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What's New at Arcadia

Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast By Glenn A. Knoblock

Arcadia Publishing has releases a new title in the Images of America series, the historic account of the cemeteries along the New Hampshire Seacoast. This collection is a must for anyone interested in local history, genealogy, or colonial-era art. Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast and browse other cemetery books!

Green-Wood Cemetery By Alexandra Mosca

Arcadia Publishing announces the release of the historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery.

Announcements

Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb By Scott L. Newstok

An innovative study of the Renaissance practice of making epitaphic gestures within other English genres. A poetics of quotation uncovers the ways in which writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Holinshed, Sidney, Jonson, Donne, and Elizabeth I have recited these texts within new contexts. Visit Palgrave Macmillan and purchase your copy today!

Living by the Dead By Ellen Ashdown with illustrations by Mary Liz Moody.

A memoir about living beside a cemetery--and about the members of my family who came to rest at Roselawn Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida. Please visit Kitsune Books for more information.

Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski.

Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!

Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers

For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.

Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman

Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture is now available. Please visit Studio Indiana for more information.

West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark

Features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.

University Scientists Study Cemetery Grass PDF Print E-mail
Written by DeadGirl   
Tuesday, 09 March 2004
By Bob Ratliff

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Since last summer, drivers along Highway 82 near the Mississippi State University campus have been inquiring about the school's cemetery.

The rows of white, round-topped "tombstones" visible from the highway adjacent to MSU's North Farm don't mark final resting places. They are, instead, part of a turf grass research project.

"This is an economic-type study where we're looking for grass that can give us the best looking and performing turf for a cemetery with the least amount of maintenance," said Wayne Philley, a research associate with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at MSU.

Last summer, six different turf grasses were installed as sod on the North Farm. The grasses on the plot include St. Augustine, zoysia, centipede, Tifway Bermuda and two Bermuda varieties developed at MSU -- Mississippi Choice and Mississippi Supreme.

The tombstones are actually wood painted and cut to a size and shape to resemble markers in national cemeteries.

"Everything we're doing simulates as much as possible what you would encounter in a cemetery," Philley said. "The grass received just a minimum amount of fertilizer when it was sodded. Since then it's been Mother Nature taking care of it. There's been no irrigation, no additional fertilization or anything else."

The grass is mowed on a regular basis during the growing season -- usually when it reaches a height of about 3 inches, which is marked on each of the simulated tombstones.

At the end of the three-year study, the university's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences will release its findings on which of the tested grasses offer the best quality turf and require the least mowing and other maintenance in a cemetery setting.

"Cemetery maintenance is something a lot of landscape firms do as part of their routine work," Philley said. "If we can provide those businesses with data that will reduce the number of times they have to mow or do other maintenance, it will have some real economic benefits. This study can also provide guidelines for individuals and volunteer groups who maintain many of Mississippi's small rural cemeteries."

http://msucares.com/news/print/agnews/an04/040304.html
 
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