PARK AND CEMETERY 
11 
church yards and disused burial grounds, scattered all 
over London, which were previously in a most dis- 
graceful, insanitary and neglected condition. These 
gardens are now open to the public and are greatly ap- 
preciated. Our aim is to establish a playground with- 
in not more than one-fourth of a mile of the home 
of every child in London. This is our ideal, but it is 
not yet realized 1” 
Is it not a wholesome aim ? And is it not a pleas- 
ant thing to think that such work is being done? This 
is work for the benefit of the little children of the 
slums of the greatest city on the earth ; for those wdio 
live in tenements where, perhaps, the sunlight cannot 
enter; and it enables growing children to get the 
light, air and exercise necessary to health, strength 
and happiness ; while it also supplies a shaded seat 
amidst cheerful light, verdure and company for the 
convalescent, the infirm and the aged adults of each 
community blessed by the results of the endeavors of 
this powerful society. The Association is anxious to 
increase its membership in order to extend such ef- 
forts, and we are glad to comply with the request of 
the Rt.-Hon. the Earl of Meath, its Chairman, that the 
aims and necessities of the Association might be made 
known so that philanthropic Americans should have 
an opportunity to aid in the work by becoming mem-. 
bers. Mr. Basil Holmes, 8^ Lancaster Gate, Lon- 
don, W. England, is the Secretary, to whom letters of 
inquiry may be addressed. 
It is a great pleasure to speak of the important 
part taken in the work of this association by a woman, 
IMiss Eanny R. Wilkinson, its landscape gardener, 
who designs and superintends the planting of the 
public gardens, squares, playgrounds, and open spaces 
of all kinds, and, indeed, all of the planting of any 
kind whatsoever that is undertaken by the associa- 
tion. The public gardens laid out during the life of 
the organization range in size from a small fraction 
of an acre to fourteen acres, and from £50 to iio,ooo 
each has been expended in laying them out. Be- 
sides the gardens, immense numbers of street shade 
trees have been set in the city and its suburbs. The 
responsibility of all of this planning and planting has 
devolved upon Miss Wilkinson, and that she has 
proven equal to it may be to some extent judged by 
the examples shown in our illustrations. The diffi- 
culty of establishing vegetation in the smoke, dust 
and other impurities incident to the atmosphere of 
a great city can be to some degree estimated by our 
readers, and any one can appreciate the knowledge 
and judgment necessary to evolving the thriving and 
beautiful vegetation shown in the view of the Tower 
Gardens which was laid out at an expense of $5,000.00 
and opened to the public in 1888 “as an experiment” 
for the summer and autumn months. “The order 
maintained has been excellent, and the privilege is 
immensely appreciated. Permission has since been 
given to continue its opening during the winter. The 
Aldgate Ereedom Eoundation furnishes $450.00 per 
year for its maintenance.” The garden of the Tower 
of London occupies a long, narrow strip of ground 
which runs parallel with the moat on two sides of the 
Tower, broadening at the east end to greater width 
(see illustration). The greater part of the space is 
sunk some feet below the level of Tower Hill and 
other streets that skirt it. Miss Wilkinson speaks oi 
it, in a personal letter, as being especially attractive 
in the spring when the succession of flowering shrubs, 
and of bulbs such as daffodils, irises and lilies, make 
it “quite a sight.” 
Miss Wilkinson also says: “I scarcely altered the 
original plan of the ground, but the borders all had 
to be well trenched, the earth enriched and partly 
renewed, and the walks broadened and regraveled. 
Then quantities of flowering shrubs and trees were 
planted. The old trees already on the ground con- 
VICTORIA PARK CBMBTERY — BEVORB BEING PAID OUT. 
sist chiefly of black poplar, plane, ailanthus glandu- 
losa, thorns and laburnums. The shrubs that were 
added include various privets, lilacs, elders, dogwood 
and Euonymus Japonica. The turf was obtained, as 
all permanent turf must be in London gardens, by 
sowing grass seed, and it requires considerable atten- 
tion yearly to keep it in condition.” 
Miss Wilkinson also says that old trees found on 
the various grounds taken in hand by the Metro- 
politan Public Gardens Association are much better 
specimens than can be secured now, because they 
were established under far more favorable conditions 
than obtain at this time in these localities. 
The other views show Meath Gardens before and 
after being laid out. The first presents a bit of the 
grounds of what was then known as Victoria Park 
Cemetery in the neglected and forlorn condition it 
presented when the association took it in hand. After 
it was thrown open to the public as a recreation 
ground it was called Meath Gardens in honor of the 
chairman of the organization that had worked the 
transformation. It was laid out in 1893-4 at an ex- 
