December, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Making a Cement Walk 



I WANTED a cement walk and decided to make 

 it myself with the help of my 13-year-old boy. 

 A carpenter laid the frame for the walk 65 feet 

 long and 3 feet wide, putting cross pieces every 

 three feet except in front of the steps, which 

 space was larger on account of a turn. We dug 

 out all the earth within the frame to a depth of 

 ten inches, and filled, with stones of all sizes, to within 

 one and a half inches of the top of the frame, 

 laying the larger ones at the bottom and smaller 

 ones at the top. In a box made of some old 

 boards, we mixed the dry cement with coarse 

 gravel sand, screened, one coalhod of cement to 

 three of sand, and then added enough water to 

 make it of a batter-like consistency that would 

 drop from the shovel and not pour. This we put 

 on top of the stones, tamping it down well and 

 smoothing off the top as evenly as possible with a 

 mason's trowel. We covered with boards and 

 old matting to keep it from drying out too fast. 

 We mixed only enough cement to make one square 

 of the walk at a time. The most important 

 part of the whole work is to get the cement and 

 sand thoroughly mi.xed. Sand might have been 

 used instead of the stone, tamping it down very 

 firmly and evenly and putting the cement mixture 

 on top of the sand. 



The whole walk cost us $10.44, which included 

 the carpenter's charges of $2.59 for making and 

 laying the frame; 8 bags of Portland cement for 

 $6.00 and i}/2 loads of sand for $1.85. 



Massachusetts. Mrs. G. Wilson. 



What Counts in a Garden 



IN answer to "A Wail from a Wee Garden," 

 which appeared in the September, 1910, 

 issue of The Garden Magazine, I submit that 

 size is certainly not what counts in a garden as much 

 as the personahty of its owner. It should grow to 

 be a reflection of its owner, changing as he changes, 

 and expressing his sympathies to the last. There 

 is certainly an art element that enters into the 

 act of gardening, whether the border be 20 feet 

 long or 200 feet. And anyone eternally "swopping " 

 or "buying three of one thing and six of another," 

 never "arrives" anywhere. "A few of each" — 

 just think of the crudity of it ! If one has no fixed 

 ideal — a growth of feeUng for better effects 

 each year, not simply a hodge-podge of every 

 plant because the color is liked — where does one 

 ever get? 



The charmingly simple rule of Miss Jekyll on 

 color — "use warm colors in harmony (reds and 

 yellows) and cold colors in contrast (blues and 

 their allies)" — is not "scheming"; it is simply a 

 suggestion to make better. Of course, "drifts" 

 cannot appeal to gardeners of 56 x 36 ft., but if 

 they had absorbed, "before taking" instead of 

 "after taking" to gardening, a bit of Miss Jekyll's 

 wisdom, they might have planned 100 x 20 ft., 

 thereby securing the possibihty. So few people 

 realize that once nature has been left outside — 

 assembhng flowers e?i masse that could never grow 

 together — art must be the guide in the arrange- 

 ment. 



Heaven help the "wee garden" if it is too small 

 to help itself ! And may its "ninety-five different 

 kinds last season" never rise up to haunt the 

 master-hand, who "did not know the color of 

 the flowers when she sowed the seed!" 



New York. Mary L. Gibson. 



A Practical Fence-Post Driver 



THE driver consists of a 2-foot cut of a log 

 ten inches or more in diameter, with two 

 handles five feet long attached by bolts and two 

 iron bands. The photograph shows the device 

 resting upon a 7-foot hitching post which has been 

 driven by it, and illustrates as well the method 

 of construction. 



The posts to be set should be sharpened on four 

 sides for a length of two feet or more, thus taper- 

 ing to a 4-sided or stake point which can be driven 

 to better advantage than posts with rounded 

 points. One man starts the post holes with a 

 crow-bar, two others raise the driver to arm's 

 length and batter down the post. In this way 

 a side and end of a rectangular field containing 

 twenty acres were finished in ten hours. Stated 

 in terms of finished fence with woven wire: 

 the posts were sharpened, driven, and the wire 

 hung in ten hours by five men. Even on stony 

 ground the man with the crow-bar can readily 



A home-made fence-post driver, easy to make 



locate a spot for the post hole. The posts are 

 firmly driven, hence no fears of their stability 

 need be entertained. 



A log of twice the diameter of this one, and a 

 foot or a little more in length, would be fully as 

 efficient because a wider range of blow between 

 the handles would be possible. 



Washington, D. C. H. J. Wilder. 



Poison Ivy 



POISON IVY was scattered over several acres 

 of thick woods wherein I wished to build. 

 As I am seriously subject to ivy-poisoning, I was 

 compelled to devise other means for eradication 

 than the arsenate of soda recommended in The 

 Garden Magazine for October, igio. 



I took two ordinary laths, laid one upon the 

 other and, at a point about eight inches from one 

 end, I drove a slender nail through both laths, 

 and clenched it on the other side. For additional 

 strength I doubled the nails. These formed the 

 pivot of my long-handled shears, which I made 

 by sharpening the short end of the laths. 



Wearing heavy cotton gloves, and a handker- 

 chief closely swathing my face and neck, I attacked 

 the ivy early in August and made a clearance 

 of the whole area in a week. With the points 

 of the shears I seized the running vine, then rolled 

 the shears over and over in my hands until I had 

 torn the whole plant from the ground, sometimes 

 pulling up ivy which had covered forty to fifty 

 square feet of surface. 



Virginia. S. C. Stuntz. 



Protecting Shrubs from Winter 

 Cold 



IT IS not as difficult as it may appear to sufficiently 

 protect a tender shrub or even a small tree 

 against extreme cold, and the process is particu- 

 larly simple if fallen leaves are abundant. 



Encircle the tree with wire netting left open at 

 the top. Fill this with leaves, tamping them down 

 well with a stick. Then place several shingles, 

 or a board, on top to shed the rain or snow. Wire 

 netting can usually be had of sufficient height to 

 reach above the plant. The netting retails at 

 about a cent a square foot. 



Tying the canes of a shrub or the branches of a 

 tree so as to pull them together somewhat will 

 save the cost of the netting, and, at the same time, 

 enables the plant to be protected more effectually 

 with even less leaves than would otherwise be the 

 case. It is best, however, to be Uberal with the 

 leaves. Where netting is used the structure pro- 

 duced will be somewhat unstable in a high wind, 

 making it necessary to have guy ropes. For this 

 I use galvanized wire attached to stakes in the 

 ground. As can be seen from the illustration, a 

 plant protected in this way is not by any means 

 an eyesore but is rather attractive. 



Not quite as neat a method, but much stronger, 

 is to surround the tree or shrub with a paling of 

 stakes driven firmly into the ground which facili- 

 tates the packing of the leaves. When the paling 

 v,ill hold no more a stout cord should be tied around 

 the top. No guy ropes sre needed here. Where 

 one has a bed of tender shrubs or roses to protect, 

 the method obviates the necessity of layering and 

 likewise permits of a large amount of fresh stable 

 manure being placed around the plants without 

 danger of injury from heating. Before driving 

 the paling the canes should be tied in the manner 

 described. 



Leaves, while they form an excellent blanket, 

 always permit of a slight circulation of air so that 

 there need be no fear of suffocating a plant when 

 covering them. Straw, hay or even excelsior 

 will answer but leaves are to be preferred. In 

 severe climates the above two methods are more 

 efficient than using straw wrapped with burlap. 

 The leaves will remain dry all winter, which is 

 not so when burlap is used. 



North Dakota. C. L. Mf.ller. 



Protect your tender plants like this and they will 

 be sure to Uve until spring 



