76 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
American Association of ParR Superintendents in Convention 
Washington, D. C., June 12, 13 and 14 ’. 
The ninth annual convention of the American Association 
of Park Superintendents was held in Washington June I 2 , 
13 and 14 , with headquarters at the St. James Hotel. The con- 
vention was- called to order by President I'heodore Wirth, 
who read the annual report summarizing the work of the 
year. The report of the secretary and treasurer showed a 
satisfactory balance in the treasury. The committee on bul- 
letins reported that the papers would be issued in the form 
of bulletins from time to time. Resolutions of condolence 
were passed and ordered sent to the family of O. F. Du Buis, 
of Peoria, 111., who recently died. W. R. Smith, of Washing- 
ton, was elected an honorary member of the association. 
In the afternoon an automobile ride through Rock Creek 
Park and the Zoological Gardens was enjoyed. The party 
had a very narrow escape at the park when the brake on the 
automobile gave out and the machine coasted down the hill 
at the rate of a mile a minute. The skill of the chauffeur, 
however, saved the party from a very bad upset at the foot 
of the hill. 
The following new members were elected: Jens Jensen, 
Chicago ; Emil Mische, Madison, Wis. ; W. S. Richards, Chi- 
cago ; Wm, Shepardson, Naugatuck, Conn.; J. W. Rodgers, 
Cincinnati; R. Cameron, Niagara Falls, Ont. 
The evening session was held in the parlors of the hotel. 
The first business of importance was the election of officers. 
The nominating committee presented the following candi- 
dates, who were unanimously elected : President, Byron 
W^orthen, Manchester, N. H. ; vice-presidents, John Chambers, 
Toronto, Ontario; John W. Duncan, Boston; Frederick Nuss- 
baumer, St. Paul, Minn. ; John F. Cowell, Buffalo, N. Y. ; 
\\'. S. Manning, Baltimore, Md. ; C. E. Keith, Bridgeport, 
Conn. ; secretary and treasurer, F. L. Mulford, Harrisburg, 
Pa. 
A paper on “Park Woodlands and Plantations” was read 
by J. A. Pettigrew, of Boston. One of the chief points in 
Mr. Pettigrew’s paper was the advice to use the axe freely 
and this seemed to give the cue to the speakers who discussed 
the paper. Jackson Dawson, of Boston, agreed with Mr. Pet- 
tigrew in the use of the axe and advised the formation of 
tree groups to attract public attention. He said every park 
should have a nursery of its own and advocated thorough 
work, it being useless to plant a tree in a post hole. 
Fred Nussbaumer, of St. Paul, told of his experience in 
thinning the trees in his parks. He said the quantity of fire 
wood cut out of his plantations would astonish his hearers. 
He also advocated a nursery and a trial ground. He said he 
was constantly trying to grow trees not usually grown in the 
latitude of St. Paul. A strange effect of the mild winter was 
the winter killing of the conifers. 
W. S. Egerton, of Albany, N. Y., said that one of the 
troubles was the fact that so many changes took place in 
park superintendence ; the newcomer so often thought it nec- 
essary to undo the work of his predecessor. It required much 
skill and experience properly to thin out trees. 
John Chambers, superintendent of parks of Toronto, Out., 
advocated the publication of papers like that of Mr. Pettigrew 
in local papers. 
Jackson Dawson, of Boston, spoke for the establishment 
of a National Arboretum at Washington. He said we are 
getting the products of the whole world together and we 
should h.ave an arboretum of several thousand acres where 
trees and plants from all over the world could be grown. He 
thought a school should be established in connection with such 
an arlioretum. One of the finest arboretums in the world, he 
said, could he established at Rock Creek or elsewhere near 
the National Capitol. 
William R. Smith, superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, 
advised the purchase by the government of the Appalachian 
Mountain range, to be used for the growth of pine trees. 
He said the trees produced turpentine, which, after being con- 
verted into camphor, was a valuable asset in the manufacture 
of smokeless powder. 
“The Japanese now control the smokeless powder market,” 
said Mr. Smith, “and unless our nation takes drastic steps to 
manufacture it, we may sometime be shut off.” 
W. Rutherford Adams favored the planting of trees in the 
fall. 
Wednesday, June i3. 
The members of the asso'ciation made an early visit to the 
Botanical Gardens in response to an invitation from Mr. Wm. 
R. Smith and were shown many wonders of the plant crea- 
tion. At ten o'clock, under the guidance of Mr. Smith, the 
party took the steamer for Mount Vernon, where they were 
met by H. H. Dodge, superintendent of the estate. He 
showed the visitors through the old home of Washington, 
taking them into rooms not usually open to visitors, and 
later went over the grounds with the party. The trees were 
especially admired because they were planted by Washington 
and also because of their excellence. The landscape work 
about the gardens, while considered rather in the line of 
what is now called formal gardening, was greatly admired 
and pronounced fully equal to the average work of today. 
From Mt. Vernon the party went to Arlington Cemetery 
and were driven over the old Curtis estate. 
A steady downpour of rain rather interfered with the field 
work, but there was sufficient to see and interest the visitors 
without leaving the old Lee mansion or the carriages. The 
party returned in trolley cars at about 5 p. m. 
A banquet was given in the evening by the Washington 
Florists’ Club and other horticulturists of Washington. 
Thirty-three members of the association were present. 
Peter Bisset. president of the Washington Florists’ Club, 
presided, and J. R. Freeman, also of Washington, was toast- 
master. There were humorous colliquies between the toast- 
master and the guests called upon to speak. In calling upon 
John Chambers, of Toronto, the toastmaster called to Canada 
as “the place of the pulp trees and home of the paper trust — ■ 
nothing more,” but Mr. Chambers told the diners that Canada 
was capable of boasting of other things besides pulp, and ex- 
pected to ultimately become a part of the United States. 
The following were the toasts and the speakers : “How 
they do it m Europe as Compared to America,” Theodore 
Wirth ; “Our City Parks,” George H. Brown ; “What I don't 
know about Trees,” J. A. Pettigrew; “Canadian Horticulture 
and Arboriculture,” John Chambers ; “The Horticulturist in 
War and Peace,” Jackson Dawson; “A Man’s a Man for a’ 
that,” William, R. Smith; “Trials and Tribulations of a Park 
Superintendent,” Dr. Frank Baker; “New Plans in Horticul- 
ture,” Prof. Corbett, of the U. S. Agricultural Department. 
The dinner lasted until nearly midnight and the reading 
of the papers and transaction of business was postponed until 
Thursday morning. 
Thursday, June 
Thursday \vas devoted to field work, the inspection of 
the park system occupying the entire day with the exception 
of- the time necessary to finish the papers and discussions 
left over from the previous day. 
(Continued on page 92.) 
