222 
the beginning but the perfection of Egyp- 
tian art. Of the sixty-seven different pyra- 
midal monuments, the largest, the Pyra- 
mid of Cheops, rises from a base covering 
thirteen acres, to a height of four hundred 
and eighty feet. Cheops, the builder, em- 
ployed one hundred thousand men for 
twenty years in its erection, ten years pre- 
paratory work had been expended upon 
the great causeway over which the stones 
were dragged from the Nile. All the pyra- 
mids were constructed of stone save three 
or four, which were built of sun dried 
brick. These latter have crumbled into vast 
conical heaps like the mounds left bj- the 
pyramid Temples of the Rabylons. After 
the body had been placed within the pas- 
sageway was closed by letting fall a port- 
cullis of hard granite and all traces of the 
entrance were obliterated by masonry. This 
granite portcullis so effectually blocked the 
way that modern explorers in seeking an 
entrance are often forced to cut a tunnel 
around the obstruction, through the soft 
limestone. The Egyptian sculpture at first 
found within these tombs was cut into the 
rock surface, and still later it reached its 
highest phase in having the rock chiseled 
away, leaving the figure in bas-relief." 
We might continue our study down 
through the Greek and Roman Nations, the 
Middle Ages, until we came to our present 
era. It is true that the earlier forms of 
memorials were confined to the work of tlie 
architectural and monumental professions. 
We should find that the tombs of Taj 
Mahal and Edward the Confessor are but 
the connecting links which lead to the ceme- 
tery of this time, with the modern mauso- 
leums, vaults, and monuments. The monu- 
mental profession had its origin beyond the 
reach of history, is encompassed with a 
treasure lore of tradition, ennobled by the 
devotion and ideals of its vast host of 
workmen, and faithfull}- transmits to us 
through its creation the true and complete 
record of life in every century. This as- 
sembly needs no further jurisdiction. We 
may imagine the times when in this vast 
number of years the men of your craft met, 
just as you are meeting to-day, to discuss 
the interests of this work. 1 congratulate 
you, gentlemen, modern representatives of 
a fraternity more ancient than the oldest 
nations, exceeding in the continuity of its 
service the years of Christianity and even 
those of Eree Masonry, I congratulate you 
upon your worthy ideals and unity of pur- 
pose, as evidenced by this assembly. 
Should we act on the advice of your as- 
sociates and study the cemetery, not to 
learn of the community particularly, but at 
a slightly different angle, as befits our pres- 
ent purpose, to gain an insight into the con- 
ditions imposed upon the monument deal- 
ers and the cemetery superintendents at the 
present time, we would find that great ad- 
vances have been made in the designing and 
management of such grounds during the re- 
cent years. Until about 1860 the intern- 
ments were generally made in the yard im- 
P ARK AND CEMETERY 
mediately surrounding the church. At that 
time, or just previously, it was found neces- 
sary to remove the burial grounds from the 
churchyard in order to avoid the conditions 
imposed by a dense population. The first 
rural cemetery on this continent, of v;»hich 
1 have definite information, was established 
at Boston, Massachusetts, in 18-31. This 
was followed shortly by Laurel Hill at 
Philadelphia, and in 1840 Greenwood Ceme- 
tery was established at New York. In Can- 
ada, Mt. Royal at Montreal and Mt. Pleas- 
ant at Toronto, the latter established in 
1876, are the oldest and wost worthy ex- 
amples of the rural type. 
With the cemetery located beyond the 
confines of the town, it was possible to have 
grounds of larger extent, varied topogra- 
phy, and natural forestation. These fea- 
tures provided the opportunity for greater 
scope in design. The rolling surfaces of 
the woodlands were recognized as definite 
assets to the cemetery grounds, and as such 
recpiired the services of the landscape archi- 
tect to preserve and make of maximum 
service. 
