RURAL CEMETERIES. 443 



cost of both construction and maintenance, and the proportion of 

 the whole tract which is suitable for burial purposes, from which 

 the income must be derived, should receive careful consideration. 



The so-called " lawn method "of laying out the cemetery is that 

 which ia now followed, almost without exception, and even in the 

 larger and older cemeteries, which were originally platted in a 

 more artificial and gardenesque style, the later additions are being 

 laid out in this way. Briefly described, the " lawn method " is as 

 follows: All footpaths of gravel are omitted, except under very 

 special and unusual circumstances; the drives are so located as to 

 follow, as far as possible, the natural topography of the ground, and 

 to enclose " sections" of such size as to be of convenient access in 

 every part; these sections are subdivided into lots of the desired 

 dimensions, each lot having a frontage on the drive or on an alley 

 or path crossing the section; the alleys, however, being kept on a 

 grade with the lots and sodded, so that the entire section shall be 

 to the eye a lawn ; the corners of the lots to be designated by markers 

 of some indestructible material set flush with the ground, and all 

 the demarkalion by means of fences, curbs or graded borders to be 

 strictly forbidden. 



While this may seem, to those accustomed to the old-fashioned 

 "burying grounds," a wide departure, there are still a few other 

 rules which, if enforced, as they may be where the community is 

 sufficiently educated artistically to appreciate their reasonableness, 

 will add much to the beauty of the grounds. 

 Briefly set forth they are: 



First — But one monument or piece of statuary to be set on each 

 lot. 



Second — No foot stones to be used and each grave to be designated 

 by one stone marker of modest dimensions firmly set on a proper 

 foundation at the head or, better yet, set horizontally and flush with 

 the surface of the lawn. 



Third — No mounds to be raised over the graves, but all to be fin- 

 ished to the general level of the ground. 



Other rules governing the constructions of tombs and foundations 

 for monuments and markers, and the planting or removing of trees, 

 shrubs and flowers, and other details of the work, will in practice be 

 found necessary. 



While this may seem to those accustomed to the ordinary hap- 

 hazard methods to involve a needless amount of red-tape and dic- 

 tation on the part of those in charge of the cemetery, they are all 

 founded on good and sufficient reasons, and when inspecting a 

 cemetery conducted on' these lines, with the numerous unoccupied 

 corners and fractional lots left in the platting, ornamented with 

 flowering shrubs and plants, and bordered with tastefully arranged 

 and neatly cared-for plantations of native trees and shrubs, we may 

 well believe that it was of some such spot the poet spoke when he 

 said: 



"Be my last rest from life's alarms 



Not in the thundering surges of the seas; 

 Not in the city's din, but midst the calm 

 And sacred silence of such shades as these." 



