146 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
Grading. * 
No department of our work seems so easily 
handled, yet in no other one so many errors made 
as in grading. It is difficult to suggest and impos- 
sible to offer set rules or specific principles because 
everything depends upon existing surroundings and 
peculiarities. Grading requires a natural concep- 
tion of these conditions to produce good effects and 
results. The laying out and grading roads and the 
shaping of the ground lying between them consti- 
tute what we mean by grading. It will therefore be 
well to consider the various shapes of ground sur- 
face and offer a few suggestions. All natural sur- 
faces may be divided into such as are convex, con- 
cave and flat, the latter horizontal or an even in- 
cline or slope. On level ground it is, of course, 
comparatively easy to lay out the direction of the 
roads; we may consult our individual taste and in- 
clination, but when that is established the difficulty 
begins how the best effects can be produced on the 
plane or flat surface. Nothing is more tastelessand 
monotonous than long stretches of level and flat sur- 
faces, such as are the rage nowadays among land- 
scape gardeners. No matter what may be the ad- 
vantages for a rolling or undulating surface, these 
men insist on a nice “level,” but only produce stiff 
lines and awkward grades. A dead level is not ad- 
visable nor desirable, nor can it be made to look 
well and natural. To overcome this let the surface 
be somewhat convex or concave; occasionally in- 
troduce an easy depression, using the excavated 
material to form a gentle eminence or knoll beyond, 
even if necessary raise or lower the road somewhat 
to get the effect. When we consider that in this 
operation the difference in cut and fill is double the 
depth of ground taken out we secure quite a diver- 
sity in surface with comparatively little labor. 
On rising or broken ground, where convex and 
concave surfaces prevail, it is more difficult to select 
the courses for roads; they should be arranged so as 
to convey the impressions that are regulated by the 
shape of the ground and not the ground by them. 
Often a deep cut or heavy fill may be required to 
accomplish this, necessitating a considerable amount 
of labor, but above all a clear conception of the de- 
sired result is required. In the alteration of ground 
surface we must aim to produce unbroken, undula 
ting, long sweeping and easy lines from the edges 
of the road, and herein lies the difficulty, because 
it is impossible to mark such lines by means of tape 
measure or instrument; they can only be conceived 
by experience. In making prominent eminences 
or knolls preliminary heights may be given by 
* Paper read at the Convention of the Association of American 
Cemetenr Superintendents, Richmond, Va., September, 1S95, by Frank 
Enrich, Secretary. 
stakes for roughing out the desired surface, but the 
finishing contour, which gives the surface its final 
and lasting expression, can only be produced under 
constant watching and observation. Where nat- 
ural elevations are found with intervening undula- 
tions, or when fine slopes are accidently revealed 
during the progress of work, they must be pre- 
served, utilized and emphasized. 
Burial sections need not and should not assume 
an arbitrary uniformity in grade, but should assume 
the character of gentle undulations. Occasionally 
individual elevations are desirable which will afford 
special opportunity for giving prominence to large 
and choice lots. 
Grading or the shaping of ground surfaces and 
laying out roads are closely related to one another^ 
in fact, somewhat depend upon each other; there- 
fore a few words regarding the latter will seem ap- 
propriate. Grades for roads must be alternately 
ascending and descending, always accommodating 
themselves to the surface of the ground and thereby 
appearing natural. The margin of that portion of 
the section forming the edge of the road should be 
graded in such a manner so as to convey the im- 
pression that the turf had merely been removed. 
Attention has repeatedly been called to this impor- 
tant fact, and it can not be emphasized too much, 
that those roads whose margins are tangent with the 
surface of the border produce the finest effects. In 
establishing longitudinal grades avoid perfectly 
level stretches and do not allow a rise of more than 
I in 20 if possible, in rare occasions must a steeper 
grade be employed; the various grades merging 
trom one into another should be connected by easy 
lines, showing no abrupt angles at high or low 
points. For transverse grades engineers recommend 
that the convexity should be at least equal, if not 
greater, than the longitudinal grade, so as to throw 
the water into the gutters,thus preventing cutting and 
gulching of road surface. A road running along a 
hillside should incline toward the inner edge and 
the grade made sufficiently wide to admit of a road- 
gutter to be tormed toward the hill. This will catch 
the water from the hill and carry it to an outlet be- 
fore it has a chance to get in the road-bed and will 
generally prevent serious cutting and washing out. 
The operation of grading or moving ground is 
very expensive work; therefore we should employ 
every precaution against unnecessary outlay, and ' 
study well how to economize and save time and 
labor. In the first place have a plan well devel- 
oped and digested and carry.in your imagination 
the result to be obtained. It is necessary to be 
able to see mentally the finished work before oper- 
ations are begun. Arrange cuts so as to equal the 
flUs as nearly as possible. Where more material i§ 
