April, 1915 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



95 



Board vs. Wire Fences 



E. C. Dyer, 



iLIKE Ruskin. He could see beauty 

 in an ordinary lump of earth. For 

 years I have been looking for 

 "beauty" in board fences. True, board 

 fences have color, but I think Ruskin 

 would agree with me that the shades are 

 dreary, dull, and monotonous, and that 

 board fences in the average town and 

 city are unsightly and an abominable 

 nuisance. They harbor refuse, rubbish, 

 and decaying vegetation, and consequent- 

 ly attract vermin and create unhealthy 

 conditions. 



My sun room overlooks backyards for 

 a whole block. I can see that every 

 owner takes great pride in his home. 

 They are well painted, and every care 

 and attention is given the residence, yet 

 these beautiful homes rise above sordid 

 surroundings. With the exception of 

 my own yard, the ugly board fence is 

 everywhere in evidence. My yard is 

 comparatively clean and dry. In one 

 yard I see three barrels, a dog kennel, 

 old baskets, decayed apples, orange peel, 

 etc., all piled against a board fence. 

 Some yards still have banks of snow, 

 because the air and sunshine cannot 

 get at it. 



At this time of the year, March 20th, 

 no yard looks very presentable, yet it 

 affords me considerable delight to notice 

 that my yard is conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence of winter accumulations. The il- 

 lustration showing the two sanitary wire 

 fences and rustic furniture gives some 

 idea of the pleasure and restful enjoy- 

 ment our little "park" affords parents 

 and children alike. I merely knocked 

 the boards off, cut down the posts, re- 



Toronto, Ont. 



placed the top rail, and put on the wire. 

 Not figuring in my lalDor, it cost me 

 eighteen cents a foot for material and 

 paint for sixty feet, or a total of ten 

 dollars and eighty cents. 



The second illustration shows where I 

 took down eight board fences and erect- 

 ed a sanitary lawn fence. The work of 

 removing the old boards and supplying 

 the fence was done at an expense of 

 twenty-five cents a foot. 



The movement for sanitary and the 

 more attractive wire fences is growing 

 rapidly. One private concern in Tor- 

 onto, The Dovercourt Land Building and 

 Savings Co., under the direction of Prof. 

 H. L. Hutt, now head of their Horticul- 

 ture Department, are doing more than 

 the city itself to promote civic improve- 

 ment. This year the company will dis- 

 tribute over one thousand dollars in 

 prizes. Prof. Hutt condemns board 

 fences, and in his address before a large 

 Toronto audience, he illustrated with 

 lantern slides the dullness and gaunt 

 hideousness of bare board fences as con- 

 trasted with attractive wire fences and 

 the luxuriant growth of flowers and 

 shrubbery where sunshine and air have 

 free access. 



In theory, every citizen supports the 

 movement for a clean city, but all do not 

 bring home to themselves the fact that 

 to achieve it means individual responsi- 

 bility. Let him contemplate his back 

 yard, talk with his neighbor, and if it 

 exists, remove that hideous back fence 

 from blighting their observation. Erect 

 in their stead the health-giving, joy-pro- 

 moting lawn fence. Make your home 



"show" what you think of it. A hun- 

 dred people see the "outside" of your 

 place to a dozen who get "inside." 

 "Why don't they keep their yards a 

 little cleaner?" 

 You ask with deep annoyance not 

 undue. 

 "Why don't they keep the lawns a 

 little greener?" 

 Did you ever stop to think that 

 "They" means YOU? 



The Art of Transplanting 



Wm. Hunt, O.A.C., Gnelph, Ont. 



To harden plants to outdoor condi- 

 tions, give air to them as freely as pos- 

 sible at all times without injuring them. 

 About the first or second week in May, 

 if the v\eather is at all mild, the boxes 

 or pots may be set out of doors where 

 they can be given protection if the wea- 

 ther turns cold, or be brought indoors on 

 cold nights. Shade the plants from the 

 sun after setting them out for a few 

 days. 



Most of the plants for the peren- 

 nial border may be set out about the end 

 of May or early in June, except the sal- 

 via, ageratum, and lobelia. These 

 should not be planted until about the 

 second week in June, not until all dan- 

 ger of frost is over. Salvias, pentste- 

 mons, petunias, verbenas, and snapdra- 

 gons should be set about fifteen inches 

 apart. Ageratum and the other dwarf 

 growing kinds about ten inches apart. 

 Set the plants out in dull, showery wea- 

 ther if possible. 



The plants named can be grown from 

 cuttings as well as from seed, but as 

 I hey are all more or less difficult to win- 

 ter over in a dwelling-Jiouse or green- 



