126 Ornamental Planting. 



or objects of historical interest, that attract attention, or invite to 

 repose, they should be placed near these winding and less frequented 

 paths, rather than along the great thoroughfares of a park, and 

 along these chiefly should seats be placed. 



501. It is the custom, however, in Europe, to place monuments 

 or other structures intended to inspire patriotic sentiment, or remind 

 the passer-by of a religious duty, in the most conspicuous parts of pub- 

 lic grounds, and often in the midst of the most frequented thorough- 

 fares. The little areas formed by intersecting city avenues present 

 the best opportunities for costly monuments and fountains, as they 

 may be seen to a distance from several directions. If possible they 

 should be inclosed, with a grass-plat or beds of flowers around them, 

 but no shrubbery or trees that would conceal any part. 



502. In squares reserved for military parade, the area must nec- 

 essarily be left open, and planting can be done only around the 

 borders. There may often be laid out an avenue for promenade, 

 shaded by a single or double row of trees, and at the entrance there 

 should be beds of flowers or colored-leaved plants, as the opportuni- 

 ties offer. 



503. Upon the grounds belonging to universities, colleges, and 

 academies, we insist upon the labeling of trees, as above mentioned, 

 as one of the most important features of education, by familiarizing 

 the student and the visitor with these names, and of enabling them 

 to form true ideas concerning the resemblances and differences in 

 the form, foliage, and other characteristics of forest trees. 



504. The best labels are tablets of porcelain, or of white earthen- 

 ware, with the names in black enameled lettering. The cheapest 

 are strips or plates of zinc, with the writing in a corrosive ink, that 

 leaves indelible black lines. Neither of these will suffer from the 

 weather, and both will last for an almost indefinite time. 



505. In rural cemeteries, there is great opportunity for effect in 

 the plantation of avenues of approach, and of masses of shrubbery 

 and flowers around the entrance, and in the circles and plats formed 

 by intersecting avenues. There should be, if possible, a belt of 

 woodland, or its equivalent in a screen, that shall isolate it as far as 

 convenient from the busy world, and impart that aspect of separa- 

 tion and quiet, consistent with the general object of the place. 



506. Custom has given to the " funereal cypress," and to other 

 evergreens, a prominence in cemeteries, and there is a certain fitness 



