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BELMONTS BEATIFICATION • Apparently Artistic Demands of Management Never Satisfied. • Kach Tear Brings More and More Wonders and No Climax Reached — What the Public Will See in l»7. * * NEW YORK. K T., April 23— The New York racing public has become in a measure prepared for surprises at Belmont Park, which has had a new beauty to accentuate its general charm every spring for the last four or five years. Each year it seemed that the task of beautification had reached a climax, but the artistic demands of the management have never been entirely satisfied. Whether anything more can be accomplished by President Joseph E. Widener and his associates remains to be seen. Since last year a lake 750 feet long by some 320 feet in width has been installed in the infield opposite the entrance to the club enclosure. This has involved a world of work, hundreds of thousands of yards of dirt having to be handled, while every foot of the surface has been tamped with a. waterproof clay that was brought from the lower end of Long Island. The borders of this lake are adorned with shrubs and flowering plants, and swans will disport themselves on the bosom of the pond during the season. An island near the upper end of the lake is being beautified with plantings of various sorts, as this is being written. Perhaps the most noticeable change that will be seen in an atmosphere where the face of nature has been so greatly altered will manifest itself in connection with the installation of thousands of trees and an infinite number of privet and other shrubs, the whole scheme serving to outline the course proper and to adorn sections that needed this final touch of the landscape gardeners hand. BUYS ENTIRE NURSERY. In order to have the material necessary for these improvements at hand. Mr. Widener bought an entire nursery last fall. More than 3,000 trees from five to eight inch caliper, and some of them even larger, have been moved and placed in various parts of Belmont Park. Most of them are maples, but there are hundreds of beeches, laurels, elms, dogwoods and evergreens. The grove at the top of the stretch, which attracted so much attention last year, has been augmented, and the fringe of timber along the backstretch and around the turn has been added to, so that it will present a solid body of green on the opening day of the Westchester meeting. These will cut off the view of the railway and the hundreds of houses that have been constructed in the neighborhood of Belmont Park the past year. The avenues between the stables have been lined with fine straight maples, which will furnish not only an abundance of shade in the near future, but add to the general adornment of the plant The outer rail along the backstretch has been removed, and the boundary is now etched in privet, eight feet in height. The same planting lines the outer rail from a point opposite the lower end of the lake to the beginning of the turn. Save where a view of the lake is concerned this privet will be allowed to grow uncontrolled. In addition to the work that has been done on the course, more than 0,000 has been spent in improving the condition of the historic old Manice mansion, which has been the home of the Turf and Field Club for several years. While much has been done to the interior of the building, the best and most important changes have had te» do with the cuisine. A new kitchen has been installed and an octagonal glass-enclosed dining room, capable of accommodating be-tween 300 and 400 persons, has been built at the back of the fine old pile, which has been the scene of many notable gatherings in the more than 150 years of its existence. Rhododendrons and "other flowering shrubs have been planted in the space between the manor and the fence, and the entire area will be radiant with color for the opening of the season on Thursday. May 19. «
