34 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
FALL vs. SPRING PLANTING 
By E. M. Swiggett, Superintend- 
ent of Parks, Utica, New York. 
Many believe that spring is the only time 
to plant trees and shrubs, but opinion seems 
to be pretty well divided as to whether 
fall or spring is the better time. 
Some or the arguments in favor of fall 
planting follow, but they will have greater 
weight with persons who intend to plant 
large estates or who have charge of munic- 
ipal planting than with those who intend 
to plant only a few trees or bushes. 
The nature of plants is the most impor- 
tant thing to consider. Of course, there 
are some trees and shrubs which should be 
planted only in the spring because they 
might prove not perfectly hardy unless 
fortified in their new surroundings by a 
season’s growth before winter set in. The 
Tamarix africana, a very beautiful shrub, 
is one of this type. But such plants are 
the exception. 
In the fall of the year trees and shrubs 
are, even in the warmer latitudes of the 
United States, approaching a dormant con- 
dition which moving hastens, as a rule, 
without seriously damaging the plant. The 
roots have a long season of rest ahead of 
them in which to take hold of the soil par- 
ticles without having, at the same time, to 
provide plant food for leaves. In the 
spring conditions are reversed. The plant 
begins early in the season — -and probably 
no two seasons at the same date — to send 
up sap. Since each season is different, 
especially at the North, and nurserymen 
cannot always ship stock on short notice 
as desired, spring planting seasons are very 
undependable. 
The fifth National Conference on City 
Planning, to be held at the Hotel La Salle, 
Chicago, May 5, 6 and 7, promises to be 
the most important yet held, and the pro- 
gram, which may be had from the secre- 
tary, Flavel Shurtleff, 19 Congress street, 
Boston, gives details of a most interesting 
series of discussions. Following are the 
chief matters included in the formal dis- 
cussions provided for in the program : 
A City Planning Program: Frederick Law Olm- 
sted, Fellow American Society of Landscape Archi- 
tects, Brookline, Mass. 
This subject to be considered under three dis- 
tinct heads: 
1. The development of a city planning move- 
ment, including a discussion of the organization of 
unofficial activities and of official bodies to be 
charged with the duties of city planning. 
2. The principal steps in the preparation of a 
city plan after the machinery for its preparation is 
established. 
3. Methods of putting a city plan into execu- 
tion. 
The members of the Executive Committee will co- 
operate with the author in the preparation of this 
paper. 
The Progress of the Year in City Planning: A 
somewhat statistical report to be prepared by the 
Secretary. 
Sometimes for above reasons nursery 
stock has started to bud out before it is 
dug for shipping, the young leaves have 
withered by the time it is replanted, and 
the stock — if it does live — is delayed sev- 
eral weeks. 
In Utica, last spring was excessively 
cold, wet and late in coming and followed 
by an eight weeks’ drought. This is not 
an unusual condition in this latitude either. 
The spring of 1911 was, on the other hand, 
very early and very dry, which caused the 
plants just as much of a setback as did the 
spring of 1912, where reverse conditions 
prevailed, so climate must be considered as 
an argument against spring planting. 
Climate varies in the same latitude very 
often at widely separated points, and, for 
this reason, many plants which would pull 
through a severe winter in a given latitude 
east might not do so in the same latitude 
west. All this means that when planting 
trees or shrubs for effect it is advisable to 
plant them in the fall, if there is any 
doubt about their hardiness, because if 
they die they may be replaced with other 
varieties in the spring. 
In conclusion, it may be said that after 
eight years of planting experience the 
writer has found that if spring planted 
stock does live, it will probably leaf out 
earlier the first year than stock planted the 
fall before, yet the latter makes the most 
substantial growth by the following fall, 
which is the main thing to consider. 
Tuesday, May 6 — Second Conference Session, at 
10 a. m. : 
A City Planning Survey: Virgil G. Bogue, of 
Vancouver, B.C., author of the “Seattle City Plan.” 
