359 
PARK AND CEMETERY . 
ECHOES OF PARK SUPERINTENDENTS’ MEETING 
The question of amending the con- 
stitution of the American Association 
of Park Superintendents so as to ad- 
mit to associate membership “any per- 
son whose work and duties are com- 
parable to those of a park superin- 
tendent” aroused considerable discus- 
sion at the annual meeting and is an 
important matter. While it was de- 
cided to make the change, it was evi- 
dentl}' the desire of the members that 
the door be not opened too wide. It 
would seem to be important that the 
association confine its work exclu- 
sivet}- to parks, including, of course, 
playgrounds, swimming pools, street 
planting, etc. — that is to say, such 
things as are usually controlled by 
park departments of our cities. Land- 
scape gardening, plant diseases, horti- 
culture, road making, private garden- 
ing, etc., etc., are all inseparably con- 
nected with the work, but in many 
cases the best interests of the park 
superintendent may, in a way, conflict 
with the maker of road machines, the 
nurseryman, the seedsman, or even 
the private gardener, as, for instance, 
where the park superintendent estab- 
lishes his own nursery, saves his own 
seeds, makes his own benches and 
lays out his own walks and drives. 
Is there not an ample field for all 
the force and intelligence of the park 
officials along the line of park work 
exclusively? For example, there is a 
strong feeling that the tax for the 
support of parks should be at least 
one mill. If this could be made uni- 
versal it would almost revolutionize 
park maintenance. There are many 
other matters of equal importance to 
be taken up which pertain to parks 
exclusively. The following amend- 
ments to the constitution w'ere passed: 
Article 2, Section 1. Changed to read, 
“The Association shall consist of Active, 
Honorary, Special and Associate members.” 
“Article 2, Section 5. Any person whose 
work and duties are comparable to those 
■of a park superintendent, and who bj^ his 
work has shown his proficiency in such 
work, may become an associate member by 
the unanimous vote of the members present 
at any annual meeting, without the right to 
vote.” 
“Article 2, Section 6. Any Park Commis- 
sioner may become an Associate member by 
the unanimous vote of the members present 
at any annual meeting, but any member so 
joining shall cease to be a member at the 
expiration of his official connection with the 
Park Board with which he has been con- 
nected, but may become a Special member 
by action of the Association at its next an- 
nual meeting.” 
ADD ARTICLE V AS FOLLOWS: 
“BRANCH ASSOCIATIONS.” 
Section 1. The members residing in any 
State or number of adjacent States, may 
form a branch association with the consent 
of this Association. 
Section 2. A petition of half the members 
of this association in good standing, residing 
in the territory covered by the proposed 
branch, must be presented to the Executive 
Committee at least three days before any 
annual meeting. Notice of the intention to 
apply for such branch association must be 
filed with the Secretary-Treasurer at least 
thirty days before any annual meeting, and 
he must notify every member of such in- 
tention. The Executive Committee shall 
consider the application and the reasons 
therefor and report to the annual meeting 
for action. 
Section 3. A two-thirds vote of the mem- 
bers present shall be necessary to authorize 
a branch association.” 
Change “Article V” to “Article VI.” 
PROPOSED CHANGES IN BY-LAWS. 
1. Only members in good standing in the 
A. A. P. S. shall be eligible to membership 
in any branch of this Association. 
2. Moneys paid into the Treasury of any 
branch association shall not be in lieu of 
dues to the A. A. P. S. 
3. No meeting of a branch association 
shall be held to conflict with the annual 
meeting of this association. 
4. The dues of Active, Associate and 
Special members shall be $5, payable in 
advance. 
On motion of Mr. Adams of 
Omaha, Neb., it was resolved that the 
thirty days clause in the constitution 
be waived so far as the Eastern 
branch was concerned. 
One of the questions discussed at 
the convention of the A. A. of P. S. 
was that of movable vs. stationary 
benches. Several speakers said that 
movable benches were movable in 
every sense of the word, and that 
Monday mornings they were usually 
found in all sorts of odd places, any- 
BULBS 
To those who have seen the spring 
flowering bulbs growing only in the 
formal bed, the grace with which 
they appear when mingled with the 
green grass is a pleasure not soon to 
be forgotten. Unfortunately, not all 
of the hardy bulbs submit to this 
treatment indefinitely, the lack of 
continuous rich food causing the 
plants to deteriorate in quality and 
eventually to die out entirely. But 
where else but in their proper places. 
Then the}' dug into the ground or 
asphalt and made unsightly holes, and 
in the winter time were usually piled 
in an unsightly heap at some con- 
venient place. On the other hand, it 
was claimed that they could be moved 
from place to place and kept in the 
shade and were usually much more 
comfortable than stationary seats of 
concrete or iron. The bulk of the 
testimony seemed to favor stationary 
seats in all places where the shade or 
screen was reasonably permanent, 
supplemented by movable seats 
around music stands and along the 
edges of walks where they were only 
used for a few months in the summer. 
It was also suggested that the fre- 
quent painting and repairing of seats 
was a great saving, lengthened their 
life materially and added much to the 
appearance of the park. 
There is probably no one thing 
that has caused so much friction be- 
tween park officials and the public as 
the sign, “Keep Off the Grass.” It is 
certainly hard for a park superintend- 
ent to see a choice bit of green grass 
tramped into unsightliness by a lot 
of women and children, especially 
early in the spring or during a severe 
drought, and yet the primary object 
of a park is to afford the greatest pos- 
sible pleasure to its patrons. It is 
very often the case that a short cut 
walk across a lawn or through a bit 
of shrubbery will be a great conven- 
ience to the public and save a lot of 
friction between pedestrians and the 
guardians of the park, and will not 
mar the general lawn scheme. For 
example, the lawn at the side of Bor- 
ough Hall, Brooklyn, is cut to pieces 
by the thousands of people who, in 
the hurry to get to business, cross it 
to get to the subway entrance. It is 
a hopeless task to maintain a lawn 
under such conditions without a cross- 
cut walk. 
the crocus, chionodoxa and narcissus 
are entirely satisfactory, and the 
bulbs cannot be too generously 
planted. 
Avoid stiff lines in planting, No 
more natural effect can be obtained 
than by taking a handful of bulbs, 
giving them a gentle toss, and then 
planting them where they fall. While 
September and October are the ideal 
months for planting hardy bulbs. 
IN THE PARK LAWN 
