Grave Groomers, LLC - Full Cemetery Maintenance & Care Services

- Helping Cemeteries since 1999 -

Http://www.GraveGroomers.com

Our current locations offering Full Cemetery Maintenance Programs include the following:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

San Francisco, California

Fresno, California

Boise, Idaho

Austin, Minnesota

Hayward, Wisconsin

Hibbing, Minnesota

Detroit, Michigan

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Please visit our website and give us a call for more information.

Thank you!

PART 2 0F 2
Adding fountains and maintaining the proper chemistry in your pond or lake can help put off the day you'll need to tackle the ultimate in maintenance: dredging.

In part 1, in the June issue, we talked about how to design a pond or lake to reduce plant growth problems. We also promoted stocking your lake with triploid amur carp (using the right number for the size of the lake). There are a couple of other things you can do to help keep the water in your pond or lake (we're using the terms interchangeably) cleaner and clearer.

• Add a fountain. Fountains help oxygenate the water, they create a great sound, they create a tremendous visual sense and they even create a little bit of an interesting water smell. We can't say enough good things about including some kind of fountain if you're going to have a pond or lake.

We don't care what kind of jet spray you like—use a low, small one or a great big powerful one. The point is that fountains are really important in maintaining aquatic areas. They improve the oxygen level so the fish are happier—the fish get bigger in aerated ponds.

The past couple of winters we've removed the fountains during the winter so there's no open water for any of our feathered friends to fly in and hang around. In other words, without the fountains going, the ponds freeze over and the geese who are looking for open water have to go elsewhere.

Keep that in mind. Maybe your competitor won't tend this nod will keep his fountains buzzing all winter and end up with a few hundred geese over at his place, spreading manure around his lakes. That will mean more nutrients washing into his lakes and, the following summer, the world's finest algal bloom.

• Make sure the chemistry is right. In addition to fish and fountains, one of the things we love to use is a food-grade type of dye, a bluing agent. All it does is turn the water blue, decreasing the infiltration of light, therefore interfering with photosynthesis. That will cut back on the plant material.

This product has been available for a number of years, yet it's amazing to us the number of people who don't use it, even in small ponds, small fountains. The vendors have made it so easy, with soluble packs that you can toss into the water as you walk around the edge of the bank—you don't even have to get the boat out. The packages dissolve automatically, the dye is released and the darkening occurs within 24 hours.
This is the type of maintenance that needs to be ongoing. You don't want to wait until the hottest day in August when the pond is covered with an algal bloom and say, "Oops, I better go out and darken the water." It's too late then; you've lost the race.

Of course, even if you take all these preventive measures, from time to time you may still have problems with aquatic weeds during hot weather. For algae control, we use a copper compound. The oldest known one, which is the least expensive, is copper sulfate, which is readily available. The copper is very toxic to plants, especially algae, so you have to know how many gallons or cubic feet of water the pond holds and then put the proper amount of copper sulfate in.

It's better to use copper sulfate in low dosages. If you have a lot of algae and attack it with a lot of the chemical, you'll end up with a lot of dead algae settling on the bottom of the pond and robbing the water of oxygen. While the oxygen is at work breaking down the algae, the fish can end up oxygen starved and then you've got dead fish floating on the top of the pond.

Again, a deeper pond will need less chemical treatment to keep the algae under control.

Dredging
Periodically in the life of any pond you have to consider dredging. If you've only got a few feet of water left in a pond, maintenance is going to be a constant battle. At that point, scraping out all the organic matter that has settled on the bottom over time will extend the life of the pond and will improve its appearance.

There are a number of ways you can go about dredging to remove the material in the bottom and restore the original side slopes. There is no simple fix—it's going to cost dollars no matter how you do it. But eventually you're going to have to do it, though it will be later rather than sooner if you've followed the suggestions above.

If you build a new lake today, you might need to dredge it in 50 to 75 years. If you make the pond an acre or more with very steep sides and do the things we advise, you might be able to go for 100 years before you need to dredge.

Some people try draining rather than dredging. They wait till the hottest time of the year when the pond is at a low point. To get the rest of the water out, you use what we call a trash pump, a big pump that can allow sticks and gravel and everything else to fly through the propellor of the pump without tearing it up. You can rent one.

But the pond rarely ends up completely dried out, and then you have gooey silt to deal with, which is problematic. You then have to use rubberized backhoes or extended-arm booms to scoop the material out and then haul it away using bulldozers or trucks. You can just imagine the expense. And just imagine getting a sudden summer thunderstorm that dumps a couple of inches of water into this pond where you're trying to run heavy machinery.

We have 14 lakes in a cemetery that's been around well over 100 years. We recently budgeted the money to dredge about half of them, the ones that needed it the most, over a three-year period. It was a long and pretty complicated process.
We had contractors come in from out of state. The dredges have a pipe with an impeller on it that loosens up the silt at the bottom of the lake as it goes along. We removed 12 to 14 feet of stuff from the bottom of some of our lakes.

You use a tremendous amount of water stirring up all the stuff on the bottom of the lake and then sucking it up and out through the pipe. That slurry, the water and silt, has to be pumped out to a retention pond so the silt can settle back out of the water. There was a lot of pipe that had to be laid from the lakes to the retention ponds.

To dredge, you actually need to pour more water into the lake. The slurry the dredging machine is pulling up consists of a little silt combined with a lot of water. You may have to run hoses from the fire hydrants in the cemetery into the lake.

You can use the material you dredge out, once it's settled to the bottom of the retention ponds and the excess water has been drained off. This stuff is going to be wet and gooey at first, so you have to put it somewhere where you can allow it time to dry out.

There's no real odor problem with the material at this point. It's during the early stages of decay, under anaerobic conditions, that there's going to be a stench. The further along decomposition has gone, the less odor there's going to be.

This is incredibly nutrient-laden material, very fine material. You could grow the world's biggest pumpkin in it. You'll need to add some peat or perlite to make it a bit lighter, since it's going to be very silty. Then you can top-dress a garden with it. We use it in our backfill process and on grave sites right under the sod.

PART 1 OF 2
Water features can add beauty and value to any property. Through proper planning and maintenance, you can ensure that your cemetery's water feature remains an asset.

WHAT: Water features are closely associated with cemeteries. Chinese cemeteries designed according to the ancient principles of feng shui require proper placement of water features. Ponds and lakes are part of what makes the great rural cemeteries beautiful parks. Water features are found even in areas of the country famous for their desert climate. There's something primal and soothing about the sight, sound and smell of a body of water.

WHY: Like all landscaping, ponds and lakes require attention. Over time, they silt in. An overheated pond can metamorphize into a smelly algae soup with alarming speed.

HOW: A good way to approach the subject of water feature maintenance is to talk about how to design a new pond or lake in a way that will keep future maintenance costs down.

The day a new pond or lake is built, it starts trying to silt in or fill in. There's a fancy term for it in aquatic management: eutrophication. That means filling in with dead or decaying organic matter or siltation.

The smaller the pond, the sooner the need for maintenance. Of course, that's assuming you want to try to keep it free of plant life. If you don't care, if you want the whole thing to be covered with water lilies, that's a different approach to water management.

We've gone that route—one of our lakes is named after water lilies. That results in very inexpensive maintenance.

What every pond or lake is trying to do is get shallower, so that finally after a long period of time, be it 100 years or 200 years, it's hardly there anymore. It may be more of a bog.

If a lake is covered with a scummy mass, the reaction you're going to get from visitors is, "Ewww!" Even though the process at work is a natural one, most people will find it ugly and smelly, and you're better off with no pond than with one people find disgusting. So unless bog is what you're aiming for, you need to fight the eutrophication process through proper planning of new lakes and ponds and maintenance of existing ones.

• Dig deep. Generally speaking, the deeper the pond (we'll use "pond" and "lake" interchangeably in this article) the better. If you've got a nice, deep lake, the water on the bottom will stay colder. That will keep the overall temperature in the lake lower, reducing the amount of plant life stealing oxygen from it.

A shallow pond will heat up more quickly under the sun, which encourages plant growth. You can go home Friday leaving behind a clean lake and come back on Monday to a lake that looks like someone came in over the weekend and dumped algae into it. It's what we call an algal bloom, and it's courtesy of that nice warm water.

• Make the banks steep. This reduces the growth of weeds (more unwanted plant life) around the water's edge. In a pond smaller than an acre, it's harder to get steep sides.

• Consider keeping most trees at a distance. A tree-lined pond can create a beautiful ambiance, but if the trees are deciduous their leaves are going to collect in the pond. That's more organic matter that is going to end up on the bottom of the pond, bringing on the need for dredging sooner.

• Try to reduce wind and lapping erosion. On the windward side of the pond, the erosion is going to be more noticeable. Even in small ponds, you can tell the prevailing wind direction just by going out and examining the erosion. We want to minimize erosion, since that means more siltation. You can do this either through a natural plant barrier or an artificial barrier.

If you want to use an artificial barrier, we recommend a stone edging, commonly called rip-rap.

If you want to have a more natural erosion barrier, consider bald cypress, a neat plant that can be used in about three-quarters of the country. When it's growing near water, the bald cypress will extend what are called "knees" from the root system to obtain more oxygen. These extensions stick up about 24 to 30 inches and are called knees because they look like a person lying down on the ground with his knees bent and sticking up. These knees are attractive and they reduce the wind erosion by protecting the shoreline.

If you plant a bald cypress away from water on upland soil you won't see a single knee. The tree does well in either dry or wet conditions.

• Make sure the watershed provides a good filtration system. Again, you want to try to keep nature from filling up your lake. It makes sense to locate a pond at a low point in a watershed so that water will tend to drain into it from surrounding fields, meadows and woodlots, recharging it. But you want that water to be as clear as possible when it flows into the pond.

The best filtration system is an outstanding turf. Good strong turf is going to be the best sieve you can have to keep silt out of the pond.

• Stock it with fish. You can put some bass and bluegill in there, but be sure to include some triploid amur carp. The great thing about them is if you offer them a worm they'll look the other way, but offer them a ball of grass and you'll catch one every time. They are also called grass carp, because they are vegetarians and will eat weeds. Algae isn't their favorite food, so they won't solve your algae problems, but they can be part of the solution.

They can also have some public relations value. These fish can get to be very large, 40 or 50 pounds. When you're doing a garden talk at the cemetery or you have a class of children visiting, take a bucket of grass clipping and throw them out on the surface of the water. It's a hoot to see these things come flying out to eat the grass—it looks like porpoises bobbing. From a distance, a large carp can look like a shark slicing through the water.

You must use only government-certified triploid amur carp. The triploid ones have been genetically engineered so they cannot reproduce, like mules. It used to be possible to buy amur carp that were not triploid and sometimes they would reproduce and get out of control, crowding out other species. The fish and wildlife people did not like that, and now only the triploid ones are allowed.

We've never seen it, but they say if the triploids run out of grass to eat they'll jump out of the water so they can get to the grass on the banks. In any case, you don't want to put too many in a pond. There's a formula to follow (X number of triploids per thousand acre feet of water), and if you exceed it the fish won't have enough to eat. Don't think, "Well, if three would be good, 20 would be better!" We have five or six per pond, and a lot of our ponds are 2 to 4 acres.

Next, Part 2: Fountains, chemistry and dredging.

WHAT: Ten years of data collection at Spring Grove tells us that, hands down, the top complaints are:

•    flower vase issues;
•    the condition of markers or memorials; and
•    the condition of graves.

Depending on the time of the year and weather conditions, the ranking of those three may change, but they are always the top three customer concerns.

Vases: Maybe some part of the vase is missing, or the vase has been damaged or it's stuck—"I can't get it out of the ground." You may get someone 78 years old coming into the office and saying, "I remember my great-grandmother bringing me here when I was a 3 year old, and we'd leave beautiful little poseys on my great-grandfather's grave, and now I can't find the vase. Can you help me figure out where it is?" The last time he saw the vase was 75 years ago, but it's like yesterday to him.

Markers: Maybe the marker has sunk on one comer so it's not lawn level. There could be a little bit of soil on the marker. The marker could have a little bit of grass growing around the edge or beginning to encompass it, or if it's fall, there could be dead leaves covering it.

Markers get damaged. A flat marker can get chipped if it's not perfectly horizontal or if the ground around it wasn't level. The front pan of a mower where the blades are can cause a little chip. A mower might bump the corner of all upright marker when the operator is trying to maneuver around it.

In some cases, rubberized equipment leaves a mark on a memorial. This may not sound bad on the face of it, but psychologically, there's not much worse than seeing a tire mark—which is easily identifiable—on a loved one's memorial. What that conjures up in the mind is just awful. So even though this may not seem like a big deal—you see those rubber marks all the time on roads, in parking lots—in a cemetery, the situation is totally different, and we need to be sensitive to that.

Graves: One of the bigger issues is a grave that has sunk, even a little bit. Whether it's an inch or three inches, a sunken grave conjures up the same anxiety, concern and frustration. From the cemeterian's viewpoint, it might seem having graves sink "only" an inch is progress compared to the days when graves would sink several inches. But from the customers' point of view, it's just as bad. Seeing a sunken grave rekindles the whole grieving process.
WHY: While you do need to attend to things like tree maintenance, you'll never get a complaint from a family about a tree with a dead branch. You need to make it a priority to know which issues are most important to your families and to constantly stay on top of those issues.

When people find out you're in the cemetery business, sometimes they say, "You've got the best customers in the world—they don't talk back." We chuckle, of course, but they don't think about all the family members who are left behind and are upset because someone they love died.

"Gosh, I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't know it was going to happen so soon. Why did that happen to someone I love?" They're frustrated, so any little thing wrong in the cemetery is going to set them off.

A lot of people just want to find something that someone did—or didn't do—and get mad at someone as an outlet for their emotions. "The grass on the grave is getting too dry. That's unacceptable—that's my mother's grave! Don't they understand—that's where my mother is buried! I'm going down there to give someone in that office a piece of my mind!"

The person taking the request/complaint must not take it personally. These family members may still be grieving, and that's why they're set off by something as simple as not being able to find a vase. The death may have taken place five years ago, and then something happened to stir up their memories and that grief.

HOW: Step one is to acknowledge the frustration felt by the person complaining. Train the people taking these complaints to say, "I understand exactly what you're saying,
Mrs. Jones. My gosh, I'd feel the same way, if not more upset. You’re being very patient."

The longer you're in the business, the more sensitive you become to these issues and the easier it is to not take these things personally and to respond the correct way. It can be hard to train new people to understand how our families feel. When you bring in a student to do some part-time grounds work, or hire a full-time worker who's 21, it would be almost bizarre for them to have the same sensitivity as people who have been in the industry a long time.

It's not their fault—it's just that someone that young usually hasn't been exposed to death enough to understand what's going through a person's mind. We do some role playing to try to show our newer employees what our customers are thinking and feeling.

We make all our managers rotate through the customer service position—a lot of them for more than a year rotating people helps prevent burnout. Even when you know how to handle the families, it can be fatiguing. If you get three or four traumatic cases in a day, when you go home you are absolutely beaten down.

Spending some time dealing with these issues is also good training, because it lets everyone understand the significance of the business we're in. And by having a lot of people go through the experience, we can bounce ideas off each other: "Here's what I've used in situation X that really calmed the situation."
Step two: Brainstorm some preventive steps that make sense at your cemetery to try to cut down on your most common complaints. At Spring Grove, we've examined our "big three" and taken the steps outlined below.

Vases For Everyone
Historically at Spring Grove, which is a very large cemetery, anyone who wanted to could have a permanent vase installed at lawn level. Our experience is that over time, it's going to become a problem for the cemetery. The vase will become silted in; grass is going to grow over it. The chain is finally going to deteriorate. It may take a while, but we've been around since 1845, and eventually the weather is going to take a toll and create a situation that is going to frustrate a customer someday.

Through talking to our families when they visit and in focus groups, we learned that all people want is to be able to bring in some fresh flowers on Mom's birthday, or their wife's anniversary, or for Christmas or some other holiday.

Everyone may not agree with this approach, but we decided that the only people who will be allowed to install permanent vases will be those who bought their property when it was allowed. In new sections, we don't allow permanent vases.

Instead, we provide complimentary inexpensive (they cost us about $1 a piece) temporary vases. They are available in 25 racks we've placed throughout the park. We call them "temporary" not because they are throw-aways but because they're left out for about a week or 10 days, while the flowers last. Then we collect them and put them back in the rack.

People find this to be incredibly acceptable—they love the concept. All they really want is a container—they don't really care what kind of container it is. In this day and age, they're on their way home from work, they stop at Kroger's to pick up bread and milk, see some flowers and think, "Oh, gee, it's Mom's birthday tomorrow, I think I'll get this little bouquet and run by the cemetery." They know they'll be able to grab a vase from the rack—they won't have to search for the vase or dig it up.

There is a metal sign at the bottom of every rack that says, "If by any chance this vase rack doesn't have any vases in it, please stop by our office, which is open seven days a week, to pick up a free vase."

The families are happy and it cuts down on our maintenance problems. During a cold winter, when freezing water might make even a bronze vase crack down the side, we've got customers in the office saying, "Hey, my vase is cracked; what happened?" We can explain what happened,
but do you think that's what the customer wants to hear? No way! All they're really saying is, "Fix it." If there is a problem with an existing permanent vase, we quickly repair it at no charge.

Newer cemeteries may not have this problem, but for an older cemetery, you do have those 78-year-olds coming in to put flowers in great-grandmother's vase and expecting it to be in the same pristine condition it was in 75 years ago. They think it should be a "forever vase," just like the cemetery's going to be there forever.
Any vase outside for 100 years isn't going to be in perfect condition, and if we are doing our job as cemeterians, we're thinking in that kind of time frame. We shouldn't think, "Well, I'm not going to worry about it—I'll be dead and somebody else can worry about the customer then." We've got to be proactive and think long-term.

TLC for Markers
We've done a number of things to try to cut down on complaints about markers:
•    We try to inspect each marker after it has been installed.
•    We've tried to improve our setting process, doing more compaction before the marker is placed.
•    When it's particularly wet, we try to use boards to displace the weight of the equipment over a larger area and protect the ground.
•    We have increased the number of times per season that we do vertical string trimming in each section. One of the concerns customers have today is that grass starts growing in from the edges over horizontal markers. To prevent this, don't just scalp out the grass around the marker, turn the string trimmer 90 degrees to the marker and edge it just like you would a sidewalk.
•    We reward employees for reporting sunken areas where a mower pan might chip a marker.
•    We immediately take care of chips, stains or any other problems the family reports. If a chip is significant enough or the customer is adamant, by golly, we'll replace the marker.

Settling Grave Problems
Graves are a challenge for cemeterians all over the country, especially for those who are in freeze/thaw areas or who have the type of clay, very compacted soils we have. We've tried doing a better job initially of tamping down the soil to prevent settling. We know when we do it under perfect conditions in August or September, we're not ever going to get a complaint from the family.

In the winter, when we're dealing with gooey, wet, super-saturated soils, we know it's going to be very difficult to compact the soil without any settling. We use a special aggregate or a gravel to minimize the compaction or settling. The pourable aggregate goes around the vault and no settling takes place there. We've improved the process, but we're not 100 percent satisfied.

Deciding what equipment to buy for your cemetery or memorial park is a crucial grounds maintenance decision. There's nothing worse than buying an expensive piece of equipment that ends up sitting in the corner of your garage because it can't handle the job.

WHAT: When selecting grounds maintenance equipment at Spring Grove, we don't buy anything until the people who will be using it have tried it out.

WHY: The wrong decisions can cost you money in repair and replacement costs and increase the cost of completing a task. If equipment problems mean the grounds don't look their best and jobs aren't being handled quickly, customer satisfaction and sales will be affected. And having machinery that's cumbersome, prone to breakdown or unsafe in some way will hurt employee morale—if not the employees themselves.

HOW: Reading a press release or checking a company's Web site can give you the basic specs, but you can't buy this type of “hands on,” hard-working equipment based on that type of research alone.

• Deal with high-quality vendors, people who listen to you, the customer. Some of the progressive companies in this business are so customer-oriented they invite customers such as Spring Grove to take part in sort of a focus group where we suggest areas for improvement and indicate what our greatest challenges are.

These aren't manufacturers saying, ''We've got the best engineers in the world, we know how to do everything." Instead, they're asking the people who actually use the equipment under all kinds of different conditions what their challenges are. They're asking customers, ''What can we do better? How can we improve this product? Where are the breaks occurring in this piece of equipment? Where do you see that the metal may be fatiguing? Where can we beef this thing up? How can we improve the safety? Are you able to use this easily on 15 degree grades?"

We rotate selection of the employees who get to take part in these groups, since it's a "feel good" reward for our people.

Even if your cemetery can't participate in this type of research, you can get an idea of the quality of the company by asking them whether they do this type of thing and by noticing how their salespeople respond if you make suggestions. Ask the company what kind of input they get from cemeteries. It's just part of doing business in America 2004: How can you improve whatever you're doing to meet—and exceed—the customers' needs and expectations?

• Be open-minded. We're willing to try anything new that comes down the pike. Some cemeteries try to look for a way to beat up on anything new, whether it's a new piece of equipment or a new way to memorialize. But we love to share information at meetings about new things.

• Listen to the sales pitch and ask questions. When you decide to have the sales rep bring in a demonstration model, make sure you spend time with him or her—don't just let them drop off the machine and leave. We make sure they train us in using it, tell us what's new, what's unusual about the piece of equipment, why the rep feels it would be a valuable addition to our fleet.

• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Make sure there's plenty of time to try out the equipment. Don't let the sales rep say, "You can have it this afternoon, but I need to pick it up in the morning and take it to the next place." What we want to do is really put the piece of equipment into use for several weeks—certainly not for a couple of days or a couple of hours.

We want several different people to try it out, we want to use it under different conditions—different temperatures, different growth applications (spring grass vs. summer grass). Then get all the people who have tried out the equipment together and talk about the pros and cons.

We don't buy anything unless we've had a good chance to try it out. Our other cemetery, Oak Hill, is experimenting with a smaller backhoe. We have an old one that needs to be replaced and we're trying to decide if we need one the same size or should we buy a smaller one that can do other things besides dig graves.

If a company won't let you keep a piece of equipment for a long time or if you don't have the time and personnel to test out equipment, there are a couple of things you can do. This is where networking comes in handy. You can call someone at one of the larger operations in your area and ask if they have any experience with that piece of equipment.

You can also ask the sales rep where the equipment is available as a rental. A lot of times, even if they haven't thought to make those rental arrangements, you can work something out. Simply explain that you don't feel comfortable buying the equipment based on trying it out for a couple of hours and would like to work out an agreement for, say, a one-month rental. We handled a stump grinder evaluation that way one time.

The evaluation process, including renting a piece of equipment, also can help you if you're trying to decide whether a particular process is something you want to handle internally or is something you'd rather outsource.

• Try more than one product. We once bought a tamper that we thought was going to do the job fine. We had tried it out, but later, after we tried some other ones, we realized we could get one with the same amount of compaction capability that weighs about 30 pounds less. We bought the lighter one, too, and now when it's down for repairs it's like pulling teeth to get someone to use that heavier one.

• Make sure the people who will actually be operating the equipment on a daily business try it out. If you've done your job as a manager, the people actually doing the work with the machinery know what the cemetery's expectations are, they know what they have to get done in a given amount of time. Handling things this way also improves morale and cuts down on complaints from employees. You don't want to hear, "They got that for me. I didn't want it. They made me use it." You want to get rid of the "they" complaints and get everyone on the "we" team.

What could be cuter than a spotted fawn, looking helpless and adorable?
Most people see deer and think "Bambi." But cemetery grounds personnel see deer and think, "No tulips this spring!" and "Oh, no, those trees are going to be stripped!" and "How are we going to keep them away from those bushes?"

WHAT: Twenty-five years ago, if we saw a deer at Spring Grove, we would get kind of excited, because they weren't common. But here in Cincinnati and in many other areas of the country, communities have developed more and more of our greenbelts, leaving the remaining greenbelts fragmented. At the same time, the number of predators has been reduced.

The result has been an exploding deer population. Deer are everywhere, destroying the landscape as they forage for food.

WHY: There's no doubt that deer and cemeteries are problematic. The deer rub against trees and they treat the landscaping like a salad bar.

A great way to bring visitors out to the cemetery is with a big show of spring color. But for 10 years, we did not plant a single tulip bulb at Spring Grove for the simple reason that tulips are the ultimate deer snack food—there's nothing they like more. They would search for them and ruin the spring plantings. It became an embarrassment and brought so much negative press we decided not to plant any more tulips until we figured out how to handle the deer.

HOW: There are plants deer especially love—like tulip bulbs—so one way to cut down on the number of deer dining at your cemetery is to avoid adding their favorite foods to your landscaping.

Consider using plants from the list below to decrease deer browsing. However, keep in mind there is no guarantee that deer won't eat plants they don't particularly like, or don't like as much as tulip bulbs. If deer are hungry enough and can't find what they love to eat, they'll eat something they don't love. Deer might turn to an alternative food source after a serious snowfall, for example.

However, when you're planting a spring bed and are afraid to use tulips, you can plant every single kind of daffodil that exists (if you're in south Florida, you need to use pre-chilled bulbs) and the deer won't touch them. Daffodil bulbs contain a deadly alkaloid; no grazing animal will eat daffodil bulbs.

Another good choice is an evergreen that was promoted by Ohio's plant selection committee. The first place they'd ever seen it was Spring Grove, so it's now known as the Spring Grove arborvitae. We've never heard of any significant damage from deer browsing anywhere in the country this plant has been used. And, since it's an evergreen, the trunk is never exposed, so there won't be any damage from deer rubbing, either.

Keep in mind that if the deer have nothing else to eat, they will eat whatever's available, including plants they would normally shun.

Exclusion—using fencing to keep the deer out of certain areas—is a wonderful method where it's practical for the cemetery. Spring Grove is divided between developed and undeveloped properties, so one step we took was to install a deer fence a mile long designed to keep the deer in the undeveloped part of the cemetery. We figured it was going to be hard to get rid of the deer entirely, but at least we could keep them out of the developed areas.

Fences cost a lot but they work well. The fencing at Spring Grove has done a great job. It's not 100 percent effective, but we don't think anything is. Deer will hop over a fence, or even crawl under it sometimes. But at least the fence has kept the deer at bay.  We also use wire mesh to keep deer from rubbing against trees.

Spraying plants can provide excellent control. We use some chemical products designed to keep the deer from consuming plants like tulips. Most of those products contain pubescent eggs or some kind of hot, bitter additives. We spray tender plants or annuals like red begonias (a super-favorite of deer), and the sprays do help.

