June 13, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



183 



or dell of an old farm, where some of the less commer- 

 cially valuable, but equally beautiful, original timber trees 

 have been allovired to grow undisturbed, till their very 

 size makes the few brown-stone grave-slabs seem mod- 

 est and nestling to the ground, and where, the cattle 

 having been kept out, the wood violet and other shy 

 wild plants add their delicate charms, while they also 

 mark the peaceful seclusion of the spot. Such simple 

 and yet dignified rural furnishings are in harmony with 

 the purpose to which the place is dedicated and to the 

 feelings of the sympathetic visitor to it, and leave the 

 imagination free to conjure up, if it will, romantic vis- 

 ions of the past. In such a spot the thought might easily 

 occur to one that here was indeed a restful place in which 

 to have laid away the mortal remains of a few of those 

 weary human beings whose life struggle it was to subdue 

 nature to their own aims, and who yet finally succumbed 

 to her and whose remains became a part of her. 



How much more appropriate to their lives are such 

 graves, with such surroundings, than they would have 

 been in some great cemeter)-, where their modest little 

 grave-stones would have been put to shame by scores 

 of big, staringly white Egyptian obelisks, broken topped 

 Greek columns, Roman urns, weeping Italian angels, 

 Renaissance canopies, Gothic spires, and all the other 

 kinds of showy monuments, and where all restfulness 

 and seclusion are annihilated by rows upon rows and 

 scattering swarms of factory-made, white marble grave- 

 stones, all set up on edge so as to be as conspicuous 

 as possible and looking as if they would be heaved 

 out of plumb by every frost. Such stones have, in fact, 

 the very unmonumental quality of being in a state of 

 unstable equilibrium. And as if all these white monu- 

 ments and grave-stones were not enough to frighten 

 Nature into submission, innumerable fences are added, 

 mostly of the sort which maybe described as the " this- 

 is-the-most-show-you-can-get-for-your-money '' cast iron 

 fence. And, as iron rusts into a color which is some- 

 what harmonious with nature, such a catastrophy is care- 

 fully avoided by painting all iron work a gloomy black, 

 or vivid white, or by gilding it, like a cresting over a 

 chromo tea store. The managers of cemeteries seem to 

 be proud of these private fights with Nature, and do all 

 they can to aid and abet them with their ribbon garden- 

 ing and by planting all the most artificial looking speci- 

 mens of "nature's bright productions" that skillful nurs- 

 erymen can induce to grow. They have no limiting 

 rules as to showiness, but are only too glad to sell lots 

 to those who will spend most in making a show that will 

 advertise the cemetery. 



The few who feel dissatisfied with this state of things 

 should organize new associations for forming and main- 

 taining truly rural cemeteries. They should have other 

 and higher ideals in their minds, and should limit them- 

 selves and their successors by strict rides adapted to 

 secure the desired result — so far as rules can do so. If 

 they allow monuments at all, they should use the same 

 care and discrimination that a "hanging committee" do 

 in limiting and arranging the works of art that necessity 

 compels them to place so cruelly close together in a gal- 

 lery. But they ought to go further than this; they should 

 encourage, if not require, burials to be made with no 

 monuments at all at the graves beyond the merest end 

 of a dark colored stone that will serve to permanently 

 mark the spot and to carve a family name upon. All 

 other necessary information in regard to persons buried 

 in the cemetery can be given on slabs in a memorial 

 wall at the entrance, or by written records. They can 

 provide halls, galleries, or loggias in which to place bas- 

 reliefs and other sculptures of suitable character and size, 

 and thus avoid all mounments scattered promiscuously 

 through the grounds. As for planting, it should be done 

 according to a comprehensive scheme, and the choice of 

 plants had, probably, best be limited to such as are native 

 in the region; not that this is essential, but in order not 



to leave too much to the discretion of zealous, but indis- 

 creet persons, who are constantly making their selections 

 for planting upon the supposition that what is good under 

 some circumstances must be good always. They should 

 establish a rule limiting fences to those that are necessary, 

 and requiring these to be in conformity with some gen- 

 eral scheme devised with due regard to harmony with and 

 strict subordination to nature. There should be a like 

 subordination to nature in all other necessary artificial 

 constructions, such as retaining walls, bridges, roads, 

 walks, gutters, steps, guide posts, vault fronts, and so on. 

