228 
PARK AND CEA\ETER^’. 
and be guided by his understanding of the laws of 
nature and his sympathy with them. It is a com- 
mon practice to value the decorative work in plant- 
ing, on any given site, in general proportion to the 
degree in which it is obviously artificial, new or 
peculiar. Thus clumps of trees and shrubs, or beds 
of flowers and foliage plants,, are located in con- 
conspicuous places, without fitting relation to the 
natural conditions of the landscape. 
What is needed, therefore, is popular education 
with respect to the beauty, adaptability and ar- 
rangement of the component parts of successful de- 
sign in landscape and gardening work. 
There are fully one thousand different species 
and varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs, be- 
sides great numbers of hardy flowering plants, all 
possessing distinct features of beauty, that will 
thrive in the greater part of the United States. 
It is an intimate acquaintance with the habit, 
growth and ultimate development of the greater 
part of these, that insures to the landscape gardener 
success in selecting, planting and grouping the var- 
ied specimens, so as to combine all the essential ele- 
ments, in form, foliage and color, of a pleasing 
landscape. 
Not to have an intimate acquaintance with the 
varied characteristics of planting material, is one of 
the most fruitful sources of failure in planting our 
parks and public grounds. 
In employing trees and shrubs for ornamental 
planting, such a selection and arrangement should 
be made as will, for the number used, insure the 
greatest possible degree of beauty and interest at- 
tainable. 
In a study of natural landscapes, it may be ob- 
served that trees, shrubs and plants bear relation to 
each other: 
First, in the form of groups and thickets, or 
dense woods. 
Second, in open or somewhat scattered arrange- 
ments. 
Third, as single, isolated specimens. 
Fourth, as wholly absent in places. 
The partly open feature of a landscape is 
most essential, if we would have beautiful parks or 
public grounds. This treatment affords an oppor- 
tunity for viewing the grounds at varied points; for 
admitting cool breezes and sunshine; for the effects 
of light and shadow, and most important of all, that 
degree of general repose and breadth, without which 
no park or public ground of any extent can be alto- 
gether satisfactory. The prevailing idea in plant- 
ing would seem to suggest the bringing together 
such specimens of trees or shrubs as possess con- 
trasting qualities; arranging these group against 
group, with a slight scattering of individual speci- 
mens here and there, but all done for making the 
distinguishing and often strongly marked character- 
istic of one kind relieve and offset those of others 
without, however, too great contrasts in color. 
Often a single native tree, with ample space for 
complete development, wall, by its form and color, 
accentuate and bring out the contrasting features of 
other neighboring growths, as single specimens of 
our native oaks, maples, ashes and dogwoods em- 
phasize and bring into bold relief the sometimes 
sombre tints of our native woods, and brighten the 
whole landscape in autumn by a bold dash of glow- 
ing color. It is, however, an intelligent use of this 
material that betokens the skilful and successful 
gardener. 
:it :[; * 
The most delightful natural landscapes show open 
vistas, skirted by margins of woody growth, either 
near or distant, which limit and support the former. 
A special merit of this system of planting is, that it 
tends to give an enlarged idea of the size of the 
grounds so treated. Grounds with the boundary 
shut off by masses of planting, and these masses 
arranged with irregular outlines, will look larger 
than they would if the boundary line were plainly 
in sight. 
The value of a park depends mainly on the dis- 
position and quality of its woods and planting, and 
on the relation of these to other natural features 
within its limits. 
The older the wood, and the less newness and 
rawness there is to be seen in all the elements of a 
park, the better it serves its purpose. All schemes 
of planting are based upon orderly, seasonable ad- 
justment, involving careful observation of the 
growth and development of the varied material that 
composes the plantations from year to year, the se- 
lection’ and retention of the choicest and more vig- 
orous plants, and the removal from time to time of 
material for temporary purposes. 
New Jersey Laws. 
The court of errors and appeals holds constitutional, in the 
case of city of Newark V. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Co , 33 Art. 
Rep. 396, the New Jersey “act to authorize the incorporation of 
rural cemetery associations and regulate cemeteries,” of 1875 
exempting from public burdens the property of cemetery corpo- 
rations incorporated under special laws. It also holds that the 
provisions of that statute have not been repealed by the (supple- 
mental) act approved March 14, 1879, ^.nd suggests a possible 
weakness in the latter. 
Allows Condemnation. 
'I'he special term of the supreme court of New York for 
Allegheny county holds, in the case of Stannards Corners Rural 
Cemetery Association v. Brands, 35 N. Y. Supp. 1012, that chap- 
ter 559 of the laws of that state for 1895 makes the use of rural 
cemeteries public in such a sense as will permit them to acquire 
lands by condemnation proceedings, and that in consequence, 
rural cemetery associations, whose certificate of incorporation or 
by-laws do not exclude any person, can constitutionally secure 
the condemnation of lands for cemetery purposes. 
