September, 1909 
AMERICAN SEOMES “AND GARDENS xv 
Once planted this garden must be left alone. 
No work can be done there, except pulling 
up weeds, that will not injure some of the 
bulbs, and if any of the plants die out or are 
crowded out after a time, they can be replaced. 
This is much better than planting bulbs in 
the grass, as is sometimes recommended, 
because when in the grass their leaves are sure 
to be cut before they have ripened, which is an 
injury to next year’s flowers. 
Any neglected wild spot can be used for 
a small spring garden—the expense will be 
little and the satisfaction great. 
A grassy walk through the woods with bulbs 
planted on each side is ideal. Any tree on a 
small place can become a forest large enough 
for a woodland walk, if one uses imagination. 
Imagine the woods and the walk, but let the 
flowers be real and abundant! 
PLANTS FOR A HEDGE 
‘We want to have a hedge around our 
place, which is in a small town in the northern 
part of Connecticut. The neighbors say that 
privet is not hardy, and we do not want to 
wait for hemlock. Can you suggest any- 
thing?” 
The privet would probably be hardy in 
northern Connecticut, though it might be 
killed to the ground in a severe winter. 
I would suggest that you use buckthorn 
(Rhamnus catharticus) which is absolutely 
hardy even in Minnesota and farther north. 
Buckthorn is probably the best deciduous 
shrub we have to use for clipped hedges. It 
is better than privet in other ways than hardi- 
ness. Its foliage is no less handsome, and its 
tough short branches make a stronger and 
more impenetrable hedge. 
Remember in clipping the hedge, to keep 
it always wider at the bottom than at the top. 
This gives the branches near the ground a 
better chance to grow, so that it will not get 
thin at the bottom. All hedges should be 
wedge-shaped or conical in section. It is a 
must better shape than the square flat-topped 
hedge. 
OLD MILLSTONES 
“There is an old millstone near the grist- 
mill which my father used to own, and I have 
often wondered if I could not use it some- 
where about my new place. It is four feet 
in diameter, and must weight half a ton. The 
sentiment connected with it is considerable, 
because it has ground all the grain used in the 
country round about, up to thirty years ago.” 
Your millstone should certainly be rescued 
and put to some use. Miuillstones vary in 
different parts of the country, not only in 
the kind of stone of which they were made, 
but in size and in the lines which are cut on 
them to feed the grain in. Sometimes they are 
coarse reddish granite, sometimes a finer gray 
granite. It would be interesting to know 
whether they were made in the localities 
where they are found, or whether they were 
imported. “The so-called French stones, which 
are built up of many small pieces cleverly 
fitted and bound together by iron bands, are 
made of soft buff-colored stone, which dis- 
integrates rapidly when exposed to the weather. 
These, of course, are useless for garden deco- 
ration. 
Your stone might be raised on a rough 
block, making a sort of table for afternoon 
tea, or for work in the garden; a small jet of 
water falling into the hole in the center 
would be an added charm, or the stone might 
be used as a base for a sun-dial pedestal, 
making the pedestal of stone, or of bronze, 
or, possibly, of wrought iron. 
Millstones make very convenient carriage- 
blocks, and, in these days of low automobiles, 
Cottage 
Designs 
HESE books offer to architects, builders, 
homeseekers and investors by far the 
most complete collection of plans ever 
brought out, while the price is so low as to 
place them within the reach of all who have 
an interest in the building of homes. The 
designs are compiled with a view to represent- 
ing all grades of cost, from the simplest types 
of cottages, as illustrated in the first series, to 
the comparatively elaborate structures reaching 
to $10,000 or more, in cost, treated in the 
fourth series, so that examples are given cover- 
ing nearly every requirement, with respect to 
cost, in inexpensive homes. 
No. 1. Cottage Designs 
with Constructive Details 
A series of twenty-five designs of cottages, 
most of which have been erected, ranging in 
cost from $600 to $1,500; together with details 
of interior and exterior finish, all drawn to 
convenient scale, and accompanied by brief 
specifications. Illustrated with 53 full-page 
plates of floor plans, elevations and details. 
