38 ~ 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
Cemetery Superintendents and the 
New England Cemetery Association, 
both of which organizations are in 
a flourishing condition. 
The evening of the first day was 
devoted to an address on Important 
Items in Starting a new Cemetery, 
by Howard Evarts Weed, of Chicago, 
illustrated with an interesting collec- 
tion of lantern slides showing condi- 
tions in old style cemeteries as com- 
pared with the modern burial places 
of today. The address was in part, 
as follows; 
lMPOKT.\NT I’OINT.S IN ESTABLISHING 
NEW CEMETEKIES. 
Bi/ Hoiravd Evnrlx Weed. Landscape Archit ct. 
In perhaps no other undertaking is it so 
important to have the right start as in the 
establishment of a new cemetery, and it is 
most .unfortunate that most of those in- 
terested in such work know absolutely 
nothing of cemetery reciuirements. Mistakes 
made in the beginning can rarely be recti- 
fied and then, only at great cost. These 
mistakes mean the useless exi^enditure of 
to his four by six feet of Mother Earth. 
Is it to be wondered at that such cemeteries 
are neglected and become an, eyesore in a 
community ? 
Other cemeteries are owned by an as- 
sociation of lot owners and are controlled 
by a board of trustees. With a good superin- 
tendent and broad-minded trustees, this may 
be an ideal arrangement. But even these 
cemeteries are hampered by a lack of funds 
and very few have a perpetual care fund, 
which can. be remedied by charging more 
for the lots and by having a per cent of 
this revenue set aside for perpetual care. 
As a rule, a person only purchases a lot in 
a cemetery once and there is no good reason 
why a fair price should not be paid for it. 
Many cemeteries are owned by fraternal 
orders. The Catholic churches conduct their 
own. cemeteries and it is to be regretted 
that the church authorities do not follow 
modern methods in cemetery management. 
Some cemeteries are conducted as associa- 
tions, composed of the lot owners and are 
not for profit. This is doubtless an ideal 
arrangement. The lot owners know-' that 
whatever is paid to the association will be 
spent advantageously, which is apt to ap- 
peal strongly to them. Many of our best 
modern, cemeteries are managed under this 
ownership. 
But w'hatever arrangement we may con- 
sider ideal, the fact remains that the ma- 
jority of the new cemeteries near the large 
few years in order to make room for the 
living. It is also quite possible to have the 
site too far away from the city, which means 
added expense to everybody in getting to it. 
In the selection of a site provision must be 
made for the future growth of population 
and as accessibility is a very important 
item, location upon or immediately adjoin- 
ing a car line is essential to success. The 
condition of the approach drivew'ay is also 
an important consideration, for if this has 
to be either constructed or kept in repair 
out of cemetery funds it means so much 
less money available for cemetery purposes. 
Land of a gently rolling character is best. 
Such land lends itself admirably to the best 
landscape effects, with the gently curved 
drives winding around the elevated sections. 
Flat land is undesirable both on account of 
poor drainage and proper landscape effects. 
There is a sameness about flat land which 
cannot be fully overcome by landscape work 
and extremely hilly sites are equally bad, 
for they entail added expense in grading, the 
making of driveways and their constant 
repair. 
The best soil is a sandy loam. Such soil 
is easily handled in grave digging, practi- 
cally drains itself and ■will be rich enough 
for the establishment of a fine lawn. If 
the soil is too sandy it will be a costly un- 
dertaking to haul a top dressing of good 
soil for the establishement of a greensward, 
and a cemetery without grass in profusion 
NEW PERGOLA ENTRANCE, GREENWOOD CEMETERY, KNOXVILLE, TENN.; &ID J. HARE, DESIGNER. 
Office Building Will Stand Inside the Entrance, Facing the Pergola. 
much money each year in annual care and 
in the course of years this extra expense 
generally spells neglect. If our old ceme- 
teries had been originally established along 
the .modern ideas, as advocated by the As- 
sociation of American Cemetery Superin- 
tendents, they would today be as interest-' 
ing as our parks and an asset to any lo- 
cality. 
