144 STATE HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



pal American cities, are a great advance upon anything of the kind in Europe. 

 There are half a dozen or more within driving distance of New York. No 

 good fashion ever spread so rapidly." 



In reference to the mode of burying in the old country, Prof. W. H. 

 Brewer, of Yale college, says "There arc many places where they leave only 

 a limited space for their graveyards, and the remains are removed after five, 

 seven or more years to make room for others." 



As I have said, one of the oldest and the most distinguished State horticul- 

 tural societies was not only influential in adorning a rural cemetery, but 

 selected and purchased the land. By an act of the legislature the society was 

 clothed with authority to make a perpetual dedication of the spot as a rural 

 cemetery and to plant and embellish it with shrubbery and flowers, and trees 

 and walks, and other rural ornaments. Although not intenaed as a specula- 

 tion for the society it proved to be a good money investment which still brings 

 the society from $3,000 to $7,000 or more a year. Perhaps it would be a good 

 plan for this society to go into some speculation which would bring as good 

 returns. In Mount Auburn the rubbish and undergrowth were cleared away 

 and the whole converted into a park. " The avenues and paths were planned 

 as far as possible to conform to the natural surface of the ground. Curved 

 or winding courses were generally adopted, both for picturesque effect and 

 for easy apj^roach to the lots. The drives Avere about 18 feet wide and the 

 paths about 5. The lots were 25 by 15 feet and set back six feet from the 

 paths. The beautiful and appropriate names of trees and shrubs were adopted 

 for the paths and avenues. Ponds were deepened and streams of fresh water 

 introduced into them." In a flat, low country, as in the vicinity of Chicago, 

 lakes are excavated to get earth to raise the rest of the cemetery to a proper 

 height. "Prom the outset the Horticultural Society of Massachusetts exerted 

 its whole influence to make Mount Auburn a model in all respects." It was 

 advised that the area of the lots should not be^planted with trees or shrubs, 

 but left free and open, and that plants used for edgings should be of very 

 humble character, and that hedges should be avoided as liable to become sa 

 filled with wood as to present a mass of brambles with but little verdure, while 

 the ground would be tilled with roots and the monuments would be hidden 

 from view. Directions were also given for securins; a verdant surface of turf 

 and for forming the borders for flowers and ornamental trees and shrubs. 

 The committee sum up with the remark that ''the general appearance of the 

 whole grounds should be that of a well managed park, and the lots only so far 

 ornamented with shrubs and flowers as to constitute rich borders to the avenues 

 and pathways, without giving to them the aspect of a dense and wild coppice or 

 neglected garden." Art and nature were to combine their beauties to grace a 

 scene devoted to the last resting place of the dead. 



The good example set by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society soon 

 "took the public mind by storm." The adornment of rural cemeteries became 

 all the rage. Another good regulation now adopted by all the best cemeteries 

 is tliis : " Whenever a lot is sold, an additional sum of money is required, the 

 interest of which is used in the perpetual care of the lot, which precaution 

 insures the grounds being always kept in the best possible condition. It is a 

 pleasant thought while one is yet alive that his last bed will be continually and 

 forever strewn with beautiful flowers." It is of little use to select and plant 

 trees or shrubs w'ithout making some provision for their care. 



When trying to keep a cemetery in tine condition there are many difficulties 

 to contend with, especially in a new country. Every person owning a lot 



