PARK AND CEMETERY. 
' ■ -» *& 
would be the organization of county cemeteries, 
and in this, there should be no difficulty in main- 
taining a regular attendant. The old adage of what 
i s everybody’s business is nobody’s business, lifts a 
more than ordinarily evil application to the country 
cemetery, and every interested reader is urged to 
use his influence to inaugurate reform in this truly 
desirable direction. 
HE CUTTING down of fine trees in Clifton 
Park, Baltimore, to make way for new drives, 
has raised a storm of protest from the tree 
lovers of that city, who in their stress of regret, 
declare the spoliation unnecessary. Whether this 
be true or not, it is very gratifying to note the 
growing regard for the trees, and that a sentiment 
is establishing itself, powerful enough to demand 
attention from the authorities, who either through 
ignorance or incompetence, so often outrage the 
feelings of a community in regard to this really 
important matter. The tree question has become 
so prominent in the country, due to the reckless 
destruction of the past, that in both views of it, 
whether its usefulness or pleasure giving attributes, 
it is one that has enlisted very strong support. The 
tree planting associations of Brooklyn and New 
York have been doing very effective work both in 
protecting existing trees and inducing their plant- 
ing wherever appropriate, besides making munici- 
pal ordinances touching the subject operative and 
inspiring. But all this work suggests the necessi- 
ty of the appointment of a forester in all citiesand 
communities of importance. Not a political hench- 
man, but a man thoroughly educated in forestry, up 
to his work, fearless and independent. It is unne- 
cessary to say that such a man should possess judg- 
ment, his knowledge of tree life should be his cer- 
tificate, and the confidence of the people would be 
Avith him. 
T HE MORE we study and practice the lawn 
plan, as it should be conducted, in our cem- 
eteries, the broader does its scope become, 
and the more far-reaching its effects. And to look 
at even what our best cemeteries have done and are 
doing only serves to draw attention to what is not 
being done. What is the predominant idea con- 
nected with the lawn plan ? Is it not to secure pic- 
turesque landscape effects, and thus by infusing 
beauty and harmony into its related parts, to en- 
sure as far as possible permanency. A cemetery 
conducted on the understanding that its sections 
should be nothing but well trimmed lawns can 
hardly be imagined, certainly not with pleasure. 
And it is needless to attempt to justify the meaning 
of the term, but more opportunely to note what 
the lawn plan demands to carry out its perfect in- 
tent. In this regard it may be at once stated that 
those who have the practical management of lawn 
plan cemeteries should be men Avell versed in land- 
scape work, that is in creating natural scenery in 
its broad meaning, by the proper arrangement of 
the planting schemes, and in the knowledge and 
use of the planting material, to the end that the 
happiest effects may be produced, and extended 
through the seasons from year to year. That the 
efforts thus far displayed have resulted in gigantic 
strides in improvement cannot be gainsaid, and it 
would seem that the snags now impeding the cur- 
rent lie in the channels of inoperative restrictions — 
inoperative from the fact of their not being suffic- 
iently advanced in their restrictiveness to secure 
harmonious relations with the landscape work. 
And, again, there is the lack of sympathetic appre- 
ciation of the lot holder, who not seeing the force 
of the landscape demands, objects to what appears 
the arbitrary rules relating to their property rights. 
And here this condition of things leads to a word on 
the duty of the lot holder towards the lawn plan, 
which by the rvay also contains a very strong edu- 
cational principle. The best effects of the lawn 
plan demand a minimum of stone work to avoid 
diverting the attention, so that in certain respects 
the fewer the monuments the better. This is a 
general principle. Then to further relieve the mo- 
notony, which must more or less assert itself in re- 
lation to the monuments, diversity of design is a 
matter of paramount importance. A proper reali- 
zation of these essential requirements of the lawn 
plan will suggest to the broad-minded lot holder 
that exclusiveness in the new order of cemetery 
work is a thing of the past, and that a lot is not 
held as a piece of personal property upon which to 
work one’s will, but a component part of the whole 
cemetery, wherein all have a general interest, and to 
whose individual welfare, as a reaction, the entire 
cemetery contributes, by its increasing attractive- 
ness and restful beauty. These points and their 
amplification being understood by the officials of 
the cemetery, it follows that the lot holder should 
be instructed to the end that his understanding 
should coincide with theirs, and the more efficiently 
and quickly this is attempted, the better. There 
would appear to be no better way of doing this 
than by supplying the lot holders with such litera- 
ture as bears directly on the subject. This would 
be a paying investment on the part of cemetery 
management. Attendance at the annual meetings 
of the association of cemetery superintendents, the 
reading of papers there, and the incorporation of 
these papers in the printed proceedings of the cem- 
etery associations would wonderfully help the de- 
velopment of the lawn plan on its higest plane. 
