PARK and CEMETERY 
and Landscape Gardening. 
VOL. XIII CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER, 1903 
Association of American Cemetery Superintendents. 
Seventeenth Annual Convention. 
THE CONVENTION BUTTON. 
The “Power City/’ 
as Rochester is now 
known, proved to be a 
most delightful place for 
the Association of 
American Cemetery Su- 
perintendents to hold its 
17th annual convention, 
Sept. 8, 9 and 10. The 
beautiful natural scen- 
ery in and around the 
city, the attractive parks 
and cemeteries, with 
their arboretums and ornamental plantings, and the ex- 
tensive nurseries that have made the city known at 
home and abroad, all combined to furnish attractions of 
more than passing interest to the large number of su- 
perintendents and cemetery officials in attendance. The 
weather was pleasant most of the time and the enter- 
tainment provided by the local committee left nothing 
to be desired. 
The sessions were held in the spacious hall on the 
top floor of the Chamber of Commerce, an ideal place 
for such a purpose, removed from noise and disturb- 
ance of any kind. 
Mayor Rodenbeck extended a cordial welcome to the 
visitors and gave some interesting history concerning 
the city. President H. Wilson Ross read his annual ad- 
dress, which was as follows : 
“It gives me great pleasure to meet with you at this our 
Seventeenth Annual Convention. I assure you that I feel 
highly honored to preside over such an intelligent body of 
those who are interested in the welfare of our society and 
its noble objects. I bid you all a hearty welcome and trust 
that all will take an active interest in our deliberations and 
discussions. 
“During the years of existence of this Association many 
changes have taken place. Country church yards have been 
improved, Town and City cemeteries have grown more beau- 
tiful, and a large share of these improvements can be cred- 
ited to the examples set by the Association of American 
Cemetery Superintendents. 
“I see among us to-day many new faces. This is one of the 
most encouraging signs that our association is yet in its in- 
fancy. We gain slowly in our membership considering the 
vast number of cemeteries throughout the country, and yet 
a steady growth from year to year shows that our work and 
influence are progressing. 
“The requirements of a successful Cemetery Superintend- 
ent to-day are entirely different from what they were a few 
years ago. A man to be an efficient superintendent must 
understand landscape art, civil engineering and botany, and 
combine with these the gentlemanly traits so greatly needed 
in meeting with those who are in sorrow and distress. 
“One of the points brought out by our worthy President 
last year was the need of preserving our cemeteries to the 
lawn effect as far as possible. I wish to enforce upon you 
all to-day that until the lot owners can be brought to feel 
that each lot is only a part of the whole and that elaborate 
monumental display is not only an unnecessary burden, but 
often a blot upon the section of landscape, it will be impossi- 
ble to obtain satisfactory results. To secure the lawn effect 
we must lay out the grounds in a natural manner, planting 
trees or groups of shrubbery wherever necessary, and then 
having our lawns as we desire, group the lots in such a way 
that they will not look set nor artificial. All designs for 
monumental work should then be submitted to the trustees 
for approval, and only such designs should be accepted as 
will harmonize with the adjoining lots and planting. 
“The planting of trees and shrubs in a cemetery is one of 
the most satisfactory occupations in which we can engage. 
Outside our boundaries the telephone companies saw and 
hack away at the trees as if it were but the work of a day 
to replace them, but when a tree is planted in the cemetery 
it is sacred from such ravages and can be looked upon after 
many years as a source of satisfaction to him who planted 
it and a monument to his memory after his departure. Many 
of our dwarf varieties of evergreens may be used with suc- 
cess in cemetery work, and as they produce the same effect 
at all seasons their value for winter effects is apparent. 
“From year to year as we meet in annual convention it is 
our sad duty to note the death of some who have been 
active workers among us. Dear Frank Nichols, who was 
the first of our number to suggest the organization of our 
association and who during his whole life looked forward to 
the next convention with joy and pride, has passed on to the 
higher and more sacred life beyond, and it is with sorrow that 
we meet to-day and realize that he cannot be with us again. 
Other valuable members of our association have passed on 
during the last year. The following are those of whose death 
I have been advised: B. D. Judson, Supt. St. Agnes Ceme- 
tery, Albany, N. Y. ; Holmes Miller, Secy, and Supt. Spring 
Lake, Aurora, 111. ; Samuel Requa, Sleepy Hollow, Tarry- 
town, N. Y. 
“These sad reminders should inspire within us a determina- 
tion to do our best for our Association, as well as for the 
work in which we are engaged, and let us now decide to 
advance in every way, during the coming year, the interests 
of the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents. 
Our aim henceforward shall be to elevate the tastes and de- 
sires of our lot owners by placing before them the good 
which we have derived from our organization.’’ 
