PARK AND CEMETERY. 
400 
Our streets are wide, usually 66 feet, 
and with the exception of the main 
business streets, are all constructed with 
a space between the sidewalk and curb 
varying in width from six to twenty- 
four feet, the width on an average being- 
fourteen feet on each side. This strip 
is parked and planted with trees. 
The sidewalk is built next the prop- 
erty line, and, with the roadway and 
curbing, is constructed by the city en- 
gineer’s department. ' 
When a street is paved, the property 
owners on it usually petition the city 
council at once for boulevarding and 
tree planting. If, however, they fail to 
do this, the council take the initiative, 
and advertise for thirty days their inten- 
tion to carry out such local improve- 
ments, and at the expiration of this term, 
if no adverse petitioil is received, a by- 
law is passed placing the control of the 
boulevarding and tree planting in the 
hands of the public parks board. This 
control includes any and all trees al- 
ready growing on the streets mentioned 
in the by-law, no matter by whom 
planted. 
All expenditures on the boulevards 
are charged by the parks board to the 
city council, and by them assessed 
against the property owners, payment for 
construction being spread over a period 
of seven years, with interest at five per 
cent, sinking fund at four per cent. 
Payment for the cost of tree planting is 
collected in one year, and the cost of 
maintenance is assessed annually, this 
being authorized by special by-law. 
This system was originated and 
worked on a small scale in 1896 by the 
board of works of the city council. In 
1898 the maintenance of the boulevards 
was turned over to the parks board, 
and in 1900 the construction, tree plant- 
ing, and sole control of the system. 
Since then, it has, like the city, grown 
very rapidly. 
At the end of 1908, we had, approxi- 
mately 86 miles of boulevards, planted 
with 20,000 trees, about 6,000 of these 
being planted by property owners before 
the streets were paved. 
Prior to 1904 all new boulevards were 
sodded, but since then, more and more 
seeding has been done, till now prac- 
tically all are seeded, it being conclusive- 
ly proved that seeding, in spite of the 
adverse conditions prevailing on a pub- 
lic street, makes a much better and 
cleaner sward, besides materially reduc- 
ing the cost as compared with sodding. 
In 1908, 29,948 square yards were 
graded and seeded by day labor, at a 
cost of 10.67 cents per square yard. 
21,385 square yards were graded and 
sodded br^ dar^ labor, at a cost of 12.71 
cents per square yard. 21,865 square 
yards were graded and sodded by con- 
tract at a cost of 13.53 cents per square 
yard, making a total of 73,198 square 
yards at an average cost of 12.12 cents 
per square yard, or 18 cents perfront foot, 
this area having a total frontage of 49,- 
229 feet, or a little over 9 miles. This 
rate, however, was very low, the aver- 
age cost of construction during the last 
three years being about 25 cents per 
front foot, for a 15-foot boulevard. 
The cost of tree planting for 1908 
averaged 2.5 cents per front foot over 
a frontage of 79,302 feet, about 5lA 
cents per tree. 
This may seem a very low rate, ex- 
plainable by the fact that we plant trees 
dug from the bush by farmers, and for 
which we pay about 35 cents per tree. 
This plan was adopted when it was 
found that nursery grown trees from 
the south or east would not thrive in 
our rigorous climate, but almost in- 
variably winter killed. 
We use American Elms, White Ash, 
and Basswoods, the former being the 
most satisfactory. Some Russian Pop- 
lars are being experimented with, and 
we have a number of Box Elders. This 
tree, however, is not reliable, and no 
more are being planted on the streets, 
though we find it very useful as a filler 
in park work, owing to its rapid growth. 
The system of maintenance is very 
simple. The city is divided into districts, 
with a foreman in charge of each. 
Tool boxes are placed in convenient 
locations, and the mowing, watering, sod 
repairs, tree spraying and pruning is 
carried out with an unvarying uniform- 
ity over the entire system. 
The total cost of maintenance for the 
year 1908 was $14,982.50, for a frontage 
of 404,728 feet, or 76J4 miles, giving 
an average of 3.7 cents per front foot 
over the entire city. 
This was also a very low rate, owing 
to local conditions, the average mainte- 
nance rate being about 5 cents per front 
foot. 
This cost need not be very largely ex- 
ceeded in any city, as our hot summers 
demand a ma.ximirm of attention to the 
grass, which would be, to a considerable 
extent, unnecessary in a moister climate. 
The e.xpenditure for policing in win- 
ter is also large, as much damage is 
caused to the trees br^ horses, and to 
the grass by short cuts over the snow 
covered boulevards. 
The amount charged for maintenance 
against the individual street or lot is ar- 
rived at by taking the area in square feet 
of all the boulevards. The amount 
charged against any street will be in the 
same ratio as the boulevard is to the 
entire system, so that each lot owner 
pays for the actual area fronting on his 
property, and no more. 
This system seems to give general 
satisfaction to the citizens and the only 
change we have in view is that of ob- 
taining power to strike a flat rate for 
maintenance, so as to obviate the great 
amount of clerical work now required 
in making up the schedules. 
TREES AND PLANT LIFE OF PACIFIC COAST 
By Emil T. Misclie, Supt. of Parks, Portland, Ore. 
So frequent and astonished are east- 
ern visitors to the Pacific coast it seems 
possible that a few rambling comments 
on it may interest some of your readers. 
East of the Mississippi river the ma- 
jority of our population resides and its 
topographical, climatic and principle 
characteristics are more or less familiar. 
Except that the country is flatter, drains 
easterly toward the Mississippi and be- 
come more arid as one proceeds toward 
the west, the middlewest is not very dis- 
similar to the area east of the Missis- 
sippi. 
The Rocky mountains divide the west- 
ern one-third of the United States from 
the eastern two-thirds b}^ a line extend- 
ing in a northwest by southeast direction 
and from New Mexico to western Mon- 
tana. 
Just east of the Rockies and from 
northern Te.xas to about the center of 
Montana are intermittent dashes of arid 
tablelands. That means summer irriga- 
tion if farm grains are to be grown 
during the drouth of the summer. 
Another mountainous demarcation 
west of the Rockies and parallel with 
the Pacific Coast extends from the 
mouth of the Colorado river in a north- 
erly direction forking in southern Cali- 
fornia — the eastern fork forming the 
Sierra Nevada range and the west fork 
the coast range. In southern Oregon 
they commingle and the Sierras are 
known from thence to Canada as the 
Cascade range. 
Between the Rockies and the Sierra- 
