2Q PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. 



erly connected with the one under consideration. As the beauty of a 

 painting is enhanced by a fine setting, so should our water garden have 

 a background of tropical and subtropical trees and plants. How great 

 an advantage do we here possess over those who live in colder latitude?, 

 when we can use for this purpose, planting permanently, the feathery 

 papyrus, giant grasses, large-leaved caladiums, musas, the towering bam- 

 boo, and a great variety of noble and beautiful plants ! 

 Los Angeles, Gal. 



DEVELOPING PUBLIC PAKKS. 



BY JOHN MCLAREN. 



Until I noticed in the Sunday newspaper that the subject assigned 

 me was the above, I was under the impression that my topic was "Land- 

 scape Gardening in California." I discovered then that I had wasted 

 several hours endeavoring to give a few practical hints on how to lax- 

 out a pleasure-garden in our state. As soon as I found that my subject 

 was the development of parks, I hastened to my desk, and, as you will 

 find at the conclusion of this short paper, many of the principal and 

 probably some of the most essential points have either been overlooked 

 or have not received the consideration due them. 



I will confine my remarks to the development of the parks of San 

 Francisco, and principally Golden Gate Park. As most of you are 

 aware, the reservation was set aside by the Legislature of the state as a 

 public park in the year 1870. It contains 1,014 acres, 700 acres of 

 which were drifting land. It was placed under the exclusive control 

 of a Board of Park Commissioners. The first appointees were S. F. 

 Butterworth, D. W. Connolly, and C. F. McDermott. For the improve- 

 ment of the park the Legislature appropriated the sum of $200,000 of 

 bonds. One of the first acts of the commission was the securing of 

 a topographical map of the reservation, which was executed by Mr. 

 Hammond Hall, the eminent engineer, and presented, accompanied by 

 a report, early in the year 1871. 



Mr, Hall also presented a comprehensive plan for the reclamation 

 of the sand, and also for an appropriate system of driveways, etc. This 

 plan was accepted by the commission, and the work of improvement com- 

 menced. The first work of the commission was the establishment of 

 a nursery for the propagation of hardy trees to be used in planting; the 

 next was the construction of a driveway leading through the entire 

 length of the park, a distance of a little over four miles. An idea of 

 the difficulty of keeping the roadway protected from the neighboring 

 drifting sand can be formed when you know it was found necessary to 