Check with your local game warden and state authorities about other ways to control an area's deer population. Here, a big deer harvest has been conducted the past couple of years in some parks. They use high-powered rifles to hunt the deer.

When you talk about controlling the deer population through hunting, the initial reaction is often, "Oh, no—they want to shoot the little Bambis," But once you show people the statistics for how many automobile accidents are caused by deer hitting cars, the "Bambi" factor becomes almost a non-issue.

In some places, the venison is donated to soup-kitchen or food-pantry types of operations, so that provides an additional benefit.

In some cases, an increase in the number of natural predators may help control the deer population. Ohio has more deer today—more than a half million—than it did when it became a state in 1803.

Unfortunately, the number of predators has not kept up. Coyotes were abundant in Ohio 100 years ago. Today, the coyote population is lagging far behind the deer population, but it's started to increase. A lot of people get paranoid at the thought of the number of coyotes increasing, but the predator-prey equation is how the balance of nature is supposed to work.

What Could Be Worse Than Deer, Geese or Groundhogs?
You Don't Want to Know!

What's the next "big thing" on the horizon as far as cemetery nuisance animals? In preparing for a program about pests recently, we asked a state wildlife expert this question and he predicted it would be exotic pets abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Pythons, boa constrictors, alligators, poisonous snakes, iguanas, gila monsters—you name it, somebody is keeping it as a "pet," at least until it becomes too difficult and/or dangerous to handle. Or until it manages to escape and slither or crawl away.

An alligator has been found walking along the side of the road in Ohio. It wasn't in Spring Grove, thank goodness, but it's only a matter of time. People buy them when they're small, then when they get to be 3 or 4 feet long, they decide they can't take care of them. Someone's going to think, "Heck, Spring Grove's got 14 lakes—I bet the 'gator would love it down there."

This sounds a lot worse than dealing with geese or deer, but one thing's for sure: If a dangerous animal is spotted in the cemetery, state officials will be down here in a hurry to take care of the problem.

If you spot an exotic, potentially dangerous animal, call your state wildlife division game warden. We can't overemphasize how important it is to develop good relationships with your wildlife people, who are specially educated and trained to deal with these problems.

If you have consulted the wildlife people regularly and made sure you follow all federal, state and local rules and regulations, when you have a boa constrictor on your property and you call them, they know who you are and they'll be right there to help.

FROM THE GROUNDS UP: PART 2 OF 2
As everyone who has a lawn knows, keeping it looking good is a constant battle. Fertilize it, but not too much. Mow it, but carefully. Kill the weeds—sometimes. Know when to plant more and when to just start all over.

WHAT: Grass needs proper care to thrive, but sometimes that's not enough. You need to establish a proper care routine as well as a plan for renovating turf when the weeds are starting to take over.

WHY: If you take good care of your grass, your customers probably will notice. If you don't, they definitely will notice.

HOW: Give your grass the proper care to help it stay healthy, and renovate it when the weeds start taking over.

The care and feeding of turf
If your grass is only 15-20 percent weeds, that's good, but you can improve and enhance it. Think about it: Turf is the only thing you grow at your cemetery that you cut down by a third or half more than two dozen times every year. You're basically saying, ''Take that—and still look good!" Imagine doing that to your annuals. So anything you can do to help your grass put up with the incredible amount of physical abuse it takes will help cut down on your renovation and replacement costs.

Fertilize once a year. You reduce the amount of fertilizer you have to put down by leaving the clippings when you mow. When it’s dry, mulching mowers leave cuttings that are 38 percent protein. It's high-value stuff, so use it.

In areas that the public is going to see frequently, we recommend a pound of nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 square feet per year. That's basic.

Avoid putting down fertilizer when the grass is growing, since that will just exacerbate your mowing problems. Wait until mid-fall—late October, even mid-November, in the Midwest. Put it down before the ground is frozen, though, because you want the fertilizer to percolate into the soil.

If you're a golfer you may know that some golf courses put down a lot more fertilizer than this, but you don't need to do that in a cemetery, especially if you're letting the grass clippings do their job.

Periodically monitor your soil. At least check the acidity/alkalinity. You should be aware of your soil's PH, and all you have to do is collect 2-3 ounces of soil for your Extension agent. For probably less than $15, Extension will provide you with a good, in-depth soil analysis to tell you what the nutrients and PH of the soil are and what type of fertilization might be needed.

Control the weeds. At least monitor the competition the weeds are giving the grass. We don't believe in trying to get rid of every "weed." In fact, in our English lawn garden areas (see below), we let the "weeds" provide color and the people who own property there love it.

But in lawn-level areas where we have flush memorials we use herbicides to get rid of the dandelions and other weeds. You definitely want to keep the crabgrass out, since it tends to overtake everything and cover the markers, which means you'll be constantly string trimming.

We do a pretty thorough pre-emergent, as well as post-emergent application of Dimension or Barricade.

In the flush memorial areas and along fence lines, we're using a growth retardant called Primo. We apply it a couple of times a year. In the spring, when the grass is just starting its seasonal growth spurt, we put it just around the memorials and fences. It reduces the number of blades the plant produces and slows down the growth of the grass so we can maintain those lawn areas efficiently, especially during the heavy spring growing period.

Mow to minimize damage. We cut about 450 acres of grass in a seven-day period during the season. We have a dozen fulltime mower operators and 12-15 students who handle the string trimming.

Even though we want our grass to be thick and green, we don't want to be constantly cutting it. Our philosophy on mowing the cemetery is probably different from the philosophy of a lawn care company taking care of your lawn at home.

At the cemetery, you might mow your main entrances twice a week, but not the whole cemetery.

Here are some tips for good mowing:

• Make sure the blades are sharp. There's nothing worse you can do than cut with a dull blade; it will tear the grass instead of cutting it, putting it under stress. During heavy mowing times, we change blades twice a week, or every 24-25 hours when we're mowing on overtime. During the summer, we only have to change the blades once a week .

• Do not cut off more than one-third of the leaf at anyone mowing. If you let the grass grow to six inches and then cut it down to a half inch, that's destructive. We realize there are times in the spring when the mowing just gets away from you, but really try to follow this rule. The more frequently you mow, the better.

• How high should the grass be? For fescues and bluegrass, two and a half inches is great, and three inches might not be unacceptable. Taller grass is more self-sufficient, it's sounder. On the other hand, in this business if the grass is perceived as too high, people can read it as ''Look at the grass around Mom's grave—you guys don't care."

But do try to raise your cutting height during the summer. On the new mowers, it usually just takes the flick of a switch. A longer blade of grass will shade itself, reducing the need for irrigation and keeping the grass greener. It's just eco-sensitive. We usually keep our grass two and a half to two and three quarters inches high.

• Try to use a square rather than rounded string trimmer line. The rounded ones kind of tear the grass. At high speed, the square ones cut like a blade.

String trimming used to be considered a necessary evil, but as long as you cut it at the same level as the rest of the grass and don't scalp areas, it looks fine.

Turf renovation
If the weeds have infiltrated an area so that it's only about half grass, the other half being unacceptable competitive growth, it's easier to renovate it than try to get rid of the weeds. Renovation has gotten much easier to do, and it's cheaper than trying to battle the weeds.

During the spring and summer, we note the weak areas in our turf and make a list. The first week of August, we'll start renovating. Years ago, you had to use a nasty product that killed everything and made you wait six weeks before you could get back into the area with a big rototiller to start the renovation. Today, everybody's got their own method of doing things, but this is what works for us:

• Use Round Up or a similar product to kill the greenery, both weeds and turf.

• Within a couple of days, you can return to the area. You might want to mow closely and get rid of the existing thatch.

The key in turf renovation is making sure the seed will be in perfect contact with the soil. Ninety-five percent of the failures take place because people don't get rid of the organic matter such as old grass. If the seed ends up landing on organic matter instead of soil, it can't germinate—it's simply impossible. So use a dethatching instrument to lift out the old organic matter.

• We don't just use a spreader or broadcast the seed; we use a slit seeder and a small Mantis tiller, about 13-14 inches wide.

The slit seeder has little rows or furrows several inches apart that distribute the seed. It scratches the surface and allows the seed to drop into the soil, giving that perfect contact you need. Where we can't use the slit seeder, around markers and corner posts, we use the tiller to rough up the ground and then hand seed those areas.

• You can use Round Up again after seeding to control the growth of any weeds you've stirred up while digging around in the dirt. It won't affect the seed.

• Another benefit of using a slit seeder is that you don't have to cover the area with straw. All you have to do is mist the area twice a day, religiously, and you'll be incredibly successful.

Don't apply too much water. Remember, all you're trying to do is dampen the upper quarter-inch of soil where that seed is imbedded, so you certainly don't need to run a sprinkler all day. In a small area, just go out with a hose and a spray wand. If you can mist it in the morning and the evening, that's ideal.

Germination is going to take place quickly, and once it does, you should decrease the amount of misting.

If you follow this procedure to renovate the turf in an area, you won't even have a brown patch for very long. We have a dye in the Round Up we use in that first step so that we know exactly where we're going to be seeding, and we start to work even before the turf is dead.
 
Establishing new turf in a large area
If you have a large area you need to cover quickly, hydroseeding is the way to go. In hydroseeding, they combine seed and a mulching agent and spray it onto an area as a kind of slurry.

If we're going to develop a new section or regrade an area, say around a new mausoleum or lawn crypt section, we plan ahead to have an outside vendor do some hydroseeding. The cost is figured on a square-footage basis, so it's easy for these companies to give you a quote.

Even when hydroseeding, you have to till the soil first; you can't just blow the seed and mulch mixture on top of a bunch of weedy ground. If you don't have a tractor and discs, ask the hydroseeding firms for a bid doing that for you, as well.

A sweet way to help the local landscape and generate buzz about your cemetery

Beekeepers look like exotic creatures, wearing protective hoods, risking stings to rob hives of honey. But beekeeping has an undeserved reputation as a dangerous occupation, and having an apiary can be a great way to help the community while generating good publicity for your cemetery.

WHAT: Spring Grove has eight honeybee hives, taken care of on a part-time basis by one of our grounds employees, Paul Westerback. The bees help our seed production and provide pollination for the surrounding community, as well, since bees will roam up to 2 miles from their hive. They also provide us with hundreds of jars of Spring Grove honey to hand out as a goodwill and publicity gesture. There's nothing like a thin layer of honey slathered on a slice of wheat toast to bring you to a new energy level!

WHY: Spring Grove produces patented seeds and gets requests for them from all over.  About 20 years ago we felt we needed to increase our seed stock because of the fragility of some of the seed. We decided the way to do it would be to increase the number of pollinators at work, which would also help out the cemetery overall. The fact that improved pollination would also help local agriculture sealed the deal.

When you're talking pollinators, you're talking bees. Sure, an ant might pollinate something accident, but for bees, it's their life's work. Historically, Spring Grove has always had a hive or two. After all, hundreds of acres of greenery is bound to attract some bees to set up housekeeping. But 20 years ago, we got into beekeeping in a serious way.

Apiaries have taken on greater importance nationwide—worldwide, really—in the past couple of decades. Bee populations have been decimated by parasites, threatening crop production, so anytime healthy hives are added to a community, that's good news. You shouldn't have any problem getting your local media out to the cemetery to do a story about how you're helping local farmers and gardeners by boosting the local bee population. Bees are crucial to the survival of many types of plants.

One of our community outreach programs is called Heritage Days. We always have a honey booth, and it's probably our most popular booth. We give away 500 jars of honey every time we do it, which means it's sitting on the breakfast tables of 500 families.
Parents bring their children to hear Paul talk about bees and answer their questions.
Paul built a bee-viewing area so people can see inside a hive; see the worker bees doing their thing. It's phenomenal to watch him gently take the hand of a 6 year old child, move it along the glass and ask the child to tell him when the glass feels warmer. Then he'll say, "Look under your hand; there's the queen right there." The queen generates so much more heat than the other bees that you can feel it through the glass. The kids get excited; the parents say, "Wow—I didn't know that!"

Local bee pollen is a great allergy fighter, too. Raw honey has some pollen in it, so eating honey produced locally helps decrease any allergic reaction you might have to stings from local bees, and it can help decrease your allergic reaction to local plants, too. Cincinnati is one of those places where people seem to suffer from a lot of allergies. We're not going to make any claims or give anybody medical advice, but we've had people tell us that since they started eating Spring Grove honey and pollen, they don't need to take antihistamines anymore.

Beekeepers are said to have the lowest incidence of cancer of any occupational group—even lower than quilters. All we know for sure is, our beekeeper is retirement age and looks 20 years younger—he's great testimony to the benefit of a diet that includes raw honey on wheat toast!

HOW: The way to put more bees to work in your cemetery is to set up hives.

Step 1: Locate a beekeeper.
Obviously, if you're going to set up and take care of hives yourself, you need an employee who is knowledgeable or willing to become knowledgeable. Getting educated about bees and making or buying hives is no problem at all. There are beekeeping groups all over the country, and they love to initiate a new person into the group, to share information.

We were fortunate to have Paul on our staff, because he's been interested in bees since he was a child. For him, being put in charge of Spring Grove's bees was like giving him a bunch of pets.

But we don't want anyone reading this to say, "We don't have anyone interested in bees, so we're dead in our tracks." If you don't have anyone who can take this on, but you do have room for some hives, go ahead and contact the local beekeepers association and offer a place for someone who wants to keep bees but doesn't have a place to do it, or would like to expand his operation. Even if you have to let him keep all the honey, you can reap the good publicity.

Step 2: Figure out where to put the hives. At the Grove, we've now got eight hives. They give us all the pollination we need to fill our seed requests. Our hives aren't all set up in the same areas, though you can set them up back to back, have two or three in the same area. We put them in different areas where they'll have plenty of plants in their range but not be too close to developed areas.

We have some near the maintenance service barn area, about 100 feet away from our equipment buildings, others in undeveloped sections. Paul always wants them to be facing the east so they get early morning sun. That warms them up quickly and gets them started early to do their daily work. You can move hives, and of course we don't have exactly the same hives we started with 20 years ago. We've lost hives; we've had weak hives where Paul had to send for a new, more aggressive queen to replace a weak queen.

Beekeepers know how to approach a hive so the bees don't get agitated. They use a smoker to calm them down and then use the tricks of the trade to keep them calm. This is where trading information with other beekeepers is so important Paul does get stung sometimes, but he's not allergic, and he says it just boosts his immunity to some of the other challenges of life.

In 25 years, we've never had a customer complain about being stung by a bee. Even if someone got stung, you'd be hard pressed to figure out if the bee was from one of your hives or was a wild bee. We keep our hives out of the developed areas, since there are going to be a lot of bees in the immediate vicinity of the hive.

Step 3: Select a docile breed of bee.
Honeybees do have a powerful sting, but they sting in response to something you've done—they're not out to get you. Those yellow and black insects you find on your can of soda pop when you're at a picnic, just waiting to sting you right on the face, are yellow jacket wasps, not honeybees.

Even so, some breeds of honeybees are more aggressive than others, and you want to make sure you get one of the more docile breeds. Ours are midnights, known as one of the mildest.

Step 4: Consider making use of the honey. You don't have to take the honey. Bees make honey as food for themselves, but they're so efficient, out there just cranking this stuff out, you’re wasting a product if you don't take some. It's called robbing the hive, but you're not threatening their health as long as you don't take too much. Paul—or any beekeeper who's done his or her homework—knows how much he can take from the hive. He calculates how many degree days (a measure of how cold the weather's going to be) are left in the winter, how much honey the hive needs to remain stable.

The hives, as you can see in the pictures, are wooden boxes, called supers. Paul used to just take the end off the super, cut the end off the wax the bees use to seal in the honey and then slowly drain it into a pan. It’s a slow process, of course, since honey is dense. When we decided to get more serious about honey production, we decided to invest in some equipment, which we keep in the basement of one of our buildings. For example, you can get equipment to spin the honey out using centrifugal force. Again, being in touch with your local beekeepers is a good way to find out about equipment deals. Periodically a beekeeper retires and sells off equipment.

The beekeepers association has a standard label you can get at very low cost and then add your logo or name to. We used to go that route, with a label that said Ohio Apiaries and had the Grove logos underneath, but we recently designed our own label to make the Spring Grove name much more prominent. With today's computers, it's easy to work up something slick, print it out on label paper and stick it on your jars.

Jars are easy to get from any jar supplier.  We're not selling the honey, we're giving it away to generate goodwill and publicity, so we want to give out little tastes and reach as many people as possible. Our jars hold about 4 ounces. We never give a garden talk without taking some Spring Grove honey with us. You can just imagine the positive comments we get on this program.

Even though there are costs involved in running our apiary, we don't have a separate bee line item. Paul handles his bee-related maintenance when he has down time from his other duties. Maybe it's raining and he can't do anything on the grounds, so he works on his bee or honey equipment. The apiary program is not a high-cost one, and we feel it's valuable.

Step 5: Don't forget the paperwork.
You have to register your hives with the state. It's a simple, routine thing to do, and in return you get support from the state regulators. We pay $5 a year, which is ridiculously low for what they do. They inspect your hives annually; let you know if you have a problem. If you have a weak hive, they might advise you to build it up by feeding the bees some sugar water. (A weak hive might have 15,000 bees, a good colony from 80,000 to 100,000 bees.) If you've got mites, they'll tell you to put mite strips in the chamber.

Paul attends the local beekeepers' meetings and also goes to the state apiary meetings. We're trying new methods to avoid the parasite problems bees have been having.

Bees have gone through some tough times, and we're proud that Spring Grove is part of the "save the bees" movement.

You don't need to set up an eBay store to sell that old equipment you're not using anymore. All you have to do is clean it up, advertise it and-most important-auction it off as a single lot.

WHAT: Do some spring cleaning by selling the equipment you don't need anymore or are replacing.

Spring Grove has one sale a year, near the end of winter. We accept sealed bids, and we make people bid on everything. We used to sell pieces of equipment individually, and what always happened is there were some things everyone wanted and other things no one wanted.

Now, even if you only want four of the 12 pieces of equipment we're selling, you have to bid on all of it. Maybe you resell some of it, maybe you junk some of it. We don't care what you do with it, as long as you get all of it off Spring Grove property by the deadline!

By selling it all as one lot, the amount we get for our old equipment is staggering compared to what we used to get. We can buy three mowers for the money we get by selling our old equipment.

The winning bid depends on what we've got in the mix, of course. If there's a quad (an all-terrain vehicle), or a four-wheel-drive vehicle, people go crazy. They'll bid on the whole lot just to get that quad.

WHY: Equipment you don't use anymore and can't trade in takes up space. It needs to be inventoried. It costs time and money to take it to the landfill—if you eve, get around to doing it. And it's a potential revenue source that's dropping in value every day you allow it to just sit there.

Besides, selling your old equipment to someone who can put it to use is in the spirit of "reduce, reuse and recycle." It's nice that some of this equipment can be put to good use for a few more years instead of being buried somewhere.

As we've already said, selling equipment a piece at a time is not the way to go. This isn't a terribly complicated program, but you do need to do a bit of planning.

1. Know what you're buying and what you can get rid of.   Being able to do this properly is contingent on having a good budgeting process. At the Grove, we know what equipment is being replaced months before we sell it. If you're not sure how many new mowers you're going to buy, it's going to be hard to decide how many of your existing ones to sell.

You might think, "Well, I'll just sell the old equipment off as the new equipment comes in." The problem with that is you'll end up having multiple sales, and you know what rule number 2 is:

2. Sell everything as one lot, auction winner take all. This not only means you won't have any leftovers; it's also a way to clear out some of your old inventory. At one point, we had about 20 push-type blowers that had been in inventory for years, replaced with newer, easier-to-use models. Every year we throw a few into the mix. Sure, some of the bidders say, "What am I supposed to do with those?" Our answer is, "We don't care what you do with them, they're just part of the auction."

There is some equipment you can either trade in or sell outright and get big bucks for—a backhoe, for example. For the auction, you'll be gathering small pieces such as soil-hauling equipment and mowers, of course.

We don't hold a live auction; we accept sealed bids. Since people don't know who they're bidding against, you tend to get higher bids, especially if you have a piece of equipment in the lot that people really want. If you have a John Deere Gator or any kind of all-terrain vehicle, that will draw bidders. And tractor prices are spectacular. If you have a tractor of any size in the mix, you will generate lots of excitement.

3. Put auction conditions in writing.
Tell people the deadline for accepting bids and the deadline for the winner to remove the equipment. We also reserve the right to refuse any bid and give potential bidders a list of the equipment with a note that there is no warranty on any of it—it's being sold "as is." (They are buying used equipment, after all.)

4. Put someone in charge of handling the details. One of our mechanics handles the sale, getting bids and meeting the people who want to come by and look at the equipment before bidding. Usually we get about a dozen bids.

At this point, we only advertise the sale every other year. We've been doing it a while, and we let the regular bidders know when it's time for the auction. You do want to advertise periodically, though, to bring new people into the process.

Early March is a good time to hold the sale. The winning bidder will have time to retrofit that mower or put that new alternator in the ATV before the weather warms up.

5. Be honest with potential bidders. We do clean up the equipment, since making it presentable is going to payoff in higher bids, but we answer questions honestly. “This mower had a problem with such-and-such. We've had those mowers three years, we run them 50 hours a week and we can't afford to take a chance on one of them being out of service for several hours, so we're replacing them. But for the average person who uses a mower two hours a week, they should be good for years."

The guy who has won the auction the last couple of years runs a business cutting grass and also sells equipment.

Every year, usually in April or May, we get calls from people asking if we've got any equipment for sale. We tell them who won the auction.

Even though there's only one winner—and even though the winner has to take some old leaf-blowers off our hands—all the bidders ask to be notified about next year's auction.

If you don't do anything else, when you order a piece of equipment, be sure you get an hour meter on it. That way there's no question when it's time for service. It's not 653 hours, it's not 651, it's 652.
 
Since our cemetery is located in a community with a lot of agriculture-related products and byproducts, it's easy for us to get compost. You do not want to use beef cattle manure—way, way too high in salts. If you can get dairy cow manure or horse manure, make that into compost. Shred it, mix it with soil.

When we built an island in our lake, my friend in the monument business and I said, "Scattering garden—common ossuary."

We started with one memorialization tablet and since then have had to add two wings. I never in the world thought we would have that kind of acceptance, but it's gone over very nicely.

You can do anything you want to make an ossuary. I've seen one where they excavated out to put in a poly tank; all of the cremated remains are put right in that tank. Folks know that there's comingling of the remains.

We have a disclaimer that says there is a possibility of comingling, but with the island, you can have a honeycomb design and have the remains of 20,000 people on it without the chance of comingling.
 
About swans: People love them, but unless you want trouble with a capital T, do not get males—they're very aggressive. And if you're thinking about getting swans in to control geese, forget it. One year the geese took over the swans' nest.

This article compiled from an address presented by the author at the 2006 ICFA Annual Convention

Beginning as early as 1825 Dr. Jacob Bigelow started the movement for the removal of human bodies from church cellars and other sepulture in the city of Boston to the better method of laying out a garden cemetery which should be located a few miles from the cities with the primary object in view of protecting the general health of the public and as stated in his own words "To desire the institution of a suburban cemetery in which the beauties of nature should as far as possible relieve from their repulsive features the tenements of the deceased; and in which at the same time some consolation to survivors might be sought in gratifying, as far as possible, the last social and kindred instincts of our nature.”  It was indeed a far sighted idea on the part of Dr. Bigelow and one which spread rapidly in succeeding years to all parts of the United States. The Modern Cemetery with its engineering and landscape features of today is a logical outcome of this initial movement.

It is now over one hundred years since this important step for a better disposition of human remains started and in this period of time there have been many changes and additions to the original conception of what a cemetery should be so that the larger cemeteries of the present time represent the collective human experience of many minds and probably the largest single influence in this period has been the American Association of Cemetery Superintendents. In such a gathering as this, which is the fortieth that has assembled, it is inevitable that ideas and ideals start for or realized by its present members, and it is with this thought in mind that I am going to review particularly the engineering characteristics which we may find in a cemetery and which are naturally the outcome of many years of experience in this special line of work.

LANDSCAPE: I have divided the particular engineering features under the headings with the sub-division illustrating the details as applied to this work. The outstanding feature of course is landscape work. This necessitates a study of topography of the land, a study of roads and paths, trees, shrubs and equipment which will reveal to the best advantage the natural landscape which may be available. Constructions have been made so that vistas thru the trees and shrubs will show ponds and lakes, monuments and slightly beds and observation towers which are existent. Embankments and special ground are planted to shrubs, vines and trees not only for effective landscape but also to lessen the maintenance of certain grounds.

PLANT AND MAINTENANCE: In order to carry out the construction work and maintenance of a cemetery it is of course essential to have a plant with proper buildings thereon which shall necessitate the least amount of steps and in the larger cemetery adjacent to these buildings a railroad side track is very convenient, not only for unloading cement, sand and necessary material but also for the purpose of taking in monuments and mausoleum granite. In addition to side track facilities we have the following buildings: Garage for trucks, Blacksmith Shop, Carpenter Shop, Mechanics Shed for tools and derricks, Laborers Shed and tools, Grass-cutters Shed, Perpetual Care Shed, Housing for Power Sprayer, Steam Roller, Gas Engine and pump, Men’s Lounging room and Yard Office. One engineer says "Our structures begin to wear out even before they are completed, hence the necessity for maintenance." Depreciation and the need of repairs for buildings and equipment are self evident to anyone and the condition of the plant is dependent upon constant inspection followed by decision and action to hold every part of it to as near as possible 100 percent maintenance. When our perpetual care fund runs up to a considerable amount it seems that the word maintenance covers the greater part of our work.

ROADS: Due to the demand of present traffic conditions it essential that every cemetery shall have good roads and it therefore becomes part of the work of modern cemeteries to build their own roads and in this work there is a very large opportunity for every cemetery superintendent to improve the existing grades as well as to build roads of such material and in such a manner that the grades are easy that the surface material will stay for a great many years and that no weeds will have an opportunity to grow. Preliminary work in road construction necessitates proper drainage by piping and this in turn would become also the problem of proper surface drainage in every part of the grounds so that the soil in every section is clear and drained of water in winter as well as in summer. In order to carry this thru it is sometimes necessary to recognize the mistakes made in early days and consequently raise the grades of paths that the roadways shall always be the lowest point in the topography of the grounds with the exception of course of any natural lakes or ponds that exist.

