292 CITY PARKS. 



As a part of this scheme for the pleasure and well- 

 being of the multitude there is music on the Mall twice a 

 week, goat-carriages, donkeys, merry-go-rounds, summer- 

 houses, grounds for croquet, lawn-tennis, base-ball, foot-ball, 

 and lacrosse, and, above all, grounds everywhere for picnics 

 in spring and early summer. Last year there were picnic 

 permits issued to over seventy-five thousand children, whose 

 wants were ministered to by park employes without charge. 



In order to secure the greatest amount of pleasure from 

 these games, the turf requires special and solicitous atten- 

 tion. It must be mown frequently, and manured yearly ; 

 and above all it must not be used when soft from rain, and 

 liable to be torn up by the feet of visitors. 



Before closing this chapter on city parks, I must say a 

 few words about small city squares or greens. They are 

 generally not large enough to consist of more than a few 

 square yards or half a dozen acres. Usually they come on 

 some irregularly shaped space situated at the junction of 

 two or more streets. Properly they should be termed 

 " Greens," like the Bowling Green, at the foot of Broadway, 

 New York City. The green effect of the grass should be 

 made the chief and most important feature of their 

 treatment. 



Some fence of a simple and inconspicuous character 

 should surround the plot, and this fence should be masked 

 and ornamented with shrubs and trees, but the interior 

 should be simple open greensward, with a few bright bits 

 of bedding, and trees enough for shade along the paths. 

 The semi-artificial lines and masses of formal bedding are 

 out of place in the strictly rural scenery of Central Park, 



