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to them. The planners of the town knew 
that as the town grew the pleasure and 
even the possibility of living in certain 
residence districts would be greatly en- 
hanced bj' the presence of easily accessible 
ornamental parks. Parks of this character 
are a great civic asset, but are almost im- 
possible to acquire after the residence dis- 
trict has been built up. It is a wise town, 
therefore, which, adds such needed areas to 
its living portion in time. 
The acquirement of the natural or coun- 
try park is prompted by the aims of pres- 
ervation — the desire to keep for posterity 
some worthy and precious landscape pos- 
session which nature has given, and which, 
once scorned, cannot be reclaimed. The 
city acquires this type of park by gift or 
purchase. It is said that half the park land 
in the country has been acquired through 
gift. But it would be a pity if this fact 
should prompt communities to depend upon 
the generosity of the town's “good fairy” 
to provide park areas for it. The happiest 
results — the best and most satisfactory 
parks — are apt to be made from those areas 
of which the town has had the deliberate 
choosing, not from those which have been 
wished upon it. In purchasing on its own 
initiative the town exercises a choice in the 
matter of site. In accepting land as a 
gift, no chance for deliberate choosing is 
left to it. 
It is hardly necessary to suggest that 
the town should consider that it is no more 
than good business to look into the motive 
of the donor of park land. This sounds 
harsh and ungrateful. But there have been 
known to exist individuals and real estate 
companies whose sole reason for giving 
land to the community for park purposes 
was that he or they' saw in this a chance to 
have developed for them free of charge a 
tract whose presence as an attractive park 
was absolutely necessary to make their lots 
salable. It may be that the advantage to 
the city in accepting such land will be 
equally great as to the original owner in 
a deal of this kind, in which case the park 
board would be justified in recommending 
the acceptance of the land. 
The suggestion has already been made 
that in acquiring park sites for any of the 
types mentioned the areas should be so dis- 
tributed that the whole system serves in as 
uniform a manner as possible the whole 
community. Many of our large cities have 
some large parks of the country park type 
consisting of many acres. Though lying to 
one side of town, this tract should be made 
equally accessible, or nearly so, to the peo- 
ple of the opposite side by direct traffic 
routes and street car lines. It is every- 
body’s park, and it must be made to serve 
everybody. 
Of the cities of smaller size, Madison, 
Wisconsin, possesses one of the most unique 
and beautiful park systems that is any- 
where to be found. Of course, the site of 
that city is unique. Situated on a strip of 
land between two lakes of unusual beauty. 
PAR K A N D C E M ETERV 
the opportunity which was there offered 
and wisely seized upon by the Aladison 
Park and Pleasure Drive Association was 
that of forming a system which for the 
most part was to consist of beautiful drives 
from one observation point to another. 
This is an idea which many small cities 
might well emulate, that of making park 
reser\ations toward the city’s edge in the 
form of iDits of country roadway about the 
edge of town. To connect parks lying with- 
in tl;e town by parked w’ays or streets upon 
which more of an attempt at ornamental 
planting is made than upon other streets, 
through which one may drive from park 
to park without losing the sense of park 
connection, would be a visilde and a wel- 
come way of demonstrating that the town 
possesses a park system. It has been done 
in many small cities, and it could well l)e 
done in others. 
Park development is an important mat- 
ter, for upon it hangs the success or fail- 
ure of the park in a large measure. By it 
the park is made a restful ornamental area, 
serving frankly and directly the needs of 
visitors and of traffic, or it is made a 
garish hodgepodge, something between a 
street carnival and a cement museum, 
whose paths carry us whither we w'ould 
not go and whose natural beauties are lost 
and destroyed at the hands of disputing 
successive park boards, like woods in the 
line of shell fire between warring armies. 
The exact development of the various 
parkable areas in a community is a matter 
to lie suggested by the immediate surround- 
ings of the park, its topographical charac- 
ter and the use to which the area is to be 
put. There is not time here to dwell long 
upon the subject of park design. Whether 
the paths shall be straight or curved is a 
matter which, contrary to most people’s 
point of view, the developer is not free to 
choose for himself. He should be receptive 
enough to feel that it is suggested to him 
by the character of the spot -and the de- 
mands of traffic. Paths and roads in the 
park should be considered as means of 
getting from point to point, not as ends in 
themselves, as they are so often supposed 
to be, and often made to appear. 
In the treatment of all park areas wc 
shall find that one of two important sug- 
gestions as to the design is the stronger. 
Either an architectural treatment of straight 
or geometric paths is brought before the 
mind l)y straight surrounding streets or a 
predominance of surrounding architecture, 
or, on the other hand, a naturalistic treat- 
ment with curving walks and irregular 
shrubbery groups is suggested by the ab- 
sence or the screening from view of the 
artificial elements. How often in the de- 
velopment has the attempt been made to 
seize upon the naturalistic and drag it into 
surroundings entirely inappropriate. No 
less a violation is seen in placing geometric 
forms and obviously artificial structures in 
naturalistic surroundings where a pian- 
issimo note in architecture is called for. 
The small town in developing its parks 
should bring out what individually it finds 
in each area. Do we not find the most 
interesting those of our friends who en- 
deavor to appear only as they are? The 
charm of a park area ma_v lie in the dip 
of the ground into some hollow, or in the 
sight of the rough shoulder of a hill lying 
within the area. Let us not feel in making 
the park areas accessible to the people that 
we must fill up each hollow and shave off 
each rugged bank. We want individuality. 
Perhaps the greatest single danger in 
park development in a small city is that of 
putting in charge of the task one who is 
not trained in such an art. This mistake is 
so unix'ersal that the small city is generallv' 
distinguished by poorly laid out parks, 
whereas with proper guidance the small 
city should be able to show better parks 
than the large city, because the difficulties 
in the development are not so great. 
This is another statement — in a way a 
blow to the small city. I wish that it might 
be a jolt sufficient to dislodge the fixed idea 
in the minds of local park makers the idea 
that, though it cannot get along without 
the best of trained advice in the construc- 
tion of its schoolhouses and city buildings, 
when it comes to the parks, for whose land 
often much money has been paid out, any 
advice will do. It is, I suppose, because 
earth and vegetation are so conspicuous a 
sight in all created park pictures, that it is 
taken for granted that any man who can 
boss others in handling dirt and planting 
trees must be qualified to develop parks. 
As well put a pallette and brushes in the 
hands of a master house painter and tell 
him to fall to and paint a portrait of the 
mayor ! The house painter may indeed in 
this instance turn out to be a Van Dyke — 
the local contractor in charge of parks 
may develop into a genius in park arrange- 
ment, but the chances are much against 
any such thing happening. 
Esthetic training, some knowledge of en- 
gineering and of plant materials are nec- 
essary on the part of those who have park- 
work in charge. Work should not be done 
blindly ; experimenting should be abhorred. 
The individual in charge can, if he will, 
by reading and study, train himself in a 
knowledge of the principles mentioned. 
Some knowledge and some training are 
necessary on somebody’s part if the parks 
in our small cities are to be what they 
should be. 
In giving any specific advice as to park 
development the chief difficulty is to know 
where to stop. I fear that I shall find my- 
self in the position of the small boy who, 
having taken hold of the dog’s tail, was 
heard to shout, “Hey, one of you fellows 
come out here and help me let go.” But 
one or two points about park development 
should be mentioned further. Playgrounds 
and parks are distinct things. The play- 
ground may be incorporated into the park 
scheme, but should never be allowed to 
ruin the park’s appearance by its presence. 
