THE THEORY OP CITY DESIGN. 91 



irregular surfaces are to be preferred, as giving the landscape 

 gardener greater scope for displaying his art, and as possessing 

 intrinsically greater charm. In selecting areas for public gardens 

 therefore, the irregular tracts would always be chosen, provided 

 other parts of the design could be made to accord therewith, and 

 provided also that the positions lent themselves to good effects 

 from every point of view. Whole blocks, or even double, triple, 

 or quadruple blocks, containing suitable features might therefore 

 be devoted to the purpose, the distribution over the entire site 

 being made fairly uniform, but adapted to the general character 

 of the surroundings. 



Besides these gardens and smaller parks, in the city proper, 

 large parks also are necessary for its environs. The Bois de 

 Boulogne, and the Bois de Yincennes of Paris have each an area 

 of over 2,000 acres, and similarly liberal provision for every 

 important city is to be desired. Parks like these would constitute 

 recreation or picnicking grounds for the peoples of the cities and 

 their areas ought to be ample for the probable ultimate population 

 of the city. The creation of artificial, if there be no natural, lakes, 

 especially for cities not on the sea-shore, would be advantageous, 

 and if the water supplied to them were, on its passage, passed 

 through large fountains of many jets, not only would the feature 

 be very attractive, but the water itself would also be well aerated. 

 By suitably selecting the path for the conduits conveying this 

 water, it could in some cases be made to serve either all or most 

 of the fountains of the city, passing by gravitation from one to 

 the other, subject only to the loss by evaporation at each fountain. 



I may be here excused for repeating a suggestion made to me 

 in conversation by the Commissioner appointed to report on the 

 sites for the Federal Capital. 1 If the parks were thickly planted 

 with trees whose foliage was beautiful, and whose timber at the 

 same time was of value, then when the demand for the fuller use 

 of the parks arose, necessitating clearing, the trees would have 

 become a valuable asset, and the income from the timber available 

 for removal might be made to materially assist in the more 



