PARK AND CEMETERY 
and LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
ALLIED ARTS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 536 SOUTH CLARK STREET, CHICAGO 
R. J. HAIGHT, President H. C. WHITAKER, Vice-President and Generai Manager O. H, SAMPLE, Secretary-Treasurer 
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$2.50 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. Published on the fifteenth of the month. Copy for adoertisements and reading matter should reach us by the First of the month. 
\'OL. XXVII NO. 4 
.STAXDARDIZING PLANT NAMES 
The American Joint Committee on 
Horticultural Nomenclature has just 
issued the 1917 code of standardized 
plant names after a very careful and 
arduous study of the subject. This 
joint committee was made up of rep- 
resentatives of the American Associa- 
tion of Nurserymen, Ornamental Grow- 
ers’ Association, American Society of 
Landscape Architects, American Phar- 
maceutical Association and American 
Association of Park Superintendents. 
The desirability of some standard list 
or code of plant names for commercial 
use has long been recognized. It is in 
an attempt to meet this need that the 
present code is issued. It includes a 
careful assembling of the scientific or 
botanical names deemed most generally 
applicable to plants in American com- 
merce at the beginning of the year 1917, 
This sulj-committee, which handled this 
work, of which Frederick Law Olm- 
sted, Frederick V. Coville and Harlan 
P. Kelsey were the working members, 
spent many days, part of the time in 
close and constant association with Dr. 
L. H. Bailey, in attempting to harm.onize 
the conflicting scientific and commercial 
designations attached to the thousands 
of items habitually bought and sold by 
their so-called botanical names. It was 
understood, in pursuance of the consti- 
tution of the Joint Committee, that its 
function was only to consider plant 
names for the purpose of facilitating 
commerce, or of “making buying easy," 
as frequently impressed upon the com- 
mittee by several of the organizations 
contributing both members and funds to 
it. It is thus seen that it was neither 
intended nor possible for the committee 
to enter upon any original investigations, 
or, indeed, despite the centralized au- 
thority adopted as a basis, to entirely 
conform to any one standard. It 
is considered as the more important 
function of the Am.erican Joint Com- 
mittee to propose at the earliest practi- 
cable moment a similar Official Code of 
common names. This work has been 
undertaken, and it is believed a publica- 
tion can be made within the coming 
year, at which time, but probably in a 
different form, the names which have 
here been adopted for commercial use 
will be reprinted in connection with the 
assi.gned common names. 
EDITORIAL 
The Joint Committee makes an urgent 
appeal to all members of the organiza- 
tions represented in it, and all others 
interested in standardizing plant names, 
to offer criticisms and suggestions for 
the help and instruction of the commit- 
tee in its future work. Every one in- 
terested in plants and flowers can aid in 
this most important work, and thus 
hasten the publication of the more com- 
plete list which will give both botanical 
and common names. Specific sugges- 
tions are specially desired. Copies of 
the 1917 Official Code of Standardized 
Plant Names may be had at cents 
each from the secretary of the Joint 
Committee, Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, 
Mass. 
JI^HAT IS PERPETUAL CAREf 
A careful study of what perpetual 
care means is one of the most impor- 
tant considerations in every cemetery 
and there is a wide variety of opinions 
and of practice as to just what should 
be included under the service known as 
perpetual care. Park and Cemetery 
invites contrilnitions on this subject. 
What is your idea of perpetual care? 
The following is from the definition 
given by Elmwood Cemetery, Birming- 
ham. Ala. : 
“General, or Perpetual Care means 
the upkeep and care of the roadways, 
drives, reservations, sewers, gutters, 
water system, buildings, fences, hedges 
and grades ; not allowing the grass on 
the lots to grow over (1 inches in height; 
removing all trash, litter, waste paper, 
dead leaves, broken flower vases and 
pots, rubbish, wilted flowers and all un- 
sightly and prohibited objects; filling in 
sunken gra\es and holes, straightening 
up leaning monuments and markers ; 
maintaining order and decency on the 
grounds, protecting, as far as possible, 
the property and interests of the lot 
owners against theft and deeds of van- 
dalism; the care of trees and shrubbery, 
etc, 
"However, general, or perpetual care, 
docs not mean that the cemetery corpo- 
ration guarantees to grow grass on any 
lot ; or to weed and water flower beds : 
or to keep any plants, shrubs or trees 
alive; or to replace any plants, shrubs 
or trees that die, at their expense; or 
to replace or repair any marker, monu- 
ment or urn should same become dam- 
aged through any natural cause, or by 
JUNE, 1917 
any person not connected with the 
cemetery ; or to clean and scrub any 
markers or monuments, except those 
that may have been soiled in the course 
of some work. Nor does it mean that 
the cemetery corporation is obliged to 
furnish water or soil or any other ma- 
terial to any lot owner, or furnisli 
transportation to and from the ceme- 
tery. free of charge. Such services as 
these are entirely voluntary on the part 
of the cemetery corporation, and for 
which services the cemetery corporation 
reserves the right to make a charge if 
it so deems necessary. 
‘'.A.ny private work done on a lot, 
such as making flower beds, soddin.g 
graves, planting, weeding, watering, 
cleaning monuments, etc., is not general 
care ; and for such work special ar- 
rangements must be made.” 
PRACTICAL ARBOR DAY WORK 
With the reforestation work of the 
present season by the school children 
in New York State, it is estimated that 
more than 100,000 trees have been set 
out in small school forests as examples 
of a constructive Arbor Day' celebra- 
tion, Foresters from the New York 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse 
Lhiiversity have taken active part in 
most of these plantings. Four years ago 
Dean Hugh P. Baker conceived the 
idea of interesting schools in the es- 
tablishment of small forests, and it was 
his suggestion that unused portions of 
\illage watersheds, undeveloped park 
lands and waste or wornout pastures 
near the various schools could be profit- 
ably planted to small trees, which the 
State furnishes at cost. Through the 
E.xtension Service of the college, men 
ha\e been sent out to supervise the es- 
tablishment of these forests whenever 
1,999 or more trees are planted, W. E, 
Sanderson, who is an assistant in the 
Department of Forest Investigations, 
had charge at Fort Edward of the 
planting of bfi.iHIO pines and spruces on 
\illage property. The school children, 
Village Board and Civic League co-op- 
erated in this work. By well-directed, 
energetic efforts of this kind Arbor 
Day has come to have a wider and 
more practical significance throughout 
the State, and the college authori- 
ties are enthu.'iastic over the way in 
which school children have taken up 
the reforestation idea. 