Our experience so far leads us to construct the roads as follows: The standard road is 18' in width. After the road is brought to proper grade by excavation and fill and the gravel for proper material for the road bed spread the width of the roadway, the whole bed is thoroughly rolled being drenched with water at the same time so that a solid and substantial road bed will be ready to receive the constructed surface. The construction surface begins with 4" to 5" of 2½" crushed stone thoroughly rolled and it is a fact that at the present time particularly where the road slopes in the direction of its length that the surface is made practically flat but where the road is almost level a crown should not exceed 2" in an 18' width. The six to twelve inch crown on a gravel road of years gone by is really dangerous construction for present traffic. After the 2½ crushed stone has been thoroughly rolled all depressions noted, and properly filled, then the whole is covered with tarvia or other bitulithic material at the rate of 1½-2 gallons per square yard. After this tarvia is spread, ½" crushed stone in as thin a layer as possible is spread over this surface. This is then thoroughly rolled again and after being thoroughly rolled is covered with one coat of tarvia at about ½ gallon to the yard which we call the sealing coat. Next a very thin layer of clean sharp sand is scattered over this surface and worn in by traffic.

I have known a road constructed in this manner to lay for almost twenty years without any further treatment than occasional coating of tarvia and sand. I believe a road of this nature is one of the least expensive that any cemetery can build. Concrete for road construction in my judgment in a cemetery is unnecessary, except in special cases where grades are so steep that a roller will not work efficiently. We have such a problem and are building this small piece of road according to the Mass. State Highway Specification.

About twelve years ago after completing a road, I remember the roller engineer telling me that we had so improved the grade on this particular piece of road that he only required one half the steam pressure to go over the hill that he had to have before; what this means in the saving of foot power and horse power I will leave to your imagination but I'll wager that the foot power or horse power saved will never be known to the ones who are using this highway. However, this thought should never prevent us from doing all our construction work as the best engineering science demands it should be done.
 
WATER SUPPLY: Due to the large amount of vegetation which is an essential part of a good cemetery, a water supply is very necessary equipment and a great many cemeteries for this reason have their own pumping stations. At Mount Auburn Cemetery this equipment includes 28-2½" driven wells varying in depth from 52' to 125'. It is a fact that practically all water from driven wells contains a large amount of iron and iron in water for cemetery purposes is very undesirable for the reason that it discolors all stonework with which it comes in contact.

By means of aerating equipment the iron in the water is readily oxidized, the water then flows over charcoal beds and sand filters which not only entirely remove the iron but also other impurities that may be in the water. From the sand filters the water flows into a clear water basin and is then pumped up to the reservoir where it flows into the mains to all parts of the grounds. There are also fountains and ornamental sprays which if used in connection with the water supply of a city would probably be considered 'an unnecessary luxury. The Pumping Station contains a low lift pump driven by a 5 Horse Power Electric Motor which pumps the water from the wells to the aerator and onto the charcoal and filter beds and also a high lift pump driven by a 25 horse power motor which pumps the water from the clear water basin up to the reservoir. Both pumps are automatic in control being governed by floats actuating electric switches.

CONCRETE: At the present time concrete more than any other material is being used in modern constructions and engineering work. In our case concrete is used as follows: Foundations for monuments and mausoleums, for paths, roads, chimneys, benches and greenhouse constructions. Our Half Hardy House is practically all concrete and we have a concrete wall 10' high around one half mile of the cemetery which at the present time due to its adaptability not only protects that part of the grounds particularly well but because of its lending itself so well for planting purposes is more ornamental than any form of cemetery fence which I have seen. The only wall that possibly equals a concrete wall for protection and ornamentation would be of brick construction such as one sees in English gardens but this would be more expensive and not as durable.

CREMATORY: I am in accord with the late James Currie of Milwaukee, that the day is not far distant, in fact, may be said to be already here when no cemetery of any importance will be fully prepared to accommodate its patrons if not equipped with a crematory as a medium for the disposal of the dead.

The cemetery and crematory should not be considered as standing in opposite and antagonistic positions and that cremation is not inimicable but in reality conducive to the prosperity of a cemetery."

The crematory at Mount Auburn Cemetery consists of a well designed chapel, the upper part of which contains an organ, vestry and all the necessary background for holding: proper services. In the basement of this building are tour retorts capable of taking care of twenty-five to thirty bodies in one day. In back of the retorts towards the rear of the building is a subterranean passage about 40' in length and leading northerly away from the main building, this enters into a building which is made entirely of concrete and which is wholly underground except the glass skylight overhead which measures 12' x 10'. In this engine room is a centrifugal compressor which is capable of delivering 1600 feet of free air a minute to the retorts above. This is operated by a 25 Horse Power electric motor being supplied with current from the local Electric Light Company. As an auxiliary on the opposite side of the engine room is a gas engine coupled to a Root's blower which can be used if the electricity should for some reason not be available. Just outside of the engine room but adjacent to it is a heating plant for all buildings of the crematory unit. This uses oil as fuel, is automatically operated and as a matter of fact is the best heating unit we have in connection with the whole cemetery.

The efficient operation of a crematory is maintained by a knowledge of chemistry as regards combustion and fuel oil; the design and operation necessitates engineering skill which shall assure the elimination of objectionable features, maintain quietness and speed in operation and the creation in the immediate vicinity of an atmosphere which will reflect peace and quietness which is so essential for the people who at this time require the use of this equipment.

MECHANICAL: The necessity for mechanical knowledge in the maintenance of plant equipment is illustrated every day in the ordinary operation of a cemetery and I think is evident in the things which I have enumerated.

CHEMISTRY: In the healthy upkeep of the vegetation which covers so much area, a knowledge of as much chemistry as will lead to successful spraying and fumigation to hold in check or to eliminate entirely insect pests and diseases which are apparently always evident, is certainly a desirable asset for the cemetery manager or his assistants to have.

I am inclined to believe that the average man does not realize that the conducting of a cemetery is a technical business requiring training, skill and experience and the primary purpose of this paper is to show in part some of the technical features involved in the establishing and maintaining of a cemetery as required under present conditions.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 40th Annual Convention
Memphis, TN
October 11, 12 and 13, 1926

One of the most essential things in Cemetery Construction is drainage. However, there are more mistakes made in this line than any other form of Cemetery construction.

In the selection of a site for a Cemetery the possibility of draining the land should be the first consideration. Of times however, the price of the land is the first consideration. I know of a site purchased where the price was the predominate factor and when it came to drainage it cost more for a sewer without the grounds than the whole tract of land was worth. Even after this sewer was constructed the fall was so limited that the Cemetery will always be a poorly drained place.

It may not be out of place to say what are the essential requirements for drainage when selecting a site?

First of all it is necessary to have some spot on the land, or near it, that is low enough with a natural outlet for the water into which the main drain or sewer can he emptied. Presuming this has been taken into consideration the next question is the kind of land to be drained.

The ideal land for Cemetery purposes is that which has well cultivated top soil with sandy loam subsoil, to a depth of at least six feet. However, so many cemetery sites are selected that have heavy subsoil and in that case the drainage question is one that entails much more care and expense.

Where possible the main drains or sewers should be six or more feet in depth. The size of these main drains will be determined by the area of the land to be drained. It is better to have these too large than too small. A good rule is to allow half an inch of main drain for each acre to be drained. On that basis a Cemetery containing 48 acres should have at least a two foot outlet as a minimum. These figures are given with the presumption that no food water or other than Cemetery drainage is going into this sewer. As stated before if in doubt enlarge on the main sewer.

If possible lay all the main sewers under the driveways or Avenues and as stated before keep them six or more feet in depth. As most Cemetery Avenues are laid out in curves there is often a tendency to follow these curved lines with the sewers. However, my experience has proven this to be bad practice. In level sections of land these sewers need cleaning at intervals and this becomes a difficult job where curved lines have to be followed. It is far better to lay out straight lines from point to point on these curves and at these intersecting points build a manhole. Some one may say this makes many manholes, but this is a good feature. Manholes should be every two hundred feet at least. In fact it is much better to have manholes at intersections of the avenues and let the catch basin connection empty into these manholes instead of putting Y's and T's into the sewer system.

No cemetery drain under an avenue should be less than ten inches in diameter and no catch basin connection should be less than six inches in diameter.

So far I have talked about outlets and size of pipe.

The next important step is the kind of sewer pipe. Vitrified sewer pipe is the kind most commonly used, although good concrete pipe make good material for use in a cemetery.

There is a great difference of opinion as to whether the bell end or butt end pipe is the best for cemetery use. If plenty of manholes are used, I prefer the butt end pipe. These pipes are placed tight together and over the joint a piece of good roofing felt is laid and carefully kept in place until the trench is filled. If the land is of heavy clay; this kind of sewer can be made still better by filling around the pipe and over the top to a depth of six inches with cinder, slag or any porous material before the rest of the trench is filled with earth.

In cemeteries that are composed of heavy clay it is essential that in addition to the drains mentioned small farm tile be connected to these sewers at intervals and run into the sections where the pathways will come between the lots. This tile should be deep enough so they will be at least six inches lower than the bottom of graves at any point in the section. However, as this method is expensive I would not advise this unless it is absolutely necessary.

No drainage system is good that does not provide not only deep drainage but plenty of inlets for catching the surface water and plenty of places to catch the sand, mud and other debris that gets into the sewers with the water. With this thought in mind let us first consider the manholes. As stated before, these should be plentiful. First because if they are close together it makes it easy to clean out the sewer if it becomes stopped by tree roots or from other causes and secondly if properly constructed these manholes make ample space into which the fine dirt and debris can settle instead of in the bed of the sewer.

The construction of manholes should be along the following lines. They should be at least three and one half feet in diameter and at least eighteen inches deeper than the bottom of the sewer. This depth serves a double purpose. First it allows the debris to settle as stated above and secondly it allows room for a man to work if it becomes necessary to rod out the sewer. The construction of these manholes can be of brick, concrete segments, concrete pipe or poured concrete. Local conditions will govern this.

As to catch basins and before we discuss this let me state that sometimes a manhole is a combined catch basin and manhole. However, catch basins are usually at the aide of the road and are used as inlets into which the surface water flows. These inlets can be of various forms but it is quite essential that like the manholes the first sand and dirt is caught in these basins. This is accomplished by building the catch basin a little lower than the pipe outlet that connects these catch basins with sewer or manholes. I could at this time go into detail as to the construction of these inlets but it is best to use what is obtainable in the various communities.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 40th Annual Convention
Memphis, TN
October 11, 12 and 13, 1926

To make clear these remarks, it might be well to say that the location of Hope Cemetery is in Worcester, Massachusetts, about forty miles west from Boston and contains 145 acres, about two fifths of which is under development. The ground is rolling and the older section has been under development since 1856. No plan showing its topography was in existence until 1918 so that no systematic development scheme could be used.

I shall endeavor to be as brief as possible. I wish to follow in a general way these subdivisions in the order of their importance to the subject in hand.

l. Snow Removal
2. Opening Graves
3. Grading
4. Repairs
5. Manufacture of Articles used by the Cemetery.

Snow Removal. The work of keeping the roads and paths opened and the snow removed is an important part of the work of the winter season. It is our custom to do this work with horses, having tried to do it with tractors without great success. We find that by using four horses on a strong plough and beginning the work as soon as possible after the snow starts falling, that we can at least keep the main avenues accessible for automobiles. We find that it is a much more satisfactory method than waiting till after the snow stops falling as it frequently happens that when the snow turns into sleet and freezes that a hard crust forms which renders the work difficult. At no time during the last ten or twelve years has it been impossible to reach parts of the grounds that were necessary of access.

The objection to the tractors which we tried was that we found that they were apt to ride up on top of the snow and crush it down rather to push it to one side.

After a heavy fall of snow, the avenues having broken out, the next work is usually to pen up the culverts and gutters to allow drainage of the water in case of a thaw. The grounds being well provided with drains and the basins kept open rand in a clean condition, the water finds a ready means of run-off from the lots and the consequence is that there are very few sections in the Cemetery which at present suffer from flooding during the winter or spring. These sections which flood occasionally are being attended to and we hope that within a short period we may be situated so that no part of the grounds will suffer from flooding at any time of the year.

Opening Graves. Now a word in regard to opening graves in winter. We have tried various methods of thawing the ground to make the work easier and concluded that the method which was at once the cheapest and most effective was provided by means of a large sheet iron oven which we had constructed on lines similar to one used at Chicago Cemetery and described in Cemetery Hand Book.

We usually have on hand quantities of limb wood which is of little use for any other purpose on account of its small size. We place the oven on top of the ground to be broken, the afternoon before the funeral and charge it with wood, setting it afire and allowing it to burn during the afternoon. Just before quitting time we fill it up again, putting the cover on and allowing it to smolder during the night. This is effective in thawing out the frost to quite an extent and on removing the oven the next morning, we find that we can drive a pick in it to quite a depth; also that the frost underneath is usually rotted to such an extent that its removal is not difficult. The only expense in connection with this process is the labor of placing the oven and charging, as the wood costs us nothing.

We have never tried the use of explosives in opening graves but we have tried to use them in keeping the face of our banks open where we were removing gravel and other material. The results here proved so unsatisfactory that we thought best not to attempt to open graves by this method.

Grading. At Hope Cemetery it has for a number of years past been considered expedient to continue to employ through the winter a number of help selected from those employed during the summer months. The reason for this is self-evident and sufficient work must be found during the winter to make the employment of these men profitable. Many benefits accrue to the Cemetery by reason of the fact that these men are afterward available for spring and summer, when the pressure of work is greatest and when it might be otherwise impossible to secure the trained workmen which are thus made available.

In regard to the development and layout of our new sections, I try to have these prepared about a year ahead of time. In other words, I work them up in the office during the winter preceding the time when they will be used. This gives ample opportunity for revision and changes of various kinds.

It is very necessary to visualize the section in regard to the conventional placing of memorials. Inasmuch as a section can be either established or ruined by the proper placing and arrangement of memorials, it is important to see that these will fall into positions best adapted not only for their exhibition but also for the general arrangement of this part of the grounds.

Winter work, or rather preparations therefore, begin during the late summer and early fall. Hope Cemetery is so located geographically that there are few winters when grading can be continued without interruption during the months of December, January and February. The last winter, however, was an exception and the work was pushed on driveways and new plots with very little interruption until it became necessary to use the men so employed on other work.

An important preparation for winter grading is the fixing of grade stakes in a secure position so that with the freezing of the ground they will be secure until spring. One of our problems is to provide a bank where filling material may be accessible throughout the winter even when the frost penetrates to unusual depths. This entails the working of the bank every day in order to keep it open. Where a steam shovel and dump cars are available this is a very economical way of handling filling but very few Cemeteries are equipped to undertake removal of dirt by these methods.
Repairs. The season immediately following the close of the grass cutting offers a splendid opportunity to overhaul this equipment, including lawn mowers, both power and hand and all the other tools connected with grass cutting work; also to check up the number of rakes, grass hooks and baskets used in this work, and if numbers are not sufficient to begin the next spring grass cutting, to order sufficient quantities.

I believe that the best methods of handling the automatic machinery like lawn mowers, etc., are to ship them back to the maker with instructions to supply any parts necessary and to return them in first class working order. By this means I believe the power lawn mowers are made to do effective service for many months more than could be obtained from them by attempting repairs and replacements with ordinary labor.

Delays in opening the grass cutting season are very irritating and a complete check-up in the fall should reveal all shortages and enable deliveries to be made in ample time. This check-up is extended even farther to cover the repairs to rolling stock, such as wagons, tip carts and concrete mixers. In fact the systematic overhaul of all machinery and tools is imperative at this time of the year. At Hope Cemetery all the wagons and carts are painted. In no place is the wisdom of the maxim of the paint dealer, "Save the surface and you save all", more emphatically proven than in connection with repairs to Cemetery equipment.

During the last three or four years, or since a very serious ice storm visited this section of the country, we have taken advantage of the winter season to keep the trees trimmed of the large branches which show signs of decay and to give the trees such attention as we feel we can do with ordinary Cemetery labor.

Manufacture of Articles Used by the Cemetery a part of the grounds has been protected for a number of years by wooden fences supported by iron fence posts leaded into cap-stones. In many cases these iron posts have rusted off close to the stone and replacements of the original type would have proven expensive and difficult. We have replaced a great many of them and shall eventually replace them all with reinforced concrete posts, the reinforcements projecting about 18 inches below the base of the posts and spread. These posts with the projecting reinforcements have been embedded in the wall with concrete forms having been set to take the place of the cap-stones removed and the fence stringers connected by means of bolts and nuts. This proves a very effective means of repair and insures a high degree of permanence. Eventually we expect to extend the fence on concrete posts all around the grounds.

At this season of the year, we also find it very convenient to make new lot numbers of cement. We use a machine called the "Havard" type which gives us a very satisfactory number and one which is not only permanent but easily read at all times and which sets flush with the ground offering no obstruction to grass cutting tools. Lots, during the year, which have not had perpetual care previously and are put under such care, makes it necessary to remove the old number and replace it with a new one bearing the letters "P. C." in addition to the number. These are easily made on the machine and by spring when the ground was thawed, it is a simple matter to change them.

In former years we manufactured quite a large number of very high quality cement bricks in the winter and stored them for future use. At present however, the number of bricks required is very small as we build very few brick vaults, having replaced them almost entirely with a type of cement vault. We manufacture only enough bricks to supply our needs in the construction of catch basins and for the use of some other nearby cemeteries who purchase them of us.
 
In this brief paper, I fear I have not been able to bring before this body anything of novelty or of value. I wish it were within my power and within the scope of my ability to furnish something far more worthy of your attention.

The large amount of valuable information which I have obtained through membership in this and our state Association has placed me in debt to my fellow members. For this reason, when requested by our President to contribute something to the program of this Convention, and knowing as I did the helpful kindness with which I had been received, I could not refuse to accept his invitation to prepare the foregoing on the topic mentioned.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Convention
Chicago, Illinois
August 24, 25, 26 and 27, 1925

Not only in the western part of the United States; where the application of water in parks and cemeteries becomes an absolute necessity, but also throughout the Middle and Atlantic States, artificial irrigation should be provided for, at least in the best parts of the cemeteries at the entrance, etc. Any of these states at any time suffer from the droughts which will dry up the lawns, sometimes beyond recovery. At such times cemeteries which might be ever so well kept under ordinary circumstances, present perfect eyesores. It can be avoided and it should be.

Above all the supply of water is the main requisite and where it can not be had, a cemetery should not be located. This must be looked after before starting the enterprise, not afterwards, as it is sometimes done, especially if a real estate scheme is connected with the selection of a place for a cemetery. But whatever the supply of water, the preferable method is to run or pump it into a reservoir, which will fill the distributing pipes by gravity pressure. The water can, in this case, be settled, cleared and warmed in the reservoir and the distribution and pressure through all the small pipes is alike and even. Wherever the water is pumped into the pipes directly from the source of supply, the pressure is apt to be uneven, while at the same time the force at the mouth of the pipe or hose is not above the one obtained by gravity pressure. And again in the fall of the year the water supplied by rivers especially if cemeteries are below large cities, gets so putrid as to make it unfit for artificial irrigation in a cemetery. On the other hand, the system of pumping the water into the pipes is both costly and unreliable it requires very powerful pumps, which easily get out of order perhaps just when you have to depend on them. For all these reasons I favor the supply from a good well or a clear stream from which water can be pumped or run into a reservoir situated at a point above the cemetery, which insures sufficient pressure.

Experience shows, that no small pipes should be used, two-inch pipes being the smallest size to be recommended. The common small pipe, which is used in private gardens, where short pieces are laid only, will fill up in course of time with sediments and become useless, wherever they are used in such long stretches, as they become necessary in a cemetery. For laying the pipes the superintendent must have the knowledge of the general principles of hydraulics and hydrostatics, and above all he must lay all his pipes in a manner which will allow flushing and draining empty in the fall of the year.

Cast iron pipes are the best under all circumstances and should be used exclusively. Open ditches should not be allowed in cemeteries, unless absolutely unavoidable. They are unsightly and might cause damage at any time by overflowing.

In laying the main pipes, we in the West do not take so much trouble as our Eastern friends, we do not have to lay them out of the reach of frost, a trench of eighteen inches depth is all the labor we do. Having our pipes out of the reach of the plow is all we care for, our climate allows us this commodity. The ground does not get moist enough to raise stones or pipes at the opening of spring. The depth of trenches for pipes should be varied with the climate.

Whether lawns should be sprinkled or flooded, is another question, which comes up in artificially irrigated cemeteries. While flooding answers the purpose often very well in parks. I do not like this mode in cemeteries. Sprinkle, and give every man as many sprinklers and as much hose as the supply and pressure will permit. People do not like to see water soak down into the graves and that settles the question in my mind.

I think I have touched all the vital points now, which come into consideration on this question and will make room for the discussion of the subject.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 9th Annual Convention
Richmond, VA
September 18, 19 and 20, 1895

Upon receipt of a letter from Bro. Higgins, requesting me to write a paper for this meeting I was at first inclined to refuse, but as he kindly left the subject to be chosen to myself, I decided to make an effort, knowing that you would excuse any shortcomings, as my experience has been brief, as compared with that of a majority of those present.

When the matter of taking charge of a cemetery was first suggested to me, I had been engaged for five years in park work, and was dubious about making the change, fearing that the work would not suit me; but the objectionable features have all disappeared, and I become daily more and more interested in the work.

My first experience was with a close corporation and the cemetery was started to supply a "long felt want."

The ground selected was an eighty-acre piece of rolling land, of which about ten acres were covered with a heavy growth of black oak, ten acres low and unavailable, and the balance very handsome meadow land. After having the entire piece cross-sectioned, they called upon a well known landscape gardener to make a design, which was done, and I proceeded to grade and plat about twenty acres, at an expense of about three thousand dollars.  A chapel and vault were built, costing six thousand dollars.

About the time we were ready for business the "long felt want" had disappeared and no one seemed anxious to die in order to patronize us. I remained there about eleven months, during which time we made about one hundred-thirty burials. The directors were somewhat disappointed at the small amount of business and the correspondingly small income, and had reduced the force to a minimum, which compelled me to neglect numerous things which should have been attended to.

Even in this short time I had learned that it was going to be no easy task to keep the grounds in good shape, especially where the business was run in private interests. The few lot holders we had there, had already proposed some of the wildest schemes imaginable for decorating their lots, and our directors did not like to oppose them too much. I was about discouraged with the outlook, when a proposition was made me to take the position I now occupy.

Lakewood, at this time, had been established nineteen years, during which time the management had been changed but once, the first superintendent having held the position twelve and one-half years, and my predecessor six and one-half years; the assistant-superintendent four years, while the foreman had been in that position from the start. All of these men were removed when I took charge.

As was but natural, they had each a certain following among the lot owners, and some of them were much vexed that the change was made, and made it correspondingly disagreeable for me for some time.

Upon coming here I found three hundred bodies in the vault awaiting interment, and I can assure you it looked to me like a formidable task, but when the time came things seemed to shape themselves about right for me and I got well through the spring work without any serious trouble.

My views as to rules, management of men: etc., differing quite materially from those of my predecessor, caused me some trouble with the men who had previously worked here, and I had quite a struggle to right things to my ways. The rules, existing here previous to my time, were very good, but they had not been strictly enforced, and when I attempted to enforce them it brought a great many people to the front with their grievances and complaints, and kept me in hot water for some time.

In many respects my experience has been very similar to that of Bro. Hamill, as set forth in his paper of last year. I found innumerable rusty wire arches, rusty and broken down seats of all descriptions, and every kind of a utensil that could be thought of to sprinkle with or carry water in. These had to go, and I made a clean sweep of everything that was not fairly presentable. Seats and arches are now forbidden, and the consequence is a much neater looking cemetery, but much more bitterness of feeling against the superintendent, which I hope will die out some day.

At times I feel somewhat downhearted and despondent at the opposition which seems to meet nearly every improvement or change that is suggested, but have secured a box of Dr. Barker's "cheerful pills" and find that they help me wonderfully.

There seems to be a wide difference of opinion among lot owners as to what constitutes a neat looking and well-kept cemetery lot, but by making an effort to meet and talk with them on the subject I can turn a great many of them to my way of thinking. A little reflection convinces nearly all of them that at general system of improvement is necessary, but all are not so ready to believe in its enforcement in their particular case.

The first impulse of a person purchasing a burial lot seems to be to plant something, it makes but little difference what it is, but there must be some planting.

The following from an article written by the late R. M. Copeland, the well-known New England landscape gardener, is to the point on this subject: "It is natural for everyone who has a cemetery lot to show his interest in it by some kind of decoration, and planting trees and shrubs is the simplest and most obvious thing to do. But, when we remember that trees, unless when grouped to give a compound effect, when each tree loses a part of its beauty or effect, to receive something by contrast or harmony with its neighbors, should stand from twenty-five to forty feet apart, it is plain that a lot of fifteen by twenty does not give much chance for trees; consequently, as everyone wishes to plant trees, cemeteries as the lots are sold become too" treesy," too much shade, no intervals of light and grass for contrast; the trees crowd each other to their mutual injury; the shade prevents the growth of shrubs, and thus we lose the many chances for beauty which they offer. Guided by the mistakes that have been made in our older cemeteries, we should try to secure for the future a method of treatment which will forbid all changes of grade, curbing, fences and over-planting. Even the old cemeteries, as they take in new land, can change their vicious practices and approach to the true theory on which they were based; but every new one should be sure to foresee the capabilities of the grounds selected and adopt such plans for laying them out as will insure, in the end, all the naturalness, grace and beauty which result from well directed efforts."

From the above we can judge of the importance of the subject, and how necessary it is to maintain from the start the proper regulations.

I read with a great deal of interest the articles in the MODERN CEMETERY, and heartily agree with most of the writers, but am sorely afraid that it will be a long time before the monument dealers will quietly submit to there being many of Bro. Eurich's model cemeteries. The desire for display predominates too strongly, and the dealers in monumental work can and will encourage large and numerous stones more effectually than we can discourage them.
 

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 6th Annual Convention
Baltimore, MD
September 27, 28 and 29, 1892

This is a paper on Cemetery management prepared and read by me at a meeting of the New England Cemetery Association in Boston, Mass., in 1912 which I have been asked to revise and present to this convention and which in an unguarded moment I consented to do, gratified and pleased, of course, that my thoughts then expressed were considered worthy of repetition. But when I looked it over with a view to making any desirable changes applicable to a National gathering of men engaged in the same work which occupied most of my time and thought for many years, and in the light of eleven years of further experience and observation I find little that I care to revise; rather would I speak more emphatically concerning the somewhat radical methods then advocated and executed by me in the matter of restoration and after care of neglected lot areas. I would ask you however to bear in mind that the conditions and methods indicated are based upon New England conditions and may not prove adaptable in our more southern latitudes, realizing as I do that each and every part of our great country has its own problems which can only be solved by a knowledge and study of local conditions.

