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ment of a city these are not thought of, because they have 

 not become necessary. The future of any city is so uncertain 

 that but few men are found far-sighted enough to foresee 

 and provide for its future greatness. So it almost always 

 happens that the business of obtaining grounds for exten- 

 sive public parks must be undertaken when the grounds 

 which would be suitable for such purposes have been 

 appropriated to other purposes, and have, therefore, be- 

 come too valuable to be purchased. This has been the 

 case in the Central Park of New York. The leading ex- 

 pense there as in almost all cases has been encountered 

 in extinguishing the titles of the land to be covered by 

 it. The city of Paris and the city of London, and indeed 

 almost all the great European towns have provided them- 

 selves with ample parks at an enormous cost, because they 

 were obliged to use lands that had already become valuable. 



The leading features of a park suitable for such a city as 

 this, seem to be the following : 



1. It should be, not very far removed from the central 

 part of the city and readily accessible. 



2. It should be liberal in size ; calculations being made 

 not merely for the present but for the future, remember- 

 ing that it is much easier to secure land when such an im- 

 provement is being made, than afterward to add to what 

 has already been obtained, when the value of adjacent pro- 

 perty has been greatly enhanced by the very improvement 

 itself. When I speak of a liberal size, I mean a park where 

 accommodations may be provided for driving, walking, 

 games and sports, skating, ball-playing, cricketing, &c. 



All this could not be easily comprehended in a few acres. 

 The drives through it, ought not to be less than three miles^ 

 and the walks five or six. For a city like Albany, with its 

 present condition and future prospects, 250 acres would not 

 be too much to provide in a liberal way for these purposes. 



The parks of the city of London are as follows : 



