PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
Vol. XVIII Chicago, April, 1908 No. 2 
Niagara Again 
Members of the American Civic Association have once 
more been advised from headquarters that more active cam- 
paign work must be undertaken at once in the cause of 
Niagara Falls, by which term is included the stretch of water 
from the upper end of Goat Island to below the Whirlpool 
Rapids. It is now against the latter that sundry interests 
are aiming their commercial intentions, which are cov- 
ered up under proposed amendments to the Burton bill ; 
these are house bills Nos. 16,086 and 16,784, which if enacted 
it is computed would result in robbing the Whirlpool Rapids 
of nearly half their low water volume. Further time is re- 
quired for the negotiations with Canada for a treaty of 
preservation, and our readers are urged to write to their 
congressmen and senators at once, insisting that the Falls, as 
a whole, shall be no further disturbed, and requesting them to 
oppose the above bills and to vote in favor of an extension 
of the Burton bill for ten years. This action should be 
prompt, because the matter is urgent and we are again in a 
critical stage concerning Niagara Fails, 
NS Ng NS 
What Forestry Has Done 
The Department of Agriculture deserves the unstinted good 
will of the country at large for the continued progressive 
educational efforts it is making through its Forest Service to 
inform the people of the present unfortunate condition of our 
forest resources, the continued drain upon • them, and the 
very imminent danger in but a few years of a timber famine. 
This is the commercial side of the question. The future 
physical welfare of the country is a matter of really so much 
greater importance, one difficult to drive into the intelligence 
of our citizens, that the work of the Service in this direction 
cannot possibly be impressed too deeply upon the nation. A 
pamphlet. No. 140, of the Forest Service, recently issued, 
gives a world prospect of the work of other nations in the 
direction of recovering and preserving their forests — recover- 
ing them from the destructive inroads of past times, and pre- 
serving and upbuilding them so as to serve present economic 
purposes, as well as to make good returns on the cost of their 
care. The success of forest management in other civilized 
countries, being a practical argument, is a forcible one, and 
while it may not be necessary to exactly follow their exam- 
ples in detail, it is most absolutely necessary that we should 
take immediate and comprehensive steps to organize an 
American system, broad enough to cover the question for the 
entire country. The people must as a matter of duty insist on 
Congress providing the necessary funds for the purpose, and 
so long have we neglected this seriously important issue, that 
no time should be lost in getting down to systematic business. 
What has already been done by the government is sufficient 
promise of a successful issue, and the variety and value of 
our forests, without a parallel on the globe, offer opportu- 
nities for specializing and thus providing for all interests 
using forest products. At the same time the physical welfare 
of the land will be maintained as the great laws of Nature 
dictate. The pamphlet which all our readers should secure is 
exceedingly interesting and instructive, and it should rein- 
force their determination to aid in this vital question. 
Vacant Lot Gardening 
From every point of view the idea of using vacant lots for 
gardening purposes is a good one, even if it is hedged around 
with limitations of one kind or another, and more par- 
ticularly by the fact of the uncertain time limit on their 
availability. There are many improvement associations over 
the country active in organizing and encouraging this work, 
and as to the benefit to be secured by both old and young, 
whether the districts be open or congested, there is little 
doubt. Moreover, the other side of the question, the im- 
provement in appearances of the great majority of vacant lots 
and the consequent effect on any locality thus improved should 
aid the cause by inducing a liberal acquiescence on the part 
of property owners in efforts so mutually beneficial. The 
moral agency of gardening in its uplifting influence on human 
nature is in itself a powerful incentive to pin faith to garden- 
ing wherever opportunities offer ; to some the development in 
growth and fruition excites absorbing attention, and to others 
their products are most alluring ; to both classes there is 
that particular fascination which tends to encourage qualities 
highly beneficial to the gardener as well as especially so to 
the communit}-. Much benefit may be derived, under proper 
organization and well defined plans, from the cultivation of 
vacant lots either for profit or pleasure. 
Small Parks 
In the matter of small parks Chicago is certainly worthy of 
emulation, and in every city, where conditions make the 
small park desirable for the recreation and elevation of its 
working citizens, her example should be studiously investi- 
.gated with a view to its exploitation wherever practicable. 
Without a question Chicago leads the world in small parks, 
and the results have more than justified the efforts and devo- 
tion of the promoters of this important phase of civic develop- 
ment. Of the three park systems of the cit}- — the North, or 
Lincoln Park, the South and the West — the .South Park Com- 
missioners have taken the lead, and have already established 
ten small parks and others are under construction. 'I'he Lin- 
coln Park and West Side Boards also have plans under way 
for several such recreation spots. It might here be added 
that there is also a Special Park Commission acting directly 
under the control of the city council. Up to 190.3 the South 
Park Board controlled five parks with an area of 1,356 acres ; 
these have since increased to twenty-three in number and 
1,700 in acreage. The small park as the idea has developed in 
Chicago combines the features of a park, a neighborhood 
center with its assembly hall and meeting rooms for clubs 
and societies, a reading room with a branch of the Public 
Library, and a public gymnasium with swimming pools, play- 
grounds, etc., and with the exception of the purely park 
feature which is replaced in the very limited areas by formal 
plantings, each park possesses all the foregoing acquisitions. 
Concrete is the main material of construction wherever practi- 
cable, both for buildings and other works, and pleasing sim- 
plicity and permanence characterize the structures generally; 
this combined with order and cleanliness in the management 
has already borne fruit in the neighborhood of these parks, 
and the demand for more is becoming very pronounced. In 
1906 a total of 5,473,695 persons made use of the facilities for 
recreation and enjoyment i)rovided by the then e.xisting small 
areas of the South Park System, a record both encouraging 
and astonishing. The development of the small park as thor- 
oughly practical as it has 'become in Chicago should lie care- 
fully studied, both from the sociological and constructive 
points of view, by all organizations interested in civic better- 
ment and the “City Beautiful.’’ 
