264 
ranged as to hide, at least partially, one 
open area from another, foliage sometimes 
reaching only to the height of the eye and 
again ascending to the top of the tallest 
tree. These areas of foliage make a ground 
cover quite distinct from the usual lawn. 
They make the lawn itself more effective 
and form the pictures which constitute the 
charm of any cemetery. By the almost in- 
finite number of different kinds of plants 
that can be used to cover the ground and 
produce the banks of foliage desired one 
can secure the greatest possible variety. 
You will all remember the masses of seed- 
ling oaks with which Mr. McCarthy used 
to cover portions of the ground in Swan 
Point Cemetery and produce at the same 
time most interesting foliage beds with 
very common but very attractive material. 
No leaves excel those of the oak in beauty 
of texture and outline. We can imagine 
one of Mr. McCarthy’s beds of oak seed- 
lings growing until some of the seedlings 
become young trees, when their lower 
branches will run out, still forming a pro- 
tecting cover. Later, when a few of them 
become large trees, we can imagine them 
as forming a background for a group of 
wild crabapples or thornapples, or perhaps 
their trunks may be surrounded with 
twenty or thirty lilac bushes, the sprouts 
of the lilacs being allowed to grow so as 
to form a solid stream of foliage from the 
ground to the height from which the oaks 
emerge. Such a growth, whether of thorn- 
apples, lilacs, hazel bushes, viburnums, In- 
dian currants or any other attractive shrub, 
will hold the leaves which fall in autumn, 
keeping them from blowing about the lawn, 
and in addition to the artistic effect which 
they produce will be a protection to the 
trees and furnish meeting places for birds 
and at certain seasons an abundance of 
flowers. At other seasons they produce 
fruits attractive in appearance and very 
useful as food for the feathered songsters. 
There are some people who will object 
to anything but grass in a cemetery. A 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
monument dealer once said that if he could 
have his way there would not be a tree in 
the cemetery, but is it reasonable to de- 
prive ourselves of the beauty and the 
grateful shade of trees? Is it reasonable to 
prohibit the satisfaction which comes from 
viewing a great mound of yellow blossoms 
of forsythia in early spring, of viewing 
the great masses of lilac blossoms which 
come later, varying in color from purple, 
through lavender to white, and filling the 
air with fragrance? Should we deprive 
ourselves of the blossoms of spiraeas, the 
elderberries and roses? Is there not some- 
thing lacking when we cannot have the 
fruits of barberries, viburnums, dogwoods 
and mountain ash ? There are many peo- 
ple who admire all of these plants. There 
are some who have been in the Northern 
woods, thick with an intricate wild growth, 
who have said to the writer that they 
would like to have their lots covered with 
thickets like these Northern woods. Ashes 
could be buried in such lots with very lit- 
tle disturbance of the woody growth, or 
they could be strewn on the surface with- 
out burial, while the shrubs that might be 
disturbed in making an ordinary grave 
could be easily replaced. 
There are those who have said that when 
they were through with life they would like 
to go back to Mother Earth. Let Mother 
Earth include not only the sand, the gravel, 
the clay and the various kinds of soil, but 
also the countless trees, bushes, vines, flow- 
ering plants, ferns, club mosses and even 
lichens with which Nature, when left to 
herself, covers the entire ground, and while 
using all of these plants let us study how 
to arrange them so that we shall have vistas 
with light flooding the foliage on the one 
side, with contrasting shade on the other, 
with leaves, flowers or fruits sending us 
the sunshine from most pleasing textures, 
shapes and colors. 
The above suggestions are general in 
character. In a paper like this, one cannot 
mention many details, and still there is a 
temptation to mention some places that are 
especially pleasing. A steep, sandy hillside, 
upon which grow yellow birches and hem- 
locks, is covered with a thick mat of the 
rich green leaves of the partridge berry, 
and this mat is dotted with red berries. 
Interspersed at intervals on this bank are 
club mosses and wintergreens. This cov- 
ering, which is in a bit of Michigan woods, 
is always attractive in appearance without 
the slightest attention. There are places in 
many cemeteries where the hint given by 
this bit of nature might be utilized to ad- 
vantage. In an opening in some Maine 
woods, bordered with spruce, the ground 
cover is carried out from the spruces with 
prostrate junipers. Then there is a consid- 
erable open space among the junipers cov- 
ered with wintergreens and mosses, the lat- 
ter varying from dark greens to a very 
light bluish gray. There are also a few 
ferns. A description seldom conveys the 
full charm of a place, and still if you im- 
agine the quiet woods, the deep shade of 
the narrow spaces extending into the 
spruces, the bright sunshine coming down 
on the junipers with their blue berries and 
on the ground cover of mosses, can you 
think of a more peaceful and beautiful 
resting place for one’s ashes. We have 
heard of the spirits of the departed, and 
while we really know nothing about them, 
we can imagine them resting contentedly 
in an opening like this sunny spot in the 
Maine woods, listening to the notes of a 
hidden thrush or the passing of a breeze 
through the branches without fear of being 
disturbed by the noises of civilization. 
In conclusion, let us strive, while re- 1 
taining beautiful lawns in large portions of 
our cemeteries, to introduce here and there 
along borders, on steep hillsides, along ra- 
vines and margins of water, more woods, 
more wild flowers, more nesting places for 
birds and more of the charm of mystery, 
which is one of the delightful attributes 
of Nature. 
CEMETERY IMPROVEMENTS AND EXTENSIONS 
A cemetery board of managers is to be 
created in Elgin for the purpose of receiv- 
ing and managing bequests for the upkeep 
of individual lots and graves. Bequests are 
to be invested in interest-bearing securities. 
The fund so created is to be a perpetual 
care and improvement fund. Interest from 
each bequest is to apply on the lot speci- 
fied by the donor. Any surplus is to be- 
come a sinking fund, to be used for that 
lot or on the cemetery grounds. No be- 
quest smaller than $100 is to be received. 
The Mount Scott Cemetery of Portland, 
Ore., announces that it will spend $25,000 
in repairing the gate lodge building, the in- 
terior of which was recently destroyed by 
fire. 
As a gift to the cemetery, Charles S. 
Watts and J. W. Brown erected a rustic 
bridge in Greenwood Cemetery, of Little 
Rock, Ark. 
The bodies interred in the Indian Cem- 
etery at Wisconsin Point will be removed 
to an established cemetery in Superior. 
The site of the old cemetery is now the 
property of the Interstate Railway Co. and 
is going to be used for commercial pur- 
poses. 
The request of the city of Windsor, 
Colo., for the use of enough water to keep 
up fifty cemetery lots in the city, in ad- 
dition to that already supplied for city 
purposes, to be paid for at the same rate 
as other city water, but to be on a sep- 
arate meter, was granted. 
Washington Court House, Ohio, was re-, 
cently highly complimented in the local 
press on having one of the most beautiful 
burial grounds in the country in a town of 
its size. Under the supervision of Mr. 
Gossard, the superintendent, ihe grounds 
have been kept immaculate and the land- 
scape setting made very attractive. 
The City Commission of Salt Lake City, 
Utah, has passed the revised cemetery or- 1 
dinance authorizing the city sexton to im- 
prove lots • permanently under his care at 
the expense of the owners, and making it ( 
unlawful to erect or maintain fences, cop- 
ing and hedges about lots in the cemetery. 
Mr. W. L. Stewart, of Norwood, 111., is 
leading the work of raising funds for the 
benefit of the Norwood Cemetery. 
The Chicago Cemetery Association re- 
ports that it has reduced its mortgage debt 
during the year from $25,000 to $13,000 
and expects to pay at least 3 per cent d'.vi- ' 
