304 LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



which cannot be walked upon by crowds without damage. Sometimes 

 proper arrangement of paths will keep the traffic where it is intended 

 to go, particularly if the marsh is wet enough to be unpleasant footing, 

 but a certain general suggestion of unhealthfulness in such a place and 

 the very real difficulty of combating mosquitoes make such a pond 

 often undesirable in a much frequented park. In the case of artificial 

 ponds where the water supply is limited, as it often is, such a shore 

 treatment usually would have the additional disadvantage of wasting 

 the water by seepage into the ground. If it is unavoidable that people 

 should walk along directly upon the shore of the pond, then a sand 

 or gravel beach is almost the only shore treatment that can be used ; 

 certainly no shore-growing herbaceous plants will be possible, except 

 such things as grow actually in the water. It is much better with 

 ponds, as with streams, to have a path skirt the water, far enough 

 back from the shore in most places to admit of naturalistic shore treat- 

 ment, but commanding sufficient glimpses of the pond from everywhere 

 along its course, and at places coming out upon beaches or projecting 

 rocks or perhaps bridges, from which particularly designed uninter- 

 rupted views may be obtained. (See again Plate 32.) 



It is a frequent practice to keep some water fowl on a pond in a park 

 as a feature of interest, even when no zoological collections are kept 

 elsewhere in the park. If there are not too many birds in proportion 

 to the size of the pond and if they are given an island, where they may 

 stay upon the land by themselves, the pond and the pond shores will 

 not be appreciably injured. If too many birds are allowed upon a 

 pond, however, the muddied shores, the muddy water of the pond, 

 and the floating feathers may more than offset the advantage of the 

 interest in the birds themselves. 



These general considerations among others are worth taking into 

 account in the design of any landscape park in this country, but every 

 park will bring its own particular problems. The designer must bear 

 in mind the legitimate uses to which the park is to be put and plan his 

 woods and open areas in sufficient relation to these uses, but he should 

 also, as the best means of making his park serve its primary use, study 

 the natural character of his ground, make the most of existing smaller 

 ground forms and characters, and make the use-units of his design 



