PARK AND CEMETERY. 
192 
to appropriate money toward the es- 
tablishment, equipment and mainten- 
ance of these departments. The as- 
tronomical observatory will probably 
be erected on Observation Hill, which 
is to the northwest of the greater of 
the two lakes in Prospect Park. 
Plans for shelter and comfort sta- 
tion structures have also been pre- 
pared for Winthrop, Sunset and Ful- 
ton Parks, and the New Lots Play- 
ground. 
The one in Winthrop Park will be 
30x150 feet, and will consist of pa- 
vilions of white brick connected by 
a peristyle of limestone columns. The 
plan will be curved, following gen- 
erally the curved lines of the ellipti- 
cal plaza in the center of the park 
at the intersection of the various 
paths. 
PLANNING AND 
In a recent issue of the Revue Hor- 
ticole, the editor of that journal, Ed- 
ward Andre describes as follows the 
laying out aiid planting of the park 
des Rozais. one of the great French 
private estates, which he and his fa- 
ther were employed to plan and im- 
prove : 
Situated on the slope of the Mon- 
tague de Reims and surrounded by 
large forests, the castle des Rozais 
dominates the rich level tracts of La 
Champagne, near the valley of the 
river Vesle. Built by the late Ma- 
dame Pommery, the castle is an im- 
mense irregular mansion of a pic- 
turesque form which perfectly har- 
monizes with the surroundings. 
The park, which originally occu- 
pied only about a dozen hectares, was 
designed by Vare, whose ideas can 
easily be discerned in the general 
plan. But unfortunately the artist, 
having at his disposition only a very 
limited space, was unable to plan an 
easy ascent but was compelled to 
draw the main approach at fourteen 
degrees, which made it practically 
useless. Therefore, a change being 
necessary, the real owner, Mr. Louis 
Pommery, bought some adjoining 
forests, and charged my father with 
the job of joining these to the exist- 
ing old park. This was in the year 
1895. A new roadway constructed at 
an angle of not more than 50 degrees, 
running partly in excavations and 
partly on embankments, and cross- 
ing a ravine on a bent bridge of iron, 
made a charming and varied prome- 
nade. 
This first experiment being very 
The ground level of the structure 
in Sunset Park will overtop the roofs 
of buildings on adjoining streets, and 
will afford a magnificent view of 
New York harbor, including the 
Statue of Liberty and the surround- 
ing City of New York, 'with Staten 
Island in the distance. The plan of 
this building is unique in park work, 
forming a hollow square of 70 feet, with 
the front open. This hollow square 
will be laid out as a formal garden 
with gravel walks and a towering 
Lombardy poplar at each of the four 
corners. 
The building for Fulton Park is to 
be of picturesque Spanish architecture, 
of white brick and Roman stone with 
low overhanging cornices and brown 
tile roof. Extending from pavilions 
at either end will be a semi-circular 
{^Translated from Revue Horticole) 
satisfactory, the proprietor added 
some more land to his property; a 
great number of strips adjoining or 
encircled and a part of the woods of 
the Montague des Reims, which was 
acquired from the government in ex- 
change. So the park des Rozais con- 
tained about 175 acres, not including the 
hunting park which adjoins the pleas- 
ure park. 
The work took from 1895 to 1905. 
There was no interruption except 
during the summer season and it was 
executed according to a plan care- 
fully and methodically set forth. 
The territory on which the park 
was established has a very peculiar 
geological formation in different 
strata and even in the same stratum. 
Here we find, under a very thin stra- 
tum of a vegetable soil mixed with 
limestone, the very best earth of the 
Champagne, There again you see the 
granitic soil of the Montagne des 
Reims with pockets of the soil bruy- 
ere and the table-land of a lignite clay 
mixed v/ith big pieces of flint. Some 
hillocks are formed by quartzy sands, 
called “Sands of Rilley,” the layer of 
which reaches 13 meters in depth. 
These sands are sometimes entirely 
white, often purple or rose, with an 
understratum of fine gravel. They 
are worked out in panels and the old 
excavations, now encroached upon by 
the vegetation, are an excellent basis 
for the laying out of the new park. 
In the dales, where the rivulets from 
the woods flow in, the peat moss is 
rich and deep. 
pergola 14 feet in diameter, formed 
of fluted Doric columns supporting 
cornice and open roof of wood raft- 
ers, which are to be overgrown with 
vines. It will contain the usual rest and 
service rooms, well-equipped. 
The comfort station in the New 
Lots Playground is to be 13.x42 feet 
in French Renaissance st 3 ’le, with 
walls of light brick and stone and 
copper roof with overhanging cor- 
nice. 
The designs of all the above build- 
ings in accordance with the charter 
requirements, were submitted to the 
Municipal Art Commission and ap- 
proved on the first consideration with 
no alterations suggested. The latter 
four buildings and the tennis house 
in Prospect Park are to cost $300,- 
000 . 
A geological chart and the topo- 
graphical map of the ground were 
the foundations of the general plan 
of the park. The principal “effects” 
were designed according to the na- 
ture of the ground. The plantations 
took into consideration the require- 
ments of the different soils. 
As if to meet the middle line of 
the river coming from the woods a 
lake was dug in the marsln- land, sur- 
rounded by plants growing in similar 
parts of North America and also of Asia, 
namely : Cypress trees, red maple trees 
of Virginia, Fen-oaks, ferns of different 
kinds, Liquidambar, copal. Iris Kaemp- 
feri and sibirca, etc. ; also, Bambusa 
nidularia, Ligustruni Quihoui and Regel- 
ianum, and on the declivity : Hypericum 
calycinum and ferns taken from the 
woods des Rozais. Two streams 
brought their waters into the lake. 
There were built swift currents, cas- 
cades, small sandy beaches, executed 
with minute detail on two and a half 
acres of area and on 'twelve yards of 
embankment some .Alpine effects. 
To the selection of the flora the 
most careful study was devoted. 
Among the Apline flora there were 
the most interesting and most deco- 
rative specimens of the following 
genuses : Achillea, Aconitum, Alche- 
milla, Androsace, Anemone, Anthyl- 
lis, Aquilegia, Armeria, Artemisia, 
Aster, Campanula, Centaurea, Cory- 
dalis. Cyclamen, Dianthus, Echinops, 
Edelweiss, Gentiana, Geranium, Heli- 
anthemum, Iberis, Lychnis, Oenothe- 
ra, Papaver, Parnassia, Phlox, Pole- 
monium. Primula, Ranunculus, Rho- 
dodendron, Saxifraga, Sedum, Sem- 
PLANTING A GREAT PRIVATE PARK 
