PARK AND CEMETERY. 
137 
In the afternoon the delegates made 
a trip through the Boston Park Sys- 
tem — including Back Bay Fens, River- 
way, Jamaica Way, Arborway and 
Franklin Park. Stops were made at 
the zoological exhibits, the famous new 
bear den in Franklin Park, the park re- 
pair shops, Franklin Field and Arnold 
Arboretum. The inspection of the Ar- 
boretum was made under the guidance 
of Messrs. Dawson, Wilson and Cur- 
tis. 
Evening Session. 
A stereopticon lecture was given by 
Professor E. H. Wilson, of the Arnold 
Arboretum, on the debt we owe to 
China for the trees, shrubs, fruits and 
flowers, which came originally from that 
country. He illustrated the lecture by 
a series of rare photographs of the 
trees and plants as they grow in their 
native soil. 
J. J. Levison, of Prospect Park, 
Brooklyn, also gave an illustrated lec- 
ture on street trees. He showed nu- 
merous pictures of Prospect Park, 
Brooklyn, and illustrated the effect of 
tree butchery and fake tree doctoring 
by numerous examples of deformed and 
broken down trees. He was particular- 
ly severe on quack tree doctors who 
filled up cavities with cement without 
regard to the actual condition of the 
interior of the trees. 
The election of officers took place on 
Tuesday, resulting as follows : Presi- 
dent, James B. Shea, Boston, Mass.; 
secretary and treasurer, J. J. Levison, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. ; vice-presidents, F. C. 
Steinhauer, Denver Colo. ; A. V. Par- 
ker, Worcester, Mass.; Alex. Stuart, 
Ottawa, Canada. ; H. S. Richards, Chi- 
cago, 111.; E. F. A. Reinish, Topeka, 
Kas.; Chas. G. Carpenter, Milwaukee, 
Wis. Charles E. Keith, superintendent 
of parks, Bridgeport, Conn., was elect- 
ed Honorary President for life. 
At the morning session, on Tuesday, 
Mr. Geo. A. Parker, Hartford, Conn., 
read a paper on Park “Accounts.” Lat- 
er cars were taken from Horticultural 
Hall to Columbus Avenue Playground, 
thence through Massachusetts Avenue 
to the public landing at Marine Park. 
This was followed by a short harbor 
trip with lunch on board ; thence to 
Strandway Playground, at 3 : 15 ; then 
cars through Massachusetts Avenue and 
Commonwealth Avenue to Norumbega 
Park, arriving there at 4 : 15 ; thence to 
Wellesley, the Hunnewell estate at 
4 : 45 ; returning to Boston after inspec- 
tion of the Hunnewell estate 
The final business meeting took place 
on Wednesday, after which cars were 
taken to Public Garden ; thence to 
Prince Street Playground, returning by 
Charlesbank to Charles River Basin; 
then under guidance of Chairman W. 
B. de las Casas, of the Metropolitan 
Park Commission, through the Fells 
and Revere Beach Parkway; back to 
participate in an old-fashioned clambake 
served to the members as guests of 
the city of Boston, on the invitation of 
his honor, Mayor Fitzgerald. 
* * * 
The delegation from the Northwest 
spent one day in Chicago enroute to 
Boston. They were met on their ar- 
rival at the station in the morning and 
escorted over the park and boulevard 
systems of the city in autos by officials 
of the different systems. The visitors 
inspected some of tlft small parks and 
playgrounds for which Chicago is fam- 
ous, and were also shown the extension 
work on the water front at Lincoln 
Park. 
THE EFFECT OF PARK AND BOULE- 
VARD IMPROVEMENTS ON PROP- 
ERTY VAI.l KS. 
Paper by W. H. Dunn, Supt. of Parks, Kan- 
sas City, Mo., read before the Conven- 
tion of the American Association 
of Park Supts., Boston, Mass. 
The great value of a system of parks and 
boulevards to a municipality is now well 
recognized and many able writers and elo- 
quent speakers have admirably presented 
the artistic side of the work, that park 
reservations beautified and made available 
for the pleasure and recreation of the> peo- 
ple are necessary, is no longer questioned. 
If, then, we can show that the effect of 
these improvements on adjacent lands is 
to enhance their value in proportion to the 
cost of the improvements, we happily solve 
the problem, and all cities should be able 
to acquire and improve a beautiful system 
of parks and boulevards as an integral part 
of the city plan. 