 They should avoid formality and artificiality in all things 

 and at all times, for they should remember that they 

 have set out to make a rural cemetery and not an archi- 

 tectural one. / C. Ohnsied. 



Brookline, Mass. 



The Cultivation of Huckleberries. 



Gaylussixcia and Vaccinium, genera belonging to the 

 Huckleberry tribe of the Ericacia: or Heath Family, com- 

 prise a hundred or more species found in various regions, 

 but chiefly in America, where they are known as Huckle- 

 berries, Blueberries and Cranberries. Owing to their great 

 abundance, few attempts have been made to improve any 

 of them except the Cranberry. The time will come, how- 

 ever, when every small-fruit garden will have its improved 

 variedes of Blueberry or Huckleberry, as well as its Strawberries 

 and Raspberries. No good collection of these plants, so far as I 

 know, exists in any of the European gardens, and, apart from 

 the collection started at the Arnold Arboretum, I know of none 

 in America. Indeed, so difficult has the cultivation of these 

 plants been considered, that any record of success in the at- 

 tempt has usually been doubted. 



The growing of Huckleberries and Blueberries from seed 

 requires close attention, and can hardly be carried on success- 

 fully without a green-house or frame. The best soil to use 

 for them is sand and loam in equal parts, care being taken that 

 the sand is free from clay or iron. 



Shallow earthen p>ans are better for the seed than boxes, as 

 there is less danger from fungus, but after the first transplant- 

 ing boxes may be used. 



As soon as the fruit is received it should be macerated in 

 water for several days, so as to separate it from tlie pulp, and 

 then washed clean. If early in the season, seeds of the early 

 varieties may be sown at once, and will come up in a few 

 weeks, but as tlie plants will make little growth, they will need 

 careful handling to keep them over the first winter. It is better 

 to wash out the seed and mix with fine moist sand, and keep 

 in a cool pit or frame until the days begin to lengthen, say 

 about the middle of January. Then prepare the seed pans or 

 pots and insure free drainage by using sphagnum or coarse 

 sittings of peat. Firm the soil well and give a gentle watering 

 with a fine hose. When the soil has settled, scatter the seeds 

 thickly and evenly over the surface and give the lightest pos- 

 sible covering. Then add a layer of fine sphagnum, syringe 

 lightly, and set the pans in a temperature of 60° to 65°. After 

 sowing, if the seed is not allowed to become dry, it will usually 

 come up in from five to six weeks, although I have known it to 

 lie in the ground a year and then germinate. The pans should 

 l)e examined now and then, and as soon as the seed shows 

 signs of germination tiie coarsest of the moss should be re- 

 moved. When the plants have made the first rough leaf they 

 should be pricked oft' thickly in shallow boxes and fresh soil 

 prepared and drained as for the seed. They should be 

 syringed every day and kept growing in a high temperature 

 and moist atmosphere. As soon as they have covered the 

 ground they should be again transplanted. After the third - 

 pricking out, if everything has been carefully attended to, they 

 will be growing strongly and will need more air and less 

 moisture, to harden them oft' gradually. The frequent trans- 

 planting in fresh soil each time keeps the plants from damping 

 off and encourages good root-growth. About the ist of Sep- 

 tember they can be removed to a cold-frame or pit in some 

 sheltered situation, where they should have plenty of air every 

 pleasant day, but should be covered at night to keep them 

 from frost as long as possible, so that they may become 

 ripened before going into tlieir winter quarters. As winter 

 sets in they should be covered with moss and shutters, and 

 will only need airing once or twice a month for a few hours to 

 guard against fungus, which will start even in a cold-frame if 

 kept long without air. About the first of May tliey can be 

 planted in prepared beds of peaty soil or a light sandy soil of 

 good depth. If dry weather sets in they will require a good 



