PARK AND CEMETERY. 
259 
Springfield, 111 ., on January 9, at a .special election, voted 
to adopt a system of parks and boulevards. 
* * * 
The park conimi.ssioners of Cleveland, O., have decided 
upon adding another park to the Cleveland .S3’.stem, at the south 
end of the citv, which will contain .some 150 acres. This project 
has been under consideration for a long time, and it will form a 
connecting link for those already’ provided. The land will cost 
about $Ho,oou. 
TT -Jv 
Unless the Wa.shington authorities hasten to include the 
famous Calaveras, California, grove of big trees in some national 
])ark scheme, it is probable thej' will be converted into lumber, 
as the property may pass into the hands of a large lumber firm. 
A numlier of associations are actively at work on projects to 
save the grove, the destruction of which would be a public 
scandal. 
* * * 
The Pennsylvania State Forestry Commission held a special 
meeting last month and discus.sed the purchase of additions to 
the state parks. Of the lands purchased h\’ the commission so 
far about 20,000 acres are on the headwaters of the Delaware 
River. The remainder, about 39,000 acres, are on the Susque- 
hanna water .shed. There are also in sight now, with the pros- 
pect of a speed}’ purchase, about 40,000 acres more, providing 
terms and conditions can be agreed upon. The lowest price 
paid was 50 cents per acre;_the highest price was $2 per acre. 
In October next the Chicamauga and Chattanooga National 
Park Commission will hold a general inspection of the work of 
the commission to secure the greatest possible accuracy as re- 
gards text on tablets and monuments, landmarks de.signating 
lines of battle and important localities on the seven battlefields 
included in the park project. At the time named there will be 
between 1,300 and 1,400 tablets for inspection, over half of which 
are the large historical plates, and 228 of which are the historical 
plates on monuments. There will be 51 1 locality tablets for 
verification, 350 regimental markers of fighting positions, beside 
those occupied by the regimental monuments, and 1 78 battery 
tablets, making, with 50 to be erected during the coming sea.son, 
over 2,000 tablets for examination, besides .several hundred battle 
positions of brigade lines. 
* * * 
At the annual meeting of the Minneapolis Park Commis- 
sioners in January, a report was read from Mr. Warren 
H. Manning on the conditions and possibilities of the Minne- 
apolis park syvstem. Last .summer he made a careful study of the 
parks and some of his suggestions were acted upon. In the report 
he discouraged the maintenance of a large numher of animals 
at Minnehaha park, and advocated the spending of the money 
neces.sarv to keep them on the natural .scenery. He believed 
that it was proper to get a collection of Minne.sota flora and 
fauna, but con.sidered sea lions and exotics an expensive luxury 
from which no great benefit was derived. He further advocated 
the care of the bluff's along the Mbssissippi, .saying that outside 
of the Palisades of the Hud.son, there was no other city in the 
union that had so great possibilities for magnificent scenery. 
* * * 
"IPbe city of Quincy, Jll,, has five parks under the care 
and control of the Ouincy Boulevard and Park Association, 
in which are four luiles of drives. The a.s.sociation alto- 
.gether looks after ten miles of boulevards and streets and 108 
acres of park area. The a.s.sociation has been constantly exer- 
cising influence towards improving Ouincy, and the interesting 
})roblems of securing funds for the purchase and improvement 
of the parks is an entertaining chapter in the city's history. By 
the aid of the citizens promptly paying taxes there is left a sur- 
plus ill the town treasury after paying expenses, which by reso- 
lution is turned over to the as.sociation for park purposes. This 
year the amount will probably reach .some 113,000. In addition 
to this the dog tax is applied to the .same purpose, and this is 
expected to realize a further f2, 000. The .several parks and acre- 
age are as follows: Madi.son Park, 8‘4 acres; Riverview Park, 
7 acres; vSouth Park, 58!^ acres; Primrose Park, 12 acres, and 
Indian Mounds, 22 acres. The park .system of Ouincv most 
clearly demonstrates what can be done by the su.stained energy 
of public spirited citizens, and what has been accompli.shed there 
can also he attained by similar enthusiasm elsewhere. 
* 
due of the inqiortant matters touched upon in the last an- 
nual report of the Park Department of the City of Cambridge, 
Mass., is that of its street shade trees, which are now under the 
care of the park commis.sioners. There were planted 147 Am- 
erican Pfiins, 51 Rock Maples, 38 White Ash and 3 Norway 
Maple, a total of 239. During the year 482 trees were trimmed, 
720 new wire guards put on and 2,174 old guards repaired. 
Unfortunately a great number of trees have died or are declining, 
and the commissioners have instituted serious inve.stigations 
into the cause. In the report of the landscape architects, Messrs. 
Olmsted Bros., on this subject they say: During the past sum- 
mer it was generally noticed throughout the whole Metropolitan 
district of Boston, that certain unusual conditions of climate or 
the ravages of some disease had caused the decline and death of 
a great number of trees. * * * The examinations which we 
made lead us to believe that while unfavorable conditions of 
light, air, moi.sture and .soil might be blamed for the death of 
many of the trees in the .streets of Cambridge, there. were evi- 
dences that other agencies had been more active in their dendse. 
* * * We are inclined to attribute the unusual death rale to 
protracted hot and dry weather immediately preceded by periods 
of unusual moisture during a .season following a .severe winter. 
* * -x- 
There is much of interest in the la.st annual report of the 
South Park Commissioners of Chica.go. The total area embraced 
within the limit of the South Parks and Boulevards is 1501 acres 
within a fraction, of which the parks comprise 1181 acres. 
There are 17.28 miles of boulevard and nearly 42 miles of im- 
proved drives.' Including a balance in hand on Dec. i, 1898, 
of 183,950.24, the total receipts for the year were $573,639.04, 
$40,638.23 having been received from refectory, boats, games and 
other park privileges. The expenditures were $492,272.36. 
The park .sy.stem is lighted by electricity practically from its 
own plant, a small section in an outlying part is supplied from 
an outside company. The cost of operating the arc lamps, of 
which there are 494 of 2000 c. p. M’as a trifle over 2 cents per 
lamp hour, which included maiutenance and repairs. The 
planting notes are more or le.ss indicative of prevailing activit\’ 
in the system. Theie were planted out from the park nurseries 
208,760 young trees and shrubs, and 442 elms ranging from 3 
in. to 6 in. and 8 in. diameter were set out on the boulevards. 
The park nursery has now on hand 63,888 trees and shrubs for 
future use. The park owns 1 19 horses, and the number of men 
and teams employed during the year varied from 335 men in 
December to 783 men anfi 2i teams in July, not including th« 
park teams, „ 
