82 
PARK AND C EM ET ER Y. 
CHAIN OF LAKES IN MINNEAPOLIS PARKS COMPLETE 
The latest annual report of the Min- 
neapolis park board tells an interest- 
ing story of the completion of the 
joining of the three beautiful lakes 
that make a unique and remarkably 
interesting feature of this great park 
system. The beginning of this work 
and its scope, and the building of the 
three bridges that form part of the 
system have previously been described 
in Park and Cemetery. The comple- 
tion of the task which has been in 
progress since 1910 was marked by 
special and interesting ceremonies as 
a feature of the great civic celebration 
of 1911. 
Superintendent Theodore Wirth’s 
report tells of the immense problem of 
grading and dredging in the work of 
connecting the lakes. At the Lake of 
the Isles the character of the peaty 
material made such winter operations 
not only possible but also economical. 
All the work was done by hand and 
wheelbarrow, with the exception of 
about 8,000 cubic yards of material 
which was taken from the big island 
and used for topdressing on the small 
island and for tilling the low land 
in the southeast corner of the lake, 
where the raising of the grounds to 
grade by hydraulic dredging was im- 
possible. The grading operations on 
this park are now practically complet- 
ed with the exception of the big is- 
land. Gravel paths have been built 
all around the borders of the lake. The 
grounds, before seeding, received a 
dressing of ground bone meal and 
land plaster, and the application of 
those fertilizers has resulted in a very 
satisfactory growth of young grass. 
All planting spaces were excavated 
to a depth of about 6 inches and those 
excavations filled in with heavy loam, 
which, when mixed with the peat, will 
surely result in a vigorous growth of 
the shrubs, evergreens and trees to 
be planted there. 
The main features of the linked 
lakes, the bridges and their approach- 
es, are now finished but the work is 
still far from complete, and while the 
transformation brought about through 
this important work is great and in- 
spiring, its full value will not be real- 
ized until all gradings are finished, 
the lawns and banks seeded and plant- 
ed, and the whole so embellished as 
to change the present crude, unfinished 
appearance to a magnificent landscape 
picture seldom equalled. The four 
bridges are very handsome structures. 
No pains, labor, or money have been 
spared to make them perfect in con- 
struction and pleasing in appearance. 
Large additions have been made to 
other park areas, a considerable 
amount of constructional work has 
UPPER DRIVE, NORTH SHORE OF LAKE HARRIET, MINNEAPOLIS PARK SYSTEM. 
