134 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1906 



The 

 Original Old Style Method 



of making Terne Plates was known as the , 



PROCESS 



because MF Roofing Tin was the first practical metal- 

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When ordering, keep in mind the fact that the MF Process is the oldest 

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 to Overhead " — it's interesting, and costs you nothing. 



AMERICAN 



SHEET <& TIN PLATE 



COMPANY 



FRICK BUILDING 



PITTSBURGH, PA. 



Study Architecture 



EASY LESSONS, or Stepping 

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ARCHITECTURE. 



By THOS. MITCHELL. 



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MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York City 



The most modern Heater made 



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in the soil at intervals of about ten or twelve 

 inches in each direction. When not planted 

 in check rows in this fashion the roots are 

 usually set in rows or drills twelve or fifteen 

 inches apart in one direction, with the tufts 

 of grass six to ten inches apart in the row. 

 Slight cultivation is then practiced between 

 these rows to keep down weeds until the root- 

 stocks of the plants have gained possession of 

 the entire area. 



TERRACES AND BANKS. 



Upon terraces and banks where grass cannot 

 be readily established from seed or by plant- 

 ing, as before indicated, the sod or turf is 

 usually removed from some area where suit- 

 able grass is well established and used to cover 

 the entire surface of the bank or terrace. A 

 common method employed in this work is to 

 cut the sod into pieces a foot square and about 

 two or two and one-half inches thick. 



Upon .steep banks which are of a sandy na- 

 ture, and under conditions where it is dif- 

 ficult to use sod, a pleasing appearance can 

 be produced by the use of Japanese honey- 

 suckle (Lonicera japonica). This plant is 

 capable of establishing and maintaining itself 

 under adverse conditions, and it makes a good 

 soil binder and has the advantage of being 

 evergreen. 



WHEN TO PLANT A LAWN. 



There are those who are very successful in 

 lawn making who depend almost entirely upon 

 fall planting, and there are others who are 

 equally successful who advocate the practice 

 of spring planting. Both of these systems are 

 successful, and the prospective lawn maker 

 may use the method which best suits his con- 

 venience. If the seeding is to be done in the 

 autumn, the latter part of August or the 

 month of September is the best period for ac- 

 complishing the work in latitudes between 

 Washington, D. C, and Boston. In the 

 southern portion of this zone the work may 

 be deferred until October. 



If possible the seeding should be done at a 

 time when the fall rains are most abundant. 

 It is not advisable to sow the grass seed dur- 

 ing a dry period, unless there are at hand 

 artificial means for watering which can be 

 used to force rapid germination and growth. 



Fall planting has the advantage of allowing 

 a number of the weeds in the area to germin- 

 ate and be killed by the frosts and freezes of 

 the winter. If the grass attains a height of 

 two and one-half or three inches before win- 

 ter there is little danger of loss from severe 

 weather. In lacalities where the surfice of 

 the earth is not protected during winter by 

 a snow cover and the ground is likely to 

 freeze and thaw repeatedly it is not advisable 

 to atempt to establish a lawn in the autumn. 



Spring planting is more certain of results 

 than fall planting in the long run, particularly 

 in the zone under discussion. The draw- 

 back to spring planting is that work must fre- 

 quently be delayed longer than is desirable be- 

 cause of unfavorable soil conditions, particu- 

 larly upon heavy and retentive soils. Young 

 plants suffer severely from heat and drought 

 if they have not had an opportunity to grow 

 and form considerable root before the hot 

 period comes on. Weeds which come in ad- 

 vance of the spring planting of the lawn can 

 be overcome in a measure by giving the land 

 partial preparation in the autumn and allow- 

 ing the first crop of weed seed to germinate 

 before cultivation and the preparation of the 

 seed bed is completed, using this cultivation 

 to destroy the first crop of weeds as well as 

 to prepare the seed bed for the lawn. The 

 latter weeds can be held in check by frequent 

 clippings with the mower. 



MAINTENANCE OF A LAWN. 



All the operations connected with the main- 

 tenance of a greensward are directed toward 