The Century Dictionary says that a Cemetery is "A place set apart for interments; a graveyard; specifically, a burial ground not attached to any church; a necropolis." Without doubt a satisfactory definition to the average mind, but who of us, engaged in the active and practical care and administration of Cemeteries will say that the real effort required of us in the discharge of our duties consists in any considerable degree in directing the actual excavation of the ground and the placing therein of the remains of a deceased person; or even the physical preparation, care and adornment of areas in question, necessary and important though this be. Not one of us, I venture to say.

But rather will you, I think, agree with me that our deepest thought and greatest anxieties are given to the financial and managerial questions. While the family affairs, characteristics and conditions of mind of our lot owners require a degree of skill, thought, energy and diplomacy, which exhausts our bodies and minds, whitens our hair and furrows our brow.

Some one has irreverently said that we have much to do with skeletons; Yes indeed we have, the skeleton of the family, many first brought to the light of day while endeavoring to determine who owns or who shall "boss" the Cemetery Lot; who shall, or who shall not, be buried therein, or removed there from, after the death of the original owner.

We must also sometimes explain why it is that each and every lot cannot have the grass cut and all other necessary care work done on the day before the family happens to visit the cemetery, accompanied by relatives from a distance who have been led to suppose that their particular lot was always in perfect condition, even though they had neglected to give the order for its care, and of course, you must not say this in the presence of "Auntie" (who, by the way, is advancing in years and has most of the available cash in the family.) Why, in midsummer, the grass is not green, although we have not been favored with a particle of atmospheric moisture for many weeks. Why the grass does not show a luxurious growth under the trees. Why you permitted the erection on an adjoining lot of such a monumental monstrosity and you listen to an outpouring of words in ecstatic praise of their own "Rock Face" creation.

You are finally enlightened by the information that "out West where I live they do things better," and through it all you are supposed to give your whole attention to the cultivation of a smile upon your face which can be classed as "Cherubic" and "Apologetic," otherwise you are informed that "I shall certainly write to the Mayor" or to the Chairman of your Board of Trustees, as the case may be, or it may be that they will decide that it is best to call attention to the alleged condition of affairs through the medium of the newspapers.

At this point your foreman gives you the delightful information that one of the pair of new horses you purchased, and in which you feel such pride, "will not pull the hat off your head," and that the driver is “no good anyhow”.  Never mind; you must lie calm, so over to the new work mount the seat, take the reins, talk to the horses and enjoy the sensation which comes of seeing them pull out the load in good shape, only to be met a few minutes later by your Supervisor of Interments who informs you that some undertaker has forgotten to bring the burial permit (which he has probably not yet asked the Board of Health to issue) but promises to send it out in the morning, "Shall I let him by?" he asks. After an investigation of the facts you wearily answer, "Yes, but don't do it again."

The bell in the tower signals that you are wanted at the office. On reaching it you find a bereaved widower who wishes to purchase a two-grave lot, no more, "just a place to lay her, and another for me when I am called." You complete the sale, and if he is a young man you withdraw from sale the adjoining lot, well knowing that within a year or so he will, while on a visit to the cemetery, express his regret that he did not get a larger lot. You suddenly discover that the adjoining one is still unsold. He is greatly pleased and buys it, soon after he will be accompanied on his periodical visits, which become less and less frequent, by another lady. Again the cherubic smile appears upon your face and you are so glad that the adjoining lot remained unsold for nearly two years.

You are pleased with yourself and fall to studying out some new improvement and estimating its cost, your door opens and you are confronted by a large, red-necked "Manufacturer of Artistic Memorials," who bluntly asks why it is that he can't do more business at your cemetery, and tells you that "so and so" are getting most of the orders for new work. He accuses you of giving the, other fellow the tips, and intimates that he can pay as large a commission for business sent his way as the other fellow is paying you. You indignantly deny the allegation and inform him that his presence and language are obtrusive and objectionable. Out he goes in a "huff" and you hear him mutter through his teeth that he will "see about this." “I will have your scalp yet.”

A few days later your Chairman of Trustees very quietly asks you about it. You explain the matter fully, and he says, "All right but be careful, you must keep these fellows quiet, for some day some one will believe what these fellows say about you."

I am sure, however, that you will agree with me that a good Cemetery Superintendent needs to know more things than does a man engaged in any other line of activity with which we are familiar, and that while it has its troubles and annoyances, it also has many compensations and rewards, furnishing as the position does so many opportunities to render a service and to do a kindness to our fellow beings, and at a time when such service is highly appreciated, and bring to us many life long friends, which after all is the greatest reward to get in this life.

And then you think of the satisfaction derived from the effort expended as we take hold of a block of land in its crude state, hostile and rebellious and watch it yielding day by day to our well directed labors until it finally lies before us a beautiful area of undulating lawn, subdivided into lots; and we complete the picture by adding at suitable places the choice bits of trees and plants, and enjoy that greatest of life's pleasures, the delight of seeing things grow, and then the more sordid, material side as we figure the amount of money our corporation receives from its sale, many times the cost of purchase and development.

Suppose you are called upon to take charge of a cemetery, or several of them, in which there exists, as is frequently the case, a considerable area of "old part" and you start in to clean it up and put it in shape. My experience is that there is but one right way to go about it, and that is to make a clean, through job of it. If you cannot do it all the first season, do what you can in a complete manner. Pull out all surplus granite posts; that is, all but the four corner bounds; and store them away for some future use, pull up the corner ones and with a heavy breaking hammer break off about one foot of the bottom end and reset them flush with the surface of the ground so that the lawn mowers may be run over them without striking; straighten and clean monuments, tablets and grave markets. Remove surplus trees and over-grown shrubs, prune those left, dig or trench over the entire surface to the full loam depth, re-grade, working out all possible terraces, sod edges and around monuments and trees, fertilize with any good commercial fertilizer. If the loam is poor and hungry, work in a good liberal quantity of well rotted manure. Clean up, re-grade and resurface your avenues and paths and provide for surface drainage when necessary, then seed the whole with such grasses as you have found by experience to be best adapted to the specific situation. The cost of such work is not great when compared to the results obtained.

I am sure that some of you will ask, "What will you do with lots in such an area for which no care provision has been made?" My answer is, "Do them just the same, because if you don't, you will find that, left as they are now, they will seriously interfere not only with the proper grading of the whole tract, but if left uncared for they invariably produce weed seed which will inoculate those adjoining and eventually cause you as much or more work as will be found necessary to put and keep them in order, in addition to the nullification of your efforts to keep the others in good order.

Then again, are we not under a moral obligation to give a reasonable amount of care to any lot sold?  Assuming that lots are now sold only with a Perpetual Care provision, the entire process of which is under our control, and we adjust it by investing a certain part of the purchase money in interest bearing securities, the income of which bears the expense of the care of the particular lot in question, are those people who purchased their lots before we made such provision and conditions in any way to be blamed because the care of theirs has not been provided for? Would they not have been willing, yes glad to have had us lay aside a part of their purchase money for this purpose? Would they not have peen willing to have paid more, than they did for their lots if the purchase contract had carried with it a care provision? I feel sure they would. When you sum it all up the situation as I see it is this:

Relatively a few years ago we learned from our experience that we ought to get more money for our lots and that we ought to lay aside a certain part of it for Perpetual Care. And ever since that time we have been trying to induce the owners of lots purchased prior to that time to endow their lots by the payment of a certain amount of money mutually agreed upon, varying in volume according to the opinion of the officials of the various cemeteries and in this commendable effort we have generally met with success, which success in itself proves to my mind that they would have made this provision at the time of the original purchase had we asked it. Understand me, I would not abate this effort in any degree but we still have those with us who cannot now make this provision. In many instances the family has become extinct; in others, reverses have come and they cannot procure the money. It is true that in most cases they have only paid a fraction of the price we would now ask for the same lot but they paid us all we asked and would have paid us more if we had demanded it. Hence, if we used bad judgment and made a poor bargain for ourselves; I think we should take our medicine.

Whence originated this whole subject of Perpetual Care? Not with the owners of lots, neither was it brought about by legislative requirements subsequent to an aroused public opinion which has been the cause of many public improvements. No! We did it and I am convinced that it is one of the best things we have ever done.

Let me ask. What will you do with these lots ultimately care for them or not? They are on your hands and will never be moved away. That they are a burden to us and a menace to the welfare of our cemeteries and our lot owners, I think you will admit. Being a menace, I am sure that you will eventually care for them. My advice is DO IT NOW. May I not borrow a well known advertising slogan "Eventually, Why not now?" The satisfaction of pleasing those who are too poor to pay for it is great, and this is the class of people who most frequently visit the cemetery and who feel the loss of their dead most keenly. We have upon a large monument this sentiment engraved upon a polished granite surface," The best part of the record of every man's life is what he has done for others." The thought thus expressed is one we should cultivate and keep before us constantly while engaged in our work. Our doing for those who cannot do for themselves will bring to us our greatest reward. And besides, I firmly believe that if we remove from our cemeteries every foot of neglected, uncared for land we will make them so much more attractive than they would be if these areas were left undone that we will be able to sell our new land for a much higher price, so much higher that we will make money out of our efforts. I believe it because that has been the result of my own experience and observation.

With advancing years of experience and observation I am becoming more and more convinced that the most attractive and desirable cemetery is the one that consists largely of well-made and well-kept lawns, avenues, paths and trees with most if not all of t he ornamental plantings placed in the public or administrative areas, that is, do not yourself, or permit or encourage in your lot owners the planting of beds, graves or borders of lots or lot sections more than compelled to do. The old custom of weeping willows or syringas on the lots with two beds of scarlet geraniums in the front border is a thing of the past. Few if any now want such plantings.

You will in any section find angles and spaces of unsold land into which you may properly and effective plant hardy growths of flowering shrubs or herbaceous plants, as well as the dwarf and slow growing broad leaf and coniferous evergreens. By all means, however, avoid an epidemic of “shrub fever”. Often have we been advised to "make judicious plantings of flowering shrubs?”  I would advise a careful attention to the meaning of the word "judicious" to the end that it may not be interpreted as meaning "promiscuous," as I fear has too often been the case.

On the deciduous shrub proposition we really have two flowering seasons here in New England: Spring and Fall. It is useless in a cemetery to try to make more out of it. We have read and been told much about the desirable effects of foliage all summer and colored bark and fruit effects all winter. These are all very well in large group plantings in parks, and for some large border plantings on the boundaries of cemeteries but I do not approve their use in internal cemetery areas or between or near lots. They are overgrown and cumbersome in a very few years and provide an attractive place for harboring injurious insects as well as for the depositing of rubbish of all kinds.

I like a freer use of the spring flowering bulbs those that will live on and increase and thrive for years. How the crocus, scillas narcissus von sion, poeticus and trumpets in their several varieties do brighten things up and with so little thought and care and don't forget the hardly lilies and peonies.
 
You can always find desirable locations of them especially along the outer edges of group or border plantings of deciduous and broad leaved rhododendrons and azaleas.  They furnish a most attractive display and at a season when they will be abundantly appreciated.  I also find great satisfaction in plantings of our native ferns in shady, moist places. Their cost is trifling, as they can generally be had for the labor of collecting.

Yes, we surely have abundant cause to be grateful for the opportunity which our occupation and position in life have given to us.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 37th Annual Convention
Harrisburg, PA
August 20, 21, 22 and 23, 1923

The Lexington Cemetery Company in Lexington, Kentucky, was chartered by the state legislature on February 5, 1848, and the first burial was made October 2, 1849. Since that time, the cemetery has grown from the original 40 acres known as Boswell's Wood Lot to a 170-acre landmark noted for its beautiful grounds, lakes, formal flower gardens and arboretum. This combination of elements requires an intense maintenance schedule year round. While every cemetery is different, many of you-particularly operators of historic cemeteries-may find it useful to compare your basic maintenance needs and solutions with those at Lexington.

Lexington Cemetery is a not-for-profit traditional cemetery with over 60,000 interments and almost that many monuments and markers. The majority of the memorials project above the turf and require trimming each and every time the grass is mowed. The grounds are heavily wooded, producing an abundance of leaves each fall, not to mention the need to trim limbs and remove damaged wood following storms. I hope you are starting to get a picture of the potential maintenance problems that can arise in the operation of an old historical cemetery.

The primary grounds management situations we address are grass mowing and trimming, leaf removal, tree care and shrub trimming. For each of these tasks there are two keys to ensuring proper maintenance: The first and foremost is skilled, well trained personnel, and the second is good, properly maintained equipment.

Note that these same employees also are involved in funeral services. Therefore, each employee devotes an average of six to 12 hours per week to making burials. Our mowing schedule begins in spring and continues until leaves start to fall in mid to late October, when we turn our attention to leaf removal.

Leaf Removal
The removal of leaves is our next most labor-intensive operation. Can you imagine raking 130 acres of leaves? You are saying, "Surely you don't rake your leaves?" And you're right, we don't. However, there was a time when every leaf that fell was raked by hand and picked up manually as well. Thankfully, someone invented blowers and vacuums.

Shrub Trimming
Another maintenance challenge at Lexington is our approximately two miles of taxus shrub hedge, which requires annual trimming. In addition, many of the family lots in the cemetery are landscaped with shrubs, making it necessary to prune several thousand more shrubs of various types. This work normally is done in late August and September. Typically our weather turns dry during this time, allowing a brief break from mowing and thereby freeing employees to help with our trimming.

* * *

In addition to these major maintenance jobs, we have many smaller tasks we must complete throughout the year (see "By the Numbers"). All of these activities are a challenge to perform. We sometimes wonder if we will ever get them done, but somehow we always seem to complete the job on time. I guess you could say it's just a year in the life of a cemeterian.

It is fun and rewarding to stand back and see the accomplishments of a good crew of grounds employees who take pride in their work. It could not be accomplished without the entire crew working together as a team. The bottom line is having a family come into the office and comment, "Oh, how beautiful the cemetery looks." That makes it all worthwhile!

Daniel R. Scalf is president and general manager of Lexington Cemetery Company in Lexington, Kentucky.

Individual written contributions and advertisements appearing in International Cemetery & Funeral Management do not necessarily reflect either the opinion or the endorsement of the International Cemetery and Funeral Association.

These two words "Perpetual Care" seem to be differently construed in various localities, according to my observations. Some Cemeteries, which were started years ago and operated on a stock issue plan, felt it necessary to expend as little as possible on the general improvements and maintenance of said Cemeteries, in order that the dividends on the stock issued might be of such proportions annually, as to more than satisfy the holders of said stock. Under ordinary circumstances, Cemeteries of this kind were good paying propositions for the stockholders only, but like unto the golden goose, their days, or rather years, were numbered, for very obvious reasons. Many of the unsightly Cemeteries, which have been to a great extent the cause of more or less antagonistic legislation in my opinion, would never have been created had not the lure of the substantial dividend been the paramount factor. Other cemeteries of the same kind realize that the change in times, customs and expectations, etc. of the public made necessary changes in methods also, and they established a system called “Perpetual Care" under which, as far as I can discern, the lot owners or purchasers are being called upon to provide for the better care of the Cemeteries in general, in order that the dividends which have obtained for many years may not be materially lessened. Of course, in cases of this kind, perpetual care is not so represented to the lot owners, whose plots undoubtedly receive care commensurate with the amount paid but the fact remains that the more lot owners who provide care of this kind, the better the appearance of' the Cemeteries without increased costs to the various Corporations operating them.

Other Cemeteries conducted along different lines by Corporations that are satisfied with modest profits or dividends, feel that the good appearance of well kept grounds is of just as much concern to the management as to those whose beloved ones are buried there. They therefore, are willing to curtail the larger dividends, to a more or less degree and "cast their bread upon the waters" as it were, fully realizing that well maintained places of burial are the ones that attract the buying public.

Then again, there are those Cemeteries, from the operation of which no person or set of persons derives any financial benefit and Cemeteries of this kind endeavor at all times, to give such care to their entire grounds, without additional charge to the lot owners, as will cause the communities in which they are located, to feel proud of their existence. Cemeteries of this kind, and in fact all others, which have existed for a number of years, find included among their lot owners, many who have met with such reverses as to preclude the payment of even small annual charges for the care of their individual lets, and the civic pride of these corporations prevents a state of dilapidation to exist, even though they are not remunerated for the small expense required to prevent the prevalence of unsightly conditions.

To be sure, no Cemetery can afford to maintain the individual plots in absolutely perfect condition, including the frequent cutting of the grass, watering, fertilizing, re-grading and seeding or sodding together with the maintenance of the monumental work etc., without an extra charge therefore. Even if a prohibitive purchase price is placed upon the lots offered for sale, the conditions which might arise in the future could not be humanly anticipated, by reason of the great difference in ideas and tastes, regarding styles and sizes of monuments, mausoleums, floral decoration, etc. Hence the effort on the part of many Cemeteries to convince their lot owners of the wisdom of making such arrangements with the various corporations, as will insure the keeping of their plots and the appurtenances, in perfect order in perpetuity, and we now come to another phase of "Perpetual Care".

In this connection, I have had a little experience and my observations prove that a Cemetery which is indifferently maintained generally is not the one which makes-forward strides in securing perpetual care endowments. Some persons will argue that if a Cemetery is too well kept as a whole, at the expense of the corporation, the incentive for the lot owner to provide for perpetual care is removed, and that the number of deposits therefore will be decidedly less than in those Cemeteries, where a very marked contrast between the endowed lots and those not similarly provided for, it permitted to exist.

This, in my opinion, is a decidedly mistaken opinion, for the simple reason, that before a lot owner will even consider the idea of presenting to the Cemetery a sum of money for perpetual care he must have confidence and trust in the management of that corporation. Gentlemen, I assure you that this confidence and trust is begotten in no other way, than by the demonstrated attitude of the corporation, regarding its organization, maintenance, and last but not least, its consideration of the interests of its lot owners.

Having secured the confidence of the lot owner to the extent of considering seriously the matter of perpetual care, it is necessary for the Cemetery to estimate, in each case, the amount needed to provide for the proper, perpetual care of the lot. After having learned the exact wishes of the lot owner, as to the desired care that is, or will be expected, it seems to me to be absolutely imperative by reason of varying conditions and individual requirements and tastes, that these estimates should be made by someone, who from practical experience, is in a position to compute the cost per annum to the Cemetery for caring for the plots, including the maintenance of any monumental work, re-sodding, fertilizing, etc., and the annual expense of any floral decoration which might be specified.

All estimates should be made in duplicate and properly filed for future reference, and no agreement to give a plot proper perpetual care should be entered upon, unless the estimated amount needed, is deposited. Accepting amounts less than those needed, in order to oblige the lot owner or depositor, or to show gains in the general fund left for this purpose, only leads to future trouble and dissatisfaction. When a deposit has been made for the care of a lot, the next thing of most importance is the quality of the service rendered in return, m order that the confidence of the depositor may not be destroyed.

In justice alike to the party of the first part and the party of the second part, the need for detailed cost keeping, charges, etc., is self-evident.

When the deposit has been made for the care of a lot, a special ledger account should be opened therefore, showing date of deposit, lot number, section number, name of depositor amount paid, amount of annual interest allowed, and a notation should be made of just what the Cemetery has agreed to do for the amount paid, in accordance with the estimate, which has been previously made.

The foreman in charge of the department should be given this information in duplicate and thereafter the plot should be designated and considered as Account No. ____. From the moment the lot is endowed, all items of expense of any kind should be recorded and checked.

Whenever, in the course of events, the plot is given attention a time slip dated, showing the amount of labor, materials etc., employed should be made out by the foreman in charge, and these time slips should be left at the office daily.

After said slips are received at the office, they should be checked up in order to determine whether or not the total number of hours of labor for which the company must pay the men assigned to the perpetual care work on that day, is accounted for by the time slips referred to, and the items should be posted in a day book.

To record fractional parts of an hour of labor, would not only involve an immense amount of extra work and detail, but would include no allowance for the time lost by the men going from one plot to another, neither would the Cemetery be compensated for the cost of the tools and other items of overhead expense.

The total number of hours charged against the care of these lots daily, should therefore never be less than those paid for by the Cemetery, neither should the total exceed the cost, by so large a margin that the overhead expense including all items, which can be honestly included under this head, cannot be reasonably accounted for by the difference.

The charges for the day book account should be posted monthly into the ledger account bearing the same number, and at the end of the year, all of the accounts should be totaled and balanced. No hesitancy should be exhibited in showing these accounts, at any time to the lot owners, if so requested.

The working out of this kind of a system is a task which requires considerable time and thought on the part of the management and it means also the instruction and education of the various foremen, before success can be achieved.

At the Cemetery, with which I have the pleasure of being connected, we believe we have in operation a system along the lines above mentioned, which causes this department to be handled in a manner that is apparently meeting with the unqualified approval of the lot owners, as well as the Trustees of the Cemetery.

This statement is corroborated, I believe, by the fact that we have now 3750 individual accounts for the care of which about $2,500,000 has been deposited by lot owners.
Local conditions vary so much, that I would not presume to say to you, that the system employed at Green Wood Cemetery, is the only correct system, and is the one which should be used by all Cemeteries throughout the country.

Efficiency Engineers, in which class I do not claim to be included, would no doubt, be able to forward to each member, by mail, for a certain consideration, the complete formula for a system which would prove absolutely accurate and efficient in all Cemeteries alike throughout the country, irrespective of size, financial conditions, local conditions, or in fact, any and all of the conditions, which exist in the various sections of the country to worry the Trustees, to say nothing of the Superintendents, here assembled.

One of the greatest factors in the development and retention of the confidence and support of the lot owners, is the keeping of these perpetual care records in such a definite and open manner, that the lot owners' themselves can readily understand them.

When a perpetual care system is developed to a considerable size, and many lots have been endowed, the unreasonable or "cranky" depositor, who feels that he is not being justly treated, is bound to appeal and the fact that the Cemetery can demonstrate exactly how the interest in each case has been expended, and on what dates the different items of expense were actually incurred, is the very best means of pacifying persons of this kind, and of preventing the often threatened law suit.

I have tried to outline• in a manner which you can readily understand, the principles which are to my mind uppermost in the successful administration of a perpetual care system or department.

The exact method of handling the time slips, ledgers, etc. in my opinion are best devised by the various individual superintendents, in accordance with the conditions under which they must labor.

In conclusion, allow we to say that there is one danger ever present and which should be borne in mind by all of us, and that is the fact, proven to me by personal experience in the past, that too much system can be employed, and in order to maintain "too much system", overhead expenses become top-heavy, and to the average mind bewildering, thus defeating the real object for which designed.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 35th Annual Convention held at Detroit, Michigan
September 13, 14 and 15, 1921

As one of the newer members of this Association, and with memories still fresh in mind of the education gained from the Conventions of the last few years which it has been his privilege to attend, and of previous conventions about which it was his privilege to read, the writer has been nursing the hope that he might again, in attending this convention, come as a student who is permitted to pursue a post graduate course in the profession of his choice and receive instructions from teachers of long and active experience in the courses which lead to an understanding of better methods, better and more complete equipment, and newer applications. As a human sponge, if you please, absorbing all the good things given out by others and hoping to retain them until such time as his own problems might call them into use.

However, we can learn that the plans and devices of men are never certain, and often, what we have accepted as facts prove to be but visions and without foundation.

Thus were we impressed when our good friend, upon whom was imposed the chairmanship of this Convention Committee, asked for a contribution to this program, even though extending to the writer the privilege of selecting his own subject.

At the same time this (favor) was extended, we observed an article which appeared in the Public Press reciting a request made by a leading magazine publisher in which Mr. Roger W. Babson was asked to write, detailing some line of business or experimentation which had not been thoroughly tried out and traced to a successful conclusion.

In comparison, it seems that the various questions with which the Superintendent deals have been as thoroughly covered at one time or another in the history of this Association as have other lines of business and experimentation in the rest of the business world.

For this reason may we be permitted to digress from dealing with any subject, singly, but rather to touch upon several little things which enter into the work of caring for a cemetery.

In the discharge of the manifold duties of the Cemetery Superintendent and in variety of equipment needed in his work there are several things which might be referred to as Little Essentials. Many of these which we will mention are, on doubt, employed by all Superintendents, and all are perhaps employed by some; many little conveniences which when once adopted and used are considered by the user as indispensable.

These are being added to as conditions in various sections and at various times require and as methods improve in the general conduct of business.

Changes may seem to be taking place very slowly, yet, always abreast with the times and one need not have been connected with the work for many years in order to note marked improvements.

Road building, sewer construction, grading, concrete mixing and other lines of work have called into use a new and extensive line of power equipment.

The power lawn mower is fast coming into favor where areas of unobstructed lawn permit its use, and it may be safe to say that its introduction into the Cemetery will have its influence toward the elimination of obstructive mounds and raised markers in Cemeteries where these obstructions still exist.

The little edger, or trimmer, for cutting closely around monuments and trees, or on borders where the lawnmower fails to reach, taking the place of shears or sickle is one of our best time savers.
For many years the dump cart had its place as an indispensable tool in the Cemetery but has been displaced by the dump wagon, and for much of the work the dump wagon has now given way to truck and trailers.

The trailer will also, in a general way, displace the wheel-barrow taking the place of that long used tool by the side of the excavation and the soil or debris will be conveyed directly to the dumping grounds, and the driveways will no longer be marred by particles of clay or suffer loss of material through shoveling from their surface.

To how many other uses trailers may be put, and how much time will be saved in handling material we will not attempt to enumerate.

Protection of the lawn at the time of a burial has long since been taken care of by the use of the earth-cabinet placed by the side of the grave, keeping the earth which is to be used for refilling in a neat and compact form and leaving the lawn unsoiled after the burial has been completed. This cabinet was introduced to this Association by means of an illustrated talk given by one of its members several years ago, and we believe has now come into very general use.

The canopy with side enclosures protecting patrons against the heat of the sun or against cold winds and storm, or used as a means of giving privacy to those who are laying away their dead; this, with the heavy ground covering of matting or other suitable material to be used when the ground is cold or damp provides a means of safety and comfort and has become a Cemetery necessity.

The lowering device, adding dignity to the burial service by its slow and noiseless operation and if desired, permitting the casket to rest in view of relatives and friends of the deceased, thereby saving them the severe nervous shock which we have all many times witnessed when the casket was lowered from sight by means of straps, accompanied by their addending noises, and handled by pall-bearers unfit because of age or lack of experience.

Grave decorations or linings which may be more or less elaborate with settings of ferns and palms and other hot house plants, or a simple covering of the earth with boughs and draperies which hide the walls of the grave; but whether the lining be elaborate or simple, much has been done toward softening the harshness of the old time mode of burial and your people are permanently impressed and their minds are eased by the beauty of the picture.

