242 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
a gain of $12.00 for an operating season 
of fifty days as against a total increased 
expense of $2.60. It is, of course, under- 
stood that we all realize the wasteful 
folly of not keeping lawn mowers sharp 
and in good running condition at all 
times. We have gone into the mathe- 
matics of this matter somewhat fully be- 
cause with modifications this same pro- 
cess applies to a thousand and one 
things about which we are called on to 
decide. 
Returning again to the laborer — each 
man has a certain maximum of physical 
effort which he can put forth in a day 
without undue fatigue or strain. This 
varies among individuals according to 
their muscular power and according to 
their mental and nervous attributes. 
We can not with profit continuously 
drive men beyond this maximum. This 
is especially true in cemetery work 
where so many of the laborers are neces- 
sarily scattered over a large area. We 
can only increase the output, with each 
man working at his proper maximum, 
profitably, by increasing the effective- 
ness of each laborer. 
The awkward man must be taught to 
handle himself and his tools in a better 
way so that the same effort on his part 
will produce better results. Each man 
must be provided with the tool best 
adapted to the work he is doing and 
so far as possible his individual prefer- 
ence must be considered. Each man 
should be put at the work for which he 
is best adapted and which (quite likely 
the same thing) he likes best. 
Laborers have nerves. Constant nag- 
ging reduces some men to a state of 
sullen apathy and produces in others a 
state of nervous irritation, neither of 
which is conducive to maximum results. 
Every effort should be made to establish 
friendly relations (avoiding undue famili- 
arity) and to keep the men contented 
and happy. The effectiveness of a good 
man is often injured by outside or home 
troubles. Friendly advice and assistance 
will pay good dividends in such cases. 
It is, of course, understood that the su- 
perintendent will be constantly at work 
weeding out the dishonest, the unwilling, 
the unfit and especially the trouble 
maker. 
Perhaps the greatest lack of brains 
that we, as cerpetery managers can dis- 
play, is to fail to enforce the established 
rules of the cemetery, and to even con- 
sent to their deliberate violation. These 
rules in all cases are presumably 
adopted, not arbitrarily, but after careful 
consideration and for the best interests 
of all. Their general enforcement is 
necessary to the welfare — practically to 
the existence — of the cemetery. What 
earthly justification either in common 
honesty or common sense can a man 
have while enforcing a rule generally, to 
allow specific violations by friends, or in- 
fluential persons, or as is often the case, 
because one weakly wishes to avoid an 
argument or even a row? The person 
favored, way down in the bottom of his 
heart, has less respect for the superin- 
tendent or for the cemetery, while the 
other man who has, at some incon- 
venience to himself, scrupulously obeyed 
the rule, has a perfectly good cause for 
complaint. 
Besides, the unfairness of such acts of 
weakness and moral cowardice, there is 
a grave danger to be feared. Our courts' 
do not look with great favor on rules 
and restrictions as affecting individuals, 
and to stand the test of the courts, they 
must be not only reasonable, but they 
must be uniformly enforced. 
It is certain that no court in any state 
will enforce a rule against a lot owner 
when evidence is produced that the man- 
agement has deliberately allowed the 
same rule to be broken by another lot 
owner. Besides being weak, foolish and 
unfair, the practice involves possible 
grave dangers in the future. 
Either enforce or rescind every rule. 
If it is not feasible or possible to en- 
force a rule, cancel it. If the rule is 
right and necessary, then enforce it 
without fear or favor. 
ASKED AND ANSWERED 
An exchange of experience on practical matters by our readers. You 
are invited to contribute questions and answers to this department 
Sinking of Graves. 
Editor Asked and Answered : The ques- 
tion relative to the best way to prevent 
graves from “sinking in,’’ asked by B. C., 
of 111., in the July Park and Cemetery, is 
indeed a very simple one, and his desire 
for information is far from being ambigu- 
ous. Any cemetery employee familiar with 
interments knows that there are only two 
conditions to meet in overcoming this 
“sinking in.” P T p-to-date cemeteries now- 
adays prevail upon the funeral party to 
leave after the remains are lowered in the 
grave. The grave is then filled gradually 
with two men compacting with rammers 
made for this purpose. The grave, if 
properly packed, will not “sink in” until 
the second condition asserts itself, which 
is the caving in of the box. After another 
operation as above there should never be 
any more “sinking in.” In a great many 
instances, however, it does not follow that 
a grave must necessarily sink on the cav- 
ing in of the box. Hardpan, for instance, 
will form a wall over a box and in some 
cases it is with difficulty that it can be 
broken through. In this particular kind of 
ground we often meet with graves that 
never sink. If “B. C.” will pound his 
graves in thoroughly he will find no future 
trouble in this respect. E. E. Haskell, 
Supt., Mt. Hope Cemetery. 
Mt. Hope, N. Y. 
Lawn Making on New Section. 
Editor Asked and Answered : In our 
cemetery we have about an acre in one 
corner which is to be laid out in lots this 
fall. The soil is light and sandy and is 
covered with a sod of tough, wiry grass, 
as well as with all manner of weeds. 
Now, the officers of the cemetery associa- 
tion (or some of them) say to cover the 
tract with black dirt, to the depth of three 
inches, on top of the sod and then seed 
it. I contend that the sod should first be 
ploughed up, then covered with black dirt, 
and lastly thoroughly disced, dragged and 
seeded. Will you kindly advise which is 
the best way? — F. D., Wis. 
With the conditions described in the 
small cemetery, where a light soil is cov- 
ered with a tough, wiry grass and weed 
combination, we should first advise that it 
be ploughed and dragged, removing as 
much of the growth as possible, then cov- 
ered with black earth and fertilizer and 
thoroughly disced, dragged and seeded. 
After being ploughed and dragged it 
should be allowed to stand for several 
days, permitting the sun to dry and de- 
stroy as much of the present growth as is 
possible. The more of the present growth 
that is removed in this manner, the better 
the conditions will be for a fine new sod. 
Clark & Pike, 
Willoughby, O. Landscape Architects 
In the eradication of weeds and foreign 
grasses from areas to be utilized in laying 
out lawn spaces and cemetery lots the fun- 
damental consideration should be the im- 
pairing of the growth of such vegetation 
as to insure its eventual destruction. The 
method of suffocation by burying with a 
covering of soil is quite generally resort- 
ed to and is a practice which, in a ma- 
jority of instances, proves impractical. 
The advisability of resorting to such prac- 
tice should be the exception rather than 
the rule, especially where contention with 
biennial and perennial vegetation is to be 
combated. It will be found that the vigor 
and stability of the root growth of such 
vegetation is of such magnitude that the 
resistance to natural growth offered by 
such treatment as a mere soil covering 
proves so strong that such treatment be- 
comes insufficient to eliminate the trouble 
accruing from natural tendencies towards 
the establishment of such objectionable 
forms of vegetative growth. The estab- 
lished condition of the root system in the 
soil and the stored up vitality given to the 
growth of the plant by this condition are 
usually too persistent to be entirely held 
in check or eventually eradicated by such 
treatment, and one frequently finds the 
more vigorous growth crowding through 
the soil covering and making way for the 
development of the temporarily checked 
