25O MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor: The lady spoke about the needs of the 

 horticultural society, and one was more members. I believe one 

 way of accomplishing that end is to bring our sons and daughters 

 with us next year. I brought a son and daughter here last year, 

 and they were very much pleased with what they saw and heard. 

 I would like to see every parent bring his sons and daughters to 

 these meetings, and we would soon recognize an increased interest 

 in the work. 



THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF CEME- 

 TERIES. 



A. W. HOBERT, SUPT. LAKEWOOD CEMETERY, MINNEAPOLIS. 



In this progressive age it would be strange, indeed, if new 

 methods did not prevail in construction and maintenance of ceme- 

 teries as well as in other lines of work, yet when I visit the ceme- 

 teries throughout the country I am surprised that intelligent and 

 well to do communities should allow their burial places to become 

 so uilapidated and forlorn in appearance as the majority of them 

 are. Although the past ten years have brought about marvelous 

 changes for the better, there is still vast room for improvement. 



In planning a new cemetery the first thing to consider is 

 location. The. ideal cemetery should be on a high piece of land, 

 with gravelly or sandy subsoil and ggod black soil and clay sur- 

 face, slightly rolling, near enough to the city to be of easy access 

 and, if possible, on a street car line. 



In order to produce the best effect the ground must be care- 

 fully studied as to topography, surroundings, soil, etc., bearing in 

 mind that the future of the place may be made or marred by the 

 very first work done. 



We will first consider the location of the drives, which should, 

 as far as possible, follow the natural contour of the ground, occu- 

 pying the low places, thus allowing easy and natural drainage. A 

 mistake too frequently made is that of building too many drives. 

 My experience goes to show that the sections except in very small 

 cemeteries should not contain less than three acres, and if the con- 

 tour of the ground permits may be made much larger. 



The grade of the drives must conform with the surrounding 

 ground, and if level or nearly so just enough topsoil should be 

 removed to make room for the road material. If sandy soil one 

 foot will be sufficient, but if clay soil enough must be removed to 

 allow for from six to ten inches of sand under the finishing mate- 

 rial, thus providing under-drainage, which is very essential. All 

 • drives should be at least twenty feet wide, the center to be crowned 



