PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
Vol. XVII. Chicago, March, 1907 No. 1 
American Forestry Association 
The twenty-fifth annual meeting of the American Forestry 
Association was held in Washington, D. C., January 9. It 
was a meeting of far more than usual interest, for it marked 
a condition of progress in American forestry, which very few 
citizens of this country really comprehend. In the course of 
the proceedings addresses were delivered by the Hon. James 
Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, 
J. B. Blades, Prof. Henry S. Graves, Yale Forest School ; 
James W. Pinchot and other prominent personages. Resolu- 
tions were passed and arrangements made for acting upon 
them : on the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain for- 
est reserves, a vote upon which is being held up in the 
House for some reason or other ; on the president’s recom- 
mendation of a loan of $5,000,000 as working capital for the 
development of forest reserves ; on the repeal of the timber 
and stone act; arid on an appropriation for the establishment 
of a wood testing laboratory. The report of the meeting 
gives an immense amount of information pertaining to the 
vastly important subject of the reforestration of our country. 
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Mannheim Horticultural Exposition in Germany 
The first of May will witness the opening of an interna- 
tional exposition at Mannheim, Germany, a pretty town some 
few miles from Heidelberg, a place well known to many 
educated Americans. This exposition will present a number 
of examples of formal bedding, in which the Germans excel, 
besides displays of orchids, cacti, fruits and flowers from all 
parts of the world. Horticultural art and novelties will be 
displayed to the best advantage. Expert special exhibitions 
will give opportunity for every country to demonstrate its 
progress in horticulture, etc., together with the details of the 
commercial side of the business, in the packing, shipping and 
utilization of the products of horticulture. Americans are 
cordially invited to participate, and full information may be 
obtained from the American Consulate at Mannheim. In 
view of tariff difficulties and the promotion of trade it might- 
be well for those interested to seek further light. 
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Improving the School Grounds 
It is timely once more to urge upon all interested in our 
schools, especially in the country districts, the importance of 
improving the school grounds. The agricultural population 
is very set 'in the idea that with so much country in sight, so 
to speak, there is no actual necessity of expending time and 
money on the outside of the schoolhouse. Like many set 
ideas, in fact most of them, this is a very erroneous one. 
Every good pupil feels a personal interest in his school, 
and little or none in the surrounding country, and every ef- 
fort that is made to create attractive and elevating surround- 
ings about the schoolhouse itself, finds a reciprocal effect 
on the part of the children to imbibe the inspiration and exer- 
cise, ill a more positive sense, the influence which the school- 
house beautiful would assuredly encourage. Much is being 
done on the inside to increase the force and value of the 
education of the schoolhouse ; add to this the inspiring and 
healthful realization of the beautiful, as presented by the 
simple but harmonious arrangement of trees, lawn and shrub- 
bery on the outside, and “our little red schoolhouse’’ culture 
would be unique. 
Progress of Destructive Insect Control 
Progress in the control of destructive insect life in our 
woods, orchards and urban shade trees is making substantial 
headway. Quite favorable reports come from Massachusetts 
in relation to the gypsy and brown tail moths, but only from 
the effects of constant vigilance^ and unremitting care. The 
Department of Agriculture at Washington is vigorously as- 
sisting the local arid state authorities in the above named 
state, as well it should, for the rapid increase and as- 
tounding destructive ability of these moth pests made it an 
interstate question, not to say a national one, and it taxed 
both the energy and a goodly percentage of the resources of 
the commonwealth to keep even with the pests. Special at- 
tention is being paid to the importation and breeding of para- 
sites and it is expected that certain results will be attained 
this season from this method of control, although it will take 
some time for these enemies of the moths to become numeri- 
cally strong enough to afford the necessary protection', be- 
sides which it is to be learned whether these importations 
can withstand the rigor of our winter climate. In our fruit 
bearing districts the spread of the San Jose scale is view’ed 
with serious alarm, but this, it has been ascertained, can be 
effectually taken care of by the lime and sulphur spray and 
the intelligent and active fruit grower will make ready to 
take measures to protect himself. 
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Restrictions to Ownership of Cemetery Lots 
A bill has been introduced into the New York legislature 
in Albany providing that no person shall be permitted to own 
more than four lots, aggregating more than a quarter of an 
acre in extent, exempt from taxation. Cemetery lots at pres- 
ent are exempt from taxation, a fact which has resulted in 
the purchase of cemetery lots, in large numbers, by persons 
able to hold them, free from taxation, until the lands are 
needed for public or municipal improvements, to be then sold 
at greatly increased prices. An investigation has shown that 
lot speculation is a business of considerable extent, and a 
profitable one at that ; but it is a fraud on the community 
nevertheless and should be stopped. It .must also be detri- 
mental to the higher interests of the cemetery, because 
of its baneful effect on the minds of other lot owners. 
One cannot imagine that the perpetual care proposition would 
gain much of a foothold in any cemetery where any large 
numbers of the lots were owned by a few persons, and held 
for speculative purposes. Such facts cannot long be main- 
tained under confidential restrictions. The act is in the 
form of an amendment and reads as follows : "The cem- 
etery lands and property of any association formed pursuant 
to this act, and any property held in trust by it shall be 
exempt from all public taxes, rates and assessments and 
shall not be liable to be sold on execution or to be applied 
in payment of debts due from any individual proprietor ex- 
cept the proprietor of lots or plots in such cemeteries, their 
heirs, or devisees, may hold not more than four lots aggre- 
gating not more than one-quarter of an acre in the same ex- 
empt from taxation so long as the same shall remain dedi- 
cated to the purposes of a cemetery, and during that time 
no street, road, avenue or thoroughfare shall be laid out 
through lots in which dead bodies have been interred in such 
cemetery without the consent of the trustees of such asso- 
ciation, except by special permission of the legislature of 
the state.’’ 
