374 



(^Tarden and Forest. 



I October 3, ig 



the appearanct' of the trees and shrubs with which it 

 is thus brought in contact, while these quite destroy the 

 beauties of the Pahn. Contrast of this sort is not beauty, 

 and the result must ah^'ays be unfortunate. Such plants 

 have no place in the cemetery ; and the money they cost 

 coidd be directed with greater advantage in caring for 

 hardy trees, and for the grass, which is too often neglected 

 in such places. In private gardens they are appropriate 

 and splendid objects for the summer-decoration of protected 

 terraces and piazzas, as their graceful lines harmonize 

 always when brought into close connection with archi- 

 tecture ; but the true way to enjoy Palms antl many other 

 plants as well in this country is in a summer conservatory 

 or tent, which can be spread o\'er a terrace or a portion 

 of the lawn in immediate connection with the house; 

 Such a tent can be made to supplement the house in a 

 delightful manner, forming an out-door apartment 

 in which Palms and other foliage plants will thrive, 

 and in which many flowers show their greatest beauty. 

 Such a tent can be made attractive here during five 

 months, and in such tents the tropical plants which 

 are now allowed to disfigure, during the summer, 

 many a fair scene should be gathered for their own 

 and for their owners' good. But incongruous and 

 out of place as Palms look in an American landscape, 

 the effect produced by planting Agaves, almost universall)' 

 called Al(.)es here, upon the turf of a lawn, is even worse : 

 and when a number of these plants are packed close to- 

 gether in a circular bed the effect is grotesque beyond 

 description. These, of all plants, are the most architectural 

 in outline. Naturally they grow in a country and in situa- 

 tions so dry that there is never a vestige of grass near them. 

 Standing out among the dry, bare, sun-scorched rocks of 

 the Mexican mountains, they are often beautiful objects, 

 tilling the traveler with amazement and delight; but an 

 Agave growing out of a trimly-mown lawn of grass is 

 scjmething which the imagination of a person who had 

 only seen these plants as nature displays them could ne\'er 

 picture. But they have their use in our modern gardens. 

 No other plant can so appropriately or handsomely deco- 

 rate the balustrade of a terrace or the steps of a great 

 building. A\'henever they can be used directly in connec- 

 tion with buildings they are in the right place. No other 

 plants which can be properly used in such situations can 

 so well support the heat and drought which full exposure 

 to the sun entails, and there are no plants which, when 

 used in such situations, give such universal satisfaction. 

 It is evident that the decoration of gardens can never 

 attain to its greatest possibilities until plants are more 

 generally studied than at present in their homes, and in 

 special relation to their natural surroundings. 



Central Park, Minneapolis. 



WHAl" is novi' Central Park, Minneapolis — a pleas- 

 ure-ground for pedestrians only, of some thirty 

 acres in extent, in one of the best residence quarters of 

 the city and surrounded by costly houses — was, no longer 

 than four years ago, a piece of low, undrained pasture 

 land. On one side of this pasture was a pond-hole, 

 perhaps a hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by a 

 broad margin of bogs, and from this the water oozed 

 through marshy ground, over which it was hardly possi- 

 ble to walk dry-shod at any season. Upon the area 

 through which the pool found its outlet, as well as upon 

 its borders, there was neither tree nor shrub until three 

 years ago, when the park planting was begun, and the 

 swift transformation which has been effected here can be 

 partly understood from the illustration on page 379, which 

 gives a view of a portion of this marsh as it miw apjiears. 

 The pool and hog were excavated to form a lake, tViur 

 acres in extent, and some of the earth was used to construct 

 in it an irregular island. In addition to the natural 

 s]_irings found here, an artesian well was sunk from whicli 

 three hundred gallons of pure water are delivered e\er\- 



minute, so tliat the lake is well supplied with living 

 water. That no hint of artificiality appears, however, 

 either in the island or the lake, can be well imagined from 

 the natural treatment of the shores, as seen in the illustra- 

 tion. 



The view is taken from a point on the lake-shore oppo- 

 site to the lower extremity of the island, and looking 

 through a narrow channel between the shores of the 

 island and the lake, with the island on the left. Above the 

 island the opposite shores of the lake approach each other 

 until they are near enough together to be spanned by the 

 bridge shown in the illustration, while the larger portion of 

 the lake lies still beyond The shrubs, which are massed 

 so effectively on either shore, were taken from neighboring 

 swamps and woods three years ago. Conspicuous among 

 them is the Red-berried Elder, whose arching branches 

 admirably fit it for a position on the border of the water. 

 Among other shrubs which overhang the lake are Sumachs 

 and Red-twigged Dogwoods, while further back are Snow- 

 berries, Button-bushes and other wild shrubs. The lops of 

 distant trees, which form a portion of the sky-line, are on 

 the further shore of the lake. These trees were also taken 

 from neighboring woods, and, although they were large 

 specimens, they ha"\'e been so well cared for that their 

 growth, like that of the shrul)bery, has been exceptionally 

 strong. When it is considered that artificial lakes and 

 islands are always counted difficult of construction if 

 they are to be invested with any charm of naturalness, the 

 success of this attempt will not be questioned, while the 

 rapidity with which the artist's idea has grown into an 

 interesting picture is certainly unusual. 



This park was designed by Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland. 



On 



Sand RkU 



Calihjrnia. 



ONE day, about the first of June, 18S8, I wandered in 

 search of wild grasses to the summit of one of the 

 foot-hills of the Santa Cruz range of mountains, some six 

 miles back from the coast. It vi'as a sandy hill, seemingly 

 barren, but rising out of the white earth were man)' plants, 

 inidoubtedly natives, in the full glow of summer growth. 

 This ridge, and in fact most of these mountains, are com- 

 posed of sandstone, shale, and diatomaceous earth — a 

 stratified oceanic deposit. Here we find fragments of 

 shells, bits of bones of marine mammalia, teeth of sharks, 

 fragments of echinoderms, etc. In the shale, or "chalk 

 rock," as it is conunonh' called, are immense quantities of 

 a few species of diatoms, and spicules of sponges. There 

 is enough lime, magnesia, and the like, to act as a slight 

 cement in holding the particles together. Some of the 

 "shale," however, has a flinty hardness, and looks much 

 like flint. It contain's some silex and aluminum. 



There are numerous perennial springs of cold water 

 among these hills. In some places there are bituminous 

 oozings, and occasionally a mountain-spur of sandstone 

 completely saturated with asphaltum. This material is 

 used quite extensively now for covering the streets and 

 sidewalks of our towns and cities. It answers an excel- 

 lent purpose, because it is indestructible, and a good ma- 

 terial to walk or drive o\er. 



Wherever there are valleys or basins there are trees of 

 all sizes, and many species, from the Manzanita, four 

 or five feet high, to the tali Redwood, 100 to 200 feet 

 high. Geologicall}'' all this region belongs to a com- 

 parativeh' recent period. The fossils are mostly of the 

 same species as those now living in the Ba)'' of jMonterey. 



Of the plants growing on this apparently barren 

 sand ridge I might make a long list — much longer than 

 would at first seem possible. Within fift}'' steps of where 

 I stood on the summit of the little sand ridge I noted with 

 my pencil about twent3'-five species. I did not stoop to 

 examine the smaller k'inds. 



1 will mention .a tew of tlic most attracti\ e. .\ species 

 of Ceanothus (6'. nniCiilii^), or "Lilac," as it is known in 



