PARK AND CEMETERY 
73 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
“A Plea for Walks.” 
Within a few years a good deal has been said about good 
roads. Ver}' little comparatively has been written or said in 
favor of good walks. Nevertheless I will assume that a senti- 
ment prevails in all civilized communities as commendatorv 
towards good walks as good roads. A mistake was made some 
fifty years ago when the initial step was taken from the church- 
yard burial ground to the modern rural cemetery by making too 
many crude walks which being recognized as needed were never 
properly prepared to serve such a purpose. My own view of the 
matter is that ever^' private burial lot should be provided with 
sufficient public open space along one of its sides to furnish am- 
ple approach for a common funeral cortege to reach the lot 
without improper trespass upon the rights and reservations be- 
longing to neighboring lots. These openings are not to be 
treated as walks but treated as a part of the lawn, thus reducing 
to a proper minimum all walk exhibits and with that a mini- 
mum of expense on account of making and maintaining the 
verv best arrangement that utility and elegance may require of 
the designer. 
I am yet quite far from repudiating all walks in a cemetery . 
I believe a judicious laj’-out of properly graded and finished 
walks can add largely to both utility and beauty. The fault in 
this part has been too many so called walks. The walk should 
be made worthy of its name, well finished in form and character, 
graceful and pleasing to the eye. Smooth and comfortable to 
the touch, dry and inviting when rain and dew make lawns 
damp and repulsive. Moreover the walk demands no apology 
for its use. It stands a voluntary witness of its own purpose 
and utility at once. An emblem of liberty and justice alike, 
with it there comes no suggestion of trespass beneath a sensi- 
tive visitors feet. 
In cemetery work utility suggests many more walks than a 
good landscape requires, and therefore for appearance .sake, we 
may compromise on a basis commendable for prudence and the 
highest standard of excellence in effect. 
If the walk had always been made what it should have been 
and then kept in repair the superintendents of cemeteries would 
not seek to have them obliterated, as many of them are now do- 
ing. I am not speaking without experience for I have been 
there, and know" very W'ell how expensive the work is to keep the 
hillside canal piled wilh gravel. We should have no such hill- 
side canals and the few walks w-e attempt to maintain should 
justly be well selected and then well protected if that can be 
done within the scope of reasonable expense, or otherwise aban- 
don the project of a walk as such and let the ground be clothed 
as is the surrounding lawn. 
The question of justifiable expense may prove a very broad 
one and worthy a broad reply. 
When we read as we occasional!}" do that some cemetery 
association that organized less than thirty years ago w"ith a bor- 
rowed capital of less then $10,000 is now" boasting that an en- 
trance has been built recently costing over ^30,000, we may 
well conclude that a walk of conceded good effects and emi- 
nently useful as a means of comfort, and perhaps leading to 
some elevated vista above the horizon where a beautiful view 
may be enjoyed will be worth all and many more times its cost. 
A good smooth and impermeable w-alk surface can be se- 
cured by means of sharp sand mixed with heated liquid asphal- 
tum and rolled down at a cost of less then loc. per surface foot. 
Such a cost will not exceed $5.00 per family lot located along 
the walk so treated. Such a walk will seldom need repair and 
generally will last fifteen years in good condition without refac 
ing. All cemeteries should have good drives and walks. Also 
lawns, these had, other good things will be added. 
B. B. Hatheway . 
* * * 
lTH.\CA, N. Y., April 27, 1900. 
Anent Canna Flaccida. 
Editor Park and Cerni tery. 
De.\R Sir: — In the notice of the Cyclopedia of American 
Horticulture in your issue for April, is the following: 
“We cannot always agree with the editors writings, as for 
instance, Canna flaccida described as ‘sturdy.’ This is our com- 
mon southern species and its specific name aptly describes its 
habit in contradistinction to that attributed to it by the editor.’’ 
Please allow" me to call attention to three statements in the 
above: (i) the editor does not describe Canna flaccida as 
“sturdy;’’ ( 2) the name fl iccida was not given to describe “its 
habit,” but to designate the soft flaccid flowers; (3) asamatter 
of fact, Canna flaccida is a sturdy plant. 
Yours truly, L. H. Bailey. 
NOTES. 
The women of Claremore, I. T., after years of quiet agita- 
tion finally determined to improve the local cemetery, and in 
order to induce the men of the town to give the necesssary ser- 
vices, provided meals on the grounds, so long as such were 
necessary. Although the weather was cold, the little burial 
ground was effectively improved, and this method of creating 
enthusiasm w"as greatly enjoyed. The cemetery is six acres in 
extent and contains many good monuments. The ladies’ asso- 
ciation has a membership of 58 and efforts are being made to en- 
large the grounds. 
* * * 
Havana, Cuba, has twenty parks varying in area from one- 
eighth of an acre to eight acres, besides a botanical garden, 
which contains what used to be the summer residence of the 
Captain General. There are also .seven miles of boulevards, the 
chief of which, the Prado, extends for a mile through the heart 
of the city. It is about 150 feet w'ide, with a centre strip of 
shade trees and it leads down to the Punta, or Point, precisely 
opposite Morro Castle. Mo.st of the existing parks are located 
in w"ell-to-do sections, but were in comparative di.sorder when 
the United States took possession la.st year. An effort was 
made to treat the parks after the American fashion of law'ns and 
shrubbery, but considerable oppo.sition was manifested at this 
offending tradition, and it has not been extended. Some play- 
grounds have been provided which appear to be w"elcome. 
* * * 
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of 
the Pittsfield, Mass., cemetery corjroration. The report recently 
issued gives an interesting account of the origin and incidents 
connected with the cemetery in the past, and the statement of 
accounts .shows an improvement over that of last year. An 
earnest appeal is made for contributions to establish a perma- 
nent fund for the general care of the grounds. The corpora- 
tion owns some 73 acres in the cemetery proper and 245 acres of 
other valuable land which is becoming income producing prop- 
erty. The receipts from all sources for the year ending March 
1st last, was $12,689.75, which includes lots .sold $2, 106; inter- 
ments $1,511; care of lots and foundations $3,689.49. Among 
the expenditures are: labor, $2,752.33; materials and supplies, 
$[,012.02; salaries, etc., $1,280. The Perpetual Care Fund 
amounts to $26,395.06. There were erected 35 monumeuts and 
105 headstones and markers and i iron fence removed. The 
total number of interments in the cemetery to January i, 1900 
is 6,416. 