The public is being educated in recent years to expect the best in service and is pleased to pay a reasonable amount for it.

Debris baskets placed convenient to the avenues for the deposit of papers and withered bouquets and partially hidden by low plantings are not conspicuous and do much toward keeping the grounds free from those unsightly objects which would otherwise be blown about to lodge in the shrubbery or to litter drives and lawns. Lot owners with scarcely an exception take pride in helping to keep the grounds clean and instead of throwing trash upon the avenues will go out of their way to use the baskets.

Tomato cans, milk bottles, and the old china pitcher as receptacles for flowers have been replaced by the double cylindrical bouquet holder which is set into the grave or at its foot the top level with the sod, out of the way of the lawn mower, and when not in use is also not in sight.

Still fresh in our minds is a very minute description of the uses and advantages or the alarm and telephone system as operated in not a few Cemeteries. By their use communications are quickly established between the office and workmen on the grounds: attendants are notified of the approach of the funeral cortege and know from the signal where to meet it. The Superintendent, if out on the grounds, may be called or he may readily get in touch with any workman to whom he wishes to deliver a message through a signal from the bell and the use of the phone.

The advantages of this equipment can be fully appreciate even in Cemeteries which do not cover large areas.

We may not be predicting too much, perhaps, in the presumption that future equipment for this purpose will be minus the troublesome wires which if strung on trees are sometimes grounded by the winds, but radio stations will be installed and workmen will be equipped with vast pocket editions of the wireless phone.

Numerous other articles of equipment which might well be classed with essentials could be mentioned, not the least of which from point of time and frequent service are the pick and shovel. Little need be said except their having been used since the burial of the Patriarchs, and the probability that they will not be displaced so long as immigration laws permit the landing of men to use them.

Turning now to the office, we find in. a steel sectional cabinet all the paraphernalia for quick reference and for permanent and compact record, Use of the card system of indexing deeds and interments facilitates locating lots and graves, plans of lots drawn to a scale, and showing location of all graves, memorials and trees make it possible to give exact information and to transact business with dispatch. This is especially appreciated by the patron when he is waiting for information on the phone, or when planning for an interment and manifests a nervous anxiety to avoid delay that he may the sooner return to his family and home. Duplicate plats for the owner of the lot may quickly be traced and plans for the future use of the lot be indicated.

Printed forms upon which all orders are received, uniform in size for convenient filing; the autograph, making duplicate copies for office and grounds. Filing cases for standing orders such as Special and Perpetual care. Cost sheets, distributing time for various items of labor, and last but of much interest to the Superintendent, a cabinet for his literature, his books on subjects of horticulture and landscape gardening, Rules and Regulations, which are always convenient for reference, Convention reports, and the Superintendents Digest, which comes to our desk every month, "Park and Cemetery".

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 35th Annual Convention held at Detroit, Michigan
September 13, 14 and 15, 1921

When President Adams asked me to give a paper at this convention, and suggested "Winter Work at Cedar Grove," I decided it was with the idea that those of larger opportunities and accomplishments are willing to listen for a few minutes to the man of small achievements.

Cedar Grove Cemetery was started in 1868 as a burial place for the town of Dorchester, and the town appropriated about twenty thousand dollars for purchase of land and improvements up to 1872, when, by the union of Dorchester with Boston the rights and duties passed to the City of Boston, under whose management it remained until 1887, when, by an act of legislature, it was incorporated and the management was transferred to seven trustees, to be elected by the lot owners.

The cemetery contains nearly sixty acres, including two recent purchases of about seven acres, which are yet to be developed. Throughout the cemetery there are out-crippings of ledge, the famous Roxbury Pudding Stone, which is much harder to blast than the ordinary ledge.

As originally laid out the avenues circled the ledges and were set with maple trees fifteen feet apart. This is also true of many of the paths. It was the plan, as the trees attained size, to remove every other one, and later still to again take out every other one, finally having the avenues bordered by maples sixty feet apart. The first thinning has been accomplished and the second, and naturally the most difficult on account of the size of the trees and number of stones and monuments, constitutes a large part of our winter work.

In the old part of the cemetery, the preparation of new lots necessitates thoroughly working over the ground and blasting out ledges, which, as I have mentioned before, entails more work than the ordinary rock. But by the removal of the ledges we obtain all the stone needed in our foundation work the following season.

Another phase of our winter work is the destruction of gypsy moths by means of scraping the nests from every stone and monument and burning them and destroying them on trees and shrubs with creosote. By doing this work thoroughly we have, so far, eliminated the necessity for spraying and the results have been commended by the City Forester.

Unusual conditions have given us very little time for this work the past two winters; the first year on account of the epidemic of influenza and the large number of resulting burials, and last winter a recurrence of the epidemic combined with severe storms. The storms began with a heavy snow fall which turned to rain and then froze, forming a crust that was difficult to break through. All the avenues had to be cleared of snow to the ground as most of the funerals came in automobiles. For about ten days we were obliged to meet all funerals at the car lines with express sleighs as the streets from the car lines to the cemetery were not passable for autos.

It may be of interest to some if I say a word about our method of digging graves in winter. In the case of deep frost, the top layer of loam is broken out the size of the grave to the depth of 6 to 8 inches. At night we make a fire of refuse wooden paving blocks which have been treated with creosote. These blocks make a hot, slow fire which will last all night without further attention, and in the morning the frost is taken out of the ground to the depth of about three feet, and the digging can be completed as easily as in summer.

We have three greenhouses in the cemetery which demand a certain amount of care and attention and while we do not feel that they are a source of real financial profit, they provide us with all the plantings used in decorating the grounds. No attempt is made to do anything with cut flowers.

I have conscientiously, even joyfully, adhered to President Adams' injunction to be brief, but I trust no one will get the erroneous impression that there is a corresponding brevity in the amount of winter work at Cedar Grove.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Convention held at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
September 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1920

The matter of insect control extends beyond the actual detecting and combating the specific pest at hand. Indeed, it should be one of the prime considerations in the planting of the tree itself, for some species of trees are much more susceptible to insect attack than others. Under the artificial conditions which many shade and ornamental trees are grown, it is essential that they be given every natural advantage possible, for without these natural advantages they are so greatly handicapped that they become an easy prey for insect hordes. After a careful study of planting, Dr. E. P. Felt of the New York State Museum has tabulated a list of these more common sorts arranged in accordance with their comparative freedom from insect injury. The list of trees together with the explanation of their arrangement is given in the following words from Dr. Felt:

The figure 3 has been placed opposite trees which are practically immune from insect injury; 2.5 indicate some damage. Trees having one somewhat serious enemy are rated at 2 and those having at least one notorious insect pest at 1.5. The species are arranged according to the comparative injury as follows:

Tree of Heaven 3 Catalpa 2
Ginkgo 3 European linden 1.5
Red Oak 2.5 American linden 1.5
Scarlet Oak 2.5 Horse chestnut 1.5
Oriental plane 2.5 Buckeye 1.5
American plane 2.5 Soft or silver maple 1.5
Tulip or tulip poplar 2.5 American elm 1.5
Sycamore maple 2 Hackberry 1.5
Sugar maple 2 Water or red elm 1.5
Norway maple 2 European elm 1
White maple 2 Scotch elm 1
Spruce 2 Cottonwood 5
White Oak 2 Carolina poplar 5
Burr Oak 2 Lombardy poplar 5
Red maple 2 Balm of gilead 5
Honey Locust 2 Yellow locust 5”

I do not wish to be understood, however, in saying that the preceding list should serve as the only guide in the selection of the trees for tree planting, since many other enter into one's consideration at that time. I merely wish it to serve as a guide for use from the standpoint of insect control other factors being equal.

Healthy, vigorous trees less liable to insect attack: It is a well known principle among both plants and animals that the weakling of the lot is more susceptible to attacks of diseases and predators than are healthy, vigorous specimens. For this reason one should be quite careful in the selection of the stock for planting. Overgrown nursery stock or planting stock taken from the woods where it may have stunned or where the opportunity to root development has not been what is should be, is quite likely to suffer severely from both insects and fungous diseases, particularly when first set. Such trees having been grown in shaded places are naturally quite subject to sunscald when set in the exposed open, and the cracked scalded areas on the trunk afford excellent points of entrance for boring larvae.

Allow space for development: Overcrowded plantings frequently make for a weakened condition among shade and ornamental trees. This is particularly likely to happen along streets where the residents plant excessive numbers of trees in order to make a show when the specimens are small. Later, as the trees grow, they hesitate to do the proper thing by way of pruning; thus we have crowded, unhealthy specimens. More over, the width of the tree belt is quite frequently wholly inadequate for the needs of the tree. Frequently we notice but a narrow strip of soil in which the trees are planted, and it is no wonder that when growing under such adverse conditions insect pests and fungous troubles find them highly susceptible hosts.

Avoid distributing the root system: Frequently trees are given an impetus toward susceptibility to insect depredations by having the root system disturbed through the lowering of the grade. Many of our most beautiful trees are highly susceptible to injury of this type since not a few of them are shallow rooting in habit when the surface of the roots is disturbed or injured, little remains to carry on the life work of the tree. Frequently the disturbing of the root system is avoided by the leaving of a mound of earth covering the roots, and if properly executed this does not prove an unsightly area. Where fills are made about trees, a well about trunk of the tree should be made of stone or bricks to retain the earth from falling about the tree trunk. The speaker has seen instances where fills of six feet have been made about trees and a well no more than six feet in diameter has saved the life of the specimen.

Protect trees in exposed areas: Insect pests and particularly trunk-boring species quite frequently make their entrance into the trunk of the tree through mechanical injuries to the bark. In street trees the most common source of these wounds is the mutilation of horses and of course with the rapid increase in the number of automobiles this menace is decreasing in corresponding measure. Nevertheless, it is still of sufficient importance to necessitate the protecting of trees grown in exposed situations, and for this purpose nothing more attractive nor efficacious has been found than the galvanized hardware cloth purchased in 15 inch rolls and of sufficient strength to make a rigid protector.

Electrical injuries: In a measure it may be said that electrical injuries aid and abet insect depredators. This, of course, does not hold true where the tree is killed outright by the current but it is highly applicable where only one or more limbs are injured or killed. This deadened portion of the tree then serves as an attractive bait for wood-boring insects which in time may spread to other parts of the tree.

Tree butchers: While he can not be classed as an insect pest, yet in the judgment of the speaker the tree butcher may rightly be considered one of our most destructive shade tree and ornamental pests. It is distressing to note the work of this class of men on fine specimens. Quite frequently trees that are a source of joy and pleasure to the neighborhood or passerby are butchered ruthlessly through mistaken ideas as to what tree trimming properly is. After some years of thought on the matter, it appeals to the speaker that we should have statutes limiting the practice of public pruners just as we have statutes limiting the practice of dentistry, veterinary medicine, materia medica, etc. The average householder is absolutely at the mercy of the public pruner and it seems to me that the owner of the tree deserves some sort of protection. He should have some way of assuring that the man who proposes to trim his trees is sufficiently trained to practice at least the principles of good tree husbandry, and it will not be long before the public demand for legislation on this point will be so great that it will be forthcoming. Such legislation would accomplish much toward doing away with the shyster practitioner just as our present excellent statutes make the practice of medical quackery highly undesirable and unprofitable.

Tree surgery: While the speaker feels rather strongly against the tree butcher, he has a very kindly feeling toward the expert tree surgeon. There is as great need for trained men to do public work in tree surgery, in the trimming of trees, the dressing of wounds, etc., as well as for public sprayers of trees. Some of the work done by the better class of tree surgeons is of most excellent character and it is a source of satisfaction to an owner who is able to restore a prized specimen on his premises after it appears that the days of the tree are numbered.

Insect pests: It is obviously impossible in the space allotted to this paper to give a detailed account of the various insect pests attacking shade and ornamental trees in the United States and Canada. Indeed, it would be almost prohibitive to attempt even to enumerate a list of these pests. A number of publications are available for this purpose in which the details of the life-history, development and control measures for the more important economic forms are considered. Just at this time there is being issued from the Ohio Station, Bulletin 332 which considers the problem in rather complete detail.

Spraying Machinery: In the successful control of the insects affecting shade and ornamental trees, one of the very necessary adjuncts is adequate preparation for spraying. The advance during the last ten years in the perfection of the spraying machinery has been little short of marvelous. During this period we have passed from the use of the common mist sprayer to what is known as the solid stream type of machine, a machine which by reason of its great capacity and the high pressure it is possible to develop with it, is able to throw the spraying liquid to a height of 100 feet, where the stream breaks into a fine mist and quickly and effectively covers the specimen under treatment. By the use of such machines the cost of spraying has been greatly decreased. It has been demonstrated in the East that 50 pounds of paste arsenate of lead dissolved in the proper amount of water and applied with one of these machines will yield almost perfect control of the gypsy and brown-tail moths. Such a performance is really little short of marvelous.

Spraying materials: Just a word about spraying material and I have finished. For most purposes, the cemetery superintendent will find three materials adequate for his needs. These are: (1) Arsenate of lead for chewing insects, ordinarily employed at the rate of 3 or 4 pounds of the paste form or 1½ to 2 pounds of the powder form to 50 gallons of water. It is applied as soon as the depredators are noticed to be at work since younger insects always are less difficult to destroy than they are when they become older and consequently more rugged. (2) Miscible oil used against scale insects and red spider in the spring before the leaves appear. It is employed at the rate of 1 gallon to 15 gallons of water. Since this material kills by contact, exceptional care should be exercised in making the work of application thorough. (3) Nicotine sulfate, used against plant lice and similar soft-bodied sucking insects during the summer months when the foliage is out. Usually this material is used at the rate of 1 part to 50 parts of water with enough soap added to make suds. The amount of soap varies according to the degree of hardness of the water but ordinarily 2 pounds to 50 gallons of the diluted nicotine sulfate is adequate.

From the publication:
“AACS - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Convention held at Cincinnati, OH"
September 24, 25 and 26, 1919

Very few people realize the problems of road building and maintenance that the cemetery superintendent is called upon to solve. Traffic in a cemetery is different from that in any other location. It is usually thought that such traffic is light. It is not. It is infrequent, in that sense of light, but the loads that pass over the roads are heavy loads, monuments, shafts, and other materials of construction that tax the strength of the strongest road binders, and this traffic is certainly not light. Such a condition obtains nowhere else. And these roads that must sustain concentrated loads carried on steel tires must also be suited to the artistic surroundings of a cemetery. In addition the question of cost enters into the problem, more today than ever before, and the drives must be of such character that they can be economically built, and easily and cheaply maintained.

So, the question is, what kind of road is artistic, low in both first cost and in maintenance, and capable of carrying all the year round not only the usual funeral cortege, but also the extremely heavy trucks and their burdens of stone?

The war taught one thing in regard to highway construction that the world was glad to hear and that was that a well built macadam road will carry any load that can be hauled; that a well-built macadam will last if it is surface-treated with refined tar; and t ha t a tar bound macadam is a road capable of bearing any load, and at the same time dustless and mudless and enduring.

But not all cemeteries are wealthy enough to have tar-bound macadam, or, in fact, plain water-bound macadam. They may have gravel roads that are serving their purpose fairly well except for the fact that they wear excessively and are dusty. What can be done with these? Later on we shall see.

It goes without saying that drives paved with brick, stone block, sheet asphalt, asphalt block, wood block, or concrete would be incongruous in a cemetery. A visitor expects to see a road that resembles macadam, and the picture is spoiled if any other kind meets his eye. And although he wants macadam he does not want the dust and dirt that is ordinarily associated with a water-bound broken stone road. Like every other form of building, a road must be constructed of first class materials in a first class manner if first class results are expected. I will briefly set forth here the basic principles of road construction where tar macadam is the road to be built.

First of all be sure the location is right. Then see to it that the subsoil is well drained. Lead subsurface water away from the location and by means of suitable pipes ditches, or other means keep the water away from the road. Faulty drainage is responsible for more failures than any other cause. Next, select with care the stone that is to be used. Poor stone is poor economy; 90 percent of the road is stone, therefore choose wisely. A soft stone may be used for the base, but a medium to hard stone is essential for a good wearing course. A good grade of slag is an excellent road making material, but no vitrified slag should be allowed, as it cuts rubber tires badly, and never binds into the road.

While the binder that is incorporated into the road is only 10 percent or so of the wearing course, it is most important that only the best quality of refined tar be used, and that it be of the right consistency for the work. Only refined tar from a reliable manufacturer should be bought.

The sub-grade, that is, the ground on which the road is to be built, must be shaped to the same cross section as the finished road. A thorough rolling with a roller ten or more tons in weight is then given the sub grade, and on it the foundation course of stone is spread four or more inches deep. The stone in the base course is fairly large; if it is a broken stone base a 3½ inch stone is used and even larger if the stone is soft. Soft stone breaks up under the roller.

The base is filled with sand so that every nook and corner is full. Rolling is carried on while the filling is being done, and more sand is added from time to time as it finds its way into the voids between the stones. There must be no movement under the roller as it passes over the base. Rolling must be continued until this is accomplished.

Then 2 inch stone is spread to a depth of 3 inches and rolled. Always see that the roller man rolls from the sides toward the center, so as not to flatten out the crown. When the rolled stone is firm and does not move under the roller refined tar binder is applied at the rate of about 1½ gallons to the square yard. One of the large tar manufacturers sends the tar hot to the job in motor trucks if the cemetery is located near one of its many branches. From the motor truck it is distributed evenly on the stones.

Stone chips, about ¾ inch size, are spread over the freshly tarred surface and the road is rolled again. The excess chips are swept off, and the road is then ready for a seal coat of hot tar. After this is applied at the rate of ½ gallon to the square yard, the surface is covered with sand or chips or gravel, and rolled again to a finish.

Sixty days later a seal coat of tar should be applied, using a cold application material. It is the final cover of chips or gravel that determines the appearance of the pavement. A red granite chip cover gives a very attractive warm tone to the drive, while a blue stone or a white limestone cover may be applied so as to look like a newly made water bound macadam. A pea gravel cover gives a pretty effect such as is obtained with no other material. For those who prefer a smooth finish, a sand cover is applied.

So much for the building of a new drive. But what is to become of existing macadam roads that are rapidly going to pieces? These may be saved, if they are in fair condition, by surface treating with refined tar of proper consistency. All holes must first be patched and the surface made as smooth as possible. If necessary, where the road is badly rutted or filled with pot holes, the surface must be scarified, rolled, and then treated. But in many cases a surface treatment is all that is required. The tar is applied at the rate of ½ gallon to the square yard on the well swept road. Then a suitable cover of stone chips is strewn over the treatment, and the road is ready for use.
Some old macadams are worn so thin that new stone must be added to make it worth the expense of surface treating. It is always best to secure the advice of someone who is an expert in such work. Responsible materials companies are always glad to furnish advice free on such matters.

But there are many cemeteries that have no broken stone roads, although they may have many yards of gravel roads and walks that used to give good service. They can still be made to stand up, even under modern traffic if they are treated with refined tar. It must be ever kept in mind, however, that all gravels are not adapted to treatment. The advice of a road builder who has had experience in treating and maintaining gravel roads should be sought before attempting to apply tar to gravel. Walks built of gravel often may be successfully surface treated so as to make them dustless and attractive, at little expense. These tar surface treatments preserve walks and drives from erosion and wear, and actually reduce the cost of maintenance.

Tar will not stick to mud, dirt, greasy surfaces, or wet stone or gravel. In treating an old road great care must be taken to thoroughly clean the surface so that all dust and dirt are removed, exposing the clean stone to the tar spray. If caked mud or other material is left on the road the tar that is sprayed over this area will peel off, leaving an unprotected surface that will develop into a hole. A little elbow grease will accomplish wonders.

Where new walks are to be built it will be found cheaper to build them like the New England tar walks than to construct them of cement concrete. Tar walks are attractive to the eye and easy on the feet. The method of construction is simple, and there is no expensive plant to be bought and maintained.

Tar bound drives and walks are durable and artistic. In addition they are inexpensive in first cost, and are maintained economically. Their use in so many cemeteries throughout the country is proof of their suitability.

A Member-What do you mean by "clean"?

Mr. John S. Crandell-So that the mosaic on the stone shows out; so that there is no loose dirt, dust, mud, or caked dirt, get that all off. Frequently, you will find that there has been dirt caked on there since the time of Adam; you have got to get that off. When you get your road thoroughly clean, then put on your tar and it will stay until it is worn out. Don't try to put on too heavy a coat of tar, either; that's just like painting a house; don't try to do it all in one coat, put on two or three, rather two thin coats than one thick one, and you will get better results, As I say, the maintenance cost will be very slight. For the patching, you can use this tarvia K. P. method. And I would advise you men who are using tarvia now, when you want to put on a paint coat after you get in your patches, that you get a big white wash brush and let your men use that to actually paint that surface, so that you get a thin coat and then put your screenings and sand on top. If a man goes out with a coal scuttle and tries to apply it out of that so as to make it thin he is not going to get a good piece of work, or a patch that is any good. Then don’t try to heat tarvia K. P. because that is not a safe process to heat tarvia K. P. in an open kettle; it has a solvent in it that generates a gas when it is being heated. It is made for cold work only; use it cold. Now, the service that can be given you by responsible companies should be taken advantage of. The company that I represent will send a man almost to the ends of the earth to advise with people who want to use the material. I was called from Chicago down to Montgomery, Alabama, two years ago about treating the camp roads down there, and it involved about 100,000 gallons of material-a very nice order. The roads were of gravel, well they weren’t really gravel, they called them gravel but it was really dirt and stone mixed up, and so I turned the order down. So, if your roads are not capable of treatment, the Barrett Company doesn't want to treat them and won’t sell you the material, but if they are capable of treatment, we are only too glad to advise you about them. Then, too, the truck distributors operate from many of your large cities, and they will give you excellent service. Now, as to prices, I can't give you at the present moment any cost price of the actual construction of a road. Any of the local men can give you costs of surface treating, but with the condition of the labor market the way it is, it is absolutely impossible now to say what any given road will cost. If there are any questions, I will be very glad to answer them.

A Member - Will a gravel road have to be scarified before being treated?

Mr. John S. Crandell-That all depends on the condition of the road. If the road is well shaped up, the gravel is firm and not dirty; it doesn’t need to be scarified. If there are holes in it, sometimes those, holes can be individually patched, first with a mixture of gravel and tarvia K. P. and then the surface, allowing time for those patched holes to dry up and putting the tarvia over the top; if not, you are going to have a soft patch which will take a long time to set up. But if the gravel is clean, well shaped, free from holes, don't scarify, because you will do more harm by scarifying such a road than good. Unless your surface is uneven, then, of course, by all means scarify, but be sure it is well rolled.

A Member - What are your present prices per gallon?

Mr. John S. Crandell-The present base price runs around ten cents a gallon I can't give you exact prices because they vary different territories with freight rates and distribution service. That rate I gave you there is in tank cars, f. o. b. factory. In barrels, it costs a good deal more because of the cost of the barrels, as you know. A second-hand barrel at the present time costs us at the plant on an average throughout the country from $1.40 to $1.50, say $1.50. Now, a barrel holds fifty gallons that's three cents a gallon we have to pay for the barrel. If you have a big enough job, it is much cheaper in tank cars, or if you have distributors within reaching distance of your cemeteries, you can have it put on by auto truck. Woodlawn Cemetery, in New York, has a number of tarvia roads, and they were put on by distributors. Are there any other questions?

A Member - Would you advise trees alongside of a road, like you showed in the picture-poplar trees?

Mr. John S. Crandell-I would not, but this man was in a hurry to move into his house and have it look like an old place, and so they planted poplar trees. Probably by the time they are full grown, the man would have moved out, decided he didn't want to live there any longer. I don't believe in planting trees as close as that to a road, anyway; there’s great danger of those trees gathering up moisture underneath that road, especially in New England and Wisconsin and Michigan, where you have heavy frosts, you are apt to have trouble from that source.

A Member - What effect would freezing have?

Mr. John S. Crandell-The freezing of any road is due to the fact that you haven't led the moisture away from the base. Sometimes it is impossible to lead the moisture away, but assuming that the base is frozen, the result will be that your road will heave. Up in Maine, they get a frost of five feet sometimes. Now, in probably 95 percent of the cases, that road will go back into place. Sometimes in the Spring you may have a crack or a break right in the middle. I saw a road like that up in Michigan two years ago, and I saw it again two months later; the frost had gone out of the ground and that road was back and there was nothing but a crack. I would clean out that crack so as to get it good and clean through there, and then pour it full of tar, hot tar, if possible. A concrete road will often heave and the heaves will not go back, they have to be chiseled.

A Member - How thick do you consider it necessary to make roads in a cold climate? We have miles of roads put down, and very often we have to do them over about every ten years at tremendous expense.

Mr. John S. Crandell-Under most circumstances we advocate a 4 inch crushed stone base and a 2½ inch wearing course making 6½ altogether.

A Member - In our climate, it won't stand it at all.

Mr. John S. Crandell-Well, I should say you need 16 inches of base, and a 2 inch top. I don't know whether you men know it, but the Pennsylvania Railroad some years ago conducted a series of experiments to find out how thick they ought to lay the ballast of the road. Probably you know that at the present time most railroad men consider 18 or 20 inches of ballast sufficient. The Pennsylvania found in order to avoid freezing and to get the best results, they ought to have 7 feet of ballast; of course, that's an economic impossibility. Sometimes what you ought to have as a base for your roads, you can't have for that reason, but I have an idea that for the average climate that's high enough. Of course, in a very severe climate, you have got to increase the depth and drain the sub-soil very well. Any other questions?

A Member - How will that truck work on a fifteen foot road?

Mr. John S. Crandell-Of course, it depends upon the truck; we have different trucks, but generally I would say, you would have to do that going one way, that is, up one side and back the other.

A Member - Won't you go over the center twice?

Mr. John C. Crandell-No the man stands on the back and he has a lever there, and he can control and shift his distributors so that he will not lap over; we have it so that they control it and it will not lap over once in a mile; we are getting good results with that.

A Member - Does the gravel have to be thoroughly dry?

Mr. John S. Crandell-No; it may be damp; in fact, some of the best treatments we have ever given have been over damp gravel, but it must not be wet. It may be damp. But that's a dangerous statement to make, too, because your foreman or the men who are going to do the work, perhaps what you would consider wet, he may consider damp. You had better go out yourself and see to it that it is really only damp.

A Member - We have some water-bound macadam spiked together, in good condition, no bad ruts or dust, and we want to change that into tarvia. Would you suggest this method?

