Park

a public ground for recreation. Parks are of several types. The older parks are the grounds of the Old World nobility. Some are of great extent and are almost in a state of nature; many are studded with noble oaks and other forest trees. The grass is cropped by grazing deer. Fish play in the pools and swans nest on artificial islands. Birds are protected, flowers are cultivated, and hedges are trimmed. In others landscape gardening is brought to a fine art. "Royal," "Imperial," are but Old World terms for public. Parks of this sort are as open as American parks. The owners of many estates take pride in making the public welcome. Other owners order their iron gates swung open only on certain days or during the absence of the family, or at such hours as the great family may not desire to walk or ride abroad. Many a so-called owner allows the village urchin to flatten his face against the iron bars, vainly wishing he might reach what was the public common or playground centuries ago.

There are many beautiful city parks on the other side of the Atlantic. Zoological collections are a feature. European city teachers make a practice of improving a half holiday by taking their charges to see the animals. Paris has spacious "woods." Stockholm has 33 parks; Moscow, 48; London, 50; Glasgow, 30; Liverpool, 20; Edinburgh, 15; Birmingham, 13; Brussels, 11; Hamburg, 11; Berlin, 83; and even Athens has 2.

The most noted parks on this side of the Atlantic are the Yellowstone National and the Canadian National, to each of which a separate article is devoted. The forest reserves are national parks in the best sense. If maintained on the present scale it will be many a century before America will be so crowded that there will be no chance to go camping.

Of American cities, New York leads with 6,909 acres of actual park. Philadelphia is second, with 4,044 acres. Other cities having over a thousand acres in trees and sward and flowers and water are Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, Buffalo, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Milwaukee. Some of the noted city parks of the world are: