190 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETT. 



was ol)liged to discourage it. The Sugar Maple is about the onl}' 

 shade tree suitable for planting in cemeteries. It is clean and 

 never soils the tablets. Mr. Barker recommended planting the trees 

 well back from the avenues, but the object of the speaker was 

 to shade the avenues. They were formerl}' planted liack from 

 the avenues at Mount Hope, but he changed the plan and set 

 them at about six feet from the avenues and trimmed them up 

 to twelve feet ; and was laughed at, but in a few 3'ears the 

 aspect changed ; the trees were not too near the avenues, and 

 the sun could shine on the grass. A mistake was made in the 

 old parts of the cemetery in allowing the limbs of trees to 

 grow too low, and to shade the ground so much that tlioro was no 

 green grass under them. He used to talk with Mr. JMoulton, the 

 Supei'intendent of Forest Hills Cemetery, on this point, and he 

 was finally convinced and pruned up the old trees, and the young 

 ones as they were planted. 



One of the trustees of the Cemetery had Norway spruce and 

 maple trees set so closely around his own house that the speaker 

 wanted him to take awa}' some of them, and prune up others, so as 

 to give a view of the Blue Hills. Before long, the spruces came 

 away and the maples were trimmed up. This was six or seven 

 years ago, and the gentleman has lived there since that time and 

 kept up an open wood fire without buying any wood. 



At Mount Hope Cemetery, which belongs to the City of Boston, 

 there is a pauper lot ; another where friends pay the cost of dig- 

 ging graves, and a third where single graves are sold for about 

 twelve dollars each. In the first two lots no tablets are allowed, 

 but the graves are all levelled off and designated only by little 

 markers; in the third tablets are allowed, but are restricted to 

 thirty-two inches in height and two feet in width, and no wooden 

 structure of any kind is permitted. One exception to this last 

 rule was made, in the case of a little wooden tablet describing the 

 vacancy in the home, caused by the departure of the sleeper be- 

 neath. If ail rules were carried out to the letter it might some- 

 times lead to harsh and arbitrar}' treatment. 



Warren H. Manning said that there might be a dilTereneo of 

 opinion in legard to planting trees in cemeteries, but lie thought 

 they were apt to l)e too thick ; as at Mount Auburn. Vistas should 

 be left open ; and llie trees should not l)e so thick that the grass 

 will not glow under thorn. Trie trustees of cemeteries have power 