Let us’ discuss the question, then, from 
a purely practical standpoint, a business 
point of view, if you please. I would add 
to the park reservations the boulevard and 
connecting parkway plan, affording fine 
pleasure driveways upon which desirable 
residential frontages may be obtained. If 
this plan is followed, and a comprehensive 
connected system of parks, parkways and 
boulevards commensurate with the size, im- 
portance and civic spirit of your city be 
adopted (this work should be studied and 
recommended by a broad-minded, compe- 
tent landscape architect), and the improve- 
ment work carried out with great care and 
attention to detail, I undertake to say that 
any wideawake city can establish its park 
system without one cent of general indebt- 
edness to the city. In other words, the en- 
hancement in values of benefited lands will 
be more than sufficient to pay all the cost 
of the acquisition and improvement of the 
park system. This will impress you as 
possibly being a too optimistic view, yet in 
our own city it is a fact recognized and 
not disputed, with reference to boulevards 
and to a somewhat less degree with refer- 
ence to parks and parkways. 
In the annual report of the Kansas City 
Board of Park Commissioners for 1910, we 
have shown by actual figures a clear net 
enhancement of values on a boulevard se- 
lected to analyze this very question; this 
boulevard is over three miles in length and 
passes through several gradations of prop- 
erty, including some very ordinary resi- 
dence sections,, a semi-industrial territory 
and a moderately high-class residential 
territory. The boulevard for its entire 
length is 100 feet wide, and for its greater 
distance was widened from an ordinary 
sixty-foot street by the condemnation of 
20 feet on each side of the street. The 
benefit district for this particular boulevard 
was confined to one and one-half blocks 
on each side and parallel with the same. 
I quote from our report: “It is an es- 
tablished fact, well known to dealers in 
real estate, that during the past ten years 
many thousands of people have been at- 
tracted to Kansas City as a place of resi- 
dence by her fine exhibition of civic spirit, 
the most conspicuous product of which is 
her magnificent parks and pleasure grounds. 
Many men who have been successful in 
business in town and village within the 
territory tributary to Kansas City have felt 
the spell of her influence, and when retir- 
ing from active labor have built beautiful 
homes along our boulevards and settled 
here to rear and educate their children. 
Other thousands among the industrial classes 
have likewise come, attracted by the same 
advantages, to seek employment here and 
swell our population. All this has served 
not only to enhance our real estate values, 
but to create a real estate market where 
none before existed. The figures given in 
this report, collected by the Board’s ac- 
countant, show the powerful influence which 
the establishment of our boulevards has had 
upon land values. On Benton boulevard, 
upon which the abutting property has re- 
sponded in a less degree, in increments of 
value, than on any other boulevard in the 
city, it is shown conclusively that the in- 
crease in value has been more than 183 
per cent since the establishment of the 
boulevard, and that after deducting the cost 
to the property owner of every class of 
improvements with which this frontage has 
been assessed, and deducting also the aver- 
age increase of land values throughout the 
entire district, which includes increments 
due to this and other park improvements 
in the same district, we have a clear net 
profit, demonstrably due to the boulevard, 
of approximately 44 per cent. 'But upon 
other boulevards, notably Armour, Glad- 
stone, Linwood, Gillham Road and the 
Paseo, the land gain has been from 200 to 
500 per cent, the greater portion of it being 
directly attributable to the establishment 
of the boulevards. 
“In the same manner, but to a lesser de- 
gree, our parks have enhanced values, and 
the proof is incontestable that the construc- 
tion of our park and boulevard system has 
been a profitable industry for the tax-payer. 
Moreover, our parks have also been estab- 
lished and administered in the interest of 
the common people; and while they fulfill 
the artistic demands of a well-planned sys- 
tem of ornamentation, they are intended for 
every-day use and are serviceable to the 
every-day citizen and the toiling masses.” 
To obtain this enhancement in property 
values, three important things should be 
kept in mind: 
First — A well-studied and comprehensive 
plan by a competent landscape architect. 
Second — Proceed under this plan on the 
theory that certain areas of lands will be 
benefited. 
Third — Execute the plans with the great- 
est attention to detail of construction. 
The necessity of a broad and comprehen- 
sive plan does not admit of discussion, since 
any haphazard selection of park lands or 
boulevards cannot create a harmonious sys- 
tem or any good ultimate result. Every 
city will present its own unique problems, 
and since in all cases certain fixed condi- 
tions must be met, a careful study is nec- 
essary in order to harmonize the old and 
the new. 
The advantage of acquiring park lands 
by special assessment rather than by bond 
issue is that by adopting the plan of assess- 
ments on benefited areas, you at once make 
the owner of those lands a partner in your 
work. He says, my land is assessed a cer- 
tain amount for the park improvements in 
this district, I will see what it means; he 
takes a keen interest in all of the plans 
when you assess his land directly for a 