Mr. John S. Crandell-Yes, I would say in that case, without seeing the road, of course. Are there any holes in it?

A Member-No, it is in good condition.

Mr. John S. Crandell-I would put, I think, half a gallon of tarvia B to the square yard, and then let that sink in, say, twenty-four hours before I covered it, and then, what sort of a surface do you want on the top?

A Member - We want to get away from the tar effect.

Mr. John S. Crandell-Well, then you can get ¾ inch slag chips and then I would cover it with that, and then the next year, come along with about ⅛ of a gallon or ¼ of a gallon, and give it one more treatment; that will probably put it in fine condition. Another gentleman wants to know if any crown can be given to the road. We have figured that out too, somewhat. If your road is going to be rough or a rough surface you can use a bigger crown than you do when it is smooth, but you want a very slight crown if it is smooth because some of you will not have money enough to treat your roads year after year, and they will wear smooth to some extent, anyhow. Then, too, if you get horses on any road that is highly crowned, they will slip much more readily. Just the amount of crown in any given case, I would not be prepared to say without knowing all the conditions, but generally speaking make a very slight crown. Are there any other questions? If not, I thank you very much.

From the publication:
“AACS - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Convention held at Cincinnati, OH"
September 24, 25 and 26, 1919

There is no telling what those who profess to be your best friends will do to you – seemingly seeking for an opportunity to put one over on you – so that in this particular case, those who find this paper of very small value or interest – can lay the whole thing at the door of our general host Mr. William Salway – and also of our exalted ruler "Billy" Atkinson – for very evidently they have conspired to my public undoing and left me at a your mercy. I hope you will be charitable to me and forgive them.

So little can be resurrected out of the "Compost” of a cemetery green house venture that will be new to many of you and surely stale to others - that it is with some misgiving that I venture into the subject which like all good arguments has two sides, Pro and Con.

With us our experience has been one wholly worked out through several years of varying success, and having got our toes wet, we decided to dive in and get wet all over – taking the consequences.

We have found a constantly growing demand and patronage for all we have been able to produce in the line of plants, cut flowers decorations, etc. and being a cemetery greenhouse we stand well in line in the matter of funeral work and through the friendly relations of our funeral directors have considerable business turned our way, finding in the design work a valuable source of revenue. The first requisite a greenhouse must have is an intelligent, capable florist, a man who has a botanical knowledge of all plant life, their cultivation, food supply, their susceptibility to attack by countless varieties of insects and the means to combat these; a practical knowledge of the requirements in equipment and supply; to know just when to plant or propagate to insure blossom on a certain date or season and to have the executive ability to handle the exasperating help question in connection with the work. Such a man is not easily located-but when found much valued and appreciated.

You who have sought and found not in this particular can readily understand what I would convey from the experience of having had all kinds.

A man not up to these requirements should not be retained longer than his place can be filled and the change should continue until you have found a man who in at least a few of these requirements excels. A big burden is then taken from your shoulders and they get a chance to rest before the next load is placed on them-soil, climatic and atmospheric conditions have a tremendous bearing on your success.

All these must be understood and adapted to plant life otherwise you will have an inferior grade of plants to offer your trade.

I find in following the different localities of the United States that there is but little difference in the season of the general production of greenhouse and garden connected therewith perhaps from our Southland we are a little in advance of our more Northerly friends, but it is a matter of rotation each year, at this season of the year the florist is up against it-until the first cut of chrysanthemums begin and from then on through the winter months his houses are abloom with a riot of color of carnations, roses, etc., to which is added the bulbous stock so heavily imported and which since the war has been in a large measure curtailed by federal regulation, this has put a decided crimp in many of us, and will force development in this country of plants, trees, flowers and bulbs that hitherto have been so easily imported. The Roman hyacinth, the azalea of Belgium and many valuable specimens are not coming to us. This is a severe blow, added to these are many others with which you are familiar and are now forced to substitute. Many of the old fashioned flowers are coming back into use and many under a nom de plume, not recognized, but readily sought and of considerable value commercially.

High prices of every known supply has hit us a hard blow, but the adopted rule of submitting, and adding the increase of cost and production to the "ultimate consumer" seems to work and without a great big kick.

We in our business have found no lack in buying on the part of the public. Flowers became a part of the war to cheer the sick, and wounded to speak consolation to the bereft and people generally have not ceased to spend now that the war is over. The cemetery greenhouse has many advantages over outside competitors. The land usually does not have to be bought, taxes in some instances are eliminated or negligible, there is a saving in soil compost, pots, designs and labor to a certain extent which help on the credit side of the ledger.

Hardy perennials help out from the planting in many parts of the cemetery; peonies, spireas, vibernum, phlox, hydrangeas and with us in Tennessee the Grand Magnolia, for these flowers can all be used at seasons when the greenhouses are low in cut and all of these flowers are especially fine for lot and vase uses. And when combined with choice annuals find ready sale.

We began in a small way some of my good cemetery friends offering advice from their experience which has been of untold benefit and with what we have learned from our own, and hard knocks, our plant has grown and is still being added to. To so systematize the production that we may have houses adapted to all manner of cultivation. Ranges for cool bench stuff, enclosed house for forcing under any desired temperature and especially built houses for potted plants, ferns, etc.

The experience has been instructive and the result with us is looked upon as a source of revenue. We maintain a sales room in our office building which is handled by the office force. A retail flower booth in the central market house in the city, and just now we are spreading our wings a bit and installing an attractive flower shop in the lobby of our leading hotel with very up to date refrigerator, etc. We believe that we can not but make good there, the overhead being small and the opportunity large. Many of our social affairs now come to the spacious balconies and drawing rooms of our hotels as society finds entertainment much less trouble there than in the private homes where now the help question is impossible, and no "function" is quite complete without table, room or corsage decoration and we hope to feel a little of the “velvet” from this undertaking.

These city places are essential as they cater to two kinds of patronage the middle class and the upper crust, giving opportunity to dispose of surplus from the greenhouses that the regular cemetery trade does not take or require. We have found since the severe flu epidemic an increasing demand for lot and grave decoration. One of our sales ladies is in charge on Sunday, meeting the trade through the week and holding it "for us" on Sundays at our cemetery. I believe that the leading cemetery of any city can well undertake the enterprise, they are assured of large and constantly growing patronage, and it would be ill advised for a very small cemetery to undertake it.

Construction with a view to as much permanency as possible should be considered for there is less of maintenance to figure on in the future, though the first cost may be greater. Particularly so now are the prices of construction almost prohibitive, but to do the thing right your plant must be adapted to your requirements. I have purposely given no figures for now they would not be stable enough to be of use under present fluctuations. We have of course many discouraging features which make us feel sometimes that the result is too burdensome, labor problems, unnecessary waste, carelessness in a hundred ways which cut deep into the profits-overhead-maintenance of plants, tools-machinery-vehicles, etc., to constantly battle with but for our line of business-cemetery development and embellishment-I believe that a well managed and conducted greenhouse adds very much to the result as a whole, in beauty, service, utility and in a reasonable way to the revenue of the cemetery.

From the publication:
“AACS - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Convention held at Cincinnati, OH"
September 24, 25 and 26, 1919

When your Secretary asked me to prepare a paper for your convention, I was in doubt as to the propriety of my doing so, knowing that I could not speak to you from the standpoint of one who has had a practical experience in your work in its relation to the modern cemetery. However, when he assured me that a few notes on any kindred subject would be acceptable, I thought it might be well to embrace the opportunity of calling the attention of your members to the importance of tree planting in streets and waysides. This is a subject that concerns all, while the influence which your body is able to wield in the direction of street ornamentation is very great. Without doubt each and every member of your Association is connected, either directly or indirectly with the planting and care of public trees, and recognizes the desirability of encouraging an interest in the prosecution of this work.

Recognition of the value of trees as an adornment to streets in this country dates from an early period.

In Mr. Albert Matthews’ intensely interesting address on the history of the trees of Boston Common, delivered last year before the Boston Common Society, we find that as early as March 3, 1655, interest was manifested in the preservation of trees. At a Town Meeting, held that day, an order was passed, "That whosoever shall cut, hack, or hew any of the trees planted in the Neck, shall pay for every tree so spoiled twenty shillings, the one-half to the informer, the other to the town."

On May 12, 1701, a by-law was passed, that "no person shall lop, peel, girdle, or deface any of the trees now standing or that shall hereafter be planted or set by order of the Selectmen, or by their approbation, upon any part of or place in the common ground of the town, under penalty for every such offense."

Although not so stated, it is presumable that there were public trees; but, whether or not, the order reveals to us the fact that the early pioneers of Boston recognized the value of trees as an adornment to the town and the necessity of their preservation.

In one respect we have not progressed much since that day, two hundred and forty-seven years ago; twenty-five years after the first settlement was made. We have with us today, as the early founders of Boston had, in 1655, those who "cut, hack, or otherwise ‘spoil’" trees; and it is to be feared that their numbers have increased since the days when the Puritans made the order. We have, also in goodly numbers, the small boy, with his ever ready pocket knife, to whom the smooth stem of a tree is a sore temptation---a temptation as irresistible as was the cherry tree to George Washington in his boyhood days.

Then too the trees on the curb of every street bear ghastly evidence of the gnawing of generations of unhitched horses; indeed, it is not an uncommon thing to find hitching rings driven into fine old trees. In addition to the despoilers of trees of "ye olden time," we have the modern gas companies and the City Sewerage and Water departments whose employees, seldom giving thought to the destruction they are working, cut off more roots from our street trees than would be necessary were the work done under intelligent direction.

To counterbalance, as it were, the lopping off of the roots under the surface, we have the cutting and slashing of the branches; by employees of the various corporations whose business requires the use of overhead wires, leaving ugly gashes, like the path of a tornado, on the lines of their wires.

Trees may be ranked among the noblest products of nature, and their adaptability for beautifying and shading streets is a great boon to city dwellers, and one that is not appreciated to the full: else why should such mutilation be perpetrated, or why should it be permitted by those in authority, whose duty it is to protect the interests of the public? Ignorance of trees and their requirements undoubtedly has much to do with it. Carelessness, thoughtlessness and the fierce fight for gain are among the causes which despoil our trees, and when we consider that, in addition to this danger from the hand of man, there are still to be added the ravages of insects and lower organisms, the wonder is that so many beautiful trees are to be found in our streets.

It has often been a source of amazement to me how so large a number of cultured people could seemingly be of one mind in the exclusion, almost, of trees from fine residential streets, resulting, as it does, in such inhospitable barrenness. Beacon, Marlboro and Newbury streets, in the Back Bay district of Boston, are cases in point. To pass through these streets in summer, unrelieved by the shade of trees, the sun baked walls reflecting the heat absorbed by the asphalt, one ceases to wonder that the houses on either side are deserted. In the fitness of things it seems proper that from such conditions, people should flee, seeking the shade and comfort denied them at home---denied because of their own careless neglect of the advantages they might secure by planting trees in their streets. It may be, however, that the summer hegira from this district has something to do with the lack of tree planting: not being present during the heat of summer the great need of shade is not observed. Yet it is not only in summer that trees are attractive: in spring the swelling buds give added charm to the delicate spray-like effect of the branches that is so beautiful in winter; and at all seasons trees lend a softness to the hard architectural lines of the houses. This treeless condition should not be. There is no reason why these streets and wide sidewalks may not be embowered in trees, and thus relieve much of the Back Bay from its dreary, un-home like appearance.

It is to be regretted that in laying out new streets, the tendency of the day is toward the narrowing of the sidewalks and the omission of any provision of a tree planting space. Boston and its suburbs are suffering from this evil, which portends badly for the beauty of its streets in the future. The absence of provision for planting will quickly relegate such streets to squalor and obscurity.

Considering too what a large amount is expended, every year, in the United States for schoolhouses, it is sad to think that so little attention is given to the school yards. How many of them are bare and uninviting, when a small expenditure of money would plant and maintain shade trees, at least around their borders! No better opportunity could be offered to the school children, to know and learn to love trees, than by their close association with them at school. The trees could be of as many different species as space might permit, thereby extending, as much as possible, the variety of trees at the command of the teacher for her demonstrations of their different values and uses and of their relationships and their beauties.

The early public records demonstrate the fact that the Puritan Fathers in the midst of their strenuous life, had in mind the beautifying of their surroundings, by the planting of trees and that they ordered, through their selectmen, that trees should be planted by the town. Quoting again from Mr. Matthews' address: "On February 11, 1711-1712, it was voted by the selectmen that a convenient number of trees be provided to plant on the sides of each burying place where it shall be thought proper."

That the early settlers of New England transmitted their love for trees to subsequent generations, the magnificent elms to be found in the streets of our New England towns, give evidence.

The New England elms are noted, far and wide; the charm they add to the wayside is beyond price. Is it not important, then, that every effort should be made to encourage the growth of and to protect, all wayside trees?

Washington's trees, as an attraction to the city, divide honors with its best architectural features; not because of the individual beauty of the trees as fine specimens, but because of their value as a whole in the adornment of the city. This results from an intelligent control of the planting and care of the trees, the work having been placed in the hands of competent commissioners, among whom have been numbered John Saul, William Saunders, and William R. Smith, the only survivor. The results accomplished in Washington are just as attainable in any community; all that is necessary is wise legislation and the education of the people to the importance of the subject.

Great interest is now being manifested throughout the country in the preservation of objects of natural beauty, in the regulation of the billboard nuisance, which everywhere disfigures the landscape and in the general improvement of towns and cities along aesthetic lines. This
betokens a general public awakening to the importance of civic beauty.

Societies having these objects in view are being organized in every direction. We are glad to note that a large share of the attention of these societies is devoted to the planting and preservation of trees. These influences, properly directed, cannot but have a good effect in the furthering of the work of making the city (and the country also) beautiful. The members of your association can be of great service in promoting the work of these societies by giving freely of their practical knowledge of true culture and gardening.

Laws, making it obligatory on the part of towns to elect tree wardens, who shall have the care and control of all public trees, except those already in charge of park commissioners, have been enacted in Massachusetts, while in various cities throughout the country, laws and ordinances have been framed looking to the care and planting of trees in the public streets and highways.

The Massachusetts statute is mandatory with regard to the appointment of a warden and the scope of his power. The provision for furnishing funds; for planting and care is permissive which will largely induce negative results. The idea, however, is sound and when certain of its defects have been remedied and the knowledge of tree culture increased," its influence on civic beauty will be very powerful.

The simple passage of a tree warden law does not alone insure that there will be protection; that trees suitable in kind will be planted; or that their requirements shall be furnished to them. Let it be a popular service to see that competent wardens are elected, and that their duties are faithfully performed. Laws and ordinances are of little avail unless supported, in their execution, by the hearty cooperation of the public. The requirements of these trees are simple: good soil, and protection from the vandal hand, is all that is necessary for favorable results. But money must be provided to pay for these, as well as to meet the expense of pruning and fertilizing; also to combat with the ravages of insects, which infest trees in towns and cities-----a consequence of the disturbance of Nature's balance, resulting from the banishment or destruction of insect-eating birds.

Tree planting and improvement associations have done much to advance the cause of tree planting in public streets. The Brooklyn Tree Planting Association recommends the cooperative plan. Under this plan competent foresters may be consulted or engaged and trees may be bought, and the ground prepared for planting more cheaply than could be done by individual effort. Associations of this character, however, are difficult to organize. Not everyone possesses enthusiasm enough to enter into the work of planting young trees. The results seem too distant, and planting for posterity appears, to many people, too great a self sacrifice.

In the absence of competent civic control of tree planting, the cooperative plan, or any other plan looking to the planting of trees in the streets, should be adopted by every citizen who has the interests of his city at heart. No excuse can be offered for the absence of trees on every suitable street and on every roadside. The matter is easily within the power of each municipality to correct.

What to plant for street trees? And how to plant them are important questions, on the answers to which depend much of the success in planting for street embellishment.

Of trees suitable we have an abundance from which to choose. I will enumerate a few that I consider most fitted for the purpose:

First, and foremost, comes the American elm, a grand tree of vigorous growth. It must have room to develop and a rich soil, fairly moist. A good tree for city streets and without an equal for wayside planting.

The European elm (Ulmus campestris) is a noble tree. It has not the graceful, pendulous habit of the American elm, yet it possesses; in its columnar trunk, a stately grandeur scarcely equaled by any other tree. It thrives well under adverse conditions. As a sidewalk tree it has many valuable qualities, conspicuous among which is the persistency of its rich, green leaves, lasting as they do until late in the autumn. In some seasons its summer growth does not become sufficiently ripened to stand the winters in this latitude; yet this trouble is not so serious as to prevent its use for any situation where shade trees can be grown. It loves good soil.

The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a tree from Europe. It grows very freely and gives dense shade and is a popular favorite on account of the beauty of its flowers in the early summer. Its foliage ripens and falls early in the autumn. It is a suitable tree for city streets.

The soft maple (Acer dasycarpum) is a fine tree for wide streets or waysides, where good soil is abundant. It requires space and sunlight to get the best results. It is reputed to be ea lily injured by storms on account of weakness of fiber; this occurs only when it is grown under crowded conditions.

The American ash (Fraxinus Americana) is an adaptable tree. It grows fairly well as a sidewalk tree, but it is not so desirable as many others, on account of the late leaving out and early ripening of its foliage. On poor soil, and in dry localities, it is apt to be attacked by borers and the scale insect. In rich soil, its growth is rapid, producing a picturesque tree.

The buttonwood, or sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), is a lofty, quick growing tree, but not to be recommended for planting in this district, on account of its liability to be infested with fungi, which blackens the leaves. Its near relation, the oriental sycamore, resembles it greatly in appearance, although a little more compact. This species is much valued south of this latitude.

The maiden tree (Ginkgo biloba) is from Japan. This tree has not been used as a street tree, to my knowledge, except in Washington, where two streets are planted with it and where it has proved most satisfactory. In good soil it grows rapidly and it seems to have no insect enemies. It forms a handsome avenue, as can be seen on the Agricultural Building grounds in Washington, or on Pierce Street, where the planting before mentioned has been done. Boston and vicinity probably is the northern limit of its hardiness, or rather, I should say, of its free growth. Fine trees of this species can be seen in the Public Garden and at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

The hard or Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum) does not make a good city tree. It is impatient of rough treatment; paved sidewalks and paved streets are fatal to it. It is, however, a good tree for suburban conditions, or for a country wayside tree. It is one of the handsomest of our North American trees. This tree will adapt itself to a thin soil.

The Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) is an introduction from Central Europe. It forms a rather wide spreading, handsome top, with a wealth of large leaves, forming a dense shade. It thrives fairly well as a city sidewalk tree, but on account of its width of spread, it is only suitable for wide streets. As a wayside tree it scarcely can be equaled.

The sycamore maple (Acer psuedo platanus) also from Europe is a wide spreading tree, with large, somewhat leathery leaves. It is a noble tree in its native habitat, but does not take kindly to the United States. It is subject to borers and is not to be recommended.

The American beech (Fagus ferruginea) is one of the most ornamental of American trees, but on account of its low branching habit in the open and its surface rooting propensity, it is not adapted for city planting. This tree loves too well the soft, leafy mulch of its native woods to bear transplanting to the heated sidewalks.

The silver poplar (Populus alba), introduced from Europe, is one of the best trees for hard conditions. In smoky, dusty and thickly populated localities, or in poor soil, it will exist and make a brave show. By many, it is esteemed an ugly tree. The poplar trees planted (I have been informed, by Strauch, the originator of the lawn treatment of cemeteries) in Cincinnati, however, would convince anyone to the contrary. Or without going further east than Boston, one could have found in Maverick Square, two fine specimens until two years ago, when they were removed to make way for the new tunnel entrance. This tree has a disagreeable habit of suckering.

The American Linden (Tilia Americana) also is a tree that will accommodate itself fairly well to street life, provided it is given good soil and protected from the tussock moth, to whom it seems to be a favorite food plant. As a wayside tree, it will grow well in thin and sterile soils and for such a purpose, is well adapted, being of quick growth and of handsome proportions.

The European (Tilia vulgaris), as its name indicates, is from Europe, and has a well deserved reputation as a fine shade tree. Planted in good soil, it will grow under very crowded conditions of street life. At South Boston it can be found growing in brick paved sidewalks and persistently putting forth leaves each spring, which are as persistently eaten off by the tussock moth caterpillar. It forms a tree of stately growth, holding its leaves well into the fall, while, in early summer, with its near relative, the American linden, its flowers charge the air with a delicious perfume.

The tree of Heaven (Ailanthus glandulosa). This is a tree of the tenements. No city conditions, be they ever so hard, seem to discourage its growth altogether. It can be found on Beacon Hill, in narrow courtyards, throwing up its handsome foliage to the housetops; and in many parts of Boston it can be found in corners by the stoop, thriving equally well. Apparently, it has not been used as a street tree in Boston, probably from the reputation which male flowers have of emitting a disagreeable odor. I have lived on Long Island, where the Ailanthus is naturalized, and where the finest street trees are of this kind, and I have never been able to detect any odor, unless I placed the flowers to my nostrils. In rich soils there might be kill-back in winter, from under-ripened wood; but, in poor soils, I feel sure, this trouble would not occur. I am confident that no mistake would be made in planting this tree where hard conditions exist.

The white willow (Salix alba), introduced from Europe, was, undoubtedly, a favorite with the early settlers, as fine trees are to be found throughout the coast of New England. The variety of Cerula is the one most suited, I think for street planting. It is not particular as to soil and if a little care is given to the training up of a leader, it forms a handsome tree. The willow does not lend itself to neat and precise, or formal, work. Its value as a street tree lies in its adaptability to adverse conditions, its early budding forth in spring, and in its holding its bright shining green leaves until late in the fall.

The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is another good tree for suburban and wayside planting. It is impatient of restraint or hard usage, but under proper conditions, it is one of the finest trees of the forest.

The red oak (Quercus rubra) and the scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) are both grand shade trees for the streets in suburban districts, or for the wayside. The prevalent notion has been that these trees are of slow growth, which accounts for their not having been used for street planting. This idea is erroneous, especially as regards the red oak which I think will outstrip a hard maple in growth. On the Boston parkways, the red oak has been extensively planted for shade. The growth, since the trees became established, has averaged two feet, each season, and in some of them a growth of from four to six feet has been made in one season. The oak will not thrive under paved street and sidewalk conditions, but no better trees can be planted for roadsides, or even for suburban streets, than the red and scarlet oaks.

The pin oak (Quercus palustris) this oak is a very graceful tree in its young state. Its lower branches drop with a curved sweep to the ground consequently it should be planted only in such positions as will allow the lower branches to be retained. As a street tree, in ordinary locations, this cannot be done, and the most beautiful feature of the tree is thus lost. Without its lower branches, this oak is much inferior in appearance to the red or scarlet oak. It loves moisture, however, and may be utilized on low grounds.

The planting of street trees requires as much care as does their selection. It is not enough to merely dig a hole and crowd the roots into it. Any expectations based on such planting are doomed to end in disappointment. In laying out for street planting, let the first stakes be set at the street crossings. When the abutting streets also are to be planted; place two stakes at each corner, a bout thirty feet from the point of intersection of the curb line, on each street. Then space off the intervening distance, setting the stakes equally distant apart, but not less than sixty-five feet, as the shortest distance.

Trees generally are planted too thickly. Sometimes this is done with the intention of cutting out alternate ones, as the growth of the tree requires. This, however, is seldom done and the trees grow up too thickly, thereby overcrowding and injuring each other, destroying also the individual beauty of the trees and the symmetrical arrangement which an avenue of trees should have.

For sanitary and hygienic reasons, streets ought not to be too much shaded. The sun should be permitted to shine on the walks, and on the walls of the houses, in turn, as the earth moves in its course. Glimpses of light and shadow, too, have an aesthetic value, which is worth considering.

Sixty-five feet apart is the minimum distance apart, I think, at which street trees should be planted. For large growing trees as the elm or soft maple, seventy-five or one hundred feet apart would be none too much space to allow. Wayside or highway trees need not be set with the same precision as street trees. An irregular, planting; conforming, in general, to the surrounding scenery, would be in better harmony. In places, an accentuation of existing groups of trees may be all that is necessary, or simply a thinning out of overcrowding trees, or of poor trees which are damaging more valuable ones; for let it be an axiom with the tree planter who is planting for ornamental effects, never to permit the growth of one tree to injure that of another.

An important matter also in the care of trees is the pruning of all broken or diseased limbs or branches, by cutting the branches off at the next lateral below, and cutting the limbs off closely at the bole of the tree, leaving no stumps projecting which the bark cannot grow over to carry rot into the tree. Cut off smooth, and paint over the wound with coal tar.

If the soil is good, no preparation for planting is necessary, other than loosening up the ground for each tree for a space of from seven to ten feet in diameter and from two to three feet in depth. When the soil is poor, not less than ten yards of good soil should be substituted for an equal amount of poor soil excavated from the hole. The same loosening up of the ground should be made.

If planting is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well, for on this depends the well being of the tree. It is safe to say, if you have $20.00 to spend on planting a tree, let nineteen and a half dollars of the amount be spent on the preparation of the ground to receive it. It should be borne in mind that the same conditions which will produce a good hill of corn will grow trees well and nothing else, will serve.

In the planting of groups or masses of trees for ornamental or woodland effect, the soil should be plowed and subsoil plowed several times. The trees should be planted thickly, always remembering the old gardener's motto: "Plant thickly, but thin quickly." More trees are ruined from crowding than from any other cause. The plantation should be treated precisely as a good farmer would treat a crop of corn. Give clean cultivation. Thick planting gives the advantage of shelter, (each tree protects the other) and the further advantage of a greater number of trees from which to select the permanent ones. It also gives the effect of foliage mass the quicker.

These notes are written in the hope that they may help to intensify the interest now manifested in the planting and protection of public trees. The subject is of such importance as to merit the earnest attention of all.

The insect question I have not touched upon. This, however, is so exhaustively covered by our Entomologists that no one need work in the dark, for want of knowledge of how to exterminate insect pests, or at least to hold them in check.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the16th Annual Convention
Held at Boston, MA
August 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1902

Ordinarily, when one thinks of grasses, the association is entirely with the hay field and the pasture; forgetting that in the family (Graminae) there is included something like three thousand five hundred varieties, embracing everything, from the strong rooted wiry fibred grasses of the hillside, through the cereals to King Corn, and the stately bamboo of the Tropics.

The cereals, as they are called, furnish in large part our daily bread, but the grasses whose grains or seeds are of secondary importance, are more in number than these and are both directly and indirectly of fully as great economic value to the human family and the lower animals.

