THE MODERN CEMETERY. ii 
learning where the cemetery is located. On the subject 
of lots and their care the report suggests that in case a 
lot-owner fails to pay for work ordered by him and 
properly performed for him within three months from 
time of presentment of bill, the superintendent be or- 
dered to refuse to do further work upon the lot in ques- 
ion. That in case of a lot purchased, no deed shall be 
delivered until full payment is made, and that failing to 
pay in one year’s time, the purchaser shall forfeit all 
claim to the lot and be dealt with as shall be decided 
by the board of trustees. That no money should be 
received for perpetual care of a lot until the lot in ques- 
tion is put in proper condition for its proper mainten- 
ance. Furthermore, that in all cases the superintendent 
should fix the amount of money to be deposited and 
necessary to secure the care expected by the lot owner. 
The president also calls attention to the necessity of a 
state law that shall prevent the selling of a cemetery lot 
by heirs at law when such lot is in use for the original 
purpose for which it was purchased. As the laws are 
to-day, no man’s lot is secured against the greed of those 
who follow him, save by extraordinary legal precautions, 
which expensive legal process it should not be necessary 
to take. The report shows the cemetery to be in a 
prosperous condition. 
The annual report of the directors of Evergreen 
cemetery. New Haven, Conn., suggests several reforms 
and invites the co-operation of the lot owners in bring- 
ing them about. “One of these,” the report says, “is the 
abolition of the unnatural efforts sometimes resorted to to 
preserve thebodiesof the dead. This is a delicate ques- 
tion, for almost every one whose loss of a friend is recent, 
possesses to a greater or less degree, a desire that the 
body of that friend should be preserved as long as pos- 
sible, and yet to the sober second thought of that indi- 
vidual no good reason therefor can suggest itself; on 
the contrary the idea is rather repulsive than otherwise. 
In these days when cremation is being so vigorously 
agitated in some quarters, and the argument is so much 
used in favor of that process and against inhumation on 
sanitary grounds if for no other reason, all attempts to 
preserve the bodies of the buried beyond the time limit- 
ed by nature herself, ought to be discouraged. That 
the body should return to and mingle with the earth in 
a natural way admits of little doubt. 
Towards the abolishing of Sunday funerals we respect- 
fully ask the use of your influence. Of course it is not in all 
cases possible to avoid them, but in a great majority of 
cases it is possible, and there is no good reason why we 
should not join in the growing tide rising against them. 
There is a rapidly increasing tendency in this direction. 
Sunday funerals are objectionable because of the 
throngs of mere idle curiosity seekers which they often- 
times attract, and for the opportunities of parade and 
display which they afford. Both of these things are 
contrary to the quiet and solemnity which should char- 
acterize a funeral. They are objectionable because the 
clergy, whose attendance at such a time, if never before, 
is demanded, have already quite as much to do on that 
day as they have time for; and they are further objec- 
tionable for the reason that they unnecessarily employ 
the services of men who are entitled to one day in sev- 
en, as much as other men, and because they can usually 
take place upon the second or last day of the week, as 
well as upon the first.” 
Landscape Gardening. 
“A peculiar quality of nature’s arboreal and floral 
material, as found in wild habitats, is that it rarely fails 
to satisfy our sense of the beautiful and interesting. 
This is true in a degree that cannot be claimed for 
stiffly arranged geometrical effects in landscape adorn- 
ment. 
“Observe a jfleasing natural landscape or wild plan- 
tation, and you will feel at once that it has an irresista- 
ble charm, arising not so much from the kind of growths 
that may happen to be present as from the way in which 
the various features within range of the eye-meadow, 
trees, shrubs, vines, plants, etc., are distributed. Such 
things as straight lines or angles are almost unknown in 
natural landscapes. Variety as found in the position of 
trees and other growths in their forms and colors, both 
as to foliage and flowers, in the distribution of open 
areas, thickets, water and hills over the surface, is the 
rule of nature’s gardens. How pleasing and restful is 
such scenery to the eye! 
“The very term landscape, or landview, indicates 
the basis of the chief charm found in all beautiful 
natural landscape scenery. Open areas of meadow or 
lawn, skirted by masses of shrubs and adorned here and 
there with isolated clumps of trees or single specimens, 
forming vistas in a number of directions please us most. 
To have the center of a lawn-area occupied by trees 
tends to produce a restful effect on the mind of the be- 
holder, and at the same time serves to set forth in per- 
fection the beautiful trees and shrubs of the place. 
“ If open area is the key-note of the vista feature of 
beautiful natural landscapes, then it may be said that 
groups and masses afford the key-note of effective 
natural planting. An exception may seem to be found 
in the case of isolated specimens of trees, etc., but even 
these, pleasing as they are in a fine landscape, seem all 
the finer if so located as to appear related to some mar- 
ginal group or projection. Usually a clump of two or 
three trees will look better than single specimens.” — 
Elias A. Long m American Garde?iing. 
The London Underiakers' Journal heads an article 
descriptive of Jay Gould’s mausoleum in Woodlawn 
cemetery, thus: “ How $80,000 were wasted.” Whether 
or not it was wasted is debatable, but that the money 
could have been expended in a manner thatrvould have 
conferred more good on a greater number of people is 
beyond a doubt. 
