THE ANNUAL MEETING. 145 



wishes to consult his own taste in keeping it. The taste of the average person 

 is not very good, and the tastes of all of them do not harmonize very well. 

 To check this defect the deeds of lots should provide that no planting shall be 

 made without the approval of the trustees or the superintendent. The next 

 thing, or rather the first in order, is to secure a competent superintendent and 

 a good board. A good soil for grass and trees is very desirable in a cemetery, 

 although this is too often overlooked in making tlie selection. Large trees, 

 natives and exotic, are desirable in certain places, but seldom if ever on lots 

 intended for burial. Evergreens and oak trees are especially appropriate, and 

 certain weeping trees and some shrubbery. Well kept turf is very 

 important. For this good soil, proper grasses and frequent mowing are 

 necessary. And these places must not be much shaded with trees, 

 which also cut off the nourishment and moisture which the grass must 

 have if it makes a thrifty growth. It is much better to plant but 

 few trees and shrubs and take good care of them than to plant many and give 

 but little care. Good care cannot be secured without money to employ a com- 

 petent person who understands the planting and care of trees, shrubs, and the 

 making and care of a lawn and paths. Trees and shrubs need occasional 

 watching all the year through ; they need trimming a little and protection 

 from mice, rabbits and snow. 



With no care except fencing, a cemetery presents a sorry and forbidding 

 sight and is scarcely worthy to be called a cemetery. Such places are still very 

 common, especially in small church yards in the country. The surface is 

 rough, the grass and weeds are tall, straggling and uneven. Bushes, briars, 

 and unkept trees, a white board fence with a few marble slabs complete the 

 picture. The list of suitable trees and shrubs is a long one and includes 

 almost anything which would be suitable for a park or arboretum. 



I cannot close this paper, already too lengthy, without uttering a protest 

 against the common and almost exclusive use of white marble for 

 marking the last resting place of the dead. The color is too cold and glar- 

 ing, the material is too soft and perishable. It will at best only remain for a 

 life-time in respectable condition. Marble works easily and can be cheaply 

 furnished. This can also be said of wood. Weather wears away the inscrip- 

 tions and time eats the marble. Except wood, marble is one of the poorest 

 materials for such a purpose. 



CULTUKE OF PLANTS. 



Mr. Gibson : The adornment of home is an incentive to virtue. A good cit- 

 izen, a good parent, a dutiful child are all the outcome of a beautiful home. 

 Nature produces the most beautiful things with which to adorn a home. The 

 most delightful attractions that can be brought into home life are not confined 

 to the rich. We find greater delicacy of texture in a petal than in the finest 

 silk fabric, and far greater beauty of form and color in the flowers and plants 

 about us than were ever produced by a Raphael or a Rubens. The wealthy can 

 spend vast sums, and very properly too, upon the finest of art, and there still 

 remains a higher type of beauty that can be obtained without money and with- 

 out price, by bestowing a little love upon a few plants in the window. 



But I was to give a few practical hints upon the culture of plants from my 

 own experience. To make good winter bloomers set young plants in the open, 

 ground in spring and keep them from blooming all summer ; pinch in the 



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