pecially fitted to serve the public: Take the management of city parks 
out of the hands of incompetent and often dishonest politicians and 
show what can be done to beautify our town and cities by scientific 
and artistic gardeners. 
In New York City, for example, our once-blooming and verdant 
parks have, for years past, been so mismanaged and neglected by suc- 
cessive politicians without knowledge or love of gardening, that the 
trees and shrubs and grass are all dying — or aheady dead — of neglect 
and starvation. 
The problems of choosing the best varieties of trees and other 
plants capable of resisting the dust and gas-filled atmosphere of the 
city; of supplying humus and manure to replace the dead leaves, 
nature's fertiHzer, always raked up and burned, and the artistic ar- 
rangement of the planting are questions that can best be solved by you 
women, who love gardens and who have time and energy to devote 
to the subject. Even a casual observer must have noticed that certain 
of our native trees such as Oaks, Elms, Ash, Maples and others which 
flourish and grow to magnificent size in the open country or in vil- 
lages, refuse to grow under the adverse conditions existing in cities, 
and that only a very few sorts, such as the Oriental Plane, Horse Chest- 
nut and Ailanthus are worth trying. The last named has a nasty 
smell when in bloom and is little better than a weed. 
I hope this matter will be actively taken up by the officers of all 
Garden Clubs and that much good may result. 
Thomas Shields Clarke. 
Decay of Public Parks 
The broad fact in connection with the decay of pubhc parks which 
may be seen in nearly all our American cities is that we Americans 
are better at starting things than we are at taking care of them after- 
wards. We employ our Olmsteds and our Vaux to create beautiful 
parks, and then leave them to the tender mercies of men without 
education in the profound art and science of the making and care 
of pleasure grounds. There is no art or science which demands a 
deeper or broader education than this. And the difference between 
expert knowledge and utter neglect in such a matter can be noted 
fully in a single day by comparing the appearance of the Arnold Ar- 
boretum with that of Central Park in New York or Franklin Park in 
Boston. — Boston Transcript. 
The Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Park Com- 
missioners of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a pamphlet of the greatest 
value to all who are interested in park development. It is beautifully 
printed and illustrated and is a revelation of what a well-kept, well- 
conducted park system may do for the people of a great city. It may 
be had on appHcation to the Board of Park Commissioners. 
36 
