PARK AND CEMETERY. 
307 
ASKED AND ANSWERED 
An exchange of experience on practical matters by our readers. You 
are invited to contribute questions and answers to this department 
Disposing of Leaves. 
It has been my practice to use leaves 
largely for the purpose of making com- 
post, the leaves being placed in large pens 
and allowed to rot for a number of years. 
Leaf mould is extremely valuable in hot- 
house work and forms a source of supply 
of humus which is comparatively inex- 
pensive and exceedingly easy to mix with 
other soil compounds. I have also used 
leaves to a great extent in mixing with 
stable manure and other fertilizing agents 
to form top dressing compost for lawns 
and perennial gardens. Leaves form an 
exceedingly valuable mulch when raked 
into shrubbery plantings and allowed to 
remain and rot. Altogether they form a 
crop of great value and should be used in 
ways outlined rather than be burned or 
carted away to the city dump. 
M. H. West, 
Landscape Architect. 
Chicago, 111. 
Concrete Cemetery Fences. 
The Maple Grove Cemetery Co. wants 
to build a new fence and entrance to and 
along the front of the cemetery. We are 
much inclined to build it of cement con- 
struction, and I write this to ask if you 
have any- plans or photographs of cement 
cemetery fences. 
Any information you could give us along 
these lines would be very thankfully re- 
ceived. Of course, we are somewhat lim- 
ited for funds and are looking for some- 
thing durable, that will not cost too much. 
H. V. Brown, 
Sec. Maple Grove Cemetery Co. 
Milford, 111. 
I do not know of any cemetery that is 
inclosed with a concrete fence, although it 
is perfectly practicable, as cheap as iron 
and, of course, more durable and can be 
made very artistic. There are many other 
grounds inclosed with concrete fences and 
several methods have been employed. The 
one most commonly used is to cast the 
posts about eight feet apart and connect 
ORNAMENTAL CONCRETE FENCE IN 
MINNEAPOLIS. 
them at the top and bottom with a stout 
iron rod. To this rod wire lath is at- 
tached and plastered with cement on both 
sides. Another method is to construct the 
posts with pier moulds, making a hollow 
block post. On two sides of this block a 
groove is cast. The panels are cast in the 
form of slabs on platforms, close to the 
spot where the finished fence is to stand. 
These slabs are set up on edge and put 
into the grooves mentioned before. In set- 
ting up a fence of this kind the post and 
slab are set up alternately. This method 
allows of considerable ornamentation in 
the panel work. 
Bellett Lawson, Jr., 
Supt. Elmwood Cemetery. 
River Grove, 111. 
To surround a cemetery it is not unlikely 
that your correspondent will want a solid 
wall. Such walls have been satisfactorily 
built of concrete block, as is shown in the 
illustration of an article from Concrete, 
which I am sending you. Walls of lighter 
construction, although very durable, may 
be built of expanded metal and stucco 
mesh, like the wall of a stucco house, or 
a hollow wall, with thin slabs on each 
side, may be built with the Van Guilder 
hollow wall machine, made by the Van 
Guilder Hollow Wall Co., 728 Chamber 
of Commerce building, Rochester, N. Y. 
Harvey Whipple, 
Associate Editor Concrete. 
Detroit, Mich. 
The February (1912) issue of Concrete 
Cement Age, published at Detroit, Mich., 
has an article describing the building of a 
concrete fence, from which we quote as 
follows : 
“Something elaborate in fence construc- 
tion is shown on this page through the 
courtesy of the Universal Portland Ce- 
ment Co. This is a fence surrounding the 
home of F. W. Clifford, Minneapolis, Minn. 
The design is by Harry W. Jones, archi- 
tect, and the fence was built by the Na- 
tional Stone Co., Minneapolis, Minn. The 
lower part of the fence and the pillars are 
of concrete block cast with a rough 
grained surface, laid in cement mortar 
with poined joints. The upper part is cast 
in a special pattern and there was no at- 
tempt at surfacing after the pieces left 
the molds. 
“Particular attention is called to a view 
of a long line of fence on the Barber es- 
tate. This is built of reinforced concrete 
posts with slots in the sides to receive the 
reinforced concrete rails. A view of a 
small section of the fence reproduced on 
this page gives an idea of the pattern of 
construction. This fence of posts and rails 
was designed by S. H. Wightman, when 
he was in charge of the O. C. Barber 
block plant at Barberton. Mr. Barber was 
considering the erection of several miles 
of wire fence on his farm, and Mr. Wight- 
man persuaded him, by means of a model 
of a section of the proposed fence of con- 
crete, to use concrete. Mr. Barber built 
five and one-half miles of this concrete 
fence. In casting the 30,000 rails which 
they used, only four molds were employed. 
The rails are 2 inches by 10 inches by 8 
feet 7j4 inches. Only two wooden molds 
were required for the posts. The posts 
are 8 Inches by 10 inches by 8 feet. The 
UPPER PICTURE: CROSS SECTION OF 
POST AND CAP FOR POST. LOWER 
PICTURE: ELEVATION OF FENCE. 
post caps were cast in gang molds. An 
idea of what this fence will cost in almost 
any locality may be gained from the in- 
formation supplied by Mr. Wightman, as 
follows :, 
“Labor for molding the rails cost $1.90 
per day and $1.75 for a helper. Forty rails 
a day were cast by each team. The caps 
were made by piece work and cost 2 J4 
cents each for molding. 
“Thirty posts a day were made by a 
molder at $2.50 per day and a helper at 
$1.75. The rails are reinforced with two 
j4-inch twisted Franklin bars, and stood 
2,363' pounds uniform non-binding load 
when laid flat, resting at each end on a 
block 1 inch high. Under this test the post 
did not break, but sagged until the center 
touched the floor, when loading was 
stopped. 
“The cost of the fence, per running foot, 
piled in the yard, was 28 cents. All pieces 
are faced light gray and thoroughly wa- 
terproofed. 
“The work of building the fence was 
done by a crew of 15 men at $1.75 per day 
each, with one team of horses and a fore- 
man at $2.75 a day. Mr. Wightman is of 
