477 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
safe to say that quite an impetus will be the result of 
the deliberations of that meeting. Wherever a well- 
considered attempt has been made to interest the pupils 
of the public schools in gardening in a practical way, 
either as a side line of study, or as an incentive to appli- 
cation to study, its influence has been remarkable. And 
yet this is hardly the term to use, for gardening seems 
to be the natural bent of the young, and it has been 
from lack of foresight in educators hitherto that means 
have not been afforded for this healthful and brain- 
inspiring tendency of childhood. The actual experi- 
ence thus far recorded is that where school gardens are 
in operation in this country, far from interfering with 
the efficiency of the pupil, it is a mental refreshment 
and creates a more vigorous intelligence. Now that ed- 
ucators are becoming impressed with this idea, much 
study is being given to the subject and school gardens 
will soon become part of the educational system of 
the country, as it has long been in some of the older 
countries. Among the prominent workers in this line 
is Mr. H. D. Hemenway, Director of the School of 
Horticulture of the Handicraft Schools of Hartford, 
Conn., from whom we have received particulars of the 
courses in horticulture for both adults and the school 
children, and which afford a most encouraging prospect 
for those promoting and establishing school gardens. 
The zeal and assiduous attention devoted by the young 
people to their gardens is demonstrated in Mr. Hemen- 
way’s report. The great result of the school garden 
lies in its moral force. The study of nature and her 
wonderful operations promotes reverence and all the 
higher qualities of our nature — patience, hope, enthu- 
siasm ; everything works in order, and this compels a 
reciprocal attitude in the worker in regard both to him- 
self and his neighbor. No movement has been started 
in this country of more beneficent promise to future 
American citizenship than the school garden. 
MAINTENANCE The report of a committee of ex- 
OF OUR FARKS- parts, appointed by the Commission- 
er of Parks of New York City, on the condition of 
Central Park and with recommendations for its im- 
provement, has recently been made public. The ap- 
pointment of this committee was due practically to a 
public demand for an investigation into the condition of 
the park, the vegetation of which was stated to be in 
a dying condition, demanding a new topsoil. It is 
proper for park commissioners everywhere to take note 
of the suggestion contained in the above charge, for the 
methods of care conducted by the authorities of Central 
Park, New York, are undoubtedly similar in the main 
features to the care of parks throughout the country, 
and the results of such methods may make themselves 
equally offensively apparent in the not far distant fu- 
ture, if not already in evidence, in many other of the 
older parks. The overcrowding of trees and plants is 
said to be the primary and principal cause of the trou- 
ble with lack of proper cvdtivation, fertilization and 
renewal, and among the categorical recommendations 
of the board of experts are the following ; A thorough 
thinning out; the removal of short-lived trees, and 
those not suitable for city conditions, such as poplars, 
hemlocks, pines, spruces and retinosporas ; careful and 
competent pruning and the proper protection of cut 
surfaces to avoid rot ; a clearing out of all trees, shrubs 
and herbaceous plantings in open glades and recesses 
in foliage lines ; the proper use of the fallen leaves for 
protection, and the creating of leaf mold ; and the regu- 
lar application of manures and fertilizers. The soil is 
recommended to be provided for certain limited areas. 
American Gardening sums up all the recommenda- 
tions tersely as a command “to apply good gardening 
practice to the parks of the city,” which will be a solu- 
tion of the problem based on a common sense view of 
it. The recommendations may be studied with profit. 
WHERE TO It is very often the case in our 
PLANT TREES. human effort that enthusiasm in an 
espoused cause leads to excess, or, in other words, our 
judgment and good sense come into conflict. For in- 
stance, what criticism has been passed upon the trim- 
ming of the trees in our park forest patches ! And yet 
such thinning accords strictly with the science of tree 
culture for such places, and affords the best assurance 
for the continued vitality and usefulness of the tract 
for the public benefit. This question is better under- 
stood now, and under expert advice is recognized as a 
necessity. And in the growing enthusiasm for the 
planting and care of street trees, one of the most beau- 
tiful and useful movements ever inaugurated, it is ab- 
solutely necessary that not only the laws governing the 
selection, growth and care of trees for the purpose 
should be strictly observed, but that such laws as relate 
to the public health should be first of all respected. 
This means that in streets and thoroughfares where the 
old-time policy of building residences close to the side- 
walks prevails, shade trees should give place to some 
other form of improvement. A ribbon of shrubbery 
contiguous to the sidewalk would give a pleasing em- 
bellishment to the street. Sunlight is essential to 
health, and where street trees detrimentally interfere 
with a proper share of its beneficent influences to the 
adjacent buildings, the idea of the street shade tree is 
misunderstood. In many of the older cities, especially 
in the East, numbers of streets are so shaded, owing to 
the conditions mentioned above, that both unhealthy 
and uncomfortable conditions prevail, and it is quite in 
order to remove the trees, although to many of our en- 
thusiasts such work may appear vandalism. We can 
educate enthusiasm without checking it, and at the 
same time cultivate it to bear upon all the requirements 
of art out of doors. 
