THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



on which a large rural park was established 

 in the center of a great commercial city. 

 He ought to consider why curved roads 

 were built on varying levels, why bridle 

 paths were introduced, why open lawns and 

 sheets of water were provided, and why 

 great irregular masses of trees were cul- 

 tivated. There are many things in Central 

 Park worth study besides the social 

 problems there exposed to view. 



Number Two. The World's Fair 

 grounds at Chicago in 1893 presented a 

 picture which America will never forget. 

 This was probably the most influential 

 piece of landscape architecture ever de- 

 veloped on this continent. In spite of its 

 short life, it was viewed by hundreds of 

 thousands of people from all parts of the 

 continent, and these were precisely the 

 people most able to bear the influence of 

 such work into their own communities. 

 Besides all that, the country was ready for 

 an artistic awakening. America was 

 thoroughly sick of the disgusting archi- 

 tecture which had prevailed since the Civil 

 War. The country had been undergoing 

 an era of despondency, bordering on in- 

 sanity, in every form of practical art. Home 



186 



