RECREATION PARKS 



product of intent and design, rarely that of chance; primitive forests 

 are rich in potential scenery, but in most cases it needs be revealed 

 much as the sculptured figure is brought out from the block of marble. 

 Park lands, as Eliot points out, when first purchased are usually not 

 primeval forest but ugly conglomeration of vacant lots, pastures, 

 fields, abandoned gardens, and to-be-demolished houses. A great deal 

 of intelligence must be brought to the task of converting such a hodge- 

 podge into an engaging landscape. The " shaping of natural land- 

 scape to the enjoyment of man " involves questions of composition 

 and design almost too technical and complicated to discuss specifically, 

 and the best general direction which may be given is the rule-of-thumb 

 one that the natural landscape be so adjusted and re-shaped as to 

 provide a multiplicity of scenes which will appeal to the landscape 

 painter or photographer. 



Practically all natural features should be preserved, especially in 

 connection with rivers and streams, and their possibilities made the 

 most of. Streams previously considered as unsightly may be improved 

 by shrubbery planting, their banks broken with occasional beaches, 

 and even marsh wastes and former dumping grounds may be reclaimed 

 from pollution and transformed into scenes of beauty, as demonstrated 

 in the Boston Fenway. Occasionally the park designer is granted 

 waterfalls and cascades, or grade possibility of obtaining them, which 

 provide the scene with active interest and permit picturesque landscape 

 treatment. An aim in shaping the landscape of a large park is to 

 obtain variety; and, insofar as possible, there may be a succession of 

 meadows, hills and dales, so arranged and framed as to provide 

 pleasant contrast and varied character. 



Opportunities for obtaining extensive views of distant scenery, or 

 bird's-eye panorama of the park itself, may be found if there are com- 

 paratively high elevations within the park. Ridges terminating in 

 abrupt rocky points, or rugged spurs which at first seem impossible to 



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