PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
Vol. XVIII Chicago, November, 1908 No. 9 
City Planning 
There has been something of a lull in “City Planning” 
throughout the country since the hard times set in a year 
ago, but that the idea is full of vitality is evidenced by the 
fact that Grand Rapids, Mich., has recently arranged for a 
report. This city is already a place of considerable reputa- 
tion for civic accomplishments, and the experts called in to 
advise, expressed themselves very warmly on present condi- 
tions as an excellent foundation for an ideal plan. Every 
city in the country would successfully discount the future by 
providing such a plan of development. While it may not be 
financially possible to carry^ on at once extensive improve- 
ments, property' could be acquired while it is cheap, and plans 
of action decided upon so that advantage could be taken of 
every opportunity to advance the details. 
Ng Ng Ng 
“ Making Good ” 
That Minneapolis has been “making good” in connection 
with her efforts at improvement generally, is well known, but 
the fight has to be kept up to maintain each progressive 
step. The recent political campaign found numbers of trees 
and telephone poles decorated with candidate’s posters, as 
they were two years ago when boys were employed to tear 
them down and make lists of the offenders. The same course 
was adopted in the recent instance, and moreover the Min- 
neapolis Improvement League has threatened legal proceed- 
ings against the offenders. It is a curious commentary on 
and proof of the Philistinism of the times, that the candi- 
dates running for a municipal judgeship are found among 
the worst of the offenders. Minneapolis is to be warmly 
congratulated on the zeal of her Improvement Associations. 
Statuary in the Parks 
The question of appropriate statuary for parks is gradually 
becoming better understood, and the evolution of the vexed 
problem, is wisely promoted by such exhibitions as that re- 
cently installed in Humboldt Park, Chicago, in which the 
West Park Board, the Municipal Art League and the Chi- 
cago Art Institute joined hands to give the public a lesson 
in the type and quality of statuary suitable for park purposes. 
The display and its setting has met with unqualified public 
commendation. The heroic public monument is doomed as 
a park ornament ; its lessons, if it afforded any, have been 
given to limited audiences, and besides, hero worship is apt 
to be considerably modified when confronted with the influ- 
ences of beautiful landscape. Hence, as some authorities 
assert, statues of .heroes, statesmen, etc., belong to the pub- 
lic squares, park entrances only, and to sites where the masses 
may have better opportunities to study and understand them. 
Mr. Jens Jensen, superintendent of the Chicago West Park 
system expresses himself as follows on the subject; “The 
statues we should have in the parks should harmonize with 
their surroundings. It should be the aim to conserve the 
beauties of nature always in the park. Then the statuary 
should be planned along definite lines to add to this beauty 
of nature, amplified as it is by the art of the landscape gard- 
ener.” It is to be deeply deplored that the majority of our 
statues of heroes and notables are open to caustic criticism 
and are more or less unsatisfactory; we are only in the be- 
ginning of our art of creating public monuments of perma- 
nent artistic value, nor have they always or often been erected 
to fit in with their surroundings, which has further detracted 
from their merits. The example set by the Chicago experi- 
ment should be followed in every large city. Its educa- 
tional value cannot be overestimated. 
On another page of this issue will be found a statement of 
the purpose and scope of this exhibition by Mr. Jensen, and 
illustrations and description that will help to a more complete 
understanding of this new idea outdoor art show. 
vg 
Important Conventions 
The success which attended the joint conventions of the 
American Civic Association and the National Municipal 
League held in Providence, R. I., last year, will undoubtedly 
be repeated at Pittslnirg, Pa., this year, at which all inter- 
ested in the work are cordially invited to attend, November 
17-20. All previous conventional efforts of both bodies were 
exceeded in enthusiasm, attendance and far-reaching work 
at the Providence meeting, and most certainly the arrange- 
ments and programs for the Pittsburg sessions promise still 
more pronounced results. The Pittsburg Chamber of Com- 
merce, rapidly becoming a leading civic factor in the coun- 
try, is the prime agent in promoting a successful conference 
and other local boards and civic organizations will co-oper- 
ate. Among the many important subjects to receive -atten- 
tion are : Public Utilities Commissions ; Conservation of 
Natural Resources; Charter and Electoral Reforms; Bill- 
boards, the Smoke Nuisance, Local Improvement; School 
Extension and Rural Improvement ; the Bureau of Muni- 
cipal Research, etc. Two joint sessions will be held, one de- 
voted to a Municipal Sanitation Program, the other to the 
Pittsburg Survey. “City Planning” and “The Playground 
Movement” will also be important topics. The wide range 
of subjects to’ receive attention will be not less attractive to 
those interested, than the distinguished men who will partici- 
pate in their presentation and discussion. The two associa- 
tions, which touch very closely in certain of their activities, 
are exerting a vast influence in improvement work through- 
out the country ; the strength and public spirit of their mem- 
berships give to all their aggressive efforts an authority which 
forces attention and advances reform. 
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Garden Work in the Public Schools 
The value of garden work as a part of the curriculum of 
the pul.fiic schools is surely gaining ground. At the recent 
annual meeting of the Chicago Woman’s Outdoor League, 
the association was urged to continue its work m the good 
cause, on the ground that practical instruction in gardening 
was of the utmost importance to the child. On this there 
should he no difference of opinion, for every recorded ex- 
perience in the matter distinctly e.xpresses the influence for 
good which dabbling in the garden exerts. It has always 
hee’n an engrossing occupation for childliood, even under the 
ordinary conditions of the average home life, for the de- 
velopment and wonderful revelations of plant life offer a 
continual series of surprises, surprises that educate the mind 
and strengthen the intelligence without impairing the physical 
well-being. Carried out as part of the common school edu- 
cation it can be assumed that in a general sense it would add 
a zest to schooling, invigorate the students’ faculties, encour- 
age a habit of inquiry and investigation, and stimulate the 
thinking processes. It will be worth all the money it costs 
to try it on a comprehensive scale. 
