PARK AND 
CEMETERY . 
110 
RAILROAD GARDENERS MEET IN PHILADELPHIA 
The third annual convention of the 
American Association of Railroad 
Gardeners was held Aug. 24, 25 and 
26, at Philadelphia and vicinity, with 
about 45 members present. 
J. S. Butterfield, landscape gard- 
ener of the Missouri-Pacific Iron 
^Mountain system, presided at the 
opening session in Horticultural Hall, 
and the visitors were formally wel- 
comed by Mr. John Westcott of the 
Philadelphia Florists’ Club. 
The morning session was mainly 
occupied with routine business, in- 
cluding reports and appointments of 
committees. Twenty accessions to 
the membership were reported. 
During the afternoon the visitors 
were the guests of the Reading Rail- 
way and visited Norristown, Lans- 
dale, Jenkintown and Trenton Junc- 
tion, where they inspected the gard- 
ens on the railroad property at those 
points. 
At the evening session officers for 
the ensuing year were elected as fol- 
lows : 
President, Geo. B. Moulder,, chief 
gardener for the Illinois Central 
Railroad, Chicago; vice-president, 
Patrick Fo3% chief gardener of the 
Norfolk & Western Railway; secre- 
tary' and treasurer, J. S. Butterfield 
of the Alissouri-Pacific system. 
Executive Committee: Chairman, 
John Gipner of the Michigan Central; 
M, R, Smith of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad; Chas. H. Fritschler of the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 
Railway. 
The Ideal Gardener” was the sub- 
ject of a paper by E. A. Richard- 
son, chief gardener of the Boston 
& Albany Railroad. Mr. Richardson 
spoke in part as follows: 
The Ideal railroad gardener is an all- 
around man, combining In his make-up the 
talents of the painter, engineer, gardener, 
contractor, employer and diplomat; a man 
of imagination to see the picture into 
which the station and Its surroundings will 
finally round up with correct lines and pro- 
portions, gradations of color and their har- 
monious blending. He has a knowledge of 
the plants, trees and shrubs W'hich will give 
finest effect, and experience of the adapta- 
bility of the plants tp fulfil the exacting 
conditions of railroad • surroundings wdth 
smoke, cinders and dust. 
A broad-minded man by nature, training 
and travel, acquainted with what has been 
done in formal and natural gardening, he 
will not be bound by either school. Ho 
will have the adaptability to see the best 
thing fitted lor the place to be treated, 
whether it be formal or natural, ornate or 
simple, and the courage to carry out the 
scheme, whatever pressure may be brought 
to put in something out of place. A man 
of common sense, he will design station 
grounds which are convenient for the trans- 
action of the public business, either freight 
or pa.ssenger, w'lth ample room, easy lines 
and grades. Unnecessary angles and curves 
will be avoided. 
The contractor’s gift of being able to es- 
timate the cost of material and labor, the 
ability to do work with economy, will give 
him the consideration and respect of the 
manager of the road and of the community; 
the railroad and the community often w'ork- 
Ing together lor a common end. His diplo- 
matic gift and patience are of great serv- 
ice in reconciling conflicting opinions and 
in the uniting of opposing factions in the 
support of a common scheme when the 
railroad and community have to work to- 
gether. Known to be able and disinterest- 
ed, this gift of his often enables a plan to 
be carried through to a successful end 
which would otherwise fail. 
A paper by N. S. Dunlop, on “Does 
Railroad Gardening Increase Busi- 
ness,” was also read. 
On Wednesday morning the con- 
vention visited Paoli, Pa., twenty 
miles distant, and was entertained by 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
The afternoon was spent in a pleas- 
ure trip up the Delaware, to River- 
ton, N. J., where the Henry A. 
Dreer nurseries were inspected. 
At the evening session there was 
informal discussion and a paper, “The 
Effect of Railroad Gardening on Em- 
ployees,” was read by Mr. J. A. 
Byrne of Relat’, Ind., gardener for 
the B. & O. Railway. 
The Effect of Railroad Gardening 
on the General Public,” and the ques- 
tion, Should a Railroad Operate its 
own Greenhouses?” were also dis- 
cussed in detail. 
On Thursday a visit was made to 
the forest nurseries of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad system at Morris- 
ville, near Trenton, N. J., and from 
there the party went to New York 
City for an inspection of railroad 
gardens in that vicinitj'. 
USES OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF TARVIA 
The prepared coal tar which has 
been standardized in America under 
the name of Tarvia, is made in sev- 
eral different forms. Eor different 
types of work the density of the tar- 
via necessarily varies according to 
the size of the voids in the macadam. 
The mission of the tarvia is to fill 
all voids and solidify there to a plas- 
tic, rubber-like consistency, in which 
the stone is firmly embedded in the 
manner indicated by the accompany- 
ing illustration. 
In building a new road the voids 
will of course be very large, and ac- 
cordingly the very dense Tarvia X 
is used. 
For a road which is being resur- 
faced with fine stone screenings, a 
tarvia of light consistency, namely, 
Tarvia A, is used. It will penetrate 
readily into the smaller interstices of 
the screenings where Tarvia X could 
net be made to percolate. 
For an old road where the inter- 
stices have been filled tight with dust, 
a still lighter grade of tarvia will 
be required, the material called Tar- 
via B, which can be used from a mod- 
ified sprinkling cart and will soak 
into the fine pores of such a road 
and make a strong, durable bond. 
Tarvia B is of course the least ex- 
pensive of the three applications. It 
requires onlj' to be spread over the 
road like an oil, and expensive appa- 
SECTION OF MACADAM ROAD, 
SHOWING TARVIA FILLED MACADAM 
ON SAND FILLED BASE. 
ratus is not necessary. Tarvia A 
used with a new top layer of stone 
screenings is more effective because 
it goes deeper. Such application re- 
quires a steam roller and apparatus 
for heating as well as spreading the 
tarvia 
The Tarvia X treatment introduces 
the tarvia into the inch stone and 
is still more thorough than the Tar- 
via A treatment. A road built with 
Tarvia X will retain its evenness of 
contour regardless of the wear on the 
top surface, and the maintenance of 
, the road wilt for many 3'ears be con- 
fined solely to the top coat of ’ fine 
screenings. The durability of this top 
coat can also be greath' prolonged b3' 
the use of Tarvia A. 
The ideal method therefore in which 
to build an economical, macadam 
road is to use Tarvia X in the con- 
struction and when after -a year or 
two the surface begins to wear, to 
repair it with screenings combined 
with Tarvia A. 
