THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
A bench and pergola that is a combination of concrete and wood 
paints cannot be used successfully unless 
one is willing to accept an uncertainty, 
as they produce all sorts of tones. An 
object covered with moss-green oil paint 
will eventually change to a dirty yellow 
color. As weather action has compara- 
tively little effect on cement, it is quite im- 
portant that these objects be colored to 
suit the surroundings at the time of placing 
in position, and as proper tone is fully as 
important as form, this item of the process 
should be carefully studied. 
In making the sundial pedestal it is 
simplified by constructing it in four sep- 
arate parts. ‘The base and table are square, 
the shaft and cap round. ‘The square por- 
tions are made by nailing four strips of 
wood together and casting the blocks in 
same on a level table. The shaft is turned 
as any other round form, and the cap turned 
reversed, by so doing assisting the concrete 
to lay well to the form. Were it made right 
side up it would be much slower work, 
owing to the tendency of the concrete to 
sag and fall away. 
After the four parts are complete it is a 
very simple matter to place and fasten 
the various sections together with cement 
and to place the pedestal in position. 
By clamping or screwing on projecting 
half rounds or other shapes to the templet 
additional ornament can be given to an 
object of the same outline, and the same 
inside form can be utilized for other 
designs. 
The pots shown on the stone posts in 
the illustration were made on the lower 
half of the oil jar-design, the concrete carried 
up only a portion of the distance, the same 
templet being used with the pieces clamped 
on to form ornamental lines and a piece to 
cut bottom. When dry and hard, the form 
was drawn and a bottom put in the opening. 
As the forms and templets remain intact 
after each object is complete, they may 
be used indefinitely, and duplicates can be 
had if so desired. 
Reading an article in a recent magazine 
I noticed the price quoted on cement pedestals 
as ranging from $20 to $50. The one here 
shown, neither elaborate or especially ornate, 
cost in material two buckets of cement and 
six of sand—$1z would be putting it high; 
add $r more for wood, zinc, etc., and if you 
leave out the cost of labor, you have then 
succeeded in getting a pedestal for $2. 
This applies also to vases, pots, etc. 
The labor involved in building the forms 
and templets is comparatively small. 
As a final word, don’t be in too much 
of a hurry to get the object in piace; 
allow it to dry thoroughly for about a 
week or, to be really safe, ten days. 
Remove then to permanent position, pre- 
viously drawing the form. At this stage 
the advantage of the wet newspapers 
! LEELA SS aa EOC es 
Junz, 1908 
will be appreciated. The form will draw 
with perfect freedom, leaving the shell free 
and clear. 
CONCRETE SEATS 
[Eprror’s Nore: In making concrete 
work which has rectangular sides or, at 
least, where there are no curved lines, all 
that is necessary is a form that has the 
inside shape of the object desired. In 
these cases a cutting sheet of zinc is un- 
necessary. 
In the West Side parks system of Chicago, 
Ill, concrete has been used very effectively 
in making garden benches by Mr. Jens 
Jensen, the landscape architect of the 
parks. 
The general mixture in these concrete 
benches was, one part of cement, three 
parts of sand, and six parts of stone for 
foundation work. For the posts the mix- 
ture was one—two—five. For the finish 
the mixture was one of cement and two 
of sand. In the posts eight five-six- 
teenth inch iron rods were placed as rein- 
forcement and in the seats the same size 
of iron was used, placing the rods six 
inches apart crosswise, and putting two 
rods of the same size for the entire length 
of the seat. 
Mr. Jensen said, referring to the illus- 
trations herewith: 
“You will notice that one of the seats 
is partly cement, and partly wood. All 
our new seats are built that way, as we 
find them more comfortable because the 
concrete gets extremely hot in the sun. 
The wood and concrete seats cost a great 
deal more money, however. For private 
estates the solid concrete seat could have 
some kind of matting placed on them 
which in the case of public parks would 
not last very long before the children or 
the public would carry it away.”] 
To be perfectly satisfactory in hot weather a concrete garden bench requires a seat of matting 
