AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PARK SUPERINTENDENTS 
OFFICIAL 
EMIL T. MISCHE, President, Portland, Ore. 
COMMUNICATIONS. 
R. W. COTTERILL, SeC.-Treas., Seattle, Washington. 
ASSOCIATION NOTES. 
Richard [werson, formerly superintendent at Calgary, Canada, 
and more recently as landscape engineer at the Washington State 
Reformatory, has been appointed park superintendent at Everett, 
Washington, a thriving young city of 30,000 population on Puget 
Sound, near Seattle. As Mr. Iwerson is both an engineer and 
designer, as well as having had years of experience in park work, 
he should make a good all around park executive for a city like 
Everett. 
City Forester John Boddy, of Cleveland, has been experimenting 
with the development of a single, hardy violet that will combine 
the fragrance of the German and English violets with the hardi- 
ness of our native grown varieties. Mr. Boddy proposes if he 
succeeds to plant the low lying sections of the Cleveland park 
system with beds of this new violet, and if they are successful 
they will then be given out to the nation. 
H. G. Clark, who for many years has served as engineer for 
Keney Park in Hartford, is now division engineer on the staff 
of the city engineer of Hartford. 
Fred C. Green, of Providence, has been able to say "I told you 
so" to the boys of the Brown University football team, who re- 
cently journeyed to the Pacific coast and met defeat at the hands 
of tlie Washington State College team. Fred made the trip to 
the coast last fall, and went home fully convinced that the West 
can hold its own, or even show the way to the conservative East, 
in more ways than one. 
Through the courtesy of the division of landscape extension 
•of the University of Illinois, our members will receive their 
recent booklet, "The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening," a 
handsome publication with one hundred fine illustrations, and 
Teplete with good ideas and suggestions. This is a most valua- 
ble document, and our association has been honored by its full 
membership being supplied gratuitously, a courtesy which will 
T>e appreciated by all. 
The executive committee will this month probably dispose of 
the question of the exact date of our New Orleans convention, as 
many members have been making inquiries in order that they may 
make their vacation plans. Any suggestions from members as to 
a preference of date during September or October will be ap- 
preciated, and si ould be forwarded to the secretary at once to 
"be submitted to the committee. An announceemnt will probably 
he made in the March number. 
PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE. 
The 1!M4 annual leport of the Kansas City board of park com- 
missioners, just issued, contains a special article by Assistant 
Executive Officer Ralph Penedict, one of our members, on^ "The 
Construction and Maintenance of Boulevard Pavements." As 
Kansas City has the most extensive boulevard system of any 
American cities, and as the article includes very complete con- 
struction and maintenance details, with specifications fur various 
types of pavements, based on fifteen years of practical experience, 
it is a very valuable article worthy of more than passing notice; 
in fact a valuable reference. 
Park Superintendent Clarence I.. Brock, of Houston. Tex., made 
a hit with the mayor and other city officials during the holiday 
season by supplying their offices with blooming plants from the 
department green houses. A little stunt like this is worthy of 
emulation as it is bound to have a tendency to promote good 
feeling toward the park department by the powers that lie. and 
as the display is in a public office, it can hardly lie criticised. 
Fred C. Alber, superintendent at Cleveland, has incorporated 
in his annual report recently issued some valuable practical in- 
formation regarding the operation of a variety of park service 
for which Cleveland is noted, such as municipal bathing beaches, 
dance halls, refreshment stands, bath-houses, etc. Cleveland has 
Trad wonderful success with these features, many of them on a 
three-cent fee basis, and all have shown a mat profit, as well 
as affording efficient service at nominal cost. 
Warren H. Manning, landscape designer, has moved his execu- 
tive offices and draughting rooms from Boston to North Billerica, 
Mass. He will, however, still continue a Boston office for con- 
sultation purposes. Mr. Manning recently delivered an address 
on "Park Administration" before the New York convention of 
the American Society of Landscape Architects. 
George H. Hollister, superintendent of Keney Park in Hart- 
ford, Conn., has been honored by election as president of the Con- 
necticut Horticultural Society. Mr. Hollister is also the moving 
spirit in the New England Park Institute, as well as an active 
member of our association. 
California State Forester G. M. Homans is arranging to have 
prepared and published for free distribution an extensive bulletin 
dealing with ornamental trees suitable for planting in California, 
a book that will fill a long-felt want. A tentative outline for the 
work has been approved, and it will be largely the work of A. W. 
Dodge, Deputy Forester. It will deal with both native and for- 
eign trees known to do well here, and will take up the various 
parts of the State separately, owing to the great variation in 
conditions. 
The city of Sacramento, Cal., is doing a great deal of tree 
planting along the residence streets, the planting campaign being 
very energetically promoted by the Bee, the leading daily paper 
of that city. Park Director W. E. Briggs has lately been in- 
structed to buy a lot of tulip and Oriental plane trees for street 
planting. 
California State Gardener Wm. Vortriede, through an arrange- 
ment made with the Capitol superintendent, is laying out the 
grounds for high schools all over the State. He has recently been 
at Delano, Kern County, getting data on which to plan the 
arrangement and planting of a 20-aere high school ground. Mr. 
Vortriede says there is a strong tendency among the directors 
of high schools in California to provide larger grounds, which 
make-- attractive garden work possible. 
PLAYGROUND ROLLER SKATING. 
Vice-president L. P. Jenson. of St. Louis, submits the following 
for consideration of the members: 
"Among outdoor recreations for children, none seem to be more 
popular in St. Louis than roller skating, and I have often won- 
dered by this healthy outdoor activity has not been taken care 
of by the designers of playgrounds. 
"Roller skating is principally practiced either in commercial 
skating rinks; or, as far as city children are concerned, on side- 
walks or streets which have a smooth asphaltic surface. As 
these streets generally have considerable traflic, particularly of 
rapidly moving motor vehicles, it goes without saying that wdien- 
ever such a street is extensively used for roller skating, the in- 
variable result, is danger of injury to the children and obstruction 
to traffic. The children might of course be forcibly eejeted from 
the street by the officers of the law, which is sometimes, but not 
always, done, but it does seem to me that this healthful recrea- 
tion should receive the attention of playground designers every- 
where, and particularly in those sections of the country where 
weather conditions permit of little or no skating on ice." 
Here is something which Cleveland has perhaps overlooked, a 
chance for a municipal roller skating rink; or, better, yet, a 
municipal ice skating rink at three cents per. 
"THE PRAIRIE SPIRIT IN LANDSCAPE GARDENING." 
"The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening," by Wilhelm Mil- 
ler, aims to show "what the people of Illinois have done and can 
do toward designing and planting public and private grounds for 
efficiency and beauty." 
The first eleven chapters are devoted to various phases of the 
prairie style of landscape gardening, which aims to fit the peculiar 
scenery, climate, soil, labor and other conditions of the prairies, 
instead of copying literally the manners and materials of other 
regions. 
The prairie style is defined as "an American mode of design 
based upon the practical needs of the middle western people and 
characterized by preservation of typical Western scenery, by 
restoration of local color, and by repetition of the horizontal 
line of Ian. I or sky. which is the strongest feature of prairie 
scenery." This repetition is accomplished by means of "stratified 
