barely touch each other. A circle of five feet is kept open around each, and the grass spaces are cut at the same time with the lots on each side. I assure you this is a very satisfactory group of flowering shrubs. Other groups might be mentioned, but it would take more time, I am sure, than you would like to listen, and perhaps I have said enough to indicate my ideas of this part of the work.

I would plant single specimens of both trees and shrubs whereever there is space for them, if the condition of the treasury will permit. Do not be discouraged if you cannot set them all in one season; keep at it-plant some every year. Don't put them in hap-hazard; look out for effect, and get all the pleasing vistas you can; and you will be surprised to find what a few years of steady, persevering, faithful work will do.

If I am not mistaken, the great beauty of the celebrated Spring Grove Cemetery, at Cincinnati, is due largely to the skill and taste shown in the arrangement of the trees and shrubs; of which the late Mr. Strauch, the gifted landscape gardener and superintendent, made a special study. I am also informed that West Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, is particularly interesting on account of the beauty of the arrangement of the trees, and for this the name of John Jay Smith, the eminent horticulturist and warm hearted gentleman, whose love of the beautiful knew no bounds, will ever be held in grateful remembrance. This plan, I believe, was his last effort; and no more magnificent monument could perpetuate his memory.

I may mention not inappropriately as examples of cemeteries worthy of our attenticn-besides Mount Auburn, already namedForest Hills, well known to all, and the delight of every one; Cedar Hill, Hartford, Ct., laid out on the plan of Spring Grove, Cincinnati, - most beautiful for situation; Swan Point, Providence, R. I., wonderfully improved under the superintendence of Mr. McCarty, well known to most of us; Woodlawn, at Chelsea, so successfully managed by our honored associate, H. Weld Fuller; and also Newton Cemetery, one of the prettiest of all suburban cemeteries, for which nature and art, here most beautifully combined through the admirable taste of Mr. Ross, the respected superintendent, have made a reputation extending far and wide. Doubtless many others might be mentioned, but these will suffice for this occasion.

In many of our cemeteries, especially those owned by the cities or towns in which they are located, a considerable area is occupied by what is known as the City or Town Lot. We know that our friends who are compelled, from necessity, to make the principal use of these public burial places are just as sensitive, and have just as much grief in the loss of kindred, as the most favored ones, who have means to do as they wish. Remembering this, we want no one to feel the dollar division in the cemetery; and how to avoid placing these humbler graves on one side, or isolating them, is a question that has perplexed us all.

In many of these places disorder seems the rule; in other words, every one does as he pleases. Large headstones are erected where there is too little room for them; elsewhere, unshapely wooden boxes or trellises are placed around graves, and are frequently left to decay and disfigure the grounds; and, not unfrequently, unsightly mounds are raised over the graves. It is not difficult to see why a lot that has been filled in this way is hard to keep in order. I have noticed that in some cemeteries hedges have been grown to surround these special burial-places; but I cannot commend that, for when you see such a hedged-in place, you are impelled to look inside, and the result invariably is a disappointment.

Let me ask you how it would work to establish and post up, to be seen, read, and obeyed by all, the following

Rules and Regulations Concerning Public Lots.

1. No graves in these lots can be reserved for future use. 2. No wooden structures of any kind will be allowed on these lots, unless it be for the protection of tablets or for the purpose of placing flowers in during the winter season.

3. No raised mounds over the graves in these lots will be allowed; but persons wishing to cultivate flowers upon them are invited to do so.

4. No headstone will be allowed over two feet wide at the base, or over three high from the grade of the lot; and the stone upon which the number of the grave is cut must be retained, unless the number is cut upon the headstone.

In addition to this, when an interment is made and you hand to the friends the card designating the place, date, etc., let these rules appear in print on the back of each card; and in this way

every one will be informed of them. An arrangement of this kind has greatly assisted us to keep our grounds at Lynn in an orderly condition.

There are a great many who will desire to cultivate flowers on the graves of their friends, and among them some who will ask what they shall plant. Very many have pansies-and with a deep cool soil, kept moist, they will flower long into hot weather. I would recommend setting a Geranium or two among them; and, if you like, edging with Daisies, or Forget-Me-Nots and Daisies, or Echeveria secunda glauca on the edge, with Alternanthera paronychyoides next; and, if there be room for a centre row, Geranium Crystal Palace Gem, or Santolina, will look well if the work is rightly done.

