepared until their height and 

 span were determined with reference to the maximum rise of Avater. 

 The survey of the creek was not completed at the close of the year, but 

 it has since been finished as shown in the map previously referred to. 



Having once secured the picturesque features of the laud from oblit- 

 eration by the rapid encroachment of the city, it has been the policy to 

 proceed slowly with improvements and to utilize the natural advantages 

 of the location, interfering as little as possible with its original aspects. 

 Even with these economical principles the cost of converting the tract 

 to the uses of a park is far beyond what would ordinarily be imagined, 

 for it should be remembered that the cost of improving Central Park, 

 New York, has already been not less than $14,000 per acre, and that of 

 Prospect Park, Brooklyn $9,000 per acre, while that of the large Frank- 

 lin Park, Boston, is estimated at $2,900 per acre. 



In following this policy and keeping within the limits of the appro- 

 priations, no immediate provision has been made for the considerable 

 expense involved in opening at once to the public the entire area of IGG 

 acres. The complete establishment of the park in a manner befitting 

 its national character will be a work of considerable time, and for the 

 present it has been deemed advisable to set aside nearly 40 acres, se- 

 lected on account of accessibility and moderate elevation, as well as on 

 account of its being adapted to the purposes of the park without great 

 expense, while a further tract of some 15 acres will be so arranged that 



