42 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



water course even in the heart of a large city. It need hardly 

 be said that the Bronx is in the centre of the most beautiful natu- 

 ral portion of the entire park system of the City, and its preserva- 

 tion is a matter of vital importance. At present, this stream 

 during low water period of summer is a menace to public health, 

 and radical measures must be taken to prevent its further pollu- 

 tion along the upper stretches beyond the limits of the Botanical 

 Garden. With the rapidly increasing population of the valley to 

 the north, this question becomes one of increased importance. 



A second matter of great moment is the extension of the eastern 

 boundary of the Zoological Park. The present line is a purely 

 artificial one, being the former boundary of the Lydig estate and 

 not conforming in any way to the very abrupt changes of the sur- 

 face. The border line runs along the crest of a ridge of very 

 beautiful forest which covers nearly all the space between it and 

 the Bear Swamp Road ; in fact, the best portion of the forest is 

 included in sixty acres immediately outlying the present Park 

 boundary. The trees, chiefly pin-oaks, are perhaps the finest in 

 the neighborhood of New York. This land, owing to its great 

 irregularity, is of very little immediate value for building pur- 

 poses, and it is of very great importance that the City should pur- 

 chase this forest tract and add it to the Bronx Park. The cost 

 is estimated at about $300,000. Commissioner Eustis, at the head 

 of the Park Department of the Borough of the Bronx, has taken 

 the initiative and is about to apply for the necessary funds for 

 the purchase of this land, thoroughly appreciating the importance 

 of securing it before the trees are destroyed. 



If this forest is secured, the third improvement, equally vital 

 to the natural development of the northern park system, will fol- 

 low as a natural consequence, namely : the construction of the 

 boulevard through the natural valley which traverses the middle 

 of this forest, starting from West Farms on the south and joining 

 the Pelham Parkway at Bronxdale on the north. This is a direct 

 route which can be utilized for heavy traffic, thus relieving the 

 present Boston Post Road, and enabling the Society and Park 

 Commissioner to convert it into a road purely for Park service. 

 Thus the acquisition of this land will bring about three public 

 park improvements of the greatest importance, when we consider 

 what vast crowds of pleasure-seekers will naturally enter this 

 Park as the northern terminus of the rapid transit system. Still 

 a fourth improvement, more or less directly connected with the 

 above, is necessitated by the fact that the southern entrance of 

 the Zoological Park at WVst Farms has been selected as one of 



