St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-03-22
Supt. Estabrook Submits His
Annual Report Of Work
Accomplished.
a Vast Number Of Trees Set
Out and Shrubs EIade
Obtainable.
Como Park Now Ready for the
Expected Influx OF Pic
niekepS.
Work on the Summit Avenue
Park and the Connected
Boulevard.

quietly at WORK 10 gradually IcpldcG
the ravage by other means. Supt. Esta-
brooks annual report does not cover
many breathing places, but it is inter
esting in its details. He says:
At Como Park a small force OF labor
ers and a few teams were continually
employed until the 18th inst, the aggre-
gate cost for labor being $l9,340.S2. In
mates of the city wOrkhOuSe were also
employed in the park, the average force
being twenty-five men and two and a
half guards. improvements during the
year embrace more work on lawns,
paintings and proposed water areas
than in either of the previous years.
Several extensions to the underbruSh
clearingS in progress the year before,
were made. and the cleared ground was
graded and seeded. The West grove is
DOW ready for picnic parties, though
the sod there is yet too tender for con-
tinued use. TO make these grounds
mole accessible for picnic teams. mar
row winding drive was opened from
the drive intersection west of the
concourSe. to the drive opposite the
park nursery. A widening was made at
a sheltered point in the new drive to
give sufficient space for hilching horses.
From the old surface along the line of
this new drive fine lot of top soil and
leafmould was secured and compoSted
with the product of several dairy sta
bleS, thus making a large pile of that
will be very valuable for park use in
the spring. Absence Of heavy rains and
SHOWS the past few years has dried all
water pools in the park and made the
low places appear as though there was
little danger from overflow during
thaWS; but experience, even last Win
ter, demonstrated that surface water
will accumulate in the low parts of the
nurSerySufficient to make ice and destroy
trees. Water from melting snow must
accumulate in all low places sufficient
to seriously injure park paintings, I'M
less outlets or drains have been pre-
vously provided. During the year a
pipe drain was laid from the lake west
to the nursery, length of 300 feet.
The outlet portion is eighteen inches in
diameter. the middle fifteen inches and
the nursery part twelve inches; the
depth generally is four to six feet, but
at some points reaches fifteen feet.
Eight catchbaSinS were constructed at
low places along the line to receive sur
face water, and tile drains were put in
where underground water was likely to
be troublesome. Another tile drain
was put under the west gutter of the
north and south drive west of the con-
course, length of about LOCO feet. The
surrounding country is level and loamy.
tending TO make the drive there soft in
the spring. 1t is hoped that the drain
will obyiate this trouble. Considerable
grading was done in the great meadow
north of the workhOuse' and about mid
summer this was seeded. The slopes
and high land adjoining were, however,
not graded. East of the farm hOnSe
smaller lawn was graded. This is to be
used as chiidren'S playground, when
ever the state road now SubdiYiding it
shall be vacated.
During the winter, both the paid
force and the WOrkhouSe force were en-
plOyed at eXcavatilg the marsh north of
of the farm house. Only a few years
ago this marsh formed an important
arm of Lake Como, with sufficient
depth of water for large sail boats.
Now we can eXcavate there three or
four feet before reaching water. The
eXcavated material is most excellent
top-dresSing for the grayelly ridges,
and many of these ridges throughout
the park have been covered with it. A
portion of the material has been used
TO raise the west part of the marsh to
convert it into an attractive meadow
with sufficient slope to insure drainage.
A slight addition of heavier material
will probably have to be added to form
proper graSS-bearing surface. Other
portions of the eXcavated material were
used to give more pleasing forms to the
surrounding hillsides. 1t is hoped that
an arteSlan supply Of water can be OBJ
tanned in sufficient quantity to restore
the water surface so far as the
excavations have been continued, and
i0ll Il fn no Ian nF
feet.
frees Set Out.
In the spring a considerable number
and variety of trees, shrubs and vines
were purchased for Como park, and eX-
tenSive paintings were commenced at
the intersection of drives, and especially
along the drive from the lake to the
concourse. Ibis drive leads through
stony, barren ridges that sadly need
screening and such relief as attractive
foliage would afford. while at the same
time the natural division between two
portions of the park requires to be more
emphasized by thick planting there.
The following is list of trees, shrubs
and vines planted in Como park during
the past year:
One hundred and fifty sugar maple, 50 lin
'
30 box elder, u mountain ash, 2SS cutleaved
willow, 20 weeping willows, 10 weeping ash
10 cut leaved linden, 10 weeping beech, II
Camperdown elm, 10 slippery elm, 10 weeping
poplar, 10 scarlet maple, 10 cut-eaved mount
ain ash, 10 nettle trees, 10 paulownia ~ sails
buria 10 sweet gum, 10 red oak, 10 English
oak. 100 yellow birch 100 white birch, 81
black walnut, 100 red cedar, 30 hem
berian arbor. vita, 1O5 spruce. 0
lilac, 40 purple berberry, 81 euonymus
i ligustrum, - hOneySuckie (bush), T. ST
berian dogwood IL syringa, 10 purple filbert
40 deutZia, % cut-leaved elder, 10 forsythia,
~ althea, A fringe (white and PURPLE. Il
thorn, 10 tamariX, 10 aZalia. 10 rhododendron
136 spirea, l. welgelia, Up hydaengea, Il Der
berry (green1eaved), A almond (pink and
white). 81 snow ball, u II. B. cranberry 1:
June berry, 100 roses, 33 laburnum, 200 Savia
junipeTus. p kalmia 90 clemats, l. ceias
trus. n aristolochia, "a honeycuckle, l. wis
terra, 100 dewberry, - Ampelopsis Yeti
cheii, 10 bignonia, $50 paony 80 dielytra, ,;
dic9ntra
Our success with the harder decidu-
Gus trees planted during the year has,
this far, been quite satisfactory, not
withstanding continued dry weather
The following are exceptions to the
above: About ) per cent of the sugar
naples failed; s to 10 per cent of the
cut-leaved birch, red willow, cut-leaved
linden. cut-leaved ash and sweet gum
10 to 20 per cent of buckeye, weeping
willow, Camperdown elm, weeping
poplar, sycamore, maple, scarlet maple,
English oak, yellow and white birch,
and 80 to 10 per cent of the weeping
beech, Norway cut-leaved maple, Tar
tartan maple and nettle tree. If even
ten per cent of some of these varieties
can be made to grow successfully, it
will be well worth the effort and ex.
pense.
OF the shrubbery planted, the loss
thus far has been scarcely anything, ex.
cept 20 to % per cent of the purple Der
berry, Towering almond, white and
purple fringe, tamariX and rhododen.
drnn The same NAV be said of the