TREES FOE EUE^VL CEMETEEIES. 



lawns, crowded together on small cemetery lots, wtere they are entirely out of place. 

 We lately saw no less than sixteen Mountain Ash planted in parallel rows on a lot 

 about thirty or forty feet square. 



Very grave errors are committed in planting too many trees, as well as in planting 

 unsuitable kinds. People allow themselves to be deceived by the small size of the 

 trees when they plant, Norway Spruce, and other evergreens of the largest size, one 

 or two feet high, planted ten feet distant, look to be far enough apart ; but in a very 

 few years they must be thinned out, or they will encroach upon and injure each other. 

 Very few, however, have the forethought or courage to thin ; and therefore the trees 

 grow up in a tangled, unsightly mass. AVe think it must be obvious to any one who 

 will reflect upon the matter, that the narrow limits of a cemetery lot of the usual size 

 is not the place for trees of the largest size. They may be very properly applied to 

 filling up borders and such places as are devoted entirely to plantations. Two or three 

 well chosen trees, properly placed and carefully cultivated, with a good, thick, closely 

 mown carpet of grass, will always give an appropriate and beautiful appearance to a 

 small lot. A few of the more becoming flowers may of course be added. — such as a 

 white Rose, a few bunches of sweet Violets, or Daises — the associations of which are 

 in harmony with the place. 



Evergreens should enter largely into the ornaments of the grave-yard. In summer 

 they have a quiet and sombre hue ; and in winter they impart a certain degree or 

 warmth and cheerfulness, which relieves the gloomy and « 



desolate aspect of nature at that season. 



There are cases, however, above all rules. For in- 

 stance, when a deceased friend may have been a partic- 

 ular admirer of certain trees, shrubs, or flowers, aflec- 

 tion might prompt us to plant them by the grave, even 

 if they were not of the most suitable character. Other 

 circumstances may justify similar exceptions, provided 

 always they are not ludicrous, as many conceits are. 



The Arbor Vitses and Junipers furnish some very suit- 

 able small sized trees. Our American Arbor Vitce {Thuya 

 occidentalis) is a handsome, spiry-topped tree; but the 

 color is too dull, even in summer, and therefore objec- 

 tionable. It is now, we observe, much used in Green- 

 wood for hedges to inclose lots; and it answers this pur- 

 pose very well, as it bears any degree of shearing or clip- 

 ping that may be necessary. 



As an ornamental tree, we prefer the Chinese species, 

 (Biota oricntalis,) being more compact in growth, and 

 of a much better color in summer, although it turns 

 rather brown at the north in winter. The branches 



hen young have a spreading habit, but as it grows 

 they become erect. It forms a tree fifteen to 



