June, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



221 



the core very tightly. Of course, the barrel mold did not 

 form a very attractive urn, and to make an artistic flower 

 urn it was necessary to carve the sides to a certain extent. 

 This required that the half-barrel be removed after the 

 concrete was quite hard, but yet soft enough to be easily 

 worked with the chisel. It was found that if the mold was 

 HUed just after noon, the concrete would be sufficiently 

 hard to be worked the next morning at seven o'clock. How- 

 ever, this period of time would vary to a certain extent with 

 the weather. On a wet day it would have to remain in 

 the mold a longer time. The barrel was removed by cut- 

 ting the hoops and knocking off the staves. This done, the 

 design had to be cut in the concrete within a few hours, 

 because the material soon became too hard to be worked 

 readily. It would be well, therefore, for any amateur who 

 intends to experiment along these lines to have his design 

 well planned out beforehand, so that he can pencil or chalk 

 it on the urn in a few moments, and start to work with 

 chisel and mallet at once. Of course, it is possible to carve 



the design in reverse out of wood and tack it to the inside 

 of the barrel, but this will prove a much more difficult task 

 than carving the concrete itself. 



At B in our illustration we show one of the columns being 

 cast in a stove-pipe mold. The stove-pipe is joined with 

 small stove bolts, so that it may be removed from the con- 

 crete column by unbolting it ancl spreading it open. It will 

 be observed that the columns of one of the garden urns 

 are fluted. Mr. Butler did this work with a chisel after 

 the concrete had set. However, the work could be simpli- 

 fied by securing strips of wood to the inside of the 

 stove pipe mold by means of small screws, as indicated at 

 C. For the capitals and bases of the columns, small cook- 

 ing utensils were used, as indicated at D. At E we show 

 the mold for the base of the urn. It will be observed that 

 the side pieces are held to the plank bed with long nails, 

 which are not driven home, but are left projecting slightly, 

 so that they may easily be withdrawn to permit of taking 

 the mold apart when the cast is completed. 



Concrete Copings for Garden Walks 



By John J. Heinze 



HE amateur gardener, in laying out his crete mixture should be one part of cement and three parts 



lawn, usually overlooks the fact that dirt of sand. It should be just moist enough to cling together 



is apt to be washed down on the walk when a bit of it is pressed in the hand. In about ten min- 



when it rains or when the lawn is sprin- utes the mold can be taken apart and the block put care- 



kled, giving the grounds an untidy ap- fully aside to harden, which takes about forty-eight hours, 



pearance. One method of preventing For the first twenty-four hours the blocks should be slightly 



this is to cut a shallow trench at the moistened occasionally. The blocks are set in the ground 



edge of the walks, to catch the dirt and water. A better 

 method, and one that will tend to improve the appearance of 

 the grounds, is to place a low coping 

 of concrete blocks on each side of the 

 walks. The accompanying illustrations 

 show a simple method of making col- 

 lapsible molds for forming these bor- 

 der blocks, also molds for the bor- 

 ders of circular flower beds. 



To make the mold for a straight 

 block, use two boards measuring i 

 by 5 by 28 inches. At an inch from 

 each end cut a groove i inch wide by 

 3-^2 inch deep, as shown at F in the 

 drawing. For the end pieces, use 

 two blocks, H, measuring i by 5 by 

 3^ inches. Make the base board of 

 any thickness, 8 inches wide by 30 

 inches long. Near one corner of the 

 base board nail two narrow strips 

 of wood at right angles to each 

 other, as shown at G. These strips 

 of wood serve to square up the mold. 

 All parts of the mold coming in con- 

 tact with the concrete should be oiled, 

 and after a block is formed, the 

 mold should be wiped with a damp 

 cloth or sponge before a new block 

 is cast. 



After the four sides are assembled 

 on the base board and clamped to- 

 gether, as shown at E, the concrete 

 is poured in the mold and tamped. 

 The top of the block is smoothed by 

 scraping off any excess of concrete 

 with the edge of a board. The con- 



Collapsible molds for making concrete copings 



with the tops projecting i^ inches above the walk. 



For the borders of flower beds the same method is fol- 

 lowed, with the exception that blocks 

 c and d, Fig. J, are cut to the arcs e 

 and f. The end pieces g and h cut 

 off an eighth of a circle, and should 

 be set at an angle of 45 degrees, as 

 shown. Of course, the arcs e and f 

 may be varied to suit requirements, 

 and the blocks may subtend a larger 

 or smaller angle; but ordinarily eight 

 blocks to the circle will be found a 

 convenient proportion. The curved 

 blocks can be combined with the 

 straight blocks to border irregular 

 walks and gardens. 



If a curved or patterned top to the 

 coping is desired the mold should be 

 filled heaping full and then scraped 

 off with a board cut to the desired 

 pattern. 



A simple rectangular flower box 

 may be made with the mold shown 

 at E. A core should be secured to 

 the base board, extending to within 

 two inches of the top of the mold box. 

 The core should taper on all four 

 sides, and the tapering sides should 

 be painted to prevent them from 

 swelling with the moisture. When 

 the mixture has been well tamped 

 in, place a board over the mold and 

 turn the whole upside down, when 

 the base board can be withdrawn and 

 the concrete allowed to harden in the 

 mold. 



