Te NEW YORK -ZOOLO@OGICALT (SOC inv: 
The new western approach leads from Bird’s Valley Walk to 
the stairs which rise to the level of Baird Court at the western 
end of its transverse axis. All three of these very indispensable 
improvements should be completed in 1907. 
The Granite Steps at the Bear Dens, leading up to Rocking- 
Stone Hill, were completed by John Fury in the autumn of 1906, 
and are a very satisfactory piece of work. 
The Retaining Wail and Balustrade, a massive structure of cut 
stone to support a terrace about seven feet high, was constructed 
across the north end of the West Farms Entrance plaza, by 
Leshe McHarg & Co., at a cost of $4,770, and completed promptly 
in 1906. As noted elsewhere, the construction and surfacing of 
the plaza itself was performed under the direction of the officers 
of the Zoological Park, by the Park improvement force. 
MAINTENANCE. 
Mr. H. W. Merkel, Chief Constructor; Mr. E. H. Costain, Asst. Forester 
and Captain-of-the-Watch. 
As the size of the whole Zoological Park establishment in- 
creases and the number of buildings and collections multiply, the 
demands for maintenance become more numerous and more 
urgent. Thanks to the fact that, with few exceptions, all the 
improvements made have been of the most substantial and per- 
manent character, thus far the annual outlay for repairs to build- 
ings has been small. The time will come, however, when the an- 
nual budget for repairs will require consideration. 
The work of keeping the whole Zoological Park in clean and 
acceptable condition is really very great. Necessarily it requires 
a large force, and in that force we may fairly count quite two- 
thirds of the men and boys employed in the Park. Aside from 
the immense amount of hard labor involved in caring for the 
animals, and in keeping their quarters clean and wholesome, the 
labor of mowing, and of sweeping and clearing up the litter left 
by great crowds of visitors, is really very great. In order to 
lessen the cost of handling waste paper, dry straw, and luncheon 
refuse, it seems absolutely necessary that a small crematory 
should be established in some central situation, to save the cost 
of the long haul to the nursery. 
I regret to be obliged to report that the maintenance fund 
appropriated for the support of the Zoological Park during the 
