98 
PARK AND CE/nETERY 
frost went out of the ground in the spring, much of 
this gravel would disappear in the clay, but a new 
layer was then put on and rolled as before, when 
the road would remain good the balance of the sea- 
son. After putting on a few layers of gravel, a 
layer of broken limestone about two inches thick 
was put on part of the roads. The limestone 
comes from quite a distance and costs a little over 
two dollars a cubic yard. The clay has not work- 
ed through this limestone, and the surface has been 
hard and smooth like that of a macadamized road. 
Such a surface, it seems to me, is the most suitable 
one for a cemetery. Carriage wheels in passing 
over it do not produce such grating sounds as on 
gravel, nor the horses’ feet such a clattering as on 
asphalt. With a firmer soil for a foundation and 
stone on the ground or in the vicinity, I should ad- 
vise the building of the ordinary macadam road, 
which is made up of successive layers of broken 
stone, the lower layers being coarse and the upper 
fine — each layer being thoroughly compacted by 
wetting and rolling. In many places where there 
is a good packing gravel, motives of economy may 
dictate its use. In such cases there will generally 
be a saving of expense by screening the gravel be- 
fore it is hauled from the pit, and the result will be 
more satisfactory. 
The drainage of a road is nearly as important a 
matter as the material of which it is composed. 
When the ground is high and the soil, sand or grav- 
el, the underground drainage needed in other cases 
can be dispensed with. Where a road passes over 
a bed of muck or peat, this material should be re- 
moved before doing the grading. The surface water 
should always be taken care of. On steep grades 
gutters are necessary to prevent heavy rains from 
washing out the road bed, and frequent catch ba- 
sins are needed to prevent the accumulation of too 
much water. A catch basin should be made so as 
to guard sewers or drains from anything that might 
tend to choke them. The ordinary cast iron catch 
basin cover has been used in Graceland, but tin: 
leaves accumulate on it during showers and some- 
times prevent the water from entering. 
In Spring Grove the covers are made of stone 
and placed just outside the line of the gutter, with 
a large opening underneath for the entrance of the 
water. The gutter sometimes forms a part of the 
lawn, and where there is not too much water, this 
gutter is a very good way, but usually the gutter is 
made of stone. 
The margin of the road can very properly be 
considered in the time devoted to this topic. Mr. 
Strauch said that the surface of the ground each 
side of an avenue should be tangent to the surface 
of the driveway, so that it would appear as though 
the sods had simply been removed to form the 
road. It is this simple rule which gives the drives 
he made such an elegant appearance. In many 
cemeteries the sod where the ground rises above 
the gutter is convex, forming a shoulder, which it 
is almost impossible to keep neat and true. In 
others it is six, eight, and even ten inches higher 
than the adjacent gutter, instead of being, as it 
should be, not over two inches. 
Finally, the roads when completed should re- 
ceive constant care and attention. They should be 
sprinkled during all dry and dusty weather. No 
ruts should be allowed to form. Weeds should not 
be allowed to grow there or anywhere else. All 
leaves, branches of trees, grass cuttings, sand, dirt, 
papers, etc., should be at once removed so that the 
cemetery will always present a neat and tidy ap- 
pearance. 
Fern House, Horticultural Hall, Fairmount Park, 
Philadelphia. 
Horticultural Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadel- 
phia, is one of two of the large buildings erect- 
ed during the Centennial which were left standing. 
It occupies a bluff that overlooks the Schuylkill 
INTERIOR OF FERN HOUSE. 
river, lOO feet below. 1 his great conservatory is 
380 by 193 feet and 55 feet high, perhaps the larg- 
est building for this purpose in the country. On 
two sides of the main building are extensions, one 
of which is known as the “b'ern House” a partial 
view of the interior of which is presented herewith. 
There is a great deal of attraction in ferns, and in 
many public and private places it is not uncommon 
