been sent to all cities with a certain 
population. I believe that this at- 
tempt to secure attendance to our 
conventions from all cities, if earnest- 
ly continued, will eventually have the 
desired results. It is at these con- 
ventions where the association can 
exercise its greatest influence. While 
many park superintendents are not 
practical men in park work, yet they 
are not hopeless politicians and graft- 
ers. Many of them are anxious and 
ambitious to become practical men, 
and they are entitled and welcome to 
the assistance which the practical 
men of the association can give them. 
It is not through the policy as a self- 
appointed and self-constituted advis- 
ory committee to tell the powers that 
may be (strangers to us) what to do 
and whom to appoint, that, in my 
opinion, our association can best 
remedy the evil of appointing and 
maintaining inefficient men in office. 
Our policy must be to teach through 
exchange of thoughts and experience, 
to enthuse through demonstrations of 
good work and service; to guide 
through consultations and discussion 
on up-to-date, important subjects, and 
to stimulate and maintain interest in 
good park service and adminstration 
through the medium of good sensible 
literature pertaining to our work. 
It is, of course, true that in many 
cities politics control park adminis- 
trations, and in nine cases out of ten 
where this is the case, the results are 
very unsatisfactory from every point 
of view, except the one of the politi- 
cian or office-holder. Where such con- 
ditions exist it is a question whether 
the mayor of the city, who most likely 
is an appointee of the same political 
machine, would be the party to ap- 
peal to for a change of policy. Such 
an appeal would undoubtedly look to 
his honor as an undue interference 
from some busy-body who might bet- 
ter mind his own business. The same 
mayor, on the other hand, would, on 
his own inclination, change his policy 
from wrong to right if he is shown 
through practical demonstration and 
discussion what good park adminis- 
tration and good service means. Let 
us ask him to attend our conventions 
together with his park officials. Let 
us bring the aims and endeavors of 
our association to the attention of 
the influential associations of those 
respective cities, such as commercial, 
publicity, improvement clubs, etc. Let 
us invite them to some classified 
membership of our association and 
let them help us to increase our 
strength and influence in general so 
that we may be able to help them in 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
detail along practical and instructive 
lines. 
Through such associate member- 
ship the association could be kept 
financially on a working basis, which 
would permit one of its officers to de- 
vote his entire time to the interests 
of the association. This would re- 
sult in the accumulation of a large 
amount of valuable information at 
headquarters from where same would 
be disseminated to all in need of it. 
The National Association would be- 
come strong and influential and will, 
through forceful demonstrations and 
enlightening information, accomplish 
what I believe the questioner has in 
mind. 
Theodore Wirth, 
Minneapolis. Supt. of Parks. 
Concrete Benches in Winter 
“Will concrete benches, settees, etc. 
break in the winter, in green-houses 
not in use?” — R. R., Mo. 
I have never observed the action of 
the variation of temperature on concrete 
in this particular case, as I have never 
had green-houses out of use or with- 
out heat in winter. I, however, have 
had a good deal of experience with 
concrete garden furnishings, made 
both in winter and summer and which 
were used out of doors the year 
around. If the concrete article is 
made in such a shape as to not al- 
low for expansion and contraction, 
there is bound to be a tendency to 
disintegrate under such conditions. 
To obviate this, the article should be 
arranged so as to provide for expan- 
sion joints, which can be made as a 
sliding joint and treated with asphal- 
tum. Any great degree of expansion 
or contraction may be done away with 
by careful reinforcement which should 
be carried out along well accepted 
engineering rules as much in work of 
this character as in a bridge or floor 
slab. Hair cracks usually occur on 
the surface of smooth finished con- 
crete. If, however, a rough surface is 
produced by bush hammering or by 
acid treatment, the cracks although 
visible on very close examination do 
not render the work unsightly or do 
they materially tend to weaken it. 
The water proofing of such concrete 
surfaces is desirable and will have a 
tendency to keep the moisture from 
entering the work to such an extent 
as to produce disintegration. 
M. H. West, 
Chicago. Landscape Architect. 
Plants and Trees for Central Florida 
A correspondent writing to the Flor- 
ist’s Exchange, makes inquiry as fol- 
lows, and is answered by W. F. Massey. 
728 
“.\in ju'-t completing a five-acre slat- 
ted conservatory, with irrigating sys- 
tem, near Altamonte Springs, h'la., for 
growing Asparagus vine. Will you 
kindly ad^■ise me about the Olea fra- 
grans and the Magnolia fuscata men- 
tioned in the Nursery Department of 
the Exchange. Would central Florida 
he a suitable place to grow them? When 
plant and where obtain seeds or plants? 
How long after planting ready for ship- 
ment, cost, etc.? You would greatly 
favor me by giving full details, as I 
will act upon your advice. Again, if 
you would advise as to other profitable 
plants that would grow well in that 
climate for Northern or European 
markets rvould be glad to enlarge the 
conservatory.” L. H., N. Y. 
Oleo fragrans and Magnolia fuscata 
will be perfectly hardy in Florida, as 
I found them so in central North Car- 
olina. You can get the plants from H. 
H. Hume, Glen St. Mary’s, Fla. ; from 
Reasoner Brothers, Oneco, Fla. ; or 
from P. J. Berckmans Co., Augusta, 
Ga. The catalogs will give you the 
prices. Then in central Florida there 
are many other handsome trees that 
you can grow. The Camphor tree 
thrives well there ; in fact, the most 
handsome Camphor trees I have ever 
seen are in north Florida, near the 
Georgia line, and Camphor is destined 
to be a profitable crop in Florida. I 
know one Camphor tree in eastern 
North Carolina, where it has been froz- 
en back repeatedly, but always grows 
again in Spring, showing the compara- 
tive hardiness of the tree. You will 
need no conservatory for these things. 
The slatted cover will be useful for 
Cape Jessamines, to protect them from 
the winter sun; but these, too, thrive 
outside in eastern North Carolina 
For ornamental plants, the Chinese 
Fan Palm, Chamaerops excelsa, will 
thrive even better than the native Pal- 
metto ; I know a magnificent plant of 
this on a lawn in New Berne, N. C. 
The more tender Imlbous plants such 
as Amaryllis, Nerine, etc., can be profit 
ably growm there for the Northern 
trade, and a skillful gardener could 
grow there the Roman Hyacinths that 
are now' imported from France. In 
fact, the list of plants that can be profit- 
ably produced in central Florida is a 
very large one. Under your shelter 
you can start Tea Plants from seed 
for transplanting, and tea culture is 
certain to increase In the South. The 
plantations near Charleston, S. C., 
have produced many thousand pounds 
of tea this year, the experimental plan- 
tation of the Department of Agricul- 
ture making 12,000 lbs. Asparagus 
{Concluded on page XI) 
