RECREATION PARKS 



looking in one direction a horticultural display, in the other a zoological 

 collection so arranged that the lions are viewed apparently at liberty 

 in a naturalistic scene, with seal and water-fowl sporting in a lagoon 

 in the foreground. The effect as a whole is somewhat theatrical but 

 not displeasing. 



PARADE GROUNDS AND GAME FIELDS 



Parade and drill grounds are a suitable adjunct of the parks of our 

 larger cities and we may safely anticipate demand for them. The field 

 for military jumping in the public park at Florence is a feature of 

 fascinating interest and, even when not in use, contributes to the park 

 character. The many hippodromes of Italy vary in type from the 

 simple race-track idea in the Cascine Park at Florence to the more 

 elegant one of the Borghese Garden so often illustrated. The famous 

 hippodrome at Torino built in the time of Napoleon expresses more 

 the idea of a stadium. That at Milan is unique for the grass prome- 

 nade of the upper level, boasting a double row of full-grown shade trees. 



Fields for active recreation, limited to the sort of sports which do 

 not require supervision and attendants, may be provided for as a part 

 of the general park layout. The fields for baseball should include 

 permanently-laid-out diamonds, football fields should be provided with 

 proper goal posts, and there may well be some inconspicuous arrange- 

 ment of low bleachers in each case. Game courts should be as care- 

 fully designed and completely equipped as those on club grounds, 

 never located haphazard, but made to relate to the general design both 

 in line and placing. Golf also is a very proper adjunct of commodious 

 parks. In Riverside Park, Indianapolis, there are three golf courses, 

 two eighteen-hole and one nine-hole, showing how quickly the public 

 takes to that form of sport. Ex-President Taft writes of golf: " It is 

 an admirable form of exercise, it is consistent with social enjoyment, it 

 trains one in self-respect, it introduces one to nature in most attractive 



138 



