park: and ce/aetery 
117 
serve desirable views; that natural beauty, due to undulating 
ground, native growth, distant views, bodies of water, or any oth- 
er feature ot the site selected for a cemetery, should be treated 
in a way to make it enhance the beauty of the place for all time 
to come. The characteristics of different trees, shrubs and her- 
baceous plants have also been studied with reference to their 
hardiness, their appearance at different times of the year, and 
their desirability for use in cemeteries. 
We have had papers and discussions in regard to monuments 
and headstones, and it has been generally conceded that the 
stone work usually seen in a cemetery detracts from its beauty; 
that monuments (using this word in its ordinary acceptation) 
should be few and far between; that they add nothing to a man’s 
reputation and do not prolong his memory; that the endowment 
of a bed in a hospital, a scholarship in a college, aid to a library 
or public art collection, a park for one’s city, or any act of 
thoughtful kindness or charity that will benefit succeeding gen- 
erations of the living, is a far better monument than the usual 
structure of stone; that of monuments placed in a cemetery, noth- 
ing is more suitable than a tree, a live monument, typifying in so 
many ways the life of man. It is held almost unanimously by 
members of our organization that headstones or grave markers 
should not project above the ground and that there should be no 
copings, railings, fences, hedges or other visible divisions be- 
tween lots. 
Much has been said in our meetings by members of the As- 
sociation and others, about funerals. A large attendance at a 
burial is considered in poor taste, and there are not wanting 
those who believe that funerals are relics of barbarism that 
should be abolished in all intelligent communities by the good 
sense of the inhabitants. Why should not a burial be a private 
family affair, like the sickness that preceded it? Is it not a fact 
that the preparation for a gathering of friends and neighbors, 
the sermon, more often long than short, and frequently purpose- 
ly intended to stir up the feelings of the listeners, the going to 
the grave, and the gaze of strangers, all add to the burdens and 
sorrows of the family from which one member has dropped? The 
wearing of mourning is also dissapproved by many who have 
spoken on the subject. 
Cremation has been the subjectof papers and discussions at 
some of our meetings, and while I cannot say that this method 
of disposing of the dead is approved by many members, I think 
it is true that nearly all believe in the quick return of a dead 
body into the elements of which it was composed. They do not 
believe in attempting to preserve a body in mausoleums, or 
stone, slate or zinc lined boxes. 
The effect of cemeteries on health has been quite fully 
treated, the conclusion arrived at being that when well regulat- 
ed — as, of course, all cemeteries superintended by members of 
the Association are — they were not injurious. 
I have thus far touched briefly on some of the subjects that 
have claimed the attention of our Association in the past, but 
for a complete knowledge of our work thus far, you must read 
our published reports and the articles that have appeared in the 
monthly periodical, to whose columns many of our members con- 
tribute. At our present meeting, drainage, greenhouses, bound- 
aries, starting new cemeteries, native trees and shrubs, grading, 
and other subjects will be considered. The field of discussion is, 
however, not yet exhausted. We have had little on the botany 
of plants, how they grow, how they are propagated, how long 
they live and where they should be planted. Papers would be 
valuable which called attention to characteristic features of dif- 
ferent forms of vegetable growth so that when looking at the 
plants mentioned we could see more things to interest and please 
us. We ought to have papers on the birds that live in cemeter- 
ies, giving their names, their colors, their habits, when they 
come, when and where they make their nests, how they sing, at 
what season they stop singing, and when they depart for their 
winter homes. A single species, as the brown thrush, the robin, 
or the cat bird, might be sufficient for one paper, especially if 
this paper contained some extracts from Thoreau and Burroughs 
as well as personal observations. The English sparrow would 
not be such an agreeable subject, but it certainly ought to be 
considered. There are certain quadrupeds, too, — squirrels, 
gophers, chipmunks, moles, rabbits, mice, etc. — that should re- 
ceive favorable or unfavorable mention. 
We have had papers on landscape gardening in cemeteries, 
but there still remains much to be said, or, if not said, to be 
shown. In landscape gardening, as in painting, one gets a bet- 
ter idea from seeing the picture or the view than he does from 
any description that can be given of it. 
