514 



( (iiiad'nin Juircstry Magazine, November, i(j2o 



T\\v l)or(!crs of the tree groups should 

 not l)c closer to the walks than three feet 

 and the trees should not l)e nearer the 

 outline of the ,grou]) tlian four feci. 



Plant inj^- should he done with a s]jade, 

 directions for which may he found in 

 nn- hullctin entitled "The Farmers I'lan- 

 tation," on ])a,L;e thirteen. This ma\' l)e 

 ohtained free from llie I'Oreslry ( )ftice, 

 Indian I lead. 



//rrri' to Make the "Islaiuls." 



In marking- the groups tlie northwest 

 one for example, pace along the western 

 houndary for forty nine yards going- east, 

 marking each ten yards with a stake, 

 i'ace out from each stake the distance 

 as shown in the plan, ohserving and 

 niarking both outside and inside curves. 

 Connect up these stakes by marking the 

 ground with a hoe, making the curves of 

 the outline bold and full. You will not 

 tind much difficulty after you get on to 

 it and remember it is always better to 

 have the tree groups too large than too 

 small. 



The grass should be sewn on the whole 

 Park this spring, and Kentucky Blue 

 Grass with about a third of White Clo- 

 ver, should be used The grass should be 

 sown in three lots by hand, going N. and 

 S., and E. and W. alternately, finishing 

 with the White Clover. Do a small 

 ])iece at a time. Each sowing should be 

 raked in wdien it is made, and the whole 

 thing rolled firm after it is all done. 



After the walks are pegged out, the 

 easiest way to make them is to plow 

 along the line of the pegs, using a rolling 

 coulter, if possible, to cut a clear furrow, 

 and throwing the earth into the walk. 

 Three or four inches deep will be quite 

 enough. The grass edge bounding the 

 walk must be sharp and a clean clear 

 furrow is essential. While the clean 

 sharp edge can be restored and improved 

 with the spade, the less of that the bet- 

 ter, as it takes time. After the furrows 

 are made, the centre of the walk should 

 be rounded up by using a 'A'" along the 

 furrow and throwing the loose soil mto 

 the middle. 



The *A^" is made of 8-inch plank. It 

 makes a fine job and saves a lot of work. 

 An ordinary small road drag can be used 

 for the same purpose. 



Care of the I'ark. 



Tile hni^h of a I'ark is everything, 

 and no matter lujw well your trees and 

 grass are growing, they will never have 

 the i)leasing appearance they should have 

 unless the edges of the tree groups and 

 the walks are kej)t trimmed. These 

 should be gone over (jnce a year with a 

 half moon turf iron. It will not take 

 more than a day or two to do, and per- 

 ha[)s need noi even be done every vear. 

 but it should be boi'ue in min(l. Then llie 

 grass should be cut. Xcjlhing looks bet- 

 ter than a well trimmed lawn and noth- 

 ing looks worse than a neglected one. 

 Lawn mower cutting is expensive how- 

 ever, and a run over once or twice a 

 year with an ordinary farm mower will 

 do very well. If the town can afford it, 

 perhaps before some big day, a lawn 

 mower can be run along the edges of 

 walks and tree islands, five or six feet 

 wide. This will make a wonderful dif- 

 ference to the appearance of the Park. 



]\'hy the "Ishinds.' 



This tree island arrangement is the 

 one best suited to small town parks, 

 where you have to make the most of a 

 small piece of ground at as little cost as 

 possible. As we have seen, it costs less 

 to plant and maintain, and besides it 

 makes the Park go further. You see a 

 straight line Park practically all at once, 

 but in this arrangement there is a change 

 of scene every few yards as you proceed 

 along the walks or wander among the 

 grass. Xew group-effects in the distance 

 spring into view and disclose new- 

 stretches of grass curving away behind 

 the trees, each with an invitation to ex- 

 plore still further, so that the whole re- 

 creative value of the Park is magnified 

 many fold. 



As time goes on and you can afford 

 it, the scenic value can be added to by 

 ])lanting groups of shrubs and flowers 

 on the edges of the tree groups. This 

 will add greatly to the charm of the whole 

 park and it need not be expensive or 

 done right away, and meantime the curv- 

 ing outlines of the walks and tree groups 

 will give you a very fine change from 

 the straight lines so painfully evident 

 both in the countrv and in town. 