But conditions are changing, and with the 
advancement in all lines of human endeavor 
there has come a slow but sure change for 
the better in our cemeteries, practically the 
result of the efforts of this association. This 
has been an evolution dependent upon the 
education of the people. It has been slow 
because of the few people interested in 
bringing about the change, and the com- 
paratively small financial interests involved. 
Thus, while many other changes have, with 
rapid strides, become a part of our civili- 
zation, we have been slow in changing 
methods of human, burial. 
CEMETERY OWNERSHIP. 
Practically all the cemeteries of the small 
cities of the United States are owned by the 
city government and are under the control 
of the town board or council committee. A 
superintendent is hired to look after burials 
and to give such attention to the grounds 
as a very limited appropriation will permit. 
This usually means a “spring cleaning” 
previous to Memorial Day and neglect for 
the rest of the year. These cemeteries are 
in no way self-supporting owing to the low 
price of lots and graves, while some towns 
even give each citizen a lot without cost, 
evidently believing that everyone is entitled 
cities are being established by corporations 
for profit. With the possible exception of 
poultry raising, a greater profit can be fig- 
ured out on paper for a new cemetery than 
anything else. Just as a beginner in poultry 
raising will figure that so many hens will 
lay so many eggs which can be sold at such 
and such a price, so the cemetery pro- 
moter argues that an acre of ground will 
divide into so many lots which also can be 
sold for such and such a price. This means 
so many thousand dollars per acre, and with 
three hundred acres, etc., etc. We are all 
familiar with the figures and arguments and 
the making of fortunes on paper. There is 
no questioning the fact that corporations for 
profit can make a great success with ceme- 
teries, and rightly managed there should be 
no objection to such an arrangement. But 
to be a success it should be a close cor- 
poration and the stock regarded as an in- 
vestment for one’s family. Such a corpora- 
tion is anything but a get-rich-quick scheme, 
and it is to be regretted that some pro- 
moters have organized cemetery companies 
simply to unload the stock upon a gullible 
public, while the real estate dealers have held 
public auction sales on Sundays with brass 
bands and free lunch features added. Surely 
there are enough gold bricks of all descrip- 
tions available without making use of ceme- 
teries for such purposes. 
LOCATION. 
A mistake in the location of a cemetery 
can never be remedied. In former years a 
mistake commonly made was in selecting a 
site too near the center of population, often 
requiring the removal of the dead after a 
is a desolate place, indeed. There is 
nothing more restful and inviting to the- 
eye than green grass, and it is the most 
important feature of a beautiful cemetery. 
A clay soil will increase the cost of grave 
digging, cannot be well drained and retards 
decay. A soil with a stony stratum near 
the surface is absolutely unfit. 
Too much care cannot be exercised in the 
selection of a proper site and in such selec- 
tion someone with cemetery experience 
should, by all means, be consulted. Where 
several sites are available, it would be ad- 
visable to have the joint opinion of several 
cemetery experts. Too often land is se- 
lected because of its being donated for the 
purpose, or because the owner is -willing to 
take stock in the cemetery coroporation in 
full or part payment. Land not suited for 
cemetery purposes should not be considered 
at all, for the saving at the start is de- 
lusive and such land will prove a great ex- 
pense in the long run. It is not always 
possible, hcMvever, to obtain an ideal site 
and in such a case, all that can be done is- 
to choose the lesser evil and select the best 
site that circumstances will permit. 
THE CEMETERY PLAN. 
Until recently most cemetery plans were 
made by civil engineers. Today such plans 
are made by landscape architects who- 
specially study cemetery needs. The engi- 
neer apparently sees only straight lines, 
which must run to the four points of the 
compass. It is much easier to make the- 
plan along straight lines, and still more- 
easy to set the corner markers from such a. 
plan. A good plan will show gracefully* 