The modern cemetery has been defined 
as "An area of land dedicated to the in- 
ternment of the dead, developed according 
to the principles practised in landscape 
architecture, safe-guarded by such rules as 
will protect the unity and Ijeauty of such 
landscape treatment, and having its busi- 
ness conducted in accordance with modern 
business methods." Thus we find that the 
responsibility for modern development 
starts with the natural state of the grounds, 
is carried through the plans which are to 
make the land adapted to the requirements 
of a cemetery, to the maintenance of the 
cemetery grounds, and is not satisfied un- 
less the business of the organization is effi- 
cient and thorough. 1 believe the term 
“Memorial Park" should be used more ex- 
tensively in cemetery nomenclature since it 
conveys exactly the right impression of 
modern burial areas. 
Let us for a moment consider the prac- 
tices of design as applied to the modern 
cemetery or if you wish, the “Memorial 
Park.” I have with me plans of Park Lawn 
Cemetery, Toronto, prepared during the 
past year and now under actual construc- 
tion. 
We first prepared a topographical plan 
of the grounds, which showed the actual 
conditions obtaining. This was affected by 
staking the entire surface into 100-foot 
squares, the latter being accurate to five 
one-hundredths of a foot. From these 
stake elevations were taken at fifty-foot in- 
tervals as well as at the points of abrupt 
changes of elevation. On this plan were 
also located all trees of importance, desig- 
nating their variety names, and diameter of 
trunk, the outlines of wooded areas, 
streams, bridges, buildings, existing road- 
ways and the fences. This plan graphically 
expressed the material with which we were 
to work and represents the first step to 
be undertaken in the proper planning of 
every cemetery grounds. 
The next step was to lay out the roads 
which were to provide communication to 
all parts of the property. The location of 
these drives was ver}' carefully adapted to 
the natural surface of the land, to avoid 
steep grades on road profiles, and to secure 
the best lawn surfaces with a minimum of 
construction work. By following the de- 
pressions of the more level parts of the 
property in this location, the lawns could 
readily be graded to the convex curves, 
thus at all points the surface would be 
higher than the surrounding driveways. 
The lawns constructed in this way offer 
best surface for shedding water, appear to 
the eye of much larger extent and afford 
the best settings for monuments. The roads 
are so located that the maximum distance 
between them is three hundred feet, which 
secures a carry of one hundred and fifty 
feet to the most removed lot, a condition 
appreciated both in interments and the 
erection of monuments. The roads are all 
laid out on non-radial curves which afford 
an ever-changing view point and introduce 
a grace and freedom from restraint, mate- 
rially enhancing, thereby, the park-like 
character of the grounds. It may be inter- 
esting to note that there is not a straight 
line, either in road design or lawn surfaces, 
on these grounds. 
With the lawn areas determined by the 
roads we next prepared the lot plan. In 
this we place special importance upon the 
vista points, such as road intersections and 
the land immediately bordering the roads 
by laying out extra large lots. The basic 
size for all lots bordering the roads is 
twenty by twenty feet and at road 
intersections these are increased from 
two to ten feet that area, our object 
being to secure the best type of mon- 
ument along the road and to pro- 
vide an appropriate setting for such me- 
morial. Immediately behind these lots we 
designed an intermediate set whose basic 
size is twelve by twelve feet, and which 
front upon a path parallel to the road edge. 
I may mention here that this size, twelve by 
twelve, is the smallest area which should be 
considered a standard lot, with monument 
privileges, in any cemetery. It provides 
four adult graves, two children’s graves, 
reserves space for a monument, and is the 
most economical size for cemetery pur- 
poses. Owing to the requirements of the 
cemetery law in this Province, it was neces- 
sary to design the major part of the lots on 
the basic size of eight by twelve feet, and 
these were laid out on the usual gridiron 
system. We allow a monument to be erect- 
ed upon these, but same is prohibited upon 
any area less than this. 
We followed this planning through by 
preparing a planting plan of the entire fifty 
acres. On this we incorporated the exist- 
ing trees as shown by the topographical 
survey and added other trees and shrubs in 
masses. Every tree was elected to its par- 
