AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
175 
have yet heard of, satisfied with their perform¬ 
ance. Thus there were great losses to the man¬ 
ufacturers, and greater disappointment to the 
farmers. 
It is astonishing to me that the manufacturers 
and farmers of this country will submit with quiet 
impunity to such a waste of their time and money. 
I shall now leave them to apply such terms as 
they think proper to the proceedings of the various 
Judges and Committees under review in these 
papers. H. L. 
Syracuse, May 3, 1858. 
-0-4- i i > » ■ ■ - 
The New-York “Central Park.” 
Our readers have heard ere this that, after all 
the talk about it, we are really to have a great 
Park in this city, and as it is to be one of the 
finest things of the kind on this Continent we 
think they will be interested in seeing the general 
plan for laying it out, prepared by Messrs. Calvert 
Vaux & rrederick. L. Olmstead, and just 
adopted by the commissioners. To understand 
the location of me Park it maybe well to describe 
the city and Island briefly. 
Manhattan Island upon which New-York city 
stands, is some 13| miles long from south to north, 
and is bounded on the west by the Hudson river; on 
the east, by the East river (or outlet of Long 
Island Sound) which at the south end of the 
Island unites with the Hudson river forming the 
magnificent New-York Bay or Harbor. The north 
end of the Island is separated from the main land 
of Westchester County by a stream connecting the 
East and Hudson rivers, and called in its eastern 
portion the Harlem river, and in the western part 
the Spuytenduyvil Creek. (These two names are 
given respectively east and west of the point 
where the tides from either side meet.) 
From its southern pointed end, the Island 
widens to nearly three miles, and is gradually 
contracted again further north. The main part 
of the “ built up” portion of New-York city oc¬ 
cupies about five miles of the south end of the 
Island. The heaviest business portion is upon the 
south end—1£ miles being almost wholly occupied 
with mercantile establishments, which are also 
more or less scattered over the whole city. 
For about two miles up from the south end, or 
Battery, the streets run in almost all directions, 
with one main street called Broadway (not very 
broad) running a little east of north, nearly through 
the center of the city, in a straight line from the 
Battery, 2J miles, to Tenth street, where it bends 
to a direct north course, cutting most of the 
regular streets and avenues at an angle. 
About 2 miles from the south end, the streets 
begin to be regular, and consist of broad Avenues 
running north and south parallel to each other, 
with parallel streets crossing the avenues at right 
angles and extending from the east to the west or 
Hudson River (usually called “ North River”.) 
The longer “ avenues” numbered from east to 
west, are named I, II, III, IV, V, and so on 
to XI and XII. These avenues run nearly 
north and south—or a little from southwest to 
northeast. The figures at the bottom and top of 
the accompanying engraving show the Vth and 
Vlllth avenues, and the place of the intercepted 
avenues VI and VII. It will be seen that the 
Park lies nearly in the middle of the Island from 
east to west, that is midway between the 
1st and Xllth aven res. 
As before stated, tire streets run nearly east and 
west across the avenues. Portions of the streets 
are shown on either side of the Park. Those streets 
running east and west are numbered 1,2,3,4 &c., 
from south to north, beginning about 2 miles from 
the south end of the city. It will be noticed that 
the Park is bounded on.the south by 59th stieet, 
and on the north by 106th. street. The south end 
of the Park, (59th street) is very nearly five miles 
from the Battery or south end of the city. [We 
shall have quite a journey to get from our office 
in the south part of the city, to the Park for an 
afternoon’s stroll.] There are some twenty cross 
streets to the mile, so that the Park, from south 
to north, (59th to 106th streets) extends across 
47 blocks, or about 2£ miles, and is a little over 
half a mile wide. It contains, therefore, in the 
VIII VII vi v 
VIII VII vi V 
NEW-YORK CENTRAL PARK. 
neighborhood of 700 acres. An idea may be 
formed of its size by imagining it cut across into 
seven 100-acre-farms, each being half a mile long 
east and west, and about 100 rods wide north and 
south. This, however, is but little more than one- 
eighteenth part of the whole Island, which con¬ 
tains some 20 square miles, or nearly 13,000 acres. 
The engraving gives a pretty clear idea of the 
laying out of the Park. The walks, drives &c., 
are in the main indicated. The four business 
avenues running through the Park to connect the 
east and west sides of the city, at 65, 7S, 85, and 
97th streets, are intended to be chiefly under¬ 
ground, so as not to interfere with the walks or 
drives, or the general appearance of the Park 
itself. 
The main Entrance is at the southeast corner, 
from Fifth Avenue, from which a broad carriage 
road winds along on the eastern side, and back on 
the west side, with several outlets. This will 
give a continuous drive of six or seven miles, dur¬ 
ing which can be seen the main features and points 
of interest in the whole Park. The ground is un¬ 
even, and naturally varied with elevated points ol 
land, and rocky bluffs, with depressions or hollows. 
These admirably adapt it to the purpose for which 
it is intended. 
There is a considerable variety of native trees 
still standing, to which it is proposed to add many 
others, so as to present to the visitor all the 
trees as well as shrubs and plants indigenous 
to this country, or all that wiil grow as far North 
as this latitude. A conservatory of plants is also 
provided for. 
The Parade-ground, on the southwestern side, 
will contain about 25 acres. Then ample play¬ 
grounds are to be reserved, one in the south, one 
in the middle, and one at the north end. 
Numerous shady walks and promenades, 
groves, &c., will be arranged over the whole 
Park. One beautiful feature will be the great 
number of evergreens to be interspersed, here in 
single specimens, and there in groups, giving the 
whole a cheerful aspect throughout the Winter 
season. 
The laying out and fitting up of these splendid 
grounds will be pushed forward vigorously, though 
it will be many years before the work will be 
completed. It will be but a brief period, how¬ 
ever, before the Great Central Park will be the 
leading object of interest in the Metropolitan City 
of the Western Continent, and will of itself be 
worth a pilgrimage to see, study—and enjoy. 
Tha Ailantus for Prairies 
We can hardly answer the inquiries ofE. L. 
Watts, Lasalle Co , Ill, and others, as to the pro¬ 
bable value of the Ailantus for Prairies. This tree 
has not been in very high repute in the Eastern 
States, the two principal objections being its of¬ 
fensive odor when in bloom, and its tendency to 
spread beyond desired bounds, both by root sprouts 
and the scattering of its winged seeds. Its vigor¬ 
ous propagation would hardly be considered an 
objection in localities where there is such a scar 
city of trees as on the prair ies. We do not esteem 
the odor of the flowers so great an objection as 
many have done ; it lasts but a brief period, and 
would never have been greatly heeded had not peo¬ 
ple ran wild in planting them in needless profu¬ 
sion directly around and almost within their 
dwellings. As a shade tree they are rather late 
in leafing out. At this date (May 17), they show 
no leaves, here, while the maples have put on 
their full mantles of green foliage. 
The Ailantus is not so hardy as to be reliable 
north of latitude - 43°. It is a very rapid grower, 
and even we living upon the prairies Scuth of 43 
we should give this tree a trial, but not go large¬ 
ly into its culture. The seed may be obtained ot 
our regular advertisers, Thorburn, and Bridgman. 
It may be sown at almost any time, best perhaps 
in March, April or May. 
-- -« €> »— --- 
Good nature, like a glow-worm, sheds light 
even in filthy places. 
