PRACTICAL BOOK OF GARDEN ARCHITECTURE 



this special consideration in this country, where long 

 droughts sometimes permanently injure the best of 

 well-planned turf courts. 



In planning the grassy courts in England arrange- 

 ments are frequently made for flooding with water 

 two or three inches deep in times of drought. An- 

 other English plan for keeping them in good con- 

 dition is to underlay them with irrigating tile, which 

 in dry time can be filled with water and allowed to 

 seep through the joints. By means of these pipes or 

 tile, the turf can be more effectively watered from 

 beneath than it could from the surface. For the 

 small home court the tile need not be more than 

 three inches in diameter, laid about sixteen inches 

 deep. The best plan is to lay it crosswise of the 

 court, and about six or eight inches apart, connecting 

 the ends of these crosswise tiles with a line of six- 

 inch tile, and having a central opening for connecting 

 a two-inch hose. The large English courts will some- 

 times display an elaborate system of irrigating tile, 

 with connecting drains and gate valves. But for the 

 small home court the arrangement may be more sim- 

 ple the cross drains being given a slight slope from 

 the side of the hose connection to the connecting drain 

 on the other side. With a gate valve in the connect- 

 ing drain, to be closed in times of drought, it will be 

 possible to keep the pipes filled with water, which will 



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