In view of these facts, it will readily be understood that the grass family is of more value to man and the domestic animals than all the other vegetable families combined.

"They are widely distributed in every soil, under the Equator, in the Arctic and in the Temperate Zone, but their greatest beauty and variety are seen in what is called the dairy districts, where they clothe large tracts with their beautiful green verdure."

In the whole world the family ranks fifth in size. The legumes, which are also of great value as food for domestic animals, etc., rank second. In number of individuals, the grass family exceeds any other one of flowering plants, and it is possible they are equal to all others of the higher plants.

It is remarkable that although the Egyptians, Jews and other eminent, nations of antiquity gave considerable attention to the culture of cereal grains, the products of which could be used to supply their personal wants, either in affording food or clothing, yet the special cultivation of grasses, to feed the enormous herds of domestic animals they possessed, received no attention whatever prior to the period when Rome dominated the greater part of the then known world. The probable reason for this, of course, is found in the fact that there was at that time a greater range, and it was possible not only to pick the best pastures, but also to move from pasture to pasture when necessary.

In the times which immediately preceded the fall of the Roman Empire, in addition to growing wheat, barley, beans, etc., for bread, the soldier husbandman also grew alfalfa, red clover, Vetches, Lupins and other Leguminous, which were used both in the green state and in the form of hay for feeding their cattle.

In England the cultivation of forage plants was only commenced about the middle of the seventeenth century. It is reported in Dr. Plot's "Oxfordshire" published in 1677: "They have already sown ray grass, by which they improve a cold, sour, clay weeping soil, for which it is best; but good also for dryer uplands, especially light, stony or sandy soil." It was almost one hundred years after this that timothy or herds grass, and cocksfoot or orchard grass were introduced into England from the United States.

George Sinclair, writing about 1825, says: "Rye grass (Lolium perenne) was, till lately the only species employed for making artificial pastures." He also records the information, "The first mention that I find made of the rye grass in early books, is in "The Mystery of Husbandry, Discovery and Laid Open," by I. Woolidge, 1681."

It will be readily understood, of course, that at this time the meadows and pastures contained a great many species of the natural or true grasses; probably something over one hundred distinct sorts, but few of these at that time were known by any but a local name; neither was seed of the different kinds readily obtainable. It was almost the middle of the eighteenth century before, as an improved system, it was recommended that seed shaken out of the best meadow hay should be sown with the clovers to form a permanent pasture.

It was even at a later date than this, when Stellingfleet recommended the collecting of seeds of the different varieties, such as crested dog's tail, sweet vernal, meadow fox-tail, meadow fescue, sheep's fescue, etc.

Those who would now have a fine sward have not to contend with the difficulties that met the sower 75 or 100 years ago. At the beginning of the last century, the seed of only a few sorts were offered for sale. These in most cases contained weed seeds and other impurities, the majority of the natural grasses that formed the permanent pastures, were almost unknown by name to the farmer. The relative values were entirely unknown, and worst of all there were but few people, either able or willing, to undertake the collecting of seed of the several sorts and test their suitability for different conditions and situations. Now all is changed; the comparative merits of the various grasses are fairly well established. Seeds of all the desirable sorts are readily obtainable at moderate prices. Individuals and States have worked out through exhaustive experiments, the facts as to the relative values for all locations and soils; so that the sower may now select at small expense and with practically no uncertainty, the kinds that will produce the results desired.

Some idea of the labor that was undertaken in bringing this about may be had by reviewing the method adopted at Woburn Abbey, England, by Sinclair. “Having procured a collection of seeds of the natural grasses, by hand-gathering from the pastures, preparations were made for their culture in such a manner as to obtain a clear and satisfactory knowledge, founded on observation of the various properties, habits and comparative values of each distinct species and variety."

Spaces of ground, each containing four square feet, were enclosed by boards, in such a way, that there was no lateral communication between the earth enclosed by the boards and that of the garden; the soil was removed from these enclosures and new soil supplied, or mixtures of new soil were made in them, to furnish, as far as possible, to the different grasses those soils which seemed most favorable to their growth; a few varieties being selected for the purpose of ascertaining the effects of different soils on the same plants. The nature of these soils was accurately ascertained by analysis. Upwards of 200 varieties were sown, the different species were cut at varying stages of growth, the particular time at which the various kinds attained to the greatest degree of perfection, time of flowering and maturing of the seeds were carefully noted. These experiments having been carried on through a number of years, resulted in a knowledge of their comparative vigor, habit, seasons and the kinds of soils most favorable to their growth.

Another characteristic that the Woburn experiments proved was that grass plants, like human beings, love company and detest being alone. Sinclair says: "The unconquerable habit of almost every species of almost all the varieties of grasses, to combine and grow with others, renders any attempt to cultivate them singly for any length of time, impracticable, without at the same time having a thin and tufted sward or a great many weeds."

It is likely that most of us who have given the subject thought have realized when looking over an old lawn or old pasture in prime condition that there are included in such a sward anywhere from 10 to 25 distinct sorts, therefore Sinclair's experiments, and our own observation, show the necessity of using a number of varieties together when a close turf is desired, no matter whether that turf is for mowing purposes, permanent pasture or lawn.

In sowing vigorous growing varieties of grass, such as timothy and orchard alone, the individual plants stand out with the bare spots between much more conspicuously than would be the case if Rhode Island bent, or Kentucky blue grass were sown. Nevertheless, blank spaces will exist to a greater or less degree between the plants, when only one kind of grass seed is sown, and they (these spaces) are never overcome by any habit of stooling of the plants themselves; instead, in time, the spaces become filled up with weeds or other varieties of grass.

This filling up by nature in a pasture, perhaps, is not very objectionable; even in a lawn it will not be noticed or criticized to any extent by the uninitiated, but the gardener, who is familiar with grasses, in walking over such a sod, will not only notice it, but, in most cases will know by the elasticity of the turf the difference between the suitable grasses selected and sown, and the weeds and other grasses that have made a place for themselves. These facts, in my opinion, show beyond a question; the necessity of a mixture. What the mixture may be will vary, of course, with the soil and location, as well as the sower's experience.

The grounds of the Boston Park System and the Metropolitan Park Commission of Massachusetts have been principally seeded down with what we Boston folks call the Olmsted formula, which is:
20 lbs. cleaned seed Rhode Island bent (Agrostis canina).
20 lbs. cleaned seed red top (Agrostis vulgaris).
20 lbs. cleaned seed Kentucky blue grass (Poa pretensis).
10 lbs. white clover (Trifolium repens) per acre.

This mixture in a general way is satisfactory. Being composed of clean or solid seeded varieties the weed seed trouble is reduced to a minimum. Nevertheless, it has the disadvantage of suffering severely in our average winters, and as it grows older, shows on some soil, and in exposed situations, as much bare ground as one would expect to find in a poorly seeded hay field. Possibly some of the reasons for this are that Blue Grass does not bear well with the repeated close cuttings to which it is subjected and as it does not attain to maturity under two or three years, the early and frequent cutting may weaken the constitution and make it less able to withstand either continued hot, dry or severe winter weather, than is the case when it grows under more natural conditions. Nevertheless, it is one of the most desirable grasses for a lawn, and will succeed fairly well on a great variety of soils, and also under partial shade.

The Red Top is grown principally in Illinois. The meadows on which this seed is produced have been reserved for the purpose for a great many years, and I believe that as a result of continual seed producing, the plants have acquired a habit of making seed stems rather than leaves; consequently the Red Top, although called a fine leaved grass, is not as suitable for lawns as it once was.

Rhode Island Bent; when the pure article, is beyond criticism of any kind and should be used in lawn mixtures to the exclusion of Red Top, even though it costs a little more.

Experience shows that the grasses which especially interest us for lawns ripen their seeds at three different periods of the season, or if classed according to the time about which each ripens its seeds, they will form three groups; the first, consisting of the earliest, perfect their seed usually before the end of June; namely:
Sweet Vernal (Anthoxanthum odoratum)
Meadow Fox-Tail (Alopecurus pratensis)
The second consists of:
Small Leaved Sheep's Fescue (Festuca ovina tenuifolia)
Kentucky Blue Grass (Poa pratensis)
Crested Dog's Tail (Cynosurus crestatus)
Pacey's Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne)
Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata)
Rough Stalked Meadow Grass (Poa trivalis)
Hard Fesue (Festuca duriuscula)
Rhode Island Bent (Agrostis canina)
Red Fescue (Fistuca rubra)
Red Top (Agrostis vulgaris)
About the end of July and the third about the end of August, consists of:
Wood Meadow Grass (Poa memoralis)
Yellow Oat Grass (Arena flarescens)
Various Leaved Fescue (Festuca heterophylla)
White Clover (Trifolium repens)

It is possible to give a much longer list, but I think this will be found sufficient. All the sorts are adapted for lawns of one kind or another; even the Meadow Fox-Tail, though somewhat coarse in growth and Timothy like, is worthy of a place because of its extreme earliness.

If in selecting a mixture for any given soil for the purpose of raising a hay crop, the varieties should be those that mature nearly about the same time, but if a permanent pasture or lawn is desired, then the mixture should include all kinds that reach their perfection at different periods throughout the season.

The following particulars as to the suitability of the kinds we, have named, for the different soils and conditions, may not be out of place.
SWEET VERNAL is one of the earliest flowering perennial grasses that we have. It continues its activity through a very long season and will be found to be as green and fresh in appearance at the end of August as it is at the end of May. Its fragrant qualities are well known and for this reason alone, it is worthy of a place in the lawn mixture. It will grow on almost any kind of soil, even a thin, dry one, but prefers good rich loam.

In buying seed of Sweet Vernal, it is well to insist upon getting the true perennial variety, as there is frequently sold, under this name a spurious variety which both in seed and growth resembles the genuine, but the Puelii is an annual and for that reason is not suitable for lawns.

MEADOW FOX-TAIL: A May flowering, strong growing, perennial grass, especially suitable for strong soils. It is somewhat like the Timothy in its habit and may be objected to on account of its broad leaf and rather pale green color, yet, I would recommend the use of a moderate quantity of it in mixtures, because it is not only hardy and permanent, but early in growth.

SMALL LEAVED SHEEP'S FESCUE: especially suitable for light, dry, sandy soils. The blade is rather light green in color, and the plants inclined to be slightly tufted in their habit, but both of these objections are practically overcome when sown in mixture with other sorts. I know of no fine growing grass that succeeds as well as this variety does in really dry situations.

KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS: One of the most common and valuable grasses we have. It is perennial in habit, quite early, usually flowering in June and adapts itself to a great variety of conditions; although it prefers, but does better in a partial shade than in the sunlight. Its objection to the full sun is more readily noticeable when the seed of the Blue Grass is sown alone. On light soil, or in dry seasons, it is sure to burn.

The plants do not come to their maturity until they are three or four years old and this is a sufficient reason why Blue Grass should be used in all permanent mixtures. While the soil, in which it seems to succeed best, is what might be termed first class corn soil, it will grow on almost any soil from dry knolls to wet meadow.

CRESTED DOG'S TAIL: This grass succeeds well in dry, hard soils, and is suitable for mixing with Red and Sheep's Fescue for sowing down sandy or light lands, but like the Blue Grass, it makes its best growth in a rich medium soil. It is perfectly perennial; of fine close growth and deep green in color.

PACEY'S PERENNIAL RYE GRASS: There are several types of Rye Grass; two of them annual, or at best not more than biennial. Lawson is authority for the statement that the English Rye Grass was originally perennial and that the shorter life of at least one of the varieties was induced' through growing the plants for the production of seed alone. Let this be as it may, the selection known as Pacey's Perennial, is true to the description and well worth a place in all mixtures for permanent grass. It is somewhat large seeded, but the plants are of a fine, neat habit, and desirable color. The seeds sprout quickly; the plants make a rapid growth, and afford some protection and aid to those of slower habit. It is suitable for all soils and situations, excepting very moist soils, where it dies out quickly, as it also does under the shade.
ORCHARD GRASS: This well known grass is generally considered to be of too rank a habit for use in lawn mixture, and as a rule, this is the case, although Orchard Grass in reasonable proportion with other sorts, if kept under the mower, does not present a coarse appearance, and its vigorous root system enables it to make wonderful growth even in dry seasons. It will grow on heavy or light soils and I would especially recommend it as a suitable grass to form a part of the mixtures for shady places and also for light or sandy situations.

ROUGH STALKED MEADOW GRASS: Not generally recommended for lawns, although used to some extent in England for that purpose. It is one of the best varieties to sow under heavy shade and on rich, moist soils. Under the mower its rather rank growth does not show. It is quite early in habit and carries its growth well into the autumn.

HARD FESCUE: Perhaps the most valuable of all the Fescue family. It closely resembles the Red Fescue but is of more upright growth although of quite dwarf habit. It has an unusual drought resisting power and maintains its deep green appearance throughout the entire season. Very suitable for light soils but does best under favorable conditions.

RED FESCUE: This grass is at home on light, dry, sandy soils, and does equally well on sandy lands near the sea coast and the dry hill side. It can also be recommended to form a portion of the mixture for shady situations. It is a true perennial and of fine dwarf habit.

RHODE ISLAND BENT: It is enough to say that this grass is without a peer for the lawn. I am afraid, however, that too frequently seed of the common Red Top is substituted. As a matter of fact there is little difference between the Agrostis canina and the Agrostis vulgaris, excepting that as, I have already pointed out, the seed of the latter is saved from plants that have acquired the habit of forming seed, rather than of making a growth of soft herbage. The growth of Agrostis canina in Rhode Island is also affected some, not only by the moist climate that is usual in that state as compared with Illinois, but also by the fact that the fields are not cut for seed purposes year after year.

RED TOP: I have already alluded sufficiently to the characteristics of this valuable grass. It is likely that in, the near future, it will be produced in considerable quantity in districts where it has not hitherto been grown for seed purposes. Already improved cleaning machinery has made this practical in a small way, and I think we may hope to have seed of a more desirable type on the market shortly.

WOOD MEADOW GRASS: As its name implies, this grass is found natural in the woods, and is very well adapted for growing under trees. It is, however, just as desirable as part of the mixture on an open lawn, particularly where the soil is good. It has a very fine habit of growth; quite early and of long duration.

YELLOW OAT GRASS: The true variety (there is a spurious one frequently offered) is quite a desirable grass for lawns, when the soil is light or; dry. It is particularly adapted to exposed elevations. Naturally it is a little rank in habit, but under cultivation this is not noticeable.

VARIOUS LEAVED FESCUE: An early, hardy perennial that does well in cool, moist soils, even clay. It produces root leaves very freely, and may be used to advantage either on shady or open lawns when composed of a good heavy soil.

WHITE CLOVER: I am of the opinion that the most beautiful lawns are those composed wholly of natural grasses and in which no White Clover finds a place. The public, however, seem to call for a portion of this in a lawn grass mixture and besides it is largely used for patching up thin spots. I have noticed that in unusually dry or hot seasons and especially on thin soils, that White Clover seems to show greater vigor from the middle of July until the end of August, than do most of the grasses. For this reason, and because of its popularity, it will continue to be a part of all lawn grass mixtures.

A week ago, when I was asked by the Chairman of your Committee of Arrangements to make some remarks on the subject of grass, I felt very much like saying "No”, for the reason that I realized there was not much, if anything, that I could say that was not already well known to you.

In my remarks, however, I have tried to emphasize the necessity of a mixture of grasses, both for the sake of permanence and appearance. The real reason, I believe that one or two varieties of grasses have been selected for seeding lawns, to the exclusion of others, is that it is thought there are only two or three of the finer varieties obtainable, which are practically free from chaff and weeds.

This in itself, from my point of view, is not sufficient excuse. Seed of all the varieties of grasses I have named can now be had, although in some cases not free from chaff, yet, just as free from weeds as Blue Grass or White Clover. To obtain such, it naturally, follows, that a higher price has to be paid than would be the case if impure seeds were offered: but the difference in the actual cost is so small that this can hardly be considered a factor.

I presume that quite a number of you will not agree with me in my conclusions. I hope, however, you will defer judgment until you have had opportunity to compare the result of a two or three kind mixture with a properly balanced lawn grass made up from six or eight varieties.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the16th Annual Convention
Held at Boston, MA
August 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1902

Nine years ago the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents was organized and held its first meeting at Cincinnati. The object of the association was to cultivate a better taste, and improve the various branches that enter into the management of cemeteries among superintendents and other cemetery officials.

But while we all can bear testimony to the good work of the association among its members, and the consequent improvement of our associated cemeteries, we have had too often to realize the great need of the coopera¬tion of the cemetery lot owner, without which the grand work of our associa¬tion can be only partially successful. Hence the necessity of educating the lot owner as well as the cemetery official. You will naturally say that this is a large undertaking. I admit it, but it must be done, if not in whole at least in part. The cooperation of the cemetery official and the cemetery lot owner is essential to the introduction of modern improvements and the main¬tenance of the most approved methods in cemetery work.
. .
This association has commenced this education from its inception, and continues to do so by its annual meetings as well as through its organ, "THE' PARK AND CEMETERY."

The lot owner cannot fail to see the marked improvement in our cemeteries of late years. This is because the education of the cemetery official has been going forward with uniformity on a new and improved plan. Our cemeteries assume more of the appearance of the park and garden and ex¬hibit more and more the most approved ideas of art in memorial stones while discouraging and prohibiting what is unsightly and inartistic. This is simply keeping pace with other institutions which lead in modern civilization and mark its growth. The cemetery, the dearest spot on earth to most peo¬ple, ought not be neglected in this forward march of progress, but should re¬ceive its due attention and be made to exert a humanizing if not a Christianizing influence. The condition of our cemeteries has been taken as a mark of our civilization. I think it was Benjamin Franklin who used these memo¬rable words, "Show me your cemeteries and I will tell you what I think of your people."

But how can all of this marked improvement be kept up if the lot owner will not cooperate with those who have made cemetery improvements in their most modern form a special study.

Boards of trustees make rules for the mutual advantage of lots and lot owners and insist on strictly enforcing these rules that the cemetery may be conducted on the latest and most approved plan. Yet the latter regard as unjust and arbitrary the very rules that were made for their benefit. This shows the want of education. If the cemetery were to be conducted after the notion of every individual lot owner what an unsightly pile of confusion we would have; hence all well conducted cemeteries insist on enforcing strictly the rules laid down for their management, treating all parties alike, whatever their business or station in life.

The difficulty of getting lot owners to comply with cemetery rules is most noticeable in cities of mixed nationalities. Some of these people bring their old customs and prejudices from their native country and it seems morally impossible to get them to conform to improved American ideas in cemetery management. Hence the position of our American cemetery su¬perintendent is often a very disagreeable one.

The tendency to violate rules or to avoid conforming to them is the prin¬cipal difficulty we find with lot owners.

Filling their lots with unsightly stonework without a particle of concern for good taste. Making high mounds over graves and ornamenting them with tin boxes, shells and other domestic relics from the kitchen and the nursery. This is most unbecoming and excites feelings of impatience or disgust in peo¬ple of good taste who frequently ask the question: why do you allow this desecration of the cemetery? We can only answer that our lot owners don't know any better. Then why don't you enforce the rules? they ask. Perhaps our rules are too liberal and don't go far enough in prohibiting this kind of nonsense.

We know that the finest cemeteries are those that have the strictest rules and insist on their being observed without fear or favor, while cemeteries that allow lot owners too much of their own way are repulsive and unsightly.

Prospective lot owners should buy large lots, at least ample grounds to provide sepulture for their respective families. This could be done if economy were exercised in funeral expenses and useless and unnecessary stonework. Instead of this, extravagant funerals are the rule, the interment takes place in a public lot or a very small cheap lot, and an expenditure of a hundred or two hundred dollars made for useless stonework follows in the immediate future.

Great mistakes are made in buying very small lots, which are quickly filled. The result is that the bodies have to be removed to a large lot causing a great deal of unnecessary expense, which might have been avoided if am¬ple ground had been purchased at the first selection. Another mistake is made in buying lots .in partnership. This too, often ends in disagreements and very unseemly misunderstandings, causing a great deal of annoyance to cemetery officials and undertakers. This trouble is generally brought about when parties buy lots from persons outside of the cemetery association, who cannot give a dear title without the consent of other parties interested and the cemetery association also. Such titles are usually clouded and often prove invalid.

All lots should be placed in charge of the cemetery association in perpetual care, so that when the members of the family pass away the lot will be looked after, and at any time the cemetery association will prove the most interested, caretakers for the sake of the general good appearance of the cemetery. This rule is insisted on in nearly all up-to-date cemeteries.

Great mistakes are made in the erection of stonework. There seems to be no judgment exercised in this matter and when a mistake is made it is very apt to be copied in all its details of hideousness. There is nothing so un¬seemly as crowding unnecessary stonework into lots.

Stonework should be confined to low corners for marking boundaries, and these should be level with the surface, or nearly so; low head-marks on a level with the graves. No such thing as a so-called entrance should be permitted; these are peculiar to St. Louis cemeteries. If the lot owner wants a monument it should be of new design and not copied from any one in its im¬mediate neighborhood and should be built in proportion to the size of the lot. Copying designs of monuments is not permitted in well regulated ceme¬teries.

If cemetery officers were consulted the lot owner could learn what the prevailing custom in other cemeteries was. But the stone man is the guide, philosopher and friend at the closed grave and the result is we have too much stonemason and too little artist and designer.

The improvements in cemeteries must be conducted under one general plan dictated by educated taste. Individual rights must be subordinate to this one general plan if you are to have harmony and neatness in the cemetery. This is obtained only where the cemetery authorities have complete control of grounds and graves. Then the grounds are laid out with taste according to modern ideas. But where the grounds are sold in lots confusion commences and the stone yard supplants the lawn and the garden.

Hence; the necessity not only of the education of lot owners, but the para¬mount importance of enforcing such education by discipline.

I have spoken of cemeteries as promoters and tests of civilization. Civili¬zation consists in subordinating the will and interest of the individual to the comfort and well being of all. This subordination so necessary in the walks of life is equally requisite in the habitation of the dead.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 10th Annual Convention
Held at St. Louis, MO
September 15, 16 and 17, 1896

Not long ago, I was asked by our worthy Secretary to prepare a short paper for this convention, and to select some subject of my own choice. I reluctantly consented, knowing that practical papers on the most important subjects pertaining to the advancement of cemeteries have been presented and read by able men of this association, but feeling it a duty, as a member to respond when called upon, I consented.

In looking over the proceedings of conventions held prior to this, my at¬tention was called to a paper on the construction and maintenance of roads, by Manton E. Hibbs, C. E., from the Bureau of City Surveys, Philadelphia, and read at the eighth annual convention which I found very interesting and practical.

In speaking of the road-bed, Mr. Hibbs favors the Macadam-Telford this kind will, without doubt, meet with the approval of all who are interested in the management of cemeteries, but while we may all agree on this point, the question arises, "Are we in a financial condition to bear the expense of road-beds of this kind?"

We are all aware, I believe, that the majority of cemeteries laid out and platted thirty years ago, or any time prior to that, were as a rule laid out by some incompetent person whose one aim seemed to be to divide up a tract of ground at right angles, in such a manner as to give avenue access to as many lots as possible, disregarding the park or lawn plan sought after in laying out cemeteries at the present time, and thereby using about one-third of his land for avenue purposes. In many cemeteries this error is overcome by converting the unnecessary avenues into lots, and should be encouraged everywhere; but when such errors exist and cannot be remedied one can readily see what an expensive and everlasting undertaking it would be to macadam all streets in such cemeteries, especially where the cash balance in the treasury is limited.

I will therefore endeavor to speak of a material that might be used with good results, at a very small cost, and it is nothing more or less than coal cinders produced from burning poor coal, commonly called slag, and can be had in nearly all cities having manufacturing plants.

Perhaps it might be well to state how we construct and maintain roads of this kind in Riverside. We do all grading and excavating for roads in the fall, at an average depth of twelve (12) inches, and allowing that depth to be filled in with this material during the winter months when other improve¬ments are practically at a stand still. The majorities of our avenues are eighteen (18) feet in width, and have a lawn margin on each side of from three and one half to four feet, including gutters, the majority of which are of sod.

In the early springtime the material is put in proper order by being leveled and thoroughly rolled. It is of great importance to use plenty of water when this is done and in finishing the same, which makes it very compact.

The average cost of making road- beds of this kind is about one dollar for everyone hundred square feet of road surface, and is therefore, I believe, within the reach of all cemeteries doing business on business principles.

The cost of maintenance is also very small. When depressions occur by constant travel, they are filled with fresh material; this however, seldom oc¬curs where road-beds are frequently sprinkled. I might add that I have seen .roads of this kind traveled over by heavy dray wagons bearing monumental work, weighing from three to four tons, after heavy rains, making depressions scarcely noticeable. I would therefore recommend road making of this kind in cemeteries where Macadam-Telford is too expensive.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 10th Annual Convention
Held at St. Louis, MO
September 15, 16 and 17, 1896

It seems to me to be unnecessary to go into extended details as to the many advantages to be derived from nurseries and greenhouses in cemeter¬ies, and while I believe they are almost indispensable from an economical and financial point of view, still I may be wrong. If the discussion that will follow the reading of this paper will sustain the nursery and greenhouse as practical auxiliaries, superintendents should clearly explain to their directors the benefits, financially etc., to be derived from them and the advisability of taking immediate action to establish such things where they are not already in operation.

What prospects are there for a reasonable return from such a project will naturally be the first consideration, and justly so, as all undertakings should have careful consideration before investing. My experience with young nur¬sery stock, in well prepared soil and proper cultivation, is that it increases in value very rapidly, many things will more than double the first cost in three years, so from a pecuniary point of view, I think we are not carrying an ex¬pensive luxury when we establish a cemetery nursery. But aside from and far above the financial value, in my opinion, is the incentive it gives to collect and grow on our own grounds, a varied collection especially adapted to the climate in which we live.

And should we consider it from a scientific standpoint, or as used as experimental or test grounds, the advantages are truly invaluable when a skillful man is in charge.

We all love variety, and we should endeavor to have as choice a collection as the climate will permit; and through the advantage of having a nurs¬ery this can be accomplished successfully. For testing as to hardiness or capability of standing the dry patching wind, during the growing season, small lots are used, not over a dozen of each kind; so If we fail in acclimatiz¬ing them the loss will be only nominal.

With practical growers such trials are constantly going on and many valuable additions to their collections is the result.

Experienced growers are not discouraged if certain things fail on the first trial, for, by having those plants under their careful observation they discover their nature and requirements, and by giving them a more congenial soil and location, finally succeed.

So the cemetery nursery appears more valuable and important as the numerous advantages are considered.

