PARK AND CEMETERY, 
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PARK 
ff 
IESKKE 
NOTES. 
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n 
The reports from the district schools of the state of Indiana 
show that the school children on Arbor Day, October 29, chose 
the maple as the state tree. About 20,000 trees were planted 
by the children of the state. 
* * * 
Rapid progress is being made in the improvement of the 
vast park reservations of Boston and vicinity. Superinten- 
dent Pettigrew has some 800 men in his employ, and thorough- 
ness and permanence seem to be the ruling ideas in the prosecu- 
tion of the work. 
* * * 
One of the finest Chrysanthemum shows of the season was 
that given at Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, the latter end of Oc- 
tober. Over 200 varieties were shown, over twenty of which were 
entirely new. Mr. Falconer, the well-known superintendent, is 
evidently intent on creating a strong interest in flowers and their 
culture in his locality. 
* * * 
The Park Commissioners of Rochester, N. Y., in whom was 
vested the authority to plant shade trees on the streets, have re- 
cently begun to exercise th*t power, although some property 
holders are to be heard in protest. It was decided to plant West 
avenue with elms and poplars, principally elms, the latter to be 
planted fifty feet apirt. The cost is estimated at 1435 to be as- 
sessed on abutting property owners. Hence the protest. 
* -x * 
The United Singers of Brooklyn, N . Y. , for a second time 
within three years, secured the prize at the great Saengerfest at 
Philadelphia, which on the last occasion was a bust of Mozart. 
They resolved to donate it to Prospect Park, and money was 
soon raised for a pedestal. The occasion of its unveiling was 
made a gala affair, and the flower garden of that beautiful park 
is further enriched by the bronze presentment of the great com- 
poser. 
* * * 
The park officials in our larger cities are realizing the pro 
priety of providing for winter sports in our parks. The parks are 
becoming such popular resorts for “all sorts and conditions of 
men” in the pleasant seasons of the year, that to such as then 
enjoy their health giving recreation, it seems a deprivation to cut 
off their winter opportunities for lack of small conveniences. 
Winter pleasures have been provided for in the parks in a cer- 
tain sense in many localities, but not to the degree really war- 
ranted. However, among others, the commissioners of the Chicago 
parks are preparing to provide warm shelter houses for the skaters 
this season, and are otherwise contemplating making ample ar- 
rangements for winter recreations. 
* * * 
An excellent suggestion is conveyed by the tower in Flynt 
Park, Monson, Mass., from which the lovely scenery of the sur- 
rounding country of the Berkshire HilU is always an attraction. 
Flynt park is an elevation at no very great distance from the 
village of Monson, and on the very summit there has been 
erected by the Flynts — by whom the park was given and for whom 
the park was named — a massive tower from which may be viewed 
the surrounding country for miles up and down the valley. The 
park is one of the favorite breathing spots of that vicinity and is 
visited by tourists coming from considerable distances. There 
are many such opportunities at various points of the country to 
improve the natural advantages and increase at small expense 
the attractiveness of the surroundings. 
* * * 
A Tree-Planting Association has been organized at Staple- 
ton, Staten Island, N, Y., under the name of the Staten Island 
Tree-Planting and Protective Association. In discussing the 
work of the Association Vice-president Holiick said that the 
trees now planted were being destroyed by the companies erect- 
ing wires for various purposes, and no more glaring example was 
needed than between Ne.v Brighton and Snug Harbor, where 
trees were completely destroyed. It ought to be a function of 
the body to protest vigorously against su h destruction and to 
educate the public mind to the value of the trees. The general 
plan suggested was that five town committees be appointed, each 
to have a chairman, to be a member of the executive board. The 
town committees would have their own organization and sub- 
committees. 
* * * 
The Arbor Committee of the Teacher’s Institute, York, Pa., 
have made a report in which the following occurs: Whereas, 
All concur in the necessity of taking steps toward the preserva- 
tion and extension of our forest lands. Therefore, be it Resolved, 
That inasmuch as the executive department of the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania, appoints and sets aside two days in each 
year to be observed as Arbor Day, the teachers increase efforts 
to properly observe them and do something either in having ap- 
propriate exercises or in planting trees, or both. That teachers 
plant or cause to have planted such trees as may serve as sub- 
jects for object lessons; thereby to inculcate into the minds of pu- 
pils a proper degree of discretion in the preservation of the beau- 
tiful and the useful parts of the forests and the consumption of 
the undesirable. That we heartily endorse the passage of addi- 
tional la.vs for the protectiou and extension of our forest lands. 
* * * 
The Academy of Sciences of Southern California has sug- 
gested to the park commissioners of Los Angeles that the parks of 
the city be dedicated, in so much as may be necessary, for the 
establishment of an arboretum designed to be the most complete 
in the temperate zone; and that the work be begun with the for- 
est flora of California. The Los Angeles Herald in discussing the 
proposition says: The plan commends itself at once to every in- 
telligent mind, and when it is considered that Los Angeles has 
in its park system, and in the soil and climate of Southern Cali- 
fornia, the finest imaginable facilities for carrying it to peifec- 
tion, the only wonder is that it has never been thought of before. 
The vast extent of the city park system and the different condi- 
tions presented as to cultivation affords the widest range for ex- 
periment, and for giving the different specimens a home amid 
their natural surroundings. 
* * * 
Considerable discussion has arisen on the treatment of Cop- 
ley Square, Boston, upon which abut Trinity Church and the 
new Library building. Mr. John Lyman Faxon, writing to the 
Transcript advocates: 1st, the laying out of the square as a 
square. 2nd, No grass plots 3rd, No fountain. 4th, A check- 
ered pavement of colored stones. 5th, Architectural columns for 
electric lights. A fountain has been among one of the decora- 
tive propositions, but this Mr. Faxon also opposes. On this point 
he says: “If a fountain is to be placed in the square, it ought, it 
seems to me, to take on the shape and approximate size of Nic- 
colo Pisano’s Fonte Maggiore in the piazza of Perugia (omitting 
the two upper basins). The basin to be low and broad, rising 
upon a platform of three low steps, and 'he curb panels sculp- 
tured with reliefs, illustrating the history of the city, and em- 
phasizing the qualities of high and noble citizenship.” “Few of 
the squares in the world are surrounded by such an aggregation 
of warring architectural elements, not only having little or no 
sympathy with each other, but actually ‘swearing at each other,’ 
and when the gigantic apartment hotel is erected, it will do 
more swearing than all its neighbors combined.” He suggests 
the Piazza of San Marco, Venice, for a study of the subject. 
