2 
THE BRONX RIVER AT FLOOD. 
The Bronx River has an average width of about 45 feet through 
its flood plain, the ‘‘ North Meadows” of the Botanical Garden, 
and its present depth there at average flow is not over three feet, 
At freshet times the river rises rapidly nearly or quite to the level 
of its banks and falls again nearly as rapidly as it rose. 
This flood plain is nearly level, sloping slightly southward 
from the north end of the Garden to the long curve in the river 
north of the Long Bridge, but there were a number of areas in 
it which were from one to three feet lower than its general sur- 
face and partly occupied by pools and marshes. As the work 
of developing this northern part of the grounds has proceeded, 
by the building of driveways and paths, a large part of these 
depressions have been filled up to approximately the general 
level, and a great deal of drain pipe leading to the river has been 
laid, but much still remains to be accomplished before the ‘‘ North 
Meadows ”’ are completely reclaimed ; considerable progress has 
been made in this work during the past season. This flood plain 
is one of the most beautiful and interesting features of the Bronx 
River Valley, and the plan of development contemplates chang- 
ing it as little as possible, otherwise than the filling and drain- 
ing of the depressions above mentioned. 
It is particularly suited to the growth of moisture-loving plants 
of all kinds. Several acres of it west of the river have already 
been planted with various kinds of willows (Saticetusm), some of 
which are now trees of considerable size, and a path now under 
construction will bring these close to the pedestrian. This col- 
lection may soon be considerably increased by additional plant- 
ing. The landscape design does not plan overplanting the 
plain, however, and large meadow areas will be retained. 
The control of the river water at freshet has been a very inter- 
esting problem, which it has been sought to solve as econom- 
ically as possible. Studies of flood conditions have been made 
for several years and records kept of high water marks under 
various conditions. It is undesirable to raise any portion of the 
plain higher than is necessary, and it is desirable, from a land- 
scape standpoint, that it should be slightly undulating rather than 
