GAUDEN CEMETERIES. 30 



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troduced. How appropriate in this country of cheap 

 land is the idea to have all burial i)laces, fair-sized, 

 roomy, landscape gardens, varied with wood, groves, 

 and single trees, lawns and flowers, arranged in good 

 taste, with simple memorials to indicate the places of 

 interment. 



The key to the superior appearance of our leading 

 cemeteries, is the fact that the prices at which all lots 

 are sold, are fixed with a view to the expense of per- 

 petually keeping the cemetery in order. This must be 

 looked upon as one of the most important points con- 

 nected with improved cemetery management. To the ob- 

 servance, or non-observance of this is due the vast differ- 

 ence between the best and the poorest of our rural ceme- 

 teries. 



As the incidental expenses of keeping up any cemetery 

 lot by sodding, mowing, etc., are very light, when many 

 are taken care of together, only a small increase in the 

 prices of lots is required to form a general fund, the in- 

 terest of w^hich provides perpetually for their care. In 

 the beautiful Forest Lawn Cemetery, of Buffalo, con- 

 taining two hundred and thirty acres, the price of lots is 

 fixed at fifty cents per square foot, while in the new 

 Buffalo City Cemetery, a few miles further from the city, 

 the price is but twenty-five cents per square foot. These 

 prices apply to all parts of the cemeteries, but then some 

 sections accommodate lots of only one size, and others 

 allow of lots of other sizes. Of course where land is 

 cheap, the price can be kept at even lower figures than 

 either of those named. 



How is the work of cemetery improvement in any case 

 to be inaugurated and carried out ? First, let persons 

 of public spirit carefully look over the matter, determin- 

 ing what improvements are desirable, as to size of 

 grounds, and whether it is better to change the old or to 

 start an entirely new cemetery. If an old association 



