64 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. 



composed of barren ledges. The Central Park has been 

 cited as an illustration of the effect of improving such a 

 tract in increasing the value of surrounding property, and 

 a still more striking instance is that of the Pare de Buttes 

 Chaumont, constructed since 1864, in Paris, which occu- 

 pies the site of old abandoned plaster quarries. Before 

 the park was made, the ground was an arid wilderness of 

 clay mounds and excavations left by the quarrymen. By 

 skillful management this has been converted into an ex- 

 ceedingly picturesque tract, comprising a lake, in the cen- 

 ter of which rises an isolated rock more than one hundred 

 feet high. Precipices of corresponding height rise from 

 its shores, and are connected with the island by a suspen- 

 sion bridge, and all parts rendered accessible by pic- 

 turesque winding paths. These precipitous heights -are 

 merely the remains of the old quarries, and, of course, 

 their crevices and level areas have been provided with 

 soil, and planted with appropriate trees, shrubs and vines, 

 while the more level portions are arranged with carriage 

 drives the whole comprising forty-five acres of orna- 

 mental ground, quite unique in its character. 



The improvement of such areas, which are worthless 

 for other purposes, at once confers value upon surround- 

 ing property by rendering it attractive for residence pur- 

 poses. If the plan were adopted by municipalities of 

 securing and improving such tracts wherever they were 

 available in eligible situations, even if they comprised but 

 a few acres, connecting them with each other and, if pos- 

 sible, with outlying suburbs, by means of fine ornamental 

 avenues, while the suburban towns themselves adopted a 



