PARK AND CEMETERY 
and Landscape Gardening. 
Vol, XII CHICAGO, JULY, 1902. No, 5 
Entered at the Postoffice at Chicago as Second Class Matter. 
CONTENTS. 
Editorial — The Summer Conventions — Park Affairs in 
Quincy, 111 . — Improving the Soil in Central Park, N. Y. 
— St. Louis Improvement Efforts — Progress in Garden- 
ing — Organized Effort 315, 316 
*Recent Monumental News 317 
Among the Creepers 318 
Nurserymen in Convention 318 
Park Superintendents Meet 319 
The Bronx Conservatories 319 
Topiary Gardening 320 
Trees in Paris Streets 320 
*Plan for Addition to Oakland Cemetery, Sandusky, O. . . 321 
*Commodore Perkins Monument, Concord, N. H 322 
*Magnolia Soulangeana 323 
*Improvement Associations 324 
Official Correspondence of the Associations 327 
Notes and Miscellany 328 
Park and Outdoor Art Association Convention 329 
Cemetery Superintendents’ Convention 339 
*Garden Plants — Their Geography — LXXIX 331 
Seasonable Suggestions 332 
*Park Notes 333 
*Cemetery Notes 334, 335 
Reviews of Books, Reports, Etc 336 
THE SUMMER Those of our readers in a position 
CONVENTIONS maintain and cultivate their in- 
terest in outdoor improvement work, will be gratified 
to note progress as indicated by the conventions to be 
held this summer. The annual meeting of the Amer- 
ican Park and Outdoor Art Association, with its auxil- 
iaries, promises to be one of unusual interest. It will 
be held in Boston, August 5-7, and with the practical 
co-operation of the Massachusetts Horticultural Soci- 
ety, must result in the promotion of a much broader 
public appreciation of its works and aims. Boston will 
also receive in annual convention the Association of 
American Cemetery Superintendents, an organization 
to which is due the wonderful improvement in our 
cemeteries, and in a lesser degree our landscape art 
efforts generally. The development of landscape ef- 
fects in our burial grounds has given in very large 
measure, a keener and broader conception of what our 
parks should offer to the people for recreation, and has 
greatly assisted in cultivating a taste which disfavors 
the too common efforts at grotesque gardening. At 
Chautauqua the week of August 18-22 is to be a public 
beauty week, during which many prominent authorities 
in the cause will be present, to lecture, discuss and con- 
fer on the many phases of the work. The Society of 
American Florists holds its annual convention at Ashe- 
ville, N. C., next month, and its program is yearly de- 
veloping more of general interest in outdoor decora- 
tion. It may be added, by the way, that the New 
England Association of Park Superintendents held the 
fifth annual convention in Boston last month, a brief 
report of which will be found in another column. 
IMPROVING SOIL IN When one has seen large-size 
CENTRAL PARK, N. Y. maples and other trees 
growing on the rocks of New England with apparent- 
ly scarcely any soil for their roots to feed in, he may 
be surprised to learn that a depth of two feet of good 
soil is considered absolutely necessary in Central Park, 
New York, by its superintendent. Doubtless, he was 
speaking somewhat broadly, and would not really 
insist on two feet of good soil on the entire area even 
if he could have everything he wished. Eor lawns and 
for most trees a good depth of soil is undoubtedly 
very desirable, but this can often be secured by plowing 
under, fertilizers, and growing crops of clover as ad- 
vised by American Gardening. One thing that is not 
appreciated as it should be is the changed condition of 
soil and climate in cities, due to quick drainage, the 
prevention of the usual amount of rainfall entering 
the soil, and the introduction of noxious vapors into 
the atmosphere, and we should pause to consider what 
would be the best use to make of the money to be spent 
for improving the trees and lawns. There should be 
ample provision for supplying the ground with water, 
and a character of planting which, by checking the 
winds, would prevent too rapid evaporation. Probably 
the best result for the amount expended would be ob- 
tained by a combination of the two methods of im- 
proving the soil, some places being improved by the 
addition of fresh, rich soil from the country, and other 
places by the use of fertilizers, the plowing under of 
crops of clover or other leguminous plants, and in- 
creased cultivation. The handling of earth, especially 
where it must be brought a long distance, is a very ex- 
pensive matter, and it is to be hoped that the introduc- 
tion of valuable plant food into the soil can be secured 
by some cheaper and more expeditious method and in 
a way to interfere least with the continued use of the 
park as a place of recreation. 
