98 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
lots, yet sometime in the future, perhaps fifty, six- 
ty or a hundred years to come, someone will see 
the necessity of putting up a monument. When all 
the other lots are occupied, it will be impossible to 
get a monument to a lot unless there are spaces left 
for that purpose. The privilege of setting a monu- 
ment at some future time belongs of right to every 
lot, and it ought to be preserved. The object is to 
have enough walks and alleys, but not too many as 
in the old plan. It is comparatively easy to make 
no mistake in this regard in laying out new ceme- 
teries on the lawn plan, but it is very difficult to do 
away with these walks and alleys when once they 
have been established, as in the old plan. Never 
should there be a walk on more than two sides of a 
lot, and all walks should be sodded. 
Mr. Rhedemeyer, of Camden, N. J., presented 
the plan adopted in his cemetery, which proved to 
be a novel one in some respects. To mark the 
boundary lines of lots, he uses granite posts, vary- 
ing in size, 6x6, 6 x 1 2, and 1 2 x 1 2 inches. The 
use of 12 X 12 posts indicates that four lots are ad- 
jacent to one another. The posts are creased with 
a chisel to represent the boundary lines. The cem- 
etery by this plan does not lose an inch of ground. 
The corner posts are set on a level with the ground, 
giving a clear sweep of lawn. All walks as far as 
possible are sodded. A four-foot path leads from 
one end of the drive to the other, giving access to 
the lots. The practical advantage of this plan, be- 
sides saving ground and preserving the continuity 
of the lawn, is to save labor and expense. 
It was agreed that the policy to be pursued by 
new cemeteries in conforming to the lawn plan was 
plain, as compared wtth the course of the old cem- 
eteries. The difficulty felt by all was to get out of 
the old plan when once established. The simplest 
solution of this difficulty is to fill up all paths and 
alleys and sod them over. 
Hardy Shrubs and their Protection Against Drought. 
A paper read before the Seventh Annual Convention of the 
Association of Cemetery Superintendents, by Prof. Green of the 
Minnesota Experimental Station. 
The treatment of the surface soil around trees 
planted on dry land is a matter that calls for much 
careful attention. The American public has been 
educated to thinking that a blue-grass sod in such 
places should extend close up to the trunks of the 
trees. In a few years this may become so thick and 
solid that it will shed water nearly as perfectly as a 
shingled roof. This is an unnatural condition, and 
under such circumstances plants cannot reach any 
great degree of development in dry situations. 
Where trees naturally make a good growth in dry 
locations, the surface of the soil is covered with a 
considerable thickness of leaves and branches that 
have fallen to the ground. These retard the run of 
the water and allow it to percolate into the ground 
and reach the roots of the trees. It also prevents 
evaporation from the surface soil and keeps the sur- 
face soil cooler. For instance, this season the 
strawberry bed at the experiment station has given 
far better returns than others in the immediate vic- 
inity, and this success was largely due to the prac- 
tice of heavily mulching the space between the 
rows with straw. 
At any time during the severe drought, which 
has prevailed for a considerable period, the soil un- 
der the mulch could readily be rolled into pellets, 
while in adjacent rows, not mulched, the soil was very 
dry. Analysis of the soil, four inches from the sur- 
face, showed that which had been mulched contain- 
ed 24.3 per cent, of water, while that which was 
not mulched had 18 per cent, of water. Of the 
soils three inches from the surface, the mulched 
contained 20.6 per cent, of water, and that not 
mulched 15.5 per cent. In either case, the mulch 
Increased the amount of water contained in the soil 
under it 33/^ per cent. This is equivalent to an 
increase of 2.2 quarts of water to each cubic feet of 
soil, which is equivalent, where a tree is mulched 
for five feet on all sides, to an increase of 44.3 gal- 
lons of water in its upper one foot of soil under the 
mulch, and there is, probably, nearly as much in- 
crease in the second foot of soil. Yet in this case, 
the soil which was not mulched was undoubtedly 
near enough to be considerably affected by the wa- 
ter in the mulched rows. The surface soil of some 
other land on the farm was found to contain only 5 
per cent, of moisture at the same time. It is pro- 
bably fair to assume that the mulched land contain- 
ed at least 60 per cent, more moisture than that not 
mulched. 
This is a great variation, and often makes the 
difference between success and failure in growing 
trees and plants. 
People may complain that a mulch is unsightly; 
but it can often be covered up to great advantage 
with hardy shrubbery, which also aids the retention 
of water by shading the ground and protecting it 
from drying winds. We are apt not to appreciate 
the value of undergrowth around trees. This is na- 
ture’s way, and we would do well to follow her in 
it many times. For covering the mulch symphori- 
carpos, the hardier spireas, flowering currants, buf- 
falo berry and many other hardy plants are sugges- 
ted as being desirable; and when properly grouped, 
make pleasing contrast. The best material for a 
mulch will vary with that which is easiest to obtain. 
Hay, straw, bogasse, coal ashes and hard-wood 
sawdust are good; but any material which is a 