No. 2 Low Cost Houses 
with Constructive Details 
Embracing upward of twenty-five selected 
designs of cottages originally costing from 
$1,000 to $3,000, accompanied with elevations, 
floor plans and details of construction, all drawn 
to scale, together with brief descriptions and, 
in many instances, full specifications and 
detailed estimates of cost. Illustrated by 61 
full-page plates of floor plans, elevations and 
details. 
No. 3. Modern Dwellings 
with Constructive Details 
A selection of twenty designs of artistic 
suburban dwellings erected in various parts of 
the country, at costs ranging from $2,800 
to $7,000; embracing floor plans, elevations 
and constructive details, showing interior and 
exterior finish, and drawn to scale, together 
with extracts from the specifications. Illus- 
trated by means of half-tone reproductions, 
from photographs of the completed structures, 
and 61 full-page plates, of floor plans, eleva- 
tions and details. 
No. 4. Suburban Homes 
with Constructive Details 
Comprising twenty selected designs of attrac- 
tive suburban homes, ranging in cost from 
about $3,000 upward; embracing floor plans, 
elevations and constructive details, showing 
interior and exterior finish, a!l drawn to scale, 
together with extracts from the specifications. 
Illustrated by means of half-tone reproductions 
from photographs of the completed structures, 
and 75 full-page plates of plans, elevations 
and details. 
One Dollar Each, Postpaid 
(SOLD SEPARATELY) 
MUNN & CO. 
Publishers of Scientific American 
361 Broadway, New York 
they are just the right height to step on from 
the running-board. 
I have seen then used as door-steps, but their 
round shape does not fit them very well for 
that purpose. 
It might be used at the intersection of two 
paved paths, or as central point in a paved 
court. In such a position it would be inter- 
esting to have the points of the compass 
marked on it by means of bronze plugs or 
rosettes at the edge. [his suggests its use as 
the ornamental base of a small flagstaff. 
You are lucky to have such a stone, because 
they are being picked up rapidly by owners of 
country estates. 
THE WILD CHERRY TREE 
“There are several medium-sized wild 
cherry trees near our house, and because they 
give the only shade we have, we hesitate to 
cut them down, but we want to replace them 
with maples.” 
I do not understand your desire to cut 
down the uncommon wild cherries, and to 
replace them with the ubiquitous maple. 
The wild cherry is an exceedingly handsome 
tree, and a good one to have near the house, 
because it does not give a dense, oppressive 
shade, but carries its leaves well out on its 
slender branches like an elm. It is graceful 
at maturity, as its delicate masses of foliage 
sway and recover under a stiff breeze. 
Its spring and summer color is good, and 
it is one of the last trees to turn in the fall, 
when it assumes a pale lemon-yellow color. 
The fruits ripening in August give another 
interest to the tree, as they are good to eat, 
and attract the birds. When the cherries are 
properly treated they make a pleasant tonic 
cordial. 
The wood is to-day the the rarest and 
most valuable of all our North American 
woods. It is much used for furniture and for 
interior trim. 
The disease known as black rust does 
affect it, and it is the regular abode of the 
tent caterpillar, but both these troubles are 
possible to control. Certainly such a fine 
tree is worth much effort to keep it in good 
trim, and it is probably less trouble than an 
elm tree when the bettles are thick. 
ae MODERN HOMES|® 
with Colonial (Georgian) details, but 
arranged with modern comforts and 
the completeness of the twentieth oentury. 
Written @ Illustrated by E.S. CHILD, Architect 
AL COLLECTION of designs of houses 
They show large, correctly drawn verspec- 
tives, full floor plans, and complete descrip- 
tions, with estimates of cost. The designs are 
new, original, unique, consistent, but not stiff 
nor constrained. Made, not by an artist, but 
by anarchitect. They combine beauty of ex- 
terior with complete and convenient interiors, 
with kitchens, laundries, pantries and closets 
carefully and skilfully considered, 
If you are at all interested in the subject, 
you vill enjoy this publication. 
Price, postpais, $2.00 
MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York 
AmericanHomes & 
Gardens & & RB and 
Scientific American 
sent to one address 
for one ZOE One year. 
REGULARLY $6 
