CONSTRUCTION NOTES 305 



any spot between the center of the circle and its circumference; the dis- 

 tances from each figure point to the putting hole will differ in length. The 

 object of the player is to hole out from each successive figure, beginning 

 at figure one, in the fewest strokes. 



Croquet (see Plate 118, page 304). Croquet is played on a level lawn. 

 The dimensions of the court, measured on the boundary line, are 60 x 30 

 feet, although the game may be played on a court 25 x 50 feet. Thirty 

 inches inside the boundary line is the playing line; this may be either a 

 marked or an imaginary line. Each stake is set just outside the playing 

 line half way between the end corners. The first arch is placed eight feet 

 from the boundary line, and the second arch seven feet from the first. The 

 side arches are placed on a line across the court with the second arch, and 

 five feet, nine inches in from the boundary line. The center arch may be 

 either single or double. If double, the arches should be placed at right 

 angles to the other arches and 1 8 inches apart. 



The court should be marked on the turf with white tape or lime so 

 that the boundaries may be easily seen from any point in the court. The 

 court is sometimes built in the form of a sunken panel, its sides rising five 

 or six inches as nearly perpendicular as the turf can be held, and from 

 this point gently sloping away from the court for at least four or five feet. 

 The court should be a perfectly smooth, very nearly level space, and the turf 

 should be tough and kept closely clipped. Even though the court is a por- 

 tion of the lawn not distinctly outlined from the rest, it must be carefully 

 prepared if it is to be in a serviceable condition throughout the entire season. 

 The subgrade should be approximately parallel to the finished grade of the 

 court. Tile drains should be installed at intervals varying from ten to 

 twenty feet, according to the nature of the subsoil. Trenches in which these 

 drains are laid should be refilled with coarse, porous material, such as cin- 

 ders, gravel or broken stone, to a level of the subgrade. The subgrade 

 should slope about a quarter inch to the foot towards some one of the tile 

 drains. The whole is then covered with a four to six-inch, or preferably 

 thicker, layer of topsoil, which should be screened through a screen of a 

 half-inch mesh to remove all stones, hard lumps, etc. This topsoil should 

 be put down in two layers, if more than four inches thick, and carefully 

 rolled to a smooth, fine, plane surface true to grade. If possible, the area 

 thus prepared should be allowed to stand several days before seeding. If 

 this is not possible, it should be thoroughly sprinkled, care being taken 

 that all parts are equally wet and yet not to use sufficient force to wash 

 any portions and cause a roughness in the surface. The whole should then 

 be dressed up again and rolled to a true surface, scratched up slightly with 

 an iron rake, seeded and lightly rolled. 



