PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
Vol. XIX Chicago, August, 1909 No. 6 
New York Convention of A. A. C. S. 
The approaching convention of the Association of 
American Cemetery Superintendents, to be held in New 
York City, September 14-16, will undoubtedly be of great 
interest and importance. This will be the first meeting 
to be held in that city since 1888, and the program will 
be a good one. There is so much to be studied in both 
cemetery and park practice of greater New York that 
the three day.s’ convention will be short enough even for 
a satisfactory glance; yet the broad interests and details 
to be observed are decidedly attractive and should bring 
together a large and enthusiastic gathering, and is an op- 
portunity which should not be overlooked by wide-a-wake 
cemetery organizations. 
Politics in the Chicago Parks 
It is very regrettable to have to record once more the 
questionable changes that have been made in the person- 
nel of the West Park System of Chicago. The substitu- 
tion of men of no record in park practice for men of 
known ability, apparently made in payment of political 
debts, is an outrage in public decency to say the least. 
While changes for the good of the service are valid ex- 
cuses when ordinary intelligence can see only sincerity in 
the move, it becomes political chicanery when no good 
can possibly result, and public funds are used to pay 
salaries which can never be honestly earned under such 
methods. It is discouraging to find Gov. Deneen so sit- 
uated as to be compelled to play such degraded politics. 
Sg Ng 
The Judiciary and the Billboards 
The glorious uncertainty which appears to govern the 
“constitutionality” of practically all the efforts to con- 
trol billboard advertising, must create the impression that 
the judicial mind is in quite an anomalous condition. 
Cases have occurred wherein a decided public demand 
is manifested to suppress the discreditable billboard, and 
laws and ordinances have been passed to meet the de- 
mand, when, at the suit of a commercial firm, such ef- 
forts are made of no effect by court decisions, de- 
cisions which to the average intelligence seem to lack 
considerable common sense and which force the con- 
clusion that aggressive interests, under the present state 
of law and. its administration are in control in spite of 
public sentiment. 
vg sg 
Educating the Public 
As a matter of fact the masses are only’just beginning 
to realize what outdoor and civic improvement mean; and 
it is astonishing to note what a new thing .the subject is 
to the great majority of fairly enlightened people. So 
that the campaign of education has not only a great work 
to do, but it is evident that it will take a long time to 
do it. Every available means must be made use of to pro- 
mote improvement ideas, for the means and the work 
done, already in evidence, are but a drop in the bucket of 
conditions necessary to be secured before sufficient in- 
formation is disseminated or enthusiasm engendered to 
promote a general movement. We note that Mr. Sim- 
onds’ article on “Landscape Design in Public Parks,” 
which appeared in the June issue of this journal, has been 
reprinted elsewhere in the local press and has attracted 
otherwise much practical attention, and this suggests an- 
other urgent appeal to interested readers to use their in- 
fluence with their local papers to reprint such of the in- 
formation given in these columns, or elsewhere, which 
may be practically available for their local conditions and 
requirements. 
Ng N? 
City Planning Abroad 
In a bulletin just issued by the Committee on Conges- 
tion of Population in New York, on “City Planning ini 
Foreign Countries,” it states that the “most significant 
difference between the American system of City Plan- 
ning and the method in operation in foreign countries, is 
the control of the government over the development of 
the community in foreign countries, instead of the domi- 
nation of the individual owner of land or the corpora- 
tion, which has prevented the normal and proper devel- 
opment of most American communities.” This is a good 
proposition, because a fact, and it has led to the 
most monotonous display of city maps the world ever 
saw. What is now being done by the leading cities of 
the country, at enormous expense, to redeem American 
cities from this uneconomic monotony might have been 
to a considerable extent avoided when these cities were 
young, had a wise government control been at the helm 
to make regulations which the public health demanded, 
and centuries of experience elsewhere had justified. It 
is interesting to note how this government control ex- 
ercised its beneficent influence to the end of, for instance, 
regulating how much space of the building lot should, 
be covered by the building to be erected. 
ve 
Street Trees, Riverside, Cal. 
Some three or four years ago we gave some illustrated 
notes on Riverside, Calif., showing how well-balanced im- 
provement ideas could add to a naturally beautiful place; 
the planting of street trees in well ordered profusion was 
also referred to. The city tree warden, Mr. J. H. Reed, 
has favored us with a copy of his last report, from which 
the following will show how progressively this tree- 
planting scheme has been continued, and one can imagine 
the consequent pleasure accruing to the residents. In 
1904, 350 trees were set out; in 1905, 1,000; in 1906, 1,250; 
in 1907 the city took up the work and planted 1,500, and 
in 1909, 2,170. The trees already put out this year number 
2,148, which added to the above figures make a total of 
8,378. If planted 40 feet apart this number of trees rep- 
resents nearly 34 miles of streets planted on both sides 
since the tree planting work was taken up. Mr. Reed 
makes a number of e.xcellent suggestions on the care and 
protection of these trees, particularly adapted to the lo- 
cation. In his communication he says: “The figures give 
but a very slight notion of what absolute municipal con- 
trol of street ornamentation has done for our little city. 
While the number of trees planted we think important, 
the intelligent selection of varieties and systematic intel- 
ligent treatment has proved more important in the beau- 
tification of our streets — something absolutely impossible 
where selection and care is left to property owners.” In 
this connection it is well to add that all Massachusetts 
cities and towns, and ^Minneapolis, Buffalo. Newark, Chi- 
cago and other places are doing work of this kind, but 
there should be much more of it. It is a most desirable 
and important department of municipal activity. 
