PARK AND CEMETERY. 
167 
in regard to monuments, not in any arbitrary spirit, 
but so as to secure the very best results and to 
miintain that aspect of the cemetery that shall re- 
VIEW IN RIVERSIDE CEMETERY. 
tain forever the admiration and respect of the lot 
owners. 
A matter worthy of special comment is the good 
progress toward a finished result that has been ob- 
tained in the comparatively short space of time 
of six years. This may be ascribed to the fact 
that the whole plan was, so to speak, “cut and 
dried ’’ before operations were commenced, since 
which the work has been prosecuted under the most 
skillful guidance with a definite aim in view, that of 
producing the most natural effects. The cemetery 
displays quite a variety of trees and planting ma- 
terial, and Mr. Shepard has also made 
extensive use of attractive native 
shrubs, which are so effective in their 
autumn fruitage and coloring. To 
maintain this condition a propagating 
nursery of shrubs is set apart, in which 
the work of cultivating appropriate 
material and experimenting on other 
promising plants is carried on. 
About and in the lakes, aquatic and 
semi-aquatic plants are grown. The 
collection of Japanese Iris affords a 
fine display in its season. 
The offices, superintendent’s resi- 
dence, and Receiving Vault are all well 
designed buildings, substantially con- 
structed of stone. Among other pro- 
posed buildings is a combined chapel 
and conservatory, for the use of those 
desiring to hold services at the cemetery. It is 
designed to have the chapel a part of a large 
conservatory, wherein birds and beautiful plants 
will be very suggestive elements in the ceremonies. 
With regard to the present and future care of 
the cemetery, under the laws of the State of New 
York, perpetual care is provided for 
all lots. Single grave sections receive 
the care due them, and are not isolated 
and neglected, as is unfortunately the 
case in many cemeteries. 
Enough has been said to show that 
Riverside Cemetery has been estab- 
lished and is being conducted under 
the lawn plan on a high plane. The 
officers of the association have never 
doubted of its final success, and while 
in its first years of existence sales were 
few, the citizens of Rochester are 
awakening to its attractions as a place 
of burial, and the sales of the past 
fiscal year will double those of the 
year before. Mr. Dean Alvord, the 
secretary and treasurer, has been an 
active spirit in this enterprise; his love 
of trees and landscape imbued him with a strong 
faith in the ultimate recognition of the lawn plan in 
cemetery work, and the growing appreciation of 
Riverside and its promise of marked success are 
confirming him in the wisdom of his faith. 
A German authority on forestry announces the 
discovery, in India, of a tree having leavesso highly 
electrical that whoever touches one of them receives 
a severe electrical shock. Even upon the magnetic 
needle this tree, which has been given the name of 
Philotcea electrica, has a strong influence, causing 
VIEW IN RIVERSIDE CEMETERY. 
magnetic variations at a distance of seventy feet. 
The electrical strength of the tree varies according 
to the time of day, being most powerful at noon. 
