( 200 ) 
already established through the herbaceous garden. The sys- 
tem of grass gutters and catch-basins works very well except at 
a point just east of the museum building on the west side of the 
driveway, where the construction was complicated by stand- 
ing trees which it was desirable to preserve; here the drain- 
age from the driveway does not pass satisfactorily into the 
grass gutters and the edges of the road become washed in 
heavy storms. Some modification of the construction along 
this line will ultimately be necessary. 
In the north meadows, where much filling and drainage 
still remains to be done, the drainage ditches have been kept 
open and the amount of marshy ground reduced to a minimum 
under present conditions. The lowering of the dam in the 
Bronx River at the Lorillard mansion, accomplished in the 
summer of 1902, at which time 16 inches was taken from the 
top of the dam, greatly improved the drainage of the north 
meadows, and has reclaimed several acres of land. It was 
proposed at that time to lower the dam two feet, but the 
Commissioner of Parks then desired to utilize the head of 
water at the dam for running a water-ram in order to fill a 
lake east of the river in Bronx Park, and 16 inches was 
found to be all that could be spared to make this practicable. 
This ram has recently been removed and the lake supplied 
with water from other sources; it is now desirable to return 
to the original plan and lower this dam about 8 inches more, 
which will reclaim more land in the northern part of the 
grounds and permit freshet water to flow off more rapidly 
than it does at present. 
Water Supply 
There has been no extension of the water-mains during the 
year. The work of grading and road building has now, 
however, been sufficiently advanced to make it desirable 
that at least 2,000 feet of 6-inch water-main should be laid 
during the coming season, in order to obtain more hose-taps 
for watering plants, more hydrants for watering-carts, addi- 
tional drinking fountains, and to bring a satisfactory water- 
supply to the site of the new conservatories on the east side 
of the garden. 
