127 
PARK AND CEMETKRY 
while carefully preserving naturalness and harmony. 
It is designed to secure variety by causing a certain 
species of tree, in itself worthy and interesting, to very 
manifestly predominate in a given locality. The same 
idea can be extended to the treatment of the under- 
growth or ground cover. One part of Ten Mile Woods 
has a great many ferns. It has been called, therefore, 
Fernwood, and the bushes are to be reduced in number 
and the ferns encouraged to increase. Thus there are 
Gypsy Grove, Nutting Grove and Beech Grove, where 
grass will cover the ground, and Hazelwood, Holly- 
wood and Greenbriar Wood, where bushes will cover 
the ground under the trees. 
“The East Open is the next division and extends 
from the woods to Windsor avenue. The soil changes 
in this division to a stiff clay admirably adapted to per- 
manent pasture. The moisture under the sandy Ten 
Mile Woods here comes out upon the surface and starts 
a little brook. This tract is to be left mainly open and 
is to be pastured with sheep. It will be secluded by a 
border mound and border plantation and will be diver- 
sified by scattering wide-spreading trees and small 
groups of trees on little ridges and hillocks. 
“Riverside Park is one of the best investments the 
city ever made. It has the great advantage over all the 
other parks of a great river landscape, fronting as it 
does along its whole length upon the Connecticut River. 
This river is unquestionably the most important geo- 
graphical, topographical and landscape feature of the 
city and vicinity. Hardly less important, as a charac- 
teristic landscape feature of the vicinity of Hartford, 
are the Connecticut River meadows. These rich, gently 
rolling green meadows diversified by noble trees in 
little groves, groups, or standing isolated here and 
there, form not only one of the most beautiful but also 
one of the most available and useful types of natural 
landscape for a public park, since owing to its com- 
parative flatness and to the vigor of its greensward a 
greater number of people can stroll and play upon a 
given area of it than on higher, steeper and more 
broken land whether open or wooded. 
“To make accessible and to bring into prominence 
the principal landscape features of this park, the views 
of the river and of the meadows, the first improvement 
to be designed was the broad river walk. The next 
most important question of design was the treatment 
of the portion of the meadow land that is under water 
continuously or several times, and for weeks at a time, 
during all except the two or three summer months 
when the river is low. The expense of properly fitting 
the pond to creditably serve its purpose has been 
thought prohibitive and the plan has therefore been 
adopted of filling the pond and its low margins to such 
height as will enable it to be properly underdrained in 
summer so as to form a useful as well as beautiful 
grassy meadow. 
“A third question of design which early demanded 
consideration was that of the improvement of the west- 
ern boundary and the relocation of Water street to 
form a boundary road. After prolonged negotiations 
an exchange of lands was arranged and Water street 
was relocated further west on a long curving line, thus 
notably broadening and unifying the meadow scener}^ 
of the park.” 
In comparing the Hartford parks with those of other 
cities, Mr. Olmsted says : 
“Hartford is remarkable for having a larger park 
area in proportion to population than any other city in 
this country. While Boston has 224 inhabitants to 
each acre of parks and Worcester has 307 inhabitants, 
Springfield 128 inhabitants. Providence 321 inhabitants, 
Hartford has 68 inhabitants to each acre of parks.” 
THE BUFFALO CONVENTION OF THE NAx 
TIONAL LEAGUE OF IMPROVEMENT 
ASSOCIATIONS, 
The second annual convention of the National 
League of Improvement Associations, in the future by 
a change in the constitution, to be known as The 
American League of Civic Improvement, was held in 
Buffalo, N. Y., August 12-15. It lacked one impor- 
tant element of being a complete success, that of a 
large general attendance, but the amount of business 
transacted and the marked enthusiasm and devotion 
displayed by the delegates present, left no doubt con- 
cerning the vitality of the league or of its equipment 
and ability to pursue its work in spite of any discour- 
agements it may meet in its way. It was unquestion- 
ably a mistake to have selected Buffalo, in its Pan- 
American year, for a convention of this character, and 
this was clearly evidenced by the absolute neglect of 
the Buffalo citizens themselves, who held aloof during 
the entire sojourn of the convention in their city. 
Without any broad condemnation of this oversight on 
the part of Buffalo, it is possible that to the methods 
adopted by the officials of the league, in neglecting 
to organize a local committee to secure local amen- 
ities, must be attributed some cause for such lack of 
interest. Apart, however, from all discouraging fea- 
tures, it must be considered a successful convention, 
destined to exert a beneficent influence not only among 
its contributing Improvement Associations, but along 
lines rapidly developing for the spread of the gospel of 
civic government in all sections of the country. In 
the course of the following condensed report of the 
proceedings a general view may be obtained of the 
scope of improvement work and to what extent its 
various ramifications are being prospected by this or- 
ganization. 
The meetings were held in the city Convention 
Home, and the proceedings were inaugurated on 
Monday evening, August 12, by a stereopticon lec- 
