PARK AND C EM ET ER Y. 
424 
assertion is made that on the Avenue 
du Bois de Bologne the tar grit has in 
four months killed seven fine trees, 
and that in order to preserve the flow- 
ers in the lawns which line the avenue 
the city is obliged to spend ten times 
as much on their culture as it did be- 
fore the experiment of tarring the 
road was tried. The Surveyor in a 
great number of communications frorfl 
English engineers, surveyors and park 
officials finds very few who have noted 
any such effects in that country, and 
in no instance has there been any com- 
plaint in America. 
^ * 
At a recent meeting of the Execu- 
tive Committee of the Metropolitan 
Park Commission of Rhode Island at 
Providence, reports from Olmsted 
Brothers, the landscape architects of 
the commission, and from G. L. Hos- 
mer, the commission’s engineer, were 
presepted and discussed. Amasa M. 
Eaton presented a verbal report on 
the purchase of the Quinsnicket land, 
the first made by the Metropolitan 
Park Commission. The area contains 
69 acres and the lake. Secretary Hen- 
ry A. Barker of Providence and F. L. 
Olmsted were given power to formu- 
late rules and regulations for the con- 
duct of the park and to mark its boun- 
daries. It is the intention to have the 
park open to all for picnics and other 
pleasure purposes. Mr. Barker was 
also authorized to arrange temporarily 
for the care of the new park. 
* * * 
The park board of Saginaw, Mich., 
has started the squirrel controversy 
again. It has come to be the opinion 
of several members of the board that 
the presence in such great numbers of 
squirrels in this city, has decreased 
the num’ber of song birds. The ques- 
tion has presented itself to the board 
as to which should be allowed to be 
destroyed, the song birds or the squir- 
rels. For some time past there has 
been a noticeable decrease in the num- 
ber of song birds, and investigation and 
a close watch kept on the squirrels is 
said to have revealed the fact that the 
little animals rob the nests of the 
birds, the robin especially, and to this 
is attributed the decrease in the num- 
ber of those birds. 
* * * 
The Supreme Court of Nebraska has 
decided that the mayor and city coun- 
cil of Omaha have the right to ap- 
point park commissioners, instead of 
the district court, thus confirming the 
contention of the city legal depart- 
ment. But one member of the Board, 
John Latenser, will be afJected by the 
decision, as he was the only one ap- 
pointed by the District Judges. 
9?. 
A plan for a great ocean parkway 
along the New Jersey coast from Sea- 
bright to Cape May is to be launched 
in that state, and it is believed that 
Governor Fort will advocate in his 
message to the next Legislature the 
acquisition by the state of the right 
to build this parkway, for which an 
appropriation of $500,000 will be need- 
ed, 
* * 
Among the propositions to be rec- 
ommended by the finance commission 
now considering Boston’s form of 
government will be included the 
merging of the park, public grounds 
and cemetery departments. 
* * * 
FROM THE PARK REPORTS 
The Quincy Boulevard and Park As- 
sociation, Quincy, 111,, has purchased 
four tracts of land since January 1, in- 
cluding four acres connecting Sunset 
heights and Gardner Park. Work will 
be begun this winter on the construc- 
tion of a roadway from Locust street 
to Whipple Creek and Gardner Park. 
The total amount available for park 
purposes this year is $17,958, and $5,141 
has been expended. The association is 
trying to induce the George Rogers 
Clarke Monument Commission to 
change the site for the proposed monu- 
ment to that explorer. 
The final report of the Board of 
Park Commission of Des Moines, la., 
which passed out of existence this spring 
with the inauguration of the new com- 
mission form of government, is a pro- 
fusely illustrated book of 150 pages, 
giving a history of the park system 
and many illustrations and plans. The 
receipts for the year ending July 5, 
1907 were $38,189. The board was or- 
ganized in 1893 to take over two acres 
of parks and there are now 676 acres. 
A detailed history and description of 
each of the park tracts is given in the 
book. Wm. B. Keffer is president of 
the board and Sidney A. Foster, secre- 
tary. 
The report of the park board of 
Portland, Ore., includes the report of 
former superintendent,- Arthur D. Mon- 
Itilh, and concerns matters of improve- 
ment before the incumbency of the pres- 
ent superintendent, Emil T. Mische. A 
temporary addition was built to the 
greenhouse and improvements made on 
other buildings in the city park. Two 
new- public utility houses were built in 
Holladay Park and much cleaning of 
underlirush accomplished in Columbia 
Park. The report contains two letters 
from Olmsted Brothers, Brookline, 
Mass., relating to the comprehensive 
plans they are preparing for a great 
s\stem of parks to be developed with 
the authorized bond issue of $1,000,000. 
1'hey comment on the fact that since 
their report on this system in 1903 the 
\alue of land has risen to such an ex- 
tent that the present loan will not ac- 
complish all that was planned. The 
expenditures for the year were $42,131, 
* 
The 48th annual report of the park 
Ijoard of Hartford, Conn., includes an 
interesting history of Bushnell Park by 
Rev, Horace Bushnell, for whom it was 
named. Superintendent George A. 
Parker's report of the work done says 
that an c.xtensive bedding of hardy 
perennials has been set out on three 
sides of the rose garden in Elizabeth 
Park, and two new ball diamonds con- 
structed in Riverside Park. The retain- 
ing wall in Bushnell Park has been re- 
paired and the construction of the new 
temporary bridge at the foot of Mul- 
lierry street completed. Charter Oak 
Memorial Ground has been graded and 
planted, and the addition to Rocky 
Ridge Park cleared of underbrush and 
rubbish. Mr. Parker contributes to the 
leport an interesting discussion of sys- 
tem in park work which will be print- 
ed in a future issue of P.vrk and Cem- 
ETERY. 
The 39th annual report of the park 
commissioners of Buffalo, N. Y., for 
Uie year ending June 30, 1908, contains 
interesting reports from John F. Cowell, 
supt. of the Botanical Garden and South 
Park, General Superintendent John L. 
Brothers, F. A. Crandall, curator of the 
Zoo, H. B. Filer, city forester, and B. 
T. Simpson, superintendent of play- 
grounds. The expenditures for the year 
amounted to $202,797, leaving a balance 
on hand of $41,942. The new act giv- 
ing the park board the authority over 
all street trees is printed in full and the 
work of Mr. Filer, the forester appoint- 
ed undei it, is detailed in his report. 
Six large spraying machines were pur- 
chased and spraying with arsenate of 
lead found to be very satisfactory. The 
superintendent of playgrounds reports 
an a^•erage daily attendance of 2,000 at 
the Terrace playground where there are 
18 swings and other equipment in pro- 
portion. The Zoo now contains 334 spe- 
cimens. At South Park preiiaralioii is 
being made for enlarging the nurseries, 
and a large section of the Meadow south 
of the lake was broken up, fertilized 
and reseeded. About i,.-i00 feet of six- 
ineb sewer was built in Delaware Park, 
and five new silt b.isins and recei\-crs 
installed tbcrc. 