Some may want all hardy plants; in such cases the common Ground Myrtle or Periwinkle is most used, and is very satisfactory; the deep green leaves contrasting finely with the delicate blue flowers. The Ivy is also used; and when covered in winter and occasionally top dressed does very well; this can be edged with the small hardy Euonymus radicans variegata, and with a little trimming and care the whole will last many seasons without any transplanting. There is a pretty little Retinospora — plumosa aurea, I think it is-which is very bright, and would contrast beautifully with the Euonymus or the Ivy, and might be used to good advantage. I have not tried it, but observation justifies me in speaking of it. Another hardy plant, which I have read of but do not know, viz., Campanula pusilla alba, is highly recommended for planting on graves; and is said to produce a dense mass of pure white flowers. There undoubtedly are many other plants, as yet unknown to me, adapted for planting on graves; but I think I have said enough to prove, and trust I have convinced you, that our public burial grounds need not be places that people would rather avoid than visit.

Unless I make some allusion to the use of greenhouse and bedding plants, I shall hardly have fulfilled my task. We cannot visit any one of the many beautiful cemeteries in this vicinity without perceiving that the use of these plants adds very much to its attractiveness; although I am aware that it takes many months of labor to produce a bed which gives pleasure but a few brief weeks. I have both heard and seen in print some very severe criticisms on what may be called our summer mode of embellishment, denying

that we are repaid in the return we get for the amount we spend. I do not intend to discuss this point here, but I must say that careful observation compels me to admit that a greenhouse will prove a valuable adjunct to any cemetery. I think also that considering the comparative ease with which the usual style of bedding can be arranged, and the quickly effective results afforded by soft-wooded plants, the tendency, in a measure at least, to displace hardy plants is quite natural. We all know how quickly a bed of the former plants will look well. Indeed, if they are properly grown and well hardened off, so as not to lose their leaves after being turned out of the pots, they look well the moment the planting of the bed is finished; and I think this is the commendable point in their use. Nevertheless, I will venture this assertion -that a more thorough knowledge of the hardy plants and shrubs, on the part of those who lay out and have charge of our cemeteries (especially the smaller ones where a professional gardener is not employed), would be likely to add more of permament beauty and attractiveness to them than any one thing I could recommend. I confess that, until of late years, I have not appreciated their value. There are very few places where something could not be done in this way.

In a cemetery, not beyond the reach of any of us, a landscape gardener was employed to present plans for the improvement of a very sightly portion of the grounds, devoted not to burial but to ornamental purposes. The plan in due time was presented, and accepted by the trustees; and, as I have since seen it, I can assure you it made a beautiful picture; but before being executed it was placed in the hands of a competent person for criticism. As regards trees and shrubs, the criticism was based mainly on a report of a Special Committee of this Society, on the causes of the injuries to vegetation in the winter and spring of 1871-2; and, on consultation had with persons of acknowledged ability and much experience, it was concluded that not one-third of the trees and shrubs recommended on the plan for this particular place were in the least appropriate. A glance at the plan, by any experienced and practical man, would convince him that this was no prejudiced judgment. The criticism having been reported, orders were given to execute the plan as far as adapted to the location; and, where it was not, to make such changes in it as would contribute to the permanent beauty of the place. I might

tell you where it is, and you would, I feel sure, be welcome to go and see for yourself. A more thorough knowledge of the grounds and a little closer observation would have been of great help to the designer, and would have made his work more satisfactory. The bedding recommended in this plan was positively worthless.

But to resume the thread of my thoughts-I do think that, where more than one man is required for service in winter, a greenhouse can be carried on to good advantage; for a great deal of time in stormy and cold weather can be well employed there. Plants for vases and general ornamentation must or should be had in every well ordered place; and it is very much better to raise them, because then you can propagate just such ones as you know you would like for your next season's work, and be sure of having them on hand.

In the smaller places and where help is kept only a part of the time, it will be found that great improvement can often be made merely by keeping the fences all in order, the headstones all upright, the grass closely cut, and the avenues and paths perfectly clean. Let so much be done if nothing more, but if possible set out a few trees. If you cannot do all you want to at once, try again, and yet again-as many times as need be until your desires are accomplished, and in a few years you will be astonished to see how the whole appearance of the place has been changed. Many a town or village cemetery, now neglected, could be made a source of pleasure to all the people by a small annual expenditure; and no place is too poor to do something.

I believe we should use our influence as a Society in this direction; for a well kept cemetery is an efficient educator in any community, and does much to mould the tastes of those who visit or even merely pass by it.

Allow me to mention one instance. In the year 1874 I planted in groups and single specimens a few plants of Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora; these were certainly the first planted in Lynn, or for many miles around. When these plants bloomed, they were the admiration of every one; and when it was learned that they were thoroughly hardy scores and hundreds were sold, and the same is true of other shrubs and flowers. I could give you the names of several owners of large estates who have added to their collections shrubs and plants which they first saw growing in our cemetery, being attracted to them as they were driving by. More than once these occurrences have led to acquaintance and