The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-09-27

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Landscape gardening in its highest form
will be n Of the most beautiful and in
teresting features of the St Louis
Worlds Fair.
The fine horticultural art which can CON
vert rough, debris-covered hillsides into
smooth lawns and flower gardens will be
applied almost to perfection.
FlowerH shrubs and grasses. represent
ing the seven colors of the rainbow Will
line the avenues. b~eautify the lawns.
cover buildings and monuments, and com
plete the picture of the cascade gardens.
The work of carrying out these plans.
Wnicn to. the layman appears almost i'm
possible In the time remaining. Is well I'm
hand, and is being pushed as rapidly as is
the case with the exhibit palaces and
other architectural features.
For the first time in the history of ex-
position building. the landscape depart
ment OF the Fair is raising and culti-
Vaons all OF its own flowers. vines. hedges
and many of the other plants to be used
In ornamenting the grounds.
II was under the supervision OF the land
scape department that the great trees
Wmch form the avenues along the lagoons
were transplanted
These trees are now being nursed like
1ehoate children, 20 they will be in full
N AOoA WHICH VlSlIOTS from all
quarters OF the globe promenade under
them.
In the main picture of the Exposition
every available space where plants or
grass can grow will be occupied nv land
scape features. Little flower beds. Mats
OF grass and lines of hedge will be slipped
INTO spots where they will present a mos
attractive appearance, and relieve the
stern lines Of the architecture.
The greatest landscape triumph. how
ever. viii be in the cascade gardens.
Here hundreds of thousands of plan+,
VIII carry out a harmonious color desrn
ene equal OF which has never been pro-
duced. ~
The flowers will be 30 range .bo+
their effect against the architectural hack
ground and waterfalls will form a classic
picture never to be forgotten.
GROUND is BEING
COVERED WITH SOD.
Though great things have been accom-
plished by the Landscape Department. up-
to-date the results are not as SNOWY as
Is the case In other departments of the
Division of Works.
In reality, however, the work Is fur
Their along. Fountains are well laid. so
that when the time for crowddng comes. it
can be pushed to completion without a
hitch.
The principal operations of Chief Land
scape Architect George E.. Kessler and his
lieutenant, D. W. G. Perry, Superintend-
ent of the Landscape Department, at
present consist Of shaping the ground and
covering II with sod. laying out flower
beds and preparing for planting flowers
in the spring.
Shrub planting viii be added to this in
about two weeks.
The routine work consists of caring for
transplanted trees. watering lawns and
keeping them cut and weeded; but prin-
cipally In carrying on the important busi-
ness in the hothouses and nurseries.
These latter form a department of their
own, IN which a large force OF the best
gardeners obtainable are kept busy from
early morning until shutdown.
They go silently to work. apparently on
their W account and with none of the
noise and hustle which attends operations
on the architectural features.
we or three days later a solitary gar
dener is seen sprinkling a hose on a fine
looking lawn which a week before resem-
bled a dumping ground for a city's trash.
In the matte. Of laying sod, new meth
DDS have been introduced by the Land
scape Department.
The old-fashioned system of putting
down small slabs about the size of a
shovel blade has been abandoned. That
metnoo required too long a time to be Of
in exposition building.
Instead of the little square slabs. rolls 4
sod 5 to feet long are skinned of the
surface, rolled up and hauled in wagons 1
10 the plat to be sodded. There they are /
and laid on as easily as one I
would put own q carpet.
The earth underneath has been treated a
and with a little sprinkling :
NE Grass begins to grow rs IL 1t had been I