THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
1 26 
both the common and the purple leaved varieties, 
the first loaded every fall with slender oval fruits 
that depend from slim twigs like tringe; also the 
pretty Spirea Thunbergii, with shining red berries, 
as well as numerous sharp thorns; and Winterberry 
with brilliantly polished scarlet ones. 
A bouquet of all these fruits is doubly attractive 
if interspersed with sprays of glossy, reddish bronze 
leaves of Mahonia; and the same shrub is a useful 
and beautiful addition to hardy borders. 
Fanny Copley Seavey. 
Cemetery Greenhouses. 
The cultivation of flowering and ornamental 
plants is encouraged, or tolerated, as the case may 
be, in almost every cemetery in the land. 
Some few there are who advocate their total ex- 
clusion from the modern cemetery, but this is hard- 
ly worth consideration at the present time. 
The opinion has frequently been advanced, and 
stoutly maintained, that hardy plants alone are suit- 
able for cemetery planting. How we prick up our 
ears at the word “hardy.” What a seductive sound 
it has ! What visions arise before us ! We have 
to but exchange a few paltry dollars for some of the 
wondrous things advertised in the list of hardy 
plants, go forth with our spade, put them in the 
ground, and without further care or toil on our 
part, they will become things of beauty and joys 
forever. But alas and alas ! The lily toils not, 
neither does it spin, but the gardener must toil 
mightily, would he have it bloom at its best, and 
all his toil in these-days of the lily disease is more 
than likely to end in disappointment. 
Of the published lists of hardy plants, more than 
one half of them are worthless for our purpose — 
valuable possibly for massing in broad landscape 
effects, but for close scrutiny — weeds. Of the re- 
mainder, many are not reliably hardy, except in the 
most favorable locations. Our list is at once redu- 
ced to quite modest dimensions. If we then strike 
off all those which are too tall, too rank in growth, 
too much inclined to spread and sucker, too slow in 
reaching maturity, too scant or uncertain of bloom, 
or whose period of bloom is too short, we have but 
a handful left, and of them all there is not one with 
so many sterling qualities as the much villified gera- 
nium, to say nothing of a dozen other tender plants. 
The writer would not be understood as decry- 
ing the use of hardy plants. Many of them are in- 
dispensable, but they should not be used when bet- 
ter results can be obtained with those which are 
not hardy. 
The great saving in expense is another argu- 
ment strongly advanced in favor of hardy plants. 
' Any one who has had the care of a large collection 
of hardy plants, who has fertilized them, cultivated 
them, tied, pruned and staked them, dressed them 
for cold weather and undressed them in spring, who 
has endeavored to guard them against those terrible 
instruments of destruction, the lawn mower and the 
steel rake; any one, we say, who has nursed the 
sick, replaced the dead ones and secured the best 
results for a number of years, will find it hard to 
see when any great saving is made. Recognizing, 
then, the fact that plants are used, and that they will 
continue to be used, the question of interest to all 
having the care of cemeteries, large or small, is how 
can the planting best be regulated; how can the 
evils with which we are all so familiar, in this con- 
nection, be abolished, and the proper use of plants 
be encouraged. 
The adoption of proper and judicious rules and 
restrictions will do much, but the workings of the 
human mind are past comprehension, and the num- 
ber of hideous schemes of planting and discordant 
color combinations which can be evolved to come 
within the letter of the best set of rules, is infinite. 
The most artistic plans may result in any but a de- 
sirable way, if the mechanical part of the work is 
improperly done, or the individual requirements of 
the plants used are not provided for, points very 
difficult to reach by rules. 
Let the cemetery be equipped with proper 
greenhouses, supply the plants, do the planting 
and provide subsequent care, and the difficulty is at 
once greatly lessened. The lot owner is forced to 
consult the superintendent or gardener before the 
work is commenced, and before he has bargained 
for, or perhaps paid out his money for something 
undesirable. If, then, the superintendent is pos- 
sessed of a reasonable amount of tact, (and he needs 
it, of all men), it becomes, in most cases, a simple 
matter to guide the lot owner’s footsteps in the way 
they should go. The average man, or woman, re- 
lies largely on the advice of the one from whom the 
plants are bought, and it makes a great difference 
in the result whether the adviser is interested in the 
general good appearance of the cemetery, or only 
interested in disposing of surplus stock on the best 
terms possible. (If the plants do not do well, it is 
so easy to charge it to the lack of care on the part 
of the cemetery management). 
The gain in quality of the work done and the 
bringing the management in closer touch with the 
lot owners would alone amply justify us in consid- 
ering the greenhouse an essential part of the mod- 
ern cemetery, but there are many other advantages 
besides. 
A well managed greenhouse, no matter how 
small, adds greatly to the attractiveness of the cem- 
etery in the eyes of the average man and woman. 
