PARK AND CEMETERY. 
15 
ASKED AND ANSWERED 
An exchange of experience on practical matters by our readers. You 
are invited to contribute questions and answers to this department 
on, it is these six-rayed crystals which 
are compressed together by the sheer 
force of their own expansion and 
growth to form transparent sheets of 
ice. The sheets float on water be- 
cause each molecule of water expands 
as it is transformed into the crystal- 
line form-ice. Contrariwise, when the 
sun’s rays reverse the process, and 
melt an ice star in the heart of a 
block of ice, but so delicately as not 
to destroy the specific form of the 
melted crystal, this water-flower oc- 
cupies a less space than the original 
ice-flower, and its petals are arranged 
around the gleaming spots of vacuum 
mentioned above. 
Floating ice-crystals, or free water- 
flowers in ice, can only be observed 
in situ, and rarely then. Few specu- 
lations cause one greater wonder than 
a deliberate consideration of what 
must be the almost-incredible power 
exerted by the rays of these unstable 
ice-stars to weld them into that ice 
which will bear the weight of a man, 
or split asunder huge rocks. Skaters 
may occasionally have ocular proof 
of the reality of this power, as when 
the ice-covering of a lake “bends-up” 
with a report like that of a small can- 
non — an incident due solely to the 
intolerable lateral and upward strains 
on the mass when the ice-sheet 
stretches from shore to shore and is 
still “growing” downward into the 
depths of water. The expanding ice 
must force the lake banks apart, force 
out the bed of the lake, or heave it- 
self bodily upward. The last alterna- 
tive encounters the least resistance, 
and hence those cracks and ridges on 
the ice which bring many a nasty 
fall to the skater. 
Ice is the solid form assumed by 
liquid terrestrial waters in the process 
of congelation or freezing. When 
what may for the moment be called 
liquid aerial water-rain, freezes, we 
get hail-stones. But the water held 
in suspense by the atmosphere sur- 
rounding our earth is held in the 
form of vapor. Saturation of the at- 
mosphere with water-vapor is fol- 
lowed by condensation. This vapor 
in its condensed form, becomes too 
heavy to be supported by the atmos- 
phere which forthwith lets it fall back 
to earth whence it was before, and 
will again be taken up through the 
incessant evaporation. Deposits of 
condensed atmospheric vapor occur in 
various forms and from various 
causes. When a warm vapor saturat- 
ed area of our atmosphere is sudden- 
ly cooled by contact with colder air- 
currents, or other causes, it under- 
{Concluded on page XVI) 
Concrete Walks in Cemeteries. 
Are concrete walks used to any ex- 
tent in or about cemeteries?” — J. N. 
W., Ky. 
Concrete walks or any other kind 
are seldom used in cemeteries. Most 
cemetery walks are just spaces left 
between the lots and are grass the 
same as the lots. If however, there 
are places alongside the avenues or 
near the entrance where it is neces- 
sary to provide a place for a walk 
separate and distinct from the av- 
enues, then no better material can 
be found than concrete. Some ceme- 
teries are building a combination gut- 
ter and sidewalk: Its chief objection 
is that it is too conspicuous and some- 
what mars the appearance of the 
landscape. 
Bellett Lawson, Jr., 
Supt. Elmwood Cemetery. 
River Grove, 111. 
* * * 
Payment in Advance for Cemetery 
Services. 
“Can you tell me in what propor- 
tion of cemeteries conducted along 
modern lines, payment for work done 
is required in advance? Our direc- 
tors are seriously considering the ad- 
visability of requiring payment before 
work is performed.” — F. S. N.. Conn. 
It would be difficult to approximate 
the proportion .of cemeteries whose 
rules provide for prepayment for 
services rendered, but it is evident 
that there is a strong sentiment in 
favor of s'uch rules where they have 
not been adopted. They would not 
only simplify the office work but save 
actual money losses as well. Home- 
wood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.: 
“Undertakers pay once a month. Lot 
owners once a year. Stone cutters 
and florists, in advance.” Discrimina- 
tion in the two last named became 
necessary because some of the firms 
were not reliable. The rule has worked 
very satisfactorily. Mount Hope 
Cemetery, Chicago, has a rule apply- 
ing to this subject but “judgment is 
exercised as to requiring payment in 
advance.” Extending credit promis- 
cuously is poor business with a cem- 
etery the same as it would be in any 
other business. Forest Hills, Bos- 
ton, Mass., has a rule which states 
“No work will be done on any lot 
upon which there remains on the first 
of April an unpaid bill of any preced- 
ing year or years.” If work is or- 
dered by a stone mason or under- 
taker and is not to be charged to the 
lot prepayment is required, except 
with a few firms who regularly re- 
ceive credit. Oakland Cemetery, St. 
Paul, Minn., does not demand pre- 
payment for work done, but “if a cus- 
tomer fails to pay within six months, 
his name is put on the pay in ad- 
vance list.” 
* * * 
How to Kill Quack Grass. 
“What is the best way to eradicate or 
hold in check the growth of Quack 
Grass?” — J. B., Mich. 
The Department of Agriculture has 
recently issued Farmers’ Bulletin No. 
464 on “The Eradication of Quack 
Grass.” Quack grass is well known 
to most farmers all the way from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific in latitudes 
north of the Ohio and Potomac Riv- 
ers. It is one of the most serious 
weed pests known in America. The 
grass grows under a great many dif- 
ferent names, among them couch 
grass, witch grass, and twitch grass. 
The author of this bulletin has spent 
a number of years making a close 
study of the grass under field condi- 
tions all over the northern United 
States. Based on this thorough 
knowledge of the field habits of the 
grass, experimental work was started, 
which quickly resulted in a complete, 
cheap, and practical method of eradi- 
cating the pest. Farmers’ Bulletin 
464 embodying this work can be had 
by applying, to your Senator, Con- 
gressman, or directly to the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture at Washington. 
* * * 
Grass Under Low-Growing Trees. 
“In the November number of Park 
& Cemetery Mr. Falconer says to 
‘grow grass under trees’ and his rea- 
sons for it are well taken. But I 
would like to ask him how to make 
the grass grow under large sugar and 
Norway maples, especially when the 
lower branches are six to ten feet 
from the ground.” — W., Ind. 
