THE CARE AND EMBELLISHMENT OF CEMETERIES. 173 



having had uo part in its formatiou, are permitted to contem- 

 plate the noble result owe a perpetual debt of gratitude to the 

 projectors of this enterprise, the influence of which has pervaded 

 the entire countr}'. 



But I am to speak to you more particularly on the Care and 

 Embellishment of Cemeteries. Did time permit, I should attempt 

 to give some thoughts relating to the Laying Out of cemeteries more 

 particularly than is possible in this paper ; for, in the care of any 

 place, much depends on whether or not it is judiciously laid out in 

 the beginning. A proper understanding of this dependence, or in 

 other words a proper regard for the future, is a point every intelli- 

 gent landscape gardener should study. Only a few miles from 

 here, in a town where, around the houses of many of the residents, 

 good taste prevails to a unusual degree, I could take you to a 

 small cemetery so injudiciously laid out, with so man}' needless 

 avenues and paths, that in keeping it merely tid}' more than 

 double the amount of labor is required that a place of that size 

 ought to take ; and I am sure I make no misrepresentation when 

 I say one-third of the land is wasted. Thus it happens that in 

 compiling accounts of actual outlay in care and maintenance of 

 grounds, we often remark the great cost of the care of some as 

 compared with that of others, of nearly or exacth' the same size ; 

 there being so many circumstances that differ in any two places 

 compared. 



Unless in the case of a flat surface, it is impossible to lay out 

 any cemetery to the best advantage without first viewing the 

 grounds. Any location, be it ever so small, should be seen with 

 all its surroundings before a stake is driven ; and before any plan 

 is adopted we should be sure it is what we want. In other words, 

 I should reverse the usual order of work ; I should sa}- the grounds 

 for a cemetery should be laid out first, and the plan made last. 



There are those who palm themselves off as landscape garden- 

 ers, yet cannot lay out two places differently if their lives 

 depended upon it — when you have seen their plan of one place, 

 you get at one look all th.ey have in them ; and I can assure you I 

 do not say this at hap-hazard. Some men's bump of adaptation, 

 if they ever had any, seems never to have got developed. 



It requires something more than a citj- office, or the accident of 

 an acquaintance with some influential trustee or lot holder, to 

 enable one to lay out a place for the whole future as well as the 