New shrubs and plants are offered for sale and highly recommended, as to hardiness and beauty of flower or foliage, but being expensive, and if difficult to propagate, remain at a high price for several years. A few of such val¬uable things, say a dozen of each, should be purchased even at what may ap¬pear a high price, and propagation commenced according to methods best a¬dapted to the nature of the plant to be increased, and by the end of the sea¬son, instead of a dozen we shall have a. hundred or more of nice young plants rooted and ready to take care of themselves in the nursery, the coming spring. As an instance: I received by express last February one dozen of Spiraea Anthony Waterer and one dozen of Hyperi¬cum Moserianum; two comparatively new and highly recommended additions to our shrubbery list. Those little plants were out of two and a half inch pots, puny little things, and cost $2.50 per dozen. On the 27th of Au¬gust last I found we had 200 of each, nice young plants, well rooted from cut¬tings and all at a nominal cost.

Another great advantage of growing our own stock is that the vitality of young evergreens and plants of that nature are so slightly affected by trans¬planting from the nursery to permanent quarters, and this particularly so, when we can make our own choice of suitable days to plant, such as cloudy weather, before or after rain, according to the nature of the soil.

Planters are fully aware that these advantages are invaluable and with proper care in digging out and replanting the loss will be very light; yet I hardly believe it is possible or that the art can be so perfected, that we will not sustain a loss of some plants from the effects of transplanting.

The cemetery nursery and greenhouse afford great advantages for the beautifying of the grounds, and in my opinion every cemetery should have them, in proportion to the demands or extent of the grounds.

The conflicting opinions of superintendents on the use of a greenhouse leaves the matter somewhat unsettled, some wanting a summer display of beautiful flowers and foliage plants, while others discourage such things. Where the lawn plan is being carried out, floral decoration is not brought into use. In old cemeteries the portions that can be called lawns are so lim¬ited, that something must take their place; even in new cemeteries where the beautiful lawns are to be admired, there are locations where floral dis¬plays can be advantageously arranged and will add materially to the beauty of the place.

The small greenhouse in connection with the nursery for the special purpose of increasing our stock can be utilized for raising sufficient stock for summer display and will repay us for the expense incurred.

The question of raising more stock than we require will depend entirely on the tastes of our lot owners; if they are in the habit of spending consider¬able money annually for plants, there is no reason why the cemetery should not supply them with plants at reasonable profit.

The educational effects of the nursery and greenhouses on superinten¬dents should not be overlooked, for it seems to be the general opinion that the better posted we are in horticulture, the more efficient superintendents we make.

If I were called upon to suggest a means for our advancement m the knowledge of trees, shrubs and plants, I could suggest no better plan than that of establishing a cemetery nursery. It is my candid opinion that by no set rules or theory can as much practical knowledge be derived; and I am con¬fident that no branch of the study would have a more immediate effect in es¬tablishing habits of careful personal observation than the care which the cemetery nursery and greenhouse would require.

Regardless of where we are located, it should always be borne in mind when purchasing young nursery stock in quantities, that only such plants as will make a healthy growth in our locality should be selected.

Seedlings of trees and shrubs are offered for sale by nurserymen at low prices, and on that account offer a great inducement to beginners; but they cannot be recommended. No stock should be purchased until it has been transplanted at least once, the advance in cost will only be nominal, while the success with transplanted stock will more than repay us for the slight in¬crease in price over seedlings.

To insert here a long list of trees, shrubs, etc, would be of no benefit and might possibly prove misleading, as it is the climate and surroundings of our several locations that must decide the question of which trees and plants are best adapted for that particular locality. If we are not acquainted with the requirements and habits of the plants we endeavor to grow it is but reasonable to expect that some mistakes will be made. To acquire this particular know¬ledge, no system can be thought of or suggested that can take the place of the cemetery nursery.

The arduous duties of the superintendent may not allow him over much time to spend in the nursery, still there are occasions, and leisure hours when we can visit it and see to the wants of the stock, noting the rapid growth of some, and the lack of vitality in others. If he studies up the cause and endeavors to find a remedy by changing to a more congenial soil or location, if this is done by his own careful study, and if he perseveres in such experiments, there is not the least doubt that in a short time he will become quite profici¬ent.

To close this paper without referring to the question of utilizing the val¬uable native plants indigenous to the locality would be a great mistake. Be¬ginners can do no better than to collect the many beautiful perennials, shrubs and vines, cultivate them in the nursery, and when established and ready for planting out, formed in natural groups or margins, they can hardly be excel¬led. In my opinion it would be difficult to find a more charming combinat¬ion of color and form than the margins of our woods present at this season of the year; and this affords a wide field for study for one engaged in planting new grounds or remodeling old ones.

It is the natural harmony and gracefulness, and that apparently endless diversity of color and form, naturally blending with the whole surroundings, that gives them the power of producing such charming effects.

All cemeteries have localities where bits of natural scenery such as refer¬red to would prove very effective and could be produced at very slight ex¬pense.

As I have been recommending the establishing of nurseries, a few hints to beginners on the preparation of the soil may not be out of place here. Have the land thoroughly loosened up at least two feet deep; after that a good supply of well rotted manure worked in, evenly, all over the surface. Should the soil show signs of retaining moisture after rains, under drainage will be necessary. Four inch tile at intervals of forty feet, and four feet deep, if properly laid will very soon show beneficial results, as the soil will always be in condition to receive rain, which will not only refresh the tops by its moisture, but pass through the earth to the drains driving out the vitiated air from the roots, thus leaving the pores of the earth open to receive a fresh sup¬ply, which is as essential to the health and growth of plants as moisture.

With soil in this condition, either made so, or natural, the growth of young nursery stock will be truly surprising.

If space will permit, allow for cultivation by horse-power between the rows and ample room for two or three seasons growth, without crowding be¬tween the plants in rows.

This work only requires a commencement, and in a very short time the diligent beginner will have on hand a valuable and interesting collection of plants and shrubs, native and foreign, suited to his own special wants.

After the nursery is fairly started, I would recommend the purchase of a standard treatise on the general nature of plants and make a study of them; so that we may work from established principles, and fully comprehend the object of every operation performed and their cultivation.

From the publication:
AACS - Proceedings of the 10th Annual Convention
Held at St. Louis, MO
September 15, 16 and 17, 1896

I was invited to appear on your program for a few minutes to talk on the subject of seeds. I can best introduce myself to say I have been interested in this subject of seeds for some twenty years, being connected with the Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, a state institution, where we are continually handling from 18,000 to 20,000 samples of seeds. Many of those are grass seeds.

Now to utilize these few minutes to best advantage, may I attempt to tell you about some of those things which are of interest to all of you.

I understand that you come from many states. Therefore, the kind of seeds used for your planting would not be the same as they are per¬haps here in the northeast or certainly in this state.

Now, having landscaped your grounds and everything is all in prepa¬ration, the proper fertilizer, the proper drainage, the proper composition, the proper soil, then comes the question of seeds, and I think I under¬stand the thing you are interested in most is the question of quality and where you are going to get them, and what kind.

Now I think first of all we have to understand and appreciate the fact that there are many kinds of seeds used for this particular purpose, and they are not grasses. Occasionally borer is used, particularly the new strain of permanent or often called "wild white clover." Perhaps I should add a little here and say that wild white clover or this permanent or perennial type of white clover when used with Kentucky Blue Grass is one. of the finest combinations that can be used for a general purpose landscape planting, because of the fact that the Kentucky Blue Grass, which is at home in all of the central and northeast is complemented by this wild white clover, which furnishes the nitrogen for the grass, thus making more or less of a permanent rotation. Therefore, you go not have the necessity of continually adding fertilizer or applying fertilizer after this turf has reached its maximum production, and you can always tell when the grass becomes lush, and that is the time to stop fertilizing.

Now then we ought, to understand that there are various strains and types of these grasses now being developed. In fact, Kentucky Blue Grass is being torn apart, so to speak, and possibly a little later there will be strains of Kentucky Blue Grass which now appears on the market as a standard commercial commodity. The same is true of the fescues. There are different types of fescue and you ought to understand what type and strain you are getting before you plant it on permanent valuable property, because they have different colors and they have different characteristics of the plant. For instance, the finest, which is probably the chewing strain of fescue, is quite different from the cheaper hard red or sheep's fescue, which you would not want in a valuable planting.

Now the same is true of the bent grasses. They are perhaps not used very much for cemetery work because they have to be treated differently, - fertilized, mown, and taken care of in a different manner from the taller growing Kentucky Blue Grass.

Now perhaps Kentucky Blue Grass is used more widely than any other kind of grass because it has that typical fine, dark green which blends with shrubbery, monuments, and things of that sort, whereas, if you used a mixture of grasses and included a slate green or one of those slatish green colors, which is typical of the fescues, you are introducing a little different color of grass.

So I think with those things in mind I must hasten on to tell you those things which I think should be of interest to all of you as to quality. I am not going to tell you where to buy your grass seed because there are many good sources, and likewise there are some sources which it is best to keep away from, according to the neutral unbiased test.

Now there is no mystery about grass seed. It can be defined as to variety, purity, viability, freedom from weeds and all those things can, be described, and if they are not described to you by the source from whom you secure the seed, then I would suggest you go where they will be described. In other words, go elsewhere. Those characteristics which are important can be described to you very carefully and very minutely so that you will know exactly what you have before you put it into the ground.

I would like to take the last few minutes to point out here something which will aid you in getting these various kinds of seed, regardless of what state you are in and have uniform typical descriptions.

The new Federal Seed Act, which controls the shipment of seed over state lines went into effect last February the 9th, so any shipment of seed made to you over a line should bear a tag bearing practically all this information. If it is shipped over a state line and does not bear this information, then it is an illegal shipment, if shipped to you as seed.

Now then, this tag or label or whatever happens to be on the bag of seed which comes over a state line - keep in mind state laws are a little different, although many of them follow the Uniform Seed Bill. The state laws are a little different and may not require all this information. Nevertheless, I wouldn't buy any kind of seed from anyone unless it is more or less fully described so you will know exactly what you are getting.

Now the kind of seed is given, for instance, Kentucky Blue Grass, and if there is, a variety of which there is not at the present time, if this were fescue, it would say "fescue", "red fescue" or "chewing fescue” or whatever kind you are getting.

Then we come to the next important point. That is purity and that should be given in percentage. I should point out first under the Federal Seed Act this tag will bear a code number so that you or an inspector or anyone interested can get that code off that bag and go through the history and record and find out where it came from, and if those facts are truthful. That is for the public protection.

In hurrying on here, it always tells you the percentage of other crop see present. For instance, in some stocks of Kentucky Blue Grass, although you don’t use them much for your particular purpose, there may be field contaminations of some other grasses and they are listed here under crop seed present.

Then the most important thing for a permanent planting is to look out for weed seeds. There are some kinds which are not important and there are other kinds which are important. If you are using a mixture, and in that mixture there is red top and it carries carroways a very com¬mon impurity to red top, you are going to have carroway in your planting and it is going to be almost permanent, because it is a deep-rooting weed, like many other kinds of weeds, so you want to know what weeds you are getting as well as what percentage. Now there may be a low percentage in terms of 0.20. It may look like a small amount, but that 0.20 may be introducing the kind of weeds which you did not want in a permanent planting.

Then the inert matter that consists usually of chaff and leafage or those things which cannot be cleaned from the shed and it also may contain things which are put in there to give it bulk or weight. Of course, that isn’t as common as it used to be because the purity will show that factor.

Now in many states there are certain weeds which are considered as obnoxious. It has to be stated. In many states buckhorn planting which is a bad weed for a permanent lawn or cemetery planting - the name and number per pound must be given on this tag. That is a thing for you to look out for. If you are in a state where buckhorn planting or any of these plantings are not obnoxious weeds, you can find out by consulting your state seed laboratory and many of the states have one which contains these particular weeds in which you are interested.

The next question of importance is that of germination, what the seed will do for you after you get it. That, too, is stated on these tags or labels and there again we have to remember that these very high-bred and well-bred grass seed types vary in their percentage so if you are buying Kentucky Blue Grass you can't always expect 90 percent germina¬tion or better, because it may be the best stocks of Kentucky Blue Grass for that year are maybe around 80 percent or 75 percent, so we have to keep those facts in mind.

The date tested - that tells you how recent the tests were made upon which this information was given.

Under the Federal Act the shipper or person to whom it is shipped - his name and address must appear on this tag or label. As I say, this has to be done under the Federal Act where shipments are made from a grower or a source to you over a state line. This information is not required when you buy seed from a source within your state, but then that state seed law operates and if it does not give this information which you ought to know land should know, then you will have to insist that it be given by the dealer or the source from whom you get the seed. As I say, if it is not given, I would be tempted to go elsewhere, so that you will know exactly what you secure or what you are going to plant before you put it in the ground, because then it is too late to take it back.

I think I have used my time, Mr. Chairman, and if there happens to be any questions I would be glad to answer them. I have seen some of these fine plantings on golf courses and lawns and cemeteries and I should say you ought to be very careful of the quality of seed you are putting on these expensive plantings.

From the publication:
“1940-1941 Cemetery Handbook & Buyers’ Guide”
ACOA 11th Annual Convention & Exposition
Hotel Statler, Buffalo, New York
September 8-11, 1940

When approached by your representative to prepare a paper for this meeting, I declined. Had the subject been estate landscaping, sanitarium landscape, schools, golf courses or park landscapes, I should have drawn upon experiences to relate to you, but Cemetery Landscapes - NO - for it has not been my privilege to assist in the planning and development of a cemetery. In declining, it was my thought that cemetery owners would prefer to hear from one who has had considerable experience in cemetery work. Your representative felt this point of no importance but failed to explain himself. I wondered if he had the thought so aptly expressed by Bob Mann of Chicago when he said, "A fresh viewpoint from an un¬promising source sometimes lifts the many petticoats of custom and lays bare the essentials".

An essential is what I have chosen to talk to you about. An essential indeed - Maintenance. I know of no man-made Landscape that does not require maintenance and I therefore assume that you all have a mainte¬nance problem as do all other land developers.

Your policies, rules, and regulations primarily affect your maintenance costs. Those of you who operate the monument type cemetery have one problem. Those of you who operate the Memorial park cemetery have another. Those of you who operate a combination of these two types have still another. I am sure you have all made the observation which I made not so long ago. While driving through one of the monument type ceme¬teries, I came upon about a dozen men operating hand mowers on a small piece of turf that happened to be a clear grass island between two major drives, I stopped short and gazed in wonderment - for I was sure I had come upon a W.P.A. project - in a cemetery. If there is such, I haven't heard of it. I looked around this island and saw every slope covered with monuments, which soon convinced me that I wasn't looking at a W.P.A. project but no doubt at a part of the regular maintenance staff for these dozen men and several more would be needed to push hand mowers be¬tween those monuments. That afternoon I happened into a Memorial Park Cemetery where no monuments were the policy and here I saw one man riding a power mower, cutting about 72 inches at one time, and at a speed considerably faster than I could walk. There may have been several other differences in these two cemeteries but it was quite obvious that the difference in lawn maintenance cost was considerable.

You also have your rules and regulations - Such as: "Only one monu¬ment allowed on a lot" - "Not more than one urn allowed on a lot" ¬"No trees or shrubs can be planted or removed without the consent of the superintendent". These are but a few of many which all affect your maintenance costs.

As I understand it, all cemetery lots are sold subject to some limita¬tions concerning their use and surface treatment. Many of you are oper¬ating old cemeteries and will therefore be obliged to carry on under whatever conditions were made a part of the sale contract rather than what you might wish them to be. I will therefore try to confine the obser¬vations of this paper to the maintenance problems which most of you will have regardless of the type of cemetery you operate.

What is Maintenance, or more specifically - Landscape Mainte¬nance? Maintenance is simply the operations necessary to control the many forces of nature so that they will produce our desired results. For exam¬ple, we want a lawn, but nature does not produce a lawn. She will produce a meadow, and provided there are sufficient animals grazing it, the effect will be somewhat the same as a lawn. As we don't have grazing animals in cemeteries, we must provide labor, with tools, to pro¬duce the same effects. Lawn cutting is nothing more than the operations necessary to control the natural growth of grass so that we might have a lawn rather than a meadow, or woods perhaps.

Since the beginning, man has not found the undisturbed forces of nature compatible with his needs and fancies. He has continually altered the natural conditions to provide his wants. If nature could only see our point and be cooperative, she would, have produced by this time a grass that would not tolerate other plants, i.e. weeds; a grass that grows lux¬uriantly with or without water and does not grow higher than two inches. A grass that would meet these qualifications, would indeed be a find¬ - but so would perpetual motion - and it is my opinion that when we find one we will find the other.

Nature has her rules and regulations which we are bound by. To be sure, with enough maintenance we can make nature do almost anything we want, or at least for the time being. But to reduce maintenance we may be wise to study the natural order of things and thereby save a lot of grief by doing the cooperating rather than expecting it.

Soil is a thing that you are all interested in. When you take it apart you will discover however that from the standpoint of your landscape you are principally concerned with the top soil or that crust of the earth's surface which provides the essentials to plant life - that is, friability, organic matter, and minerals, which provide food. The earth's crust or top soil is not deep. Indeed, it is usually measured in inches. When we undertake a grading operation, an extensive drainage or irrigation system, we usually find that from the engineering point of view it is most eco¬nomical to readjust the soil which usually results in having the top soil on the bottom and the sub-soil on the top. This is one of nature's laws which we cannot violate if we want her future cooperation in growing vegetative materials. When we undertake any type of land readjustment project, we must put the soil back in the same formation in which we found it.

As we go further into soils, we also find that nature has not prepared all top soils alike; quite to the contrary - for in some places we find a heavy clay soil - others, a very light sandy soil. Sometimes we find a good quantity of organic material in the soil. Other times we find none. The same is true of minerals which provide the food. Should you find it necessary to purchase top soil for anyone of many reasons, it would be decidedly to your advantage to specify the type of soil you want. Don't buy “dirt”. As far as I can determine, this is what most top soil pro¬ducers sell and have no further interests. You as the buyer however definitely have, for you are interested in at least three principal factors. That is, you want a soil for most purposes which the Department of Agriculture classifies as “loam”. You want a soil which has ample or¬ganic matter in it. Many times you will be concerned with either its lime or acid content, and while you can purchase and add food elements, it is decidedly to your advantage to acquire a soil that contains them. These factors can all be measured by a competent chemist and it is considerably to your advantage to determine first the characteristics of the soils which best fit your needs and then to set out to acquire these soils and not just “dirt”. I have seen “dirt” hauled in from great distances at considerable cost on several projects, which frankly was not as good as the soil that existed in the first place.

The next check we should make on nature is to observe where and what she will allow to grow. We know, for example, that she provides luxuriant growth in Florida and Oregon; that the deserts have but few plants; that there are no trees in the plains, and that there are limits to the kinds and varieties of plants she will allow to grow anywhere. We have learned that by adding or holding water to the deserts and plains we can produce things that nature cannot. To add water we must provide and maintain irrigation ditches. To hold the rainfall we must grade the land and provide contour ditches which do not allow it to run away. These are special problems encountered only in sections of the country where rainfall is insufficient. Plant associations however, are of interest to all. Your geographical region, wherever it might be will have definite limits on the plants you can grow without undue or excessive mainte¬nance. From the nursery catalogs you can inform yourselves of the many fine points of many plants. From the maintenance standpoint however, we are not interested in a plant's fine characteristics, but rather with what is troublesome about a plant. We expect it to be good. The limitations of a plant are seldom listed in a nursery catalog. Some of the Colleges of Agriculture have, and disseminate this information. Here is an example of my point. Within a hundred miles of Buffalo, we find broad leaved evergreens, such as laurel and rhododendrons growing naturally. We do not find them growing in the immediate vicinity of Buffalo however. They can be grown in Buffalo, if we remove the existing soil to consider¬able depths, replace with acid soils and expensive peat mosses, and treat the bed periodically to maintain suitable conditions. It is also usually necessary to protect them during the winter with evergreen boughs, screens, or wind breaks. They may be fine additions to our local land¬scapes, but should not be used unless there is a clear understanding of their maintenance requirements. Use only materials hardy to your locality, if you wish to avoid a lot of special handling to keep others alive.

You who have new cemeteries will be interested in fast growing trees. Nature provides them and they can be obtained at very reasonable prices from the nurseries. However, you should know this about fast growing trees. Nature uses them for a nurse crop. That is, when she is establishing a new forest, the fast growing trees are the first to take over from the brambles and grasses. In her scheme of things these trees are used to provide shade and shelter for the stronger growing or permanent trees which are to follow. "Fast growing trees” are relatively short lived and have soft wood which readily breaks under strong winds or heavy snow¬falls. If you use them you can expect to do a lot of pruning and bracing to keep them in shape, and this item will add considerably to your maintenance costs. It is much wiser to plant the stronger permanent varieties. And if rapid growth is essential, you might try feeding and watering to push them along. I made an observation on feeding a few years ago which would be more appropriate as a fish story than as a plant story, but I have every reason to believe it true.

"Some twenty or thirty years ago an inmate of one of our local old folks homes heard that the institution was going to set out a dozen English Walnut trees the following Spring. With much ceremony he approached the governors and asked for the privilege of planting one half of the lot personally. His request was granted. He promptly pro¬ceeded to the kitchen of this rather large institution and made a deal with the cook to place all meat bones in a special container which he offered to keep empty. Before frost set in that Fall, he had his six holes dug, and as the story was told tome, he dug them six feet wide and six feet deep. All Winter long he carried the bones to his holes and by Spring they were well filled and prepared for planting.” I was called into this institution a few years ago, and in making a survey I discovered that there were twelve English Walnut trees planted at equal spaces on the edge of a semi-circular drive. One quarter segment of this drive had six trees all about the same size in trunk and height, and the other seg¬ment had six trees which were more than twice the size of the latter in trunk and height. I cannot recommend this method to you, but it is the most conclusive proof of the value of fertilizing and preparation that I have ever seen.

The natural laws are not at all confined to vegetated material. Several of your cemeteries will contain water features, or perhaps you are con¬templating a lake or a pool. A few observations of the natural may be helpful to you in reducing future maintenance problems. Most of you will see Niagara Falls while you are here. That is, I hope you can still pick it out from all of the formal gardens, power plants and bridges they have built down there. Note the Gorge and particularly how water and ice are cutting it back. The rock is receding in measurable quantities and some time way off in the future you will see that Niagara Falls is coming to Buffalo. For our purposes however, all we need to observe is that one of the largest plugs or natural dams in the world is wearing away through the effects of water. This is one of the reasons for the geological expression that "all lakes are disappearing". It is true of course that when the Niagara plug is entirely worn away, Lake Erie will disappear. Wisconsin has lakes that are in the late stages of completing their disappearing act. Some of you no doubt have seen them and also observed the part played in the disappearing process by vegetated growth. After the plugs are well worn away, the shallow waters that remain provide a natural environ¬ment for many water plants. As these plants complete their life cycle they deposit a residue which eventually piles up and changes the lake to a bog, and then fills it completely.

One more observation that is pertinent to water can be observed by viewing the Delta of the Mississippi which is simply the sediment de¬posited at the mouth of the river. The principle here is that water in motion will sustain a silt load but as it stops flowing, it dumps its load. This is not only found in large rivers, such as the Mississippi, but also in small rivers, creeks, and streams. All of these factors that is the plug or the dam, vegetated growth and sediment are important to you and measures should be taken to guard against them if you hope to retain your lake without undue maintenance cost. The plug or dam can be designed to withstand the pressures of the lake for your practicable pur¬poses but it should be designed by competent technical personnel and not be left to chance, for the volume and rate of flow of water, develops almost unbelievable pressure variables. To abate vegetated growth we return to nature again and discover that few water plants will grow beyond limited depths. Therefore, if we make the bottom of our lake deep enough we will avoid troublesome plant growths, or inversely, if we want a bog, we purposely make the lake shallow. Here is another observation regarding vegetated growth in water which we derive this time from man's operation rather than nature. You from the State of Missouri may have heard rumors that there is not much hope of sustaining fish life in your Lake of the Ozarks, which you know, is a beautiful arti¬ficial body of water some ninety miles long, caused by the erection of a power dam. One of the reasons that there is concern over the fish life in the lake is simply that there is a lack of vegetated growth establishing itself to produce fish foods. These artificial reservoirs which are erected for power purposes necessitate a draw down of the water level periodical¬ly, and experiences with them to date would indicate that plant life can¬not sustain itself under fluctuating water levels. This finding should have some application in the smaller artificial lakes. Sediment can be abated by building check dams in the stream that feeds the lake and planting the water sheds. If the dam is designed to drain the lake, it will be possible to fluctuate water levels and remove much of the sediment which accumu¬lates on the bottom by leaving the gates open during periods of heavy rainfall.

I have attempted to point out to you a few of the pitfalls that can be avoided in the development and maintenance of your cemetery land¬scapes, principally in the interest of keeping your maintenance costs at a minimum. To summarize - Maintenance costs can be reduced if: We treat our soils properly and do not buy just "dirt": If we hold to the policy of using only hardy materials and avoid fast growers: And, if we provide our artificial lakes with dams that will hold, and drains which will allow for fluctuation in water level and clearing or removing the sediment.

In closing, I should like to suggest a method of operation affecting your relations with your Landscape Architect. When you engage his services you expect that he has a sound knowledge in the fundamental forces underlying the natural, and he knows how to use it. You expect him to use his art to produce pleasant landscapes. You expect that he understands structural requirements and can prepare working drawings. That he has considerable knowledge of plants and how to handle them, and that he will thoroughly acquaint himself with your functional needs and design, primarily for salable cemetery lots. These are his qualifica¬tions if he is a Landscape Architect. All of these qualifications however, are principally for development purposes. He can also help you with your maintenance if he is given the opportunity to inspect your cemetery periodically after the development program is completed. Most Land¬scape Architects are engaged for development purposes, but I believe they would be of greater value to you if engaged primarily as consultants. Place your Landscape Architect on an annual retainer fee basis, for which he is to provide a definite number of consultations annually. His fee will be nominal and many times will not amount to as much as the cost of one laborer. Make it clear to him that you want his advice on how to improve your landscape by using what you have rather than his opinions on suitable major improvement programs. Make it clear that you want him to frankly tell you not to undertake a development when in his opinion your gains will not be commensurate with the costs involved. His recommendations cautioning you against certain developments will often be as valuable as his recommendations to undertake others.

From the publication:
“1940-1941 Cemetery Handbook & Buyers’ Guide”
ACOA 11th Annual Convention & Exposition
Hotel Statler, Buffalo, New York
September 8-11, 1940