BRINGING UP A PARK THE WAY IT SHOULD GO 



nursery firms — and they cannot be blamed for it in the present state of 

 keen competition — are bound to plant the parks, if given to them, in 

 such a way as to bring immediate credit to themselves. In their case 

 planting work which does not make an immediate showing will not 

 only cost them future business but may even jeopardise the payments 

 due them. In bringing up a park to the most desirable development, 

 there must be a certain amount of moral force and calibre in the de- 

 signer, with courage to keep the eventual welfare of the park in mind, 

 even if it means temporary protest and complaint. 



The tolerance of the public must also be craved during certain 

 periods of the park's growth. Children have awkward ages when they 

 seem all hands and feet and of queer proportions; parks have to go 

 through this same growing age. It is not imperative that a park shall 

 have a finished appearance ; in fact, it may have more value, provided 

 that it is at all times reasonably sightly, if it suggests the promise of 

 great beauty in the future instead of the realisation of mediocre beauty 

 in the present. An enforced demand for temporary display will do 

 more to retard the accomplishment of the best development of the park 

 than any other cause. 



CONTINUITY OF PURPOSE ESSENTIAL 



There should be a continuity of purpose in the method of maintain- 

 ing and gradually improving park grounds, both to achieve the greatest 

 beauty and convenience of the park in its completed stage and to 

 accomplish economy of expenditure in its progressive stages of devel- 

 opment. Quoting from the published report of the National Com- 

 mission of Fine Arts for 1914, in a communication addressed to the 

 Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, we read : 



" It is peculiarly true in regard to expenditures for the maintenance of 

 grounds and for minor improvements therein from year to year that the full 

 results are not to be obtained until after the lapse of many years. This is 



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