PARK AND CEMETERY, 
47 
cemetery employed a monthly average of 257 men and over 23 
horses. A system of private telephonic communication has been 
established from several points of the ground. Upwards of 900 
trees were set out upon the newer avenues. Two hundred and 
fifty dilapidated lot enclosures were removed. 
* * * 
The Executive Committee of the Association of American 
Superintendents has decided that the Eleventh Annual Con- 
vention to be held in Cincinnati, O., be set tor September 14, 
15, 16, and 17. A longer programme has been considered nec- 
essary, as one day probably September 16, will be spent in Day- 
ton, O., visiting the cemeteries and the Soldiers’ Home. It is 
expected that satisfactory railroad rates will be made for the 
occasion. 
^/©orre^pondence.!^ 
A PLEA FOR “LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT.”— STREET 
TREE PLANTING. 
Minneapolis, Minn., April 5th, 1897. 
Editor of Park and Cemetery. 
Sir:— In your last issue I find several points of interest, but 
from which I must beg to differ in a degree. Both editorially 
and by two of the contributors the question of the proper title of 
the profession, the interests of which your publication so faith- 
fully serves, is brought up, and with unanimity the verdict is ren- 
dered in favor of Landscape Gardening. 
Now, although by so doing I may be laying myself open to 
the charge of ;< lack of power” which Prof. Bailey seems to make, 
I will venture to suggest that there maybe somethingsaid on the 
other side, and in favor of the title Landscape Architecture; for 
the introduction of any new word or phrase into a language is 
generally based upon some actual need. 
I would first hint that the argument of the sentence from 
which I have just quoted seems to be one which might apply on 
either side of the question. 
To be sure the recommendation of age goes with the word 
Gardener, but from a mere standpoint of business the change in 
phraseology has become necessary, for almost every village of 
size has one or more parties in it who advertise themselves as 
“Landscape Gardeners”; they are in reality florists who with 
cannas, caladiums, etc., will decorate the lawns of their patrons 
with foliage beds, or are even only a higher grade of laborers, 
who, possessed with some natural talent, can shape a lawn or 
set out a group of shrubs in a workmanlike manner. 
The great majority of these, however are entirely unable to 
prepare a plan, or even understand one without much explana- 
tion. The necessity of distinguishing the artist and designer 
from this class of practitioners has led to the new term. 
The argument that the word architect can apply only to one 
who deals entirely with artificial structures and works in lifeless 
objects, fails when we consider that language is a growth and 
evolution. If we can trust our lexicons the word as first used by 
the ancient Greeks signified “chief carpenter,” but we surely 
would not demand that the designers of the beautiful “White 
City” coin some phrase which should designate them as “chief 
blacksmiths” or “chief plasterers” because the buildings were 
constructed mostly of steel and staff. On the contrary the word 
as now commonly used is freely applied to any one, who in any 
direction follows out a scheme showing originality and design; 
and the meaning is perfectly clear when we speak of a man as 
“the architect of his own fortune,” or refer to the “Great Archi- 
tect of the Universe.” 
As the architect of a building must be much more than an 
expert carpenter or mason, so must a landscape architect be 
much more than a gardener, and if the writer is not mistaken 
most of those who in this country or abroad have become fam- 
ous as leaders in the art have entered it, not so much from the 
gardening as from the architectural or artistic side. Even the 
taint of engineering knowledge which it is too much the fashion 
of some to sneer at, is not entirely to be despised, and a little of 
it on some occasions, at least, would have led to more practical 
suggestions on the part of designers. 
It can safely be said, I think, that the term “landscape 
architect” has come to stay, and that time will show that its 
originators were not in error, when they coined it. 
The second point to which I would refer is the notice of 
park work being accomplished in the city of Rochester, N. Y., 
especially in connection with the planting of street trees. One 
of the sections in the law organizing the Board of Park Com- 
missioners in this city deals with this duty and they are author- 
ized at their discretion to plant such trees and maintain them for 
three years, assessing the estimated cost of the same against the 
abutting property. In accordance with this, during the past 
eight years, several thousand trees have been set out, along about 
eighteen miles of street, and it is safe to say that no single 
achievement of the Board has given such general satisfaction as,this. 
The work has been done in various sections of the city as 
petitioned for by the intereded property owners. 
The cost has so far been estimated at five dollars per tree, 
though this has proven to be a little less than the average ex- 
penditure incurred. 
Elms have been used exclusively as they seem to thrive the 
best, under all circumstances; smooth barked trees, as the maple 
and linden suffering much in this climate from “sunscald.” The 
trees are set about forty feet apart, but on account of existing 
trees and improvements, such as catch-basins, water connections, 
drives, etc., no strict rule can be adhered to. Nursery grown 
trees from two to three inches in diameter are used; the holes are 
dug six feet in diameter and four feet deep, and filled with black 
loam, as soon as planted a painted wooden-slat guard is placed 
around the tree, it is mulched and a regular system of watering 
is begun to be continued during the three years required by law. 
Although the very dry summers recently experienced have been 
severe on new plantings, the percentage of losses has been very 
gratifyingly small. All such losses are made good at the next 
planting season. 
A little thought will make it plain that a system of special 
assessments for this purpose which shall be always perfectly 
equitable, to all concerned is not easy to devise; but so far the 
method of assessing the amount against the lot directly in front 
of which the tree stands, has been followed, with very little ob- 
jection. 
Of course all experiences in connection with tree planting 
are not ‘'‘rose -colored" and “kicks” are not entirely lacking. 
Some commercial tree planters would convince lot owners that 
the city price is too high, and that the trees are too far apart to 
do any good. That the latter argument is sometimes listened to 
is proven by the fact that last season I found five fine three inch 
elms set in front of one forty-foot lot. 
From our experience I should not hesitate to advise any 
Park Board to adopt this method of street improvement, while 
at the same time due caution should be taken to adapt it to local 
requirements and the financial conditions of the treasury. 
With us the Park Board have the oversight of all street trees, 
and an experienced man with several assistants is engaged dur- 
ing the proper seasons in pruning and caring for the same. No 
tree can be removed without a special permit, and pains are 
also taken to enforce the law against hitching horses to trees or 
near enough to damage them. 
Frank H. Nutter , 
Landscape Architect. 
