83 
in mind when he planned to have the Brooklyn Botanic Garden 
beautifully landscaped, as well as planted to botanical specimens. 
In order to carry out the general basic landscape plan of the 
Garden as developed by Olmsted Brothers, Mr. Harold A. Caparn 
was appointed Consulting Landscape Architect, January 1, 1912. 
As the result of his supervision through the years, the perfection 
of carefully planned vistas, the symmetry of formal design, the 
subtle balance of informal plantings, and the effective use of plant 
material, can not escape even the most unobserving visitor at the 
Botanic Garden. 
By enlisting “the aid of horticulture and landscape architecture 
to arouse and foster a wider botanical interest in plants,’ many 
persons must have added to their botanical knowledge because 
their interest was aroused by the beauty of the design. In this 
way, the Brooklyn Garden has become “the common meeting 
3 
ground of horticulture and of botany,” where the garden does not 
exist solely for the plants, nor the plants for the garden, but where 
the function of being “educational and otherwise serviceable from 
the standpoint of botany” is combined with that of beauty “as a 
garden.” 
During the early years, the grading and improvement of the 
soil was one of the chief problems. In this connection, one of 
the most interesting features was the construction of the brook. 
The original terminal moraine pond was enlarged to a lake and 
excavation, in some places to as much as seven feet, for the arti- 
ficial brook was made at the same time the slope of the meadow 
was changed. Dams of glacial boulders were constructed, and 
the entire course of the brook designed to look as natural as pos- 
sible. To prevent too much loss of water, the brook was lined 
with blue clay found when excavating for the Laboratory Building. 
The water was first turned into the brook in May, 1912. This 
feature of the Garden was the particular joy of the Director, who 
was wont to refer to it as “my brook,” since it was constructed 
upon his insistence, and against the advice and wishes of others. 
It has proven to be a most delightful addition to the Botanic 
Garden. 
The primary scheme for the arrangement of the planting was 
— 
developed along systematic lines. The scheme of classification fol- 