A general paper outlining all the data necessary 
as a basis for a city plan, covering among other 
things the city’s physical condition, its legal and 
financial condition, and the condition, movements, 
and tendencies of population, industries, and the 
means of transportation. 
A Survey of the Legal Status of a Specific City 
in Relation to City Planning: Edward M. Bassett, 
Esq., of New York City. A specific paper am- 
plifying this, phase of the general survery to show 
what sort of facts in respect to law and legal pre- 
cedents, as found in constitutions, charters, gen- 
eral laws, and judicial decisions, most vitally affect 
the practical steps to be taken in city planning. 
Third Conference Session, at 2:30 p. m.: 
Gaining' Public Support for a City Planning Move- 
ment: Charles H. Wacker, Chairman Chicago City 
Plan Commission. This paper is to deal primarily 
with the methods employed in a specific campaign 
of education 
Organization and Functions of a City Planning 
Commission: Hon. William A. Magee, Mayor of 
Pittsburgh, Pa. This paper is to consider the 
powers of a commission and its relation, to other 
administrative departments. 
Tuesday, May 6 — Fourth Conference Session, at 
8 p. m.: 
Planning Improved Means for the Circulation of 
Passengers and Freight: Milo R. Maltbie, of the 
Public Service Commission, New York City. This 
paper will deal with the methods and principles to 
be observed in planning general improvements in 
the means for moving passengers and freight by 
rail, by water, and by general street traffic within 
a given urban community, considered as related 
parts of a single system of circulation. 
Wednesday, May 7 — Fifth Conference Session, at 
10 a. m.: 
The Actual Distribution of the Cost of Kansas 
City Parks and Boulevards: George E. Kessler, Fel- 
low American Society of Landscape Architects, St. 
Louis, Mo. 
German Methods of Paying* for Improvements out 
of Excess Land Purchases: Dr. Werner Hegemann, 
Berlin. 
Sixth Conference Session, at 2:30 p. m.: 
Some Aspects of the Chicago City Plan: E. H. 
Bennett, joint author of the “Burnham City Plan” 
for Chicago. 
Business Session, at 4 p. m.: The Committee 
appointed at the Boston Conference to conduct a 
“Study in City Planning,” will report during the 
Conference sessions, and several studies will be 
exhibited and discussed. 
LEGISLATION FOR NIAGARA. 
Legislation safeguarding Niagara Falls 
and preserving their beauty by forbidding 
the abstraction of more water for power 
purposes will be added to the tariff and 
currency program of the extra session, if 
the plans of the American Civic Associa- 
tion, now under consideration, are suc- 
cessful. The bill about which the main 
struggle will center is the Burton resolu- 
tion, defeated in the closing hours of the 
Sixty-second Congress by a filibuster con- 
ducted by Senator O’Gorman, of New 
York. Senator Burton announces that he 
will reintroduce his resolution, which pro- 
vides for the limitation of the amount of 
water to be taken from the falls to 15,600 
cubic feet per second. 
The attitude of the Wilson administra- 
tion on the Niagara question is awaited 
with great interest. The President has not 
committed himself publicly either for or 
against the Burton resolution, but it is 
known that Secretary of War Garrison is 
favorably inclined to federal control. 
Niagara is a navigable stream, and an 
integral part of the waterways system of 
the Great Lakes. Army engineers have re- 
ported that the taking of water from the 
river above the falls has affected the wa- 
ter levels in Lake Erie. Furthermore, Ni- 
agara is a boundary stream, and hence 
comes under the jurisdiction of the fed- 
eral government. 
The American Civic Association will not 
be satisfied with merely limiting the 
amount of water to be taken from Niagara 
on the American side. It is convinced also 
that the importation of additional power 
created on the Canadian side should be 
prohibited on the ground that it will make 
no difference in the final effect upon the 
cataract whether the water abstracted 
comes from one side of the basin or the 
other. The association believes that the 
actual sentiment of the American people 
will be strong enough to preserve the chief 
jcenic wonder of America, and every reader 
of these pages should let his congressman 
and senators know how he stands. 
CITY PLANNING CONFERENCE 
