LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



tracks upon a special turfed reservation with rows of 

 trees, thus enabling the cars to be run at high speed with 

 little danger of collision with other vehicles. Such reser- 

 vations are generally between two roadways, but in 

 some suburban districts, notably in the city of Roches- 

 ter, a single track reservation is placed on either side 

 of a single roadway, between the curb and the sidewalk. 

 A parkway, so far as it can be discriminated from a 

 boulevard, includes more breadth of turf or planted 

 ground and includes, usually, narrow passages of 

 natural scenery of varying width, giving it a somewhat 

 park-like character and inducing a less formal treat- 

 ment of the roads, paths, and accessory features. 

 Parkways are frequently laid out along streams so as 

 to include the natural beauties of brook or river scenery 

 and to preserve the main surface-water channels in 

 public control, thus providing for the adequate, 

 economical and agreeable regulation of storm- drainage 

 and floods. 



6. Outlying reservations of almost undeveloped coun- 

 try scenery, usually from 500 to 5,000 acres in extent, 

 are wisely included in the park systems of some of the 

 larger cities on account of the increasing difficulty of 

 reaching the unspoiled scenery of the open country, 

 and because, otherwise, the increasing numbers of 

 persons seeking such scenery upon the outskirts of the 

 suburbs secure their pleasure at a constantly increasing 

 discomfort to themselves and to the private landowners 

 upon whose property they are forced to trespass. 

 The most notable of such reservations in America are 

 those of the Boston Metropolitan District, comprising 

 four forest reservations with a total area of over 10,000 

 acres, with 33 miles of connecting parkways. The 

 most notable of such reservations in Europe are those 

 of London, especially Epping Forest (5,346 acres) and 

 Richmond Park (2,358 acres); and those of Paris, 

 amounting to about 20,000 acres, chiefly maintained, 

 not by the city, but by the national government. 



Management. The usual and best method of man- 

 aging city parks is by an unpaid commission of three or 



five members appointed for terms of three or five years 

 and retiring successively, with a view to continuity of 

 policy and independence of local politics. Of late, a 

 strong movement for municipal efficiency has led to 

 placing the park department of some cities in charge 

 of a single commissioner who is chosen for his business 

 ability rather than for his cultivated taste. This is a 

 great mistake. Business efficiency in park management 

 is important but should be secondary to the main 

 purpose of attaining and preserving landscape beauty 

 in the large parks and the avoidance of freakishness 

 in all the parks. The single park commissioner is 

 dangerous because he has the power and the instinct to 

 order the immediate execution of any personal notion 

 or whim, whereas a board instinctively desires to dis- 

 cuss new projects and has to be persuaded of their 

 merit and wisdom before it will vote for them. In 

 creative art the best designing is personal, but in main- 

 taining works of art a consensus of opinion is much 

 safer. The commission appoints as executive officers 

 a secretary and a superintendent, the latter having 

 some technical skill, and each devoting his whole time 

 to the work and receiving a salary. Under the orders 

 of the superintendent, who receives his instructions 

 direct from the board, are employed an engineer, local 

 superintendents, gardeners, foremen, and so on. The 

 engineer is generally an assistant of the city engineer, 

 assigned temporarily to park work. When new parks 

 are to be acquired or plans are to be made for their 

 development, a professional landscape architect is 

 employed to advise the board and to make plans, and 

 is usually retained at least in a consulting capacity 

 during the period of construction. Some large cities 

 retain a consulting landscape architect permanently 

 to advise them with regard to questions of improve- 

 ment and maintenance affecting the design of the parks. 

 Statistics. Reliable statistics of parks are almost 

 unattainable. The accompanying incomplete compila- 

 tion has been ' corrected to 1914, except a few items 

 which are starred. 



