THE VILLAGE PAEK AND CEMETEEY 



IT is surely a sentiment worthy of recom- 

 mendation, that leads us who live to 

 pay respect to the dead, for to them we owe 

 many debts of love and gratitude. A neg- 

 lected graveyard with uncut grass, broken 

 fences and stones that are falling over, seems 

 to shame the living, and speak loudly of 

 their lack of reverence for their ancestry. 

 The old fashioned cemetery graveyard was 

 not planned with any taste, and the elevation 

 over each grave made it almost impossible 

 to keep the place in presentable condition. 

 Such small, neglected burial plaices should 

 be discouraged, and townships should be 

 combined to set aside land in the most con- 

 venient location where a park-like cemetery 

 could be laid out after a well prepared plan, 

 and a superintendent engaged who would be 

 responsible for its care and management. 

 The municipal councils might have to lay out 

 one or two thousand dollars at the outset, 

 but, if well designed and well kept, the pat- 

 ronage would so increase that the sale of 

 lots would soon make the cemetery a paying 



investment, and the pride of the country 



side. 



THE ENTRANCE. 



From a business as well as artistic 

 standpoint, a great deal of attention 

 should be paid to the entrance. First 

 impressions go a long way, either upon the 

 mind of the visitor or upon the heart of the 

 mourner. It does not seem half as hard to 

 lay aside a loved one under the shade of 

 some of nature's beautiful trees, inside a yard 

 screened from the public view by hedge and 

 vine, as it does on some bleak hill side, where 

 stones stand awry amid the long grass, and 

 the'approach is through tumble down gates 

 which give the impression that nobody 

 cares. Our illustration (from Park and 

 Cemetery) shows a beautiful vine-clad 

 entrance to a cemetery at Newton Centrcj 

 Mass. ; and although this is a city cemetery, 

 the idea can be adopted to the smallest vil- 

 lage, for it is the trees and creeping vines 

 that give the beauty, and not the expensive 

 stone posts or iron fence. 



