SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 499 



PARKS AND CEMETERIES. 



What Ouk Parks Should Be. — Mr. A. S. Fuller of New Jersey, in an 

 extended article makes the following points, which we appropriate: 



There is one feature that appears to be wanting in all of the public parks 

 throughout the country that should not be longer neglected, and this is a 

 collection of all our native trees and shrubs that can be made to thrive in 

 the locality where the public park is situated. It cannot be expected that 

 tropical or semi-tropical trees and shrubs will thrive in the parks of Boston, 

 New York, or Chicago; but there are hundreds - of species that will grow in 

 these parks that are not to be found there, and, so far as we know, have 

 never been tried. There can be no question about the intrinsic value or 

 beauty of our native trees and shrubs, and, as a whole, they are not excelled 

 by those of any country ; consequently they should have been sought first 

 and foreign species last for the ornamentation of our parks and pleasure 

 grounds. The contrary, however, appears to be the ruling idea of those 

 who make selections of trees and shrubs for our parks. Of course there can 

 be no objection to those that thrive in our climate, but to use those in pref- 

 erence or to the exclusion of our indigenous kinds is an act for which th^ere 

 can be no excuse, unless it be on the score of cheapness and great abundance 

 in the local nurseries. The idea of " far fetched and dear bought " has so 

 long prevailed in this country — and especially among landscape gardeners — 

 that very few of them know anything about the noble trees and elegant 

 shrubs of our own country; and while for many years we have seen them 

 extolled in European works on landscape gardening and nurserymen's cata- 

 logues, comparatively few of them can be found growing in our public parks 

 and pleasure grounds. Specimens of the Douglass spruce a hundred feet 

 high are to be seen in English parks, but it is doubtful if one be found in 

 any of our public parks ten feet high ; and yet this is one of the most 

 abundant forest trees in our Western States and Territories. The same is 

 true of a score of other native species of evergreen and deciduous trees and 

 shrubs that ought to be, but are not, found in the great public parks of this 

 country. 



Practical Suggestions Concerning Cemeteries. — Ossian C. Simonds, su- 

 perintendent of Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, in an excellent article on rural 

 cemeteries, makes the following practical suggestions: 



A gravel drive should lead to within one hundred and fifty or two hundred 

 feet of every point in the cemetery, and there should be as few drives as pos- 

 sible and comply with this condition. Every drive should have an easy grade, 

 and its location should be determined by the shape of the land, the existing 

 trees, the desirable views and the condition named above. A curved drive is 

 much more pleasing than a straight one, but there should be no unnecessary 

 curve. The walks leading from the drives to the family lots should be left in 

 grass and form a part of a continuous lawn. A pleasing vista can be preserved 

 by leading one of these grass walks through it, making the lots fronting on 

 this walk deep in proportion to the width, and requiring all monuments that 

 are erected to be placed at the rear of the lots. Along each side of the drive, 

 and in places that are specially interesting for any reason, as for commanding 



