32 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
A living spring of water trickles from the con- 
cavity of the rock, to disappear in the neighboring 
grounds as a little rivulet From the platform in 
front of the cairn there opens a charming view across 
the vast lawn, separated into two parts by a bos- 
quet of foliage. Farther away the eye wanders 
amid the verdure of the park, rich in rare plants, 
beyond which, are groups of houses which, accord- 
ing to the character of the district, have nothing re- 
markable about them. Above all rest the gold- 
en vapors of the city. 
Happily, trees existed here before building was 
begun. The middle distance behind the megalithic 
monument is, therefore, verdurous with a little 
grove of Locusts already fully grown. A new plan- 
tation would have contrasted too forcibly with the 
archaic aspect of the structure. Citizens of the 
great Republic so beloved by Humboldt, may well 
consider it an homage to their country that trees of 
an American species throw their shade upon this 
sacred soil. Certain Spruces from Norway, sickly 
and smothered by the urban atmosphere, count for 
little. The plants which adorn the cenotaph itself 
are few and provisional. Lost among these blocks 
of stone, they will always play a subordinate role. 
In the near vicinity, however, a richer development 
of vegetation will probably be secured later on. At 
present some Heaths and Saxifrages suffice to give 
an appearance of verdure to these solid masses 
which nourish nothing else except some dwarfYews 
and a little Ivy.” 
To Virginia belongs the honor of being the first 
state to pass a law for the licensing of embalmers. 
Its action is limited to cities of five thousand or 
more of population. It creates a state board of em- 
balming consisting of five members, appointed by 
the governor, one of whom shall also be a member 
of the State Board of Health. From the passage of 
the act, every person engaged, or desiring to engage 
in embalming within the State of Virginia, shall 
apply to the state board of embalming for a license, 
accompanying the same with the license fee of five 
dollars, whereupon the applicant, shall present 
himself or herself on a fixed date before said board 
for examination, when if the applicant is of good 
moral character, with skill and knowledge of the sci- 
ence of embalming and the care and disposition of 
the dead, and has a reasonable knowledge of san- 
itation and the disinfection of bodies of deceased 
persons, and the apartment, clothing and bedding 
in case of death from infectious or contagious dis- 
eases, the board shall issue to said applicant a li- 
cense to practice said science of embalming and the 
care and disposition of the dead, and shall register 
such applicant as a duly licensed embalmer. Such 
license shall be signed by a majority of the board 
and attested by its seal. 
Cemetery Planting.— IV. 
So, let us 
not neglect 
to use vin- 
e s. No 
planting 
can be pic- 
turesque 
without 
them, and 
they can and often do, 
transform the commonplace 
into something irresistibly 
charming. 
One who has seen the City of 
Vicksburg in April or in May, when 
smothered in her creamy odorous 
honeysuckle draperies, or New Or- 
leans hidden away under climbing 
roses, Confederate Jessamine, Big- 
nonia, both yellow and pale lilac, climbing masses 
of Ficus repens, Chinese Wisterias, which they say 
down there is satisfied with nothing less than a four 
story house to climb over; honeysuckles in variety, 
English Ivy and many others, is not likely to under- 
estimate the glorifying effect of vines. 
But there are plenty of other good things to be 
remembered. Something for sun and shade, for 
every variety of surface and for every situation. 
Among the shrubs that promise good results in 
cemetery work are the various Spiraias but best of 
them all, it seems to me, S. Van Houtteii which ap- 
pears able to withstand heat and cold, drouth and 
overplus of moisture wonderfully well, besides be- 
ing pleasing in foliage and surpassingly lovely when 
in flower. 
And the hardy Japanese single roses, Rosa ru- 
gosa and R. rugosa alba, are excellent — barring 
their sometimes annoying habit of suckering. They 
flowered all summer at the World’s Fair and were 
green, vigorous and full of buds when frost came. 
Another thing that did remarkably well during the 
hot, dry and really trying summer of ’93 was the 
Weeping Mulberry. Despite all drawbacks it trail- 
ed its slender branches far out over the grass on all 
sides and was beautifully green to the end of the 
season, and it bears a feast of fruit for the birds 
that find in cemeteries more satisfactory conditions 
for a happy life than any where else, which I take 
to be an unfavorable, but deserved comment on the 
manners and customs that obtain around the honie 
of the living. 
Hardy Hydrangeas are desirable not only for 
their fine flowers but because they show them at a 
season when flowers are comparatively scarce. 
Many agreeable effects may be produced by us- 