I have sometimes made what I call notes of the season 
giving an account of the weather, the arrival of birds, the flowers 
in bloom, the aspect of the foliage on different trees and shrubs, 
etc., and have regretted, when reading them over two or three 
years later for the sake of comparison, tliat they w^ere not made 
oftener. Such notes, while they might not furnish anything that 
would be of general interest to our Association, would be of 
value to the members making them. Our organization should 
aim to encourage local observations and local efforts that will 
make each member more efficient and useful in his work. 
At one of our earlier meetings, an excellent article was read 
on the Ideal Cemetery. It pictured briefly the cemetery of the 
future. I wish we could have a paper on the future of our pre- 
sent cemeteries. Mt . Auburn is said to be the oldest cemetery 
in this country, but the generation that saw its beginning has 
not yet passed away. Most of the leading cemeteries of Europe 
are not very old. What will become of them in the compar- 
atively short time of one hundred years, or what will be their 
condition in two, three, or four hundred years from now? We 
know of the efforts made by the Egyptians and other ancient 
peoples to preserve human remains, and of the unsatisfactory 
and repulsive results. Are we doing any better, or as well as we 
ought to do? A thoughtful, rational discussion of this subject 
would broaden our ideas and help to solve any question that may 
arise in regard to the treatment of cemeteries at the present 
time. 
Mr. Norton, in his address before the Association, said “It 
is a somewhat strange thing that absolute dominion over any 
portion of the earth’s surface should be given to a living man, 
but that any portion of the earth should be given absolutely in 
fee and forever to a dead body, set off and preserved eternally, 
simply to mark the spot where a dead body was taken back into 
the elements of eaith, seems to me in itself a strange idea.’’ 
Here is another text for us to consider. In its discussion we 
ought to call to our aid those engaged in other callings than our 
own. Is it necessary that the bones of our forefathers should be 
disturbed that buildings may be erected in their places? Such 
a disturbance is always revolting. Is there not some way that 
the land could be kept sacred to the memory of the departed 
and still serve the living? What more fitting and useful future 
could their be for a burial place than that it should become a 
memorial park where everyone could come and enjoy trees, 
shrubs, flowers, beautiful landscapes, birds, quietne.ss and rest? 
What other disposition of the land would guarantee in a more 
efifet tive way that our ashes or bodies should rest in peace? I 
am sure it would not hurt us if children played over our graves a 
hundred years from now, and if some lover should at the time 
bring a maiden fair to enjoy with him the moonlight of a sum- 
mer night, he would be quite welcome to enjoy the seclusion 
the shade of a tree I had planted would give him, and I would 
keep faithfully any secrets he might divulge. 
A cemetery generally brings to mind, even to those who 
have never had occasion to use it, the idea of sorrow and grief. 
It seems to me that it would be proper for us to consider from a 
purely rational point of view the subject of grief on account 
of death. May it not be that there is more happiness in the 
world on account of death? Does not the shortness of 
life stimulate exertion, and provide comforts and luxuries 
that would not come with a continued existence? Does 
not each period of life — childhood, manhood, old age — 
have its new experiences and joys which would wear out 
if kept too long? Considered abstractly and unselfishly, 
what matters it whether the good and beautiful things 
of this world are enjoyed by ourselves or our children or grand- 
children, as long as they are fully enjoyed? I have spoken of 
the life of a tree typifying that of man. A storm comes and 
tears away a limb from a tree, just as disease or accident may 
take away a member of a family. With a tree, the wound be 
gins to heal at once. Each successive layer of growth partly 
covers it until it disappears. Ought it not to be so with man- 
kind? Do men wish to be mourned for when they die? If they 
do. they are selfish. For my own part, I sympathize fully with the 
lines from Pope, where, after describing the pleasures of a quiet, 
rural life, he says, 
“Thus let me live, unseen, unknown, 
Thus unlamented let me die. 
Steal from the world, and not a stone 
Tell where I lie.” 
The influence of a superintendent outside of a cemetery is 
another topic that I would suggest for future discussion. The 
outdoor life which he leads gives him unlimited opportunity to 
study plants and animals and the beauties of nature, and the 
knowledge which he thus gains may help to beautify the homes 
and residence grounds of the living. This opportunity to de- 
velop the artistic side of his nature should make him lead a 
happy and useful life. O. C.Si/nonds. 
