PARK AND CEMETERY. 
99 
to find houses especially to accomodate them. 
Moist atmosphere and warmth suit all ferns, but 
they do not require the great heat by some thought 
necessary. 
Although the plants in Horticultural Hall are 
in a thriving state, as can be seen in the illustrat- 
ion, the house itself is not of the best construction 
for them. The roof is of iron, and it condenses 
moisture quickly. This moisture is apt to drop on 
the foliage of the ferns, there being no provisions 
made for carrying it to the ground, and in this way 
the foliage is sometimes damaged. But the watch- 
ful care of those in charge has resulted in the pro- 
duction of some very fine plants. Some of the 
older ones such as the Alsophila australis and the 
Cyathea dealbata have had to be sunk several feet 
in the ground, as they became too tall for the struct- 
ure. 
The most of the ferns in this house are planted 
in the ground. But few excepting some of the 
choicer kinds are in pots. Although fibrous peaty 
soil is good for ferns, it is not deemed essential, as 
it used to be. Ferns have fine hair-like roots, and 
in common with all similarly rooted plants they 
must have light soil. In heavy soil the roots can- 
not penetrate, air cannot be carried through the 
soil by water, and the plant becomes diseased. 
The round headed clumps of foliage seen in the pict- 
ure are old stumps which have been covered with 
the creeping fig. Ficus rcpcns. This is such an 
excellent self climber, that for the covering of walls 
of greenhouses or similar purposes it is much used. 
The interest in ferns shows itself not only in 
the erection of houses for them, but in the use of 
hardy sorts in ornamental gardening outside. 
Perhaps the common evergreen fern, Aspidiiim 
acrostichordes , is the most valuable and the most 
used of all for the purpose. Its bright green fronds 
at all seasons of the year, its hardiness and adapta- 
bility to all situations, make it the first to be called 
for. Another evergreen one of large growth and 
much beauty is Aspidiiim marginale. I have not 
found it necessary that ferns be in absolute shade. 
T!iey will take a little morning sun without injury. 
What they want is light and moist soil. A mound 
or any depth of soil in which forest leaves have 
been largely used is an excellent place for them. 
Joseph Meehan. 
Cemetery Accounting. 
Cemetery accounting like that of other business 
will also vary in like manner; simply because the 
volume of business necessitates more or less book- 
keeping, and more or less intricacy of detail, just 
according as the accounts are complicated and vary 
in the conditions attaching to them. In small 
cemeteries but few books will be required: cash 
book, journal, ledger and receipt book with stubs 
being ample for the business transacted, and little 
more will be required for cemeteries of larger size 
and importance for the ordinary business transac- 
tions, where lots are sold for cash. Where cash of 
some amount or other is made obligatory with 
every order, the receipt book with stubs answers 
for a record of the details of such order, as well as 
the first entry of cash and the accounting can then 
be carried through in the regular way either of 
single or double entry bookkeeping. The prime 
necessity is that the condition of the cemetery 
affairs should be readily understood by its owners 
at any time, and reports be available with little 
delay. 
Generally speaking, however, more detail is de- 
sirable, and both the income and expenditure should 
be classified and subdivided, so that under the 
several necessary heads the amounts due to each 
may be properly booked, with the result that the 
record of each department can be examined and 
adjusted, and the best possible conditions of 
economy realized by due attention to the facts 
presented. To secure this all available data must 
be arranged in such a convenient manner, that com- 
parisons based upon all the facts connected with 
each department may be readily made. The sever- 
al departments, are, however so interrelated that 
absolute accuracy cannot in all cases be assured, 
but sufficient knowledge of the conditions in each 
case, for all practial purposes, will be available. 
In addition to the ordinary books as already 
suggested, there will be required a record of inter- 
ments in which all the necessary imformation re- 
garding the deceased should be kept, and a lot book 
showing a diagram of each lot and the correct loca- 
tion of grave, monuments, etc. 
An accurate record of all deeds should be kept 
in permanent form, and in some cemeteries deeds 
are kept alphabetically arranged with space left for 
remarks and details of transfers, etc. 
These several books vary in detail according 
to the experience of the officials using them, and 
the cemetery requirements, but it is always wise 
to avoid complicated bookkeeping as far as possible 
and to simplifly all the methods adopted. 
The following is a form of agreement now in 
use by the Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland, O.: 
Agreement, Make this 
between the Riverside Cemetery Association^ and 
WITNESSETH, That said Riverside Cemetery Association, 
doth hereby sell to said 
Lot No — in Section No 
in the Cemetery grounds of said Association, in the Township 
of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, at and for the 
price of 
