386 
V 
PARK AND C£M£T£RY. 
United States of which we have reports, 19 report a steady 
increase in the number of incinerations; 2 just hold their 
own ; and 4 appear to be progressing backwards. The total 
yearly number of incinerations in the United States has grad- 
ually increased from 813 in 1894 to 3,020 in 1904. 
The office of incineration is performed as it should be, in 
a private manner. The last rites concern the family and the 
immediate friends only. The unseemly conduct of curious 
crowds sometimes witnessed at funerals is avoided. 
To the progressive superintendent I would say : Do not 
be afraid that the adoption of cremation will lesson the value 
of your profession or immediately upset the present order of 
things and mar the beauty of your creations ; cremation will 
not come into exclusive force in a day, any more than did 
the lawn plan and the banishment of fences and curbing. Do 
not think that you will live to see the family lot erased from 
your plans, or the monuments disappear from the landscape. 
The columbarium will doubtless cause a change in the size 
of lots sold and in the construction of monuments, but many 
generations will have passed after cremation has become gen- 
eral and compulsory before people will have abandoned the 
idea of a family lot in which to bury their ashes. 
]\lr. White’s paper was heard with much interest 
and aroused an animated discussion in tvhich a num- 
ber of members took part. The proper dis- 
posal of the ashes was the first point con- 
sidered. Mr. Enrich, of Detroit, said that 
of the sixteen incinerations that had taken 
place at the Crematory at Woodlawn, some 
had been placed in a vault, some encased in 
copper boxes and placed in the base of 
monuments, and others interred in the usual 
manner. 
IN'Ir. Scorgie, of Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, 
Mass., thought that a well-equipped ceme- 
tery should give the lotholder his choice of 
a vault grave, a common grave, or crema- 
tion, but that cremation should not be urged 
by the cemetery superintendent over any 
other form of sepulture. He believes that 
every large city should have a crematorium. 
Cremation in the vicinity of Boston has 
been largely influenced by the opinion of 
medical men and is generally increasing 
each year, coming largely from a class in 
the community who have the reputation of 
being thinking people. At Mt. Auburn, 50 were cre- 
mated the first seven months, 125 the next year, 144 
the third year, 165 the fourth year, and during the 
past year 180. 
Iv'Ir. Currie, of “Forest Home,” Milwaukee, spoke 
strongly in favor of the interment of the ashes, but 
thought that matter should be left to the sentiment of 
the lotholder, the cemetery only deciding when it was 
appealed to by the lotholder. He was of the opinion 
that the crematory would in the future become indis- 
pensable, and that all of the principal cemeteries that 
could afiford it should be equipped for incineration. 
The cemetery, however, should not strongly recommend 
it, but should merely be in a position to furnish it when 
desired. 
The “Question Box” brought forth the subject: 
“Does it pay to run a greenhouse in connection with 
a cemetery to sell flowers?” Mr. Gunn, of North- 
bridge, Mass., thought that it depended upon the lo- 
cation and circumstances, and that where there was 
no local florist it could be done very successfully. 
At Northbridge he had found it quite profitable as 
there was no private greenhouse within sixteen miles. 
Mr. Currie, of Milwaukee, said that the greenhouse 
at “Forest Home” had paid financially, although it 
was primarily started as an accommodation to the lot 
owners. It was also of great assistance to the ceme- 
tery in maintaining a uniform system of planting. 
This he thought quite as important as making it a 
financial success, irrespective of whether private green- 
houses were convenient or not. Mr. Rudd, of Mt. 
Greenwood, Chicago, said that the greenhouse there 
had been running for nineteen years and was show- 
ing very satisfactory profit. He questioned, however, 
McClellan entrance to Arlington national 
CEMETERY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
as to whether the profit came entirely from the sale 
of plants or partly from care. Nearly all sales were 
made with care included and the whole account credited 
to the greenhouse. The care belonged properly un- 
der some other head, but on the other hand it might 
not be secured without the greenhouse. Generally 
speaking, however, nearly all of the cemeteries of Gii- 
cago were operating extensive greenhouses at a very 
fair profit in close competition with neighboring flor- 
ists. Mr. Carter, of Oakwoods, Qiicago, corroborated 
Mr. Rudd’s statement. Mr. Boxell, of “Oakland,” 
St. Paul, said that their greenhouses were paying a 
small profit after charging every ju-^t expense to them, 
in addition to 10 per cent, on the construction of the 
house each year, but he would hardh' advise the 
establishment of one as a financial investment. They 
were highly important, however, as an accommodation 
