42 REPORT OF THE 



of pedestrians. The general freedom permitted to visitors to 

 stroll over the meadows lias relieved somewhat the pressure 

 for a more general repair of our walk lines. At the Pedes- 

 trian Concourse, and upon some of the small paries there was 

 maintained the usual display of flowers during the season. 

 Some forty thousand plants which were propagated at the park 

 green houses were used for this purpose. It is (^ssirable thai 

 the variety of our material should be extended. With the 

 means to add to the collection and propagation of new mater- 

 ial this popular and attractive feature could be greatly enlarged 

 in its scope and interest. We have accumulated by gift and 

 loans a collection of tropical plants which, being displayed at 

 the Pedestrian Concourse during the summer months, have 

 always proved of great interest to visitors. No better oppor- 

 tunity can be offered for a general display, for the benefit of the 

 public, of curious and rare plants at the park. Comparatively 

 few people are familiar with many of these interesting types 

 of foreign plants, and if this collection could be added to by 

 gift or purchase it would unquestionably prove a valuable 

 means for familiarizing the young, with classes of vegetation, 

 with which they are not likely to come in contact under ordinary 

 circumstances elsewhere . 



The park, in fact, is already an out of door school, where, 

 through the facilities afforded for study, the ordinary pursuit 

 of book knowledge has been supplemented in a practical way. 

 The engineering classes of the Polytechnic Institute and Adel- 

 phi Academy have for a number of years past made use of the 

 park for their operations in engineering with, as I have been 

 informed, the greatest advantage ; the resources for practical 

 demonstration and the carrying out of necessary detail work 

 in the field being such as to have had a marked influence in 

 the progress of this important study. The art, and botany 

 classes of these institutions and of the Packer Institute, to- 

 gether with classes of advanced pupils from some of our pub- 

 lic and private schools, have also "made the park a study 

 ground. In addition to this, permits for individual use, accor- 

 ding special conveniences and privileges to the holder, for the 



