78 



As the season for rural labor is far advanced, it is not considered 

 expedient to commence the construction of the avenues before the 

 next sprinor; but they can be divested of tlie underwood, and the 

 whole of the grounds so far cleared up, as to give them the appearance 

 of a park, during"- the present autumn. It is expected that the lots may 

 be assigned within twenty days. 



The committee lias been cheered, in the discharge of its duties, by 

 the deep interest which has been manifested for the success of an 

 undertaking, so important to the prosperity of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety, and so honorable to the country. Such is the exalted estimation 

 in which it is held by the p;iblic, so universal is the approbation, so 

 intense the interest, tiiat, beside the constant requests for permission 

 to become subscribers, by the more affluent, numerous applications 

 have been made for cemetery lots, by farmers, meclianics, and dealers 

 in building materials, on condition, that they may be paid for in labor, 

 or such articles as shall be required in the prosecution of the proposed 

 improvements. Within a few days offers have been made to a con- 

 siderable amount; and as it was the intention and is the anxious 

 desire of the Society, that every citizen should have an opportunity of 

 participating in the advantages of the establishment, the committee 

 has availed itself of the services thus tendered, in executing much of the 

 work which has been performed ; and there is not a doubt, that a very 

 considerable portion of the expense in constructing roads, fences, gate- 

 ways, and the various other edifices, may be defrayed, by a compen- 

 sation in cemetery lots. This will not only be a great accommodation 

 to numerous individuals, who are desirous to become subscribers, but 

 be highly advantageous to the Society. It is therefore recommended, 

 that the committee be authorized to prosecute such improvements as 

 may be deemed necessary, on these reciprocally beneficial terms. 



With the view of fully meeting the expectations and exigencies of 

 the community, it is considered advisable that sites for single graves 

 should be designated, in various parts of the cemetery, embracing all 

 the diversified localities, to afford an opportunity for individuals, who 

 have no families, and the friends of such strangers as may be wept 

 and honored far distant from their native land, to procure eligible 

 places of sepulture, on reasonable terms. 



As the tract which has been solemnly consecrated, by religious 

 ceremonies, as a burial-place for ever, is so abundantly covered with 

 forest trees, many of which are more than sixty years old, it only 

 requires the avenues to be formed, the borders, for some ten feet in 

 width, planted with shrubs, bulbous and perennial flowers, the under- 

 wood cleared out, the fences, gateways, and appropriate edifices 

 erected, to put the grounds in a sufficiently complete state for the 

 uses designed, and to render them at once beautiful and interesting. 

 All this can be done within two years, at a comparatively small 

 expense, and a result produced which could not have been real- 

 ized for forty years, if it had been necessary to commence the 

 establishment by planting out forest trees. There are numerous 

 majestic oaks, pines, beeches, and walnuts, which have braved the 

 storms of a century. Towering aloft amidst the general verdure, 

 and extending their huge branches far and wide, they appear as the 

 venerable monarchs of the grove, but still exhibit the vigor of their 

 luxuriant progeny, which, in umbrageous contiguity, cover each hill 

 and plain, and sloping vale, and form many an 



