April, 1910 



T HE G A R 1 ) E N MAGAZIN E 



175 



This simple sundial, if carefully made, is a fairly 

 accurate timepiece 



blossoms. To relieve this the California 

 poppy, with its light yellow sort of blossoms 

 would go well. Then border all of this mass of 

 yellow and yellow- 

 orange with nas- 

 turtiums having 

 the same hues. 



A HOME-MADE 

 SUNDIAL 



A sundial will . 

 add much to the 

 general appear- 

 ance of your gar- 

 den. The direc- 

 tions, given by Mr. 

 John Corcoran of the New Paltz Normal 

 School, are easy to follow. 



Some soft wood, such as basswood or 

 whitewood, will do for this. A harder wood, 

 while more difficult to work with, is more 

 satisfactory. Take two pieces of the wood 

 you have chosen: A, 6\ x 6J x \ in. and B, 

 7 x 7^ x | in. 



Construction: True up each piece to the 

 given dimensions, and sand-paper carefully. 



Gnomon pattern. One- 

 half actual size 



Be careful to stroke the wood always with the 

 grain — never across the fibres. 



Next make a shadow-piece, or gnomon, as 

 it is called. Get a thin piece of the same kind 

 of wood as is used in piece A, and lay it out 

 as follows: With the fibres running in the 

 direction A, B, beginning at point A con- 

 struct an angle equal to the latitude of the 

 place where the dial is to be used. For 

 example, if the latitude of your town is 41 

 degrees construct the angle D 41 degrees, or 

 if it is 42 degrees, let D be 42 degrees. Then 

 cut from A to C, and sand-paper carefully. 

 Take the wooden shadow-piece and fasten it 

 to the centre of piece A. Fasten by two 

 brads or small nails about \ inch or 1 inch 

 long, or glue it. Place piece A over piece 

 B so that a margin of \ inch will be left on 

 all sides. 



Place A so that the fibres will run at right 

 angles to B to prevent the boards from 

 warping. These two pieces may be fastened 

 together by driving a brad in each corner, or 

 gluing, or both. It hardly seems possible 

 that the shadow cast by the gnomon will 

 really tell time. But it will. 



Sun time and clock time are not quite the 

 same. There are four days in the year when, 

 if you work out the sun-shadow time, your 

 dial will be almost accurate. These dates are 

 April 15th, June 15th, September 1st, and 

 December 24th. 



Before you go outdoors draw on the plat- 

 form of the sundial a straight line from 

 angle B of the gnomon to the front edge 

 of the platform. 



Set the dial out in direct sunlight. The 

 shadow cast must fall right on the straight 

 line which you previously drew. When the 



Garden tools for children's work. A spading fork 

 may be substituted for the spade 



shadow and the line coincide, mark the 

 extreme end of the line XII. This stands 

 for twelve o'clock. Now screw the sun- 

 dial in this position to the column you have 

 made for it to rest upon. At one o'clock 

 mark where the shadow points, and keep 

 on with this for every hour. 



You remember the gnomon angle was the 

 number of degrees corresponding to the 

 degrees in latitude of your special place. 

 Poughkeepsie boys and girls will be inter- 

 ested to know that if a sundial be brought 

 to them from Rome, it will be right for them. 

 And if New York City boys and girls could 

 get one from Florence, they would find it 

 quite accurate for their own use. 



THINGS TO BE ATTENDED TO IMMEDIATELY 



I. Clean all rubbish off the garden spot. 



II. While the ground is still frozen, cart barn- 

 yard dressing, horse manure, on to the garden. 

 This is to be spaded in later, when the frost is out 

 of the ground. 



III. Plant in little boxes indoors those flower 

 seeds you wish to get an early start. Tomato and 

 pepper seed may be planted indoors also. 



IV. Sow in the hotbed: radish, lettuce, and onion 

 seeds. Onions thus started and later transplanted 

 into the open garden will be mild in flavor. 



V. If you are not quite sure how the seedlings 

 of the plants you have chosen look as they come up 

 plant some in boxes inside. Do this just to get 

 acquainted with them. 



VI. Uncover the outdoor bulb bed. Rake off 

 the old manure if evidences of it are left on the bed. 

 You will be surprised to see how fine and strong 

 the new bulb-shoots look, although, naturally, they 



Children should brush the peas earlier than this. 

 so as not to injure the young plants 



will look yellow from the long stay away from the 

 light. 



VII. Cut brush ready to brush the peas, also poles 

 for the beans. If you choose bush beans, or lazy 

 wife beans, no poles will be needed. 



VIII. Buy the tools necessary for garden work: 

 trowels, spading forks, hoes, rakes, watering 

 pots, and weeders are really enough. Burn on 

 the wooden handles your initials or the school 

 number. 



IX. Buy plenty of strong twine for stringing off 

 beds. 



X. Once again heed this — buy your seed. 



XI. Certain things may be made: A reel for the 

 garden line, stakes and markers, dibbers, a sun- 

 dial and a good bird house are all a part of garden 

 work. 



XII. Mark off on a rake-handle a scale of as many 

 feet as the handle permits of. Two of these feet 

 mark off into inches. This saves carrying foot 

 rules or yardsticks outdoors in planting time. If 

 the garden is a large one, then a tape of from 60 to 

 100 feet is almost necessary. 



XIII. Test seed. You may have some old seed 

 and do not feel quite certain about using it. It is 

 possible to be quite certain by testing it. Choose 

 twenty seeds of a kind, place between damp blotting 

 paper or on moist cotton. Leave in a warm place, 

 keeping them moist until the seeds germinate or 

 sprout. Let us suppose fifteen out of the twenty 

 seeds germinate. Then £ or 75 per cent, have 

 shown life. This test speaks well for the seed. 

 Use it. Now suppose out of another kind only five 

 out of twenty sprout. Then only \ or 25 per cent, 

 show life. It doesn't speak very well for this seed 

 does it? Throw away all seed where the germinat- 

 ing power is low. 



XIV. Make a germinating table — as the ger- 



minating power of seeds is worked out, a germin- 

 ating table might be filled in at the same time. For 

 example, it takes garden peas from six to ten days 

 to germinate. How many days does it take to ger- 

 minate radish, lettuce, beets and all the rest of the 

 seeds you intend to use? Work all this out, it will 

 be of help in the outdoor work. 



OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES 



The accompanying photograph shows what 

 two small boys on a Colorado ranch did with 

 a box of dirt and a five cent package of morning 

 glory seeds. The soil here is a heavy, sticky clay, 

 which bakes like a brick in the sun. This clay was 

 mixed and pulverized with an equal quantity of 

 well-rotted barn yard manure, the seeds planted, 

 and frequently watered. 



The plants grew luxuriantly and made a grand 

 display each morning of exquisite red, white, and 

 blue blossoms which were enjoyed by the entire 

 family. 



The more credit is 

 due because of diffi- 

 culties which had to 

 be overcome in the way 

 of carrying water some 

 distance and guarding 

 against chickens. They 

 insisted on snipping 

 the plants and buds. 

 With a little more 

 training the vines 

 might easily have been 

 made to cover three 

 times the amount of 

 space. 

 Jessie I. Carpenter. 



Colorado. -A- box is a possible garden 



