The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-01-12
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New Haven, Conn. Jan 9, 1873
To thu Honorable Board Of Commits
siOEers:
Gentlemen:
| ! have The honor to submit my second
ANNA, report for t;le year ending De-
cclnber 81, 1892 giving an account Of
all the Improvements carried cut in the
different parks. under my direction.
EAST ROCK PARK.
The Improvements here were numer-
Gus and of a much needed nature.
They commenced in the early spling
with a planting Ut shrubbery, ever
greens and herbaceous plants at the
Whitney Gate entrance. Owing to the
! poor quality of ground a large amount
| Of good loan and fertilizer was carried
! here and used in the planting, which
consisted of native plants. such as
Mountain Laurels, Rhode Island
RhododeadrOns, Azaleas. Black Alders,
Hcmlocks, jumpers, Berberries, etc,
making a combination appropriate for
! such location, q great number of
herbaceous and running vines were
also planted on steep entertainments
along the drives. The varieties used
! were most interesting and suitable for
J such places.
The park drives have been greatly
! improved this year by a top dressing Of
I fine crushed stone, trap-rocb obtained
! from our own crushing plant. The good
condition of the drives effected a no.
ticeable increase in the driving and
while we can obtain the material at a
comparatively low cost it IS advisable
+ to repair in this way.
A new feature in the park system is
| to keep teams for park work. An eX-
periment on small scale, with one
horse. has been made this year and
has proved to be good investment.
For the purpose an old building on the
park farm located on the east side of
| the Rock has been remodeled and sta
bles and sheds established \ small
/ sheep fold has also been built in an en-
closed pasturelot, where three sheep
are kept.
| The Soldiers Monument received
! some repairs which were found urgent,
! Several open joints in the face of the
| monument and in the steps around the
/ pelSS VI TIC SAINT NCIC POIilLCA with
! Portland cement The iron stairway in
! the structure has been thoroughly
| scraped and painted with asphaltum.
Further attention has been given to the
existing dampness in the monument, in
the way of ventilating it. A wooden
| panel with several openings about six
inches in diameter has been placed in
stead of the loaded glass panel at the
| foot of the stairway and a similar one
! put in the place of one of the windows
on the top. These openings which are
comparably small are simply an ex-
pertinent, but do, however, create suf-
ficient draft to show considerable i'm
provement in lessening the former
dampness.
For the purpose of economizing time
in filling the watering cart and so to in
crease the amount of sprinkling two
hydrants were placed, one at Whitney
Gate and the other on Farnam Drive,
directly at the junction of this drive
and the road leading to the north en-
trance. The last hydrant required a
supply line of pipe two thousand feet
in length, running fromc Quinnipiac
Shelter over Whitney Peak to its des-
tinatiOn. In connection with this a
foundation for an additional water tank
Of ten thousand, gallons capacity is in
readiness in Whitney Peak to receive
the tank which is also on hand. Still
, another water supply line was laid
from the Trowbrdge Drive to the farm
I house and stable and, in the summer,
is in daily use.
Three small rustic shelters and two
roof-coVered seats We're constructed of
different design and construction The
shelters are located in conspicuous
places while the seats are placed in
! more secluded spots. The view from
each of the shelters is char acteristic,
| grand and charming, especially from
those located above Rock Lane bridge
and at the edge of the southern face of
| the rock. These park ornaments are
greatly enjoyed and appreciated by the
visitors and are the gift of Commits
sioner Henry F. English.
| Another gift of great usefulness was
received from Mrs. Henry Farnan,
retaining wall, built on the Farnam
! Drive, for the purpose of protecting
| the embankment from sliding earth
| and stone. The wall is laid up dry,
! with old moss covered field boulders
and some of the large joints are filled
| with rock ferns and other plants grow
Ing in such places, while the top of the
wall and small spacs back from it
received a similar planting treatment
I in order to make the whole appear nat
! ural and rustic.
| Most Of the paths and places of inter-
! est were named and are now posted
with signs in locations where visitors
i would look for information.
A nursery ground has been selected
at the north end of the park, contain
| ing about four acres. This land is Of
good quality and was under cultiva-
ton some twenty years ago, but has
since returned to it's wild state. Two
and a half acres have lately been COM
pletey cleared of all undesirable
! growth and stones and then plowed
A new foot path is under construc-
! ton, leading from Rock Lane bridge to
Willow path, a very desirable improve
ment suggested by Judge Baldwin.
| At intervals at attempt is made to
| do some forest clearing, but so far this
work consists mostly of taking from
I the woodland the dead trees. Some of
our boundaries were properly deterinin-
! ed and marked by the city engineers.
WEST ROCK PARK.