1883-01 Annual Report of the Trustees of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, Together with the Reports of the Treasurer and Superintendent. January, 1883.

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REPORT.

Nothing has occurred to vary the usual routine of the cemetery during the past year. The annual income and the receipts from sales have been adequate to meet all necessary requisitions, and leave a surplus for any extraordinary expenditures which may be deemed advisable in the future. The attention of the Trustees has been mainly directed, as heretofore, to the care and development of the cemetery.

The number of trees and shrubs set out has been larger than usual. Latterly we have been accustomed to plant yearly an average of two hundred and fifty trees and four hundred shrubs; but during the past year six hundred and forty-five trees and one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two shrubs have been set out. As the number of trees cut down on account of age, or interference with curbs, fences, and monuments, is usually about seventy-five, it is evident that the grounds are being gradually filled with trees of kinds suitable to the cemetery. The object sought is to place them so judiciously that while not interfering with each other, they may render a grateful shade in summer, and, as the season advances, adorn the grounds with the beauty of their autumnal foliage. Our ornamental shrubs and bushes also increase in number, and add their perennial beauty to the perishing glories of the summer flowers.

In the greenhouse department the old wooden heater and potting house was found to need so much repair that it was deemed best to erect a new structure. A one-story brick building with a substantial stone cellar has accordingly been built. It measures forty-two by eighteen feet, and besides the old heater, which was somewhat worn, contains a new one of more power, thus rendering the greenhouses safe against the vicissitudes of a severe winter.

6 ANNUAL REPORT.

In the grounds more than the average amount of labor has been spent in improving avenues and paths, in paving, and in constructing cesspools and drains. The banks of Forest Pond have been regraded and improved. Considerable work has been done in Ivy Path and in Consecration Dell, where several valuable lots have been laid out, and the grades of the paths much improved. To prevent accidents, a neat iron railing, supported on stone posts, has been placed on the precipitous side of Rose Path, rendering the passage much more secure than formerly. Grading has also been commenced on the Chant lot, so called; and the whole of the territory known formerly as the Stone Farm is now rapidly coming into use. We seem, therefore, to be assured of an ample supply of lots for many years to come, especially as the older parts of the cemetery are by no means filled up, and many of our choicest lots may still be found there unoccupied on Fountain Avenue, and the banks of Halcyon Lake and its vicinity.

Iron fences are gradually disappearing; sixty-four have been removed during the past year, two more than in the previous year. Few proprietors seem inclined to make repairs and renewals, but prefer to remove the fences entirely as they become dilapidated. It may be as well in this connection to state that granite copings and iron fences are removed without expense to proprietors, who are credited with any excess over the cost of removal.

No subject can have greater interest for the proprietors than the means of providing for the perpetual care and preservation of their lots. In the appendix of the report for the year 1878 much valuable information was given in regard to this matter, and this information with some slight additions is reprinted in the appendix of this report, to which the attention of proprietors is again called. The Repair Fund, devoted to this purpose, it will be seen, is steadily growing, and about nine hundred proprietors have already availed themselves of its advantages. The Trustees cannot too highly recommend to all interested in the cemetery to make provision for the future care of their lots, either by will, or during their lifetime. The Permanent Fund, which is intended to provide for the general

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care of the cemetery after all lots shall have been sold, now amounts to $233,294.39, showing an increase of $7,517.00 during the past year.

The Repair Fund, devoted to the care and preservation of the lots, has been increased by $42,989.76, and now amounts to $345,562.11.

The General Fund, applicable to current expenses, exhibits a gain of $6,074.40, the cash and cash assets amounting to $18,182.19.

For the Trustees,

ISRAEL M. SPELMAN, President.

8 ANNUAL REPORT.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT.

To the Trustees of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn: GENTLEMEN, —I have the honor to present herewith the Annual Report of the Superintendent for the year ending Dec. 31, 1882.

IMPROVEMENTS.

J. W. LOVERING, Superintendent of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn. MOUNT AUBURN, Dec. 31, 1882.