428 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
end, would be highly un- 
satisfactory. 
It is well, therefore, to 
insist on these points, since 
in most mechanical opera- 
tions of whatever kind so- 
ever this temptation is often 
present and is frequently 
quiet eagerly availed of. In 
making concrete garden or- 
naments the work must be 
carried out with the utmost 
care at every stage. The 
molds and patterns must be carefully made; the joints must 
be tight; the surfaces of the wood smooth and even; the 
nails, when it is necessary to remove them, 
driven in at exactly the right angle and 
just far enough to permit them to be re- 
moved without injuring the model. ‘The 
work of dissecting the mold is often more 
delicate and complicated than the labor 
of putting it together, and every part 
must be accurately and nicely adjusted 
and capable of being removed and re- 
adjusted. The labor spent on this pre- 
liminary work will be more than repaid in 
the satisfaction with which the final prod- 
uct—the particular article that is being 
manufactured—will be viewed in the end. 
And after the mold is made and tested 
—for one must be very certain that it is 
both well made and will yield the result 
contemplated from the beginning—comes 
the preparation of the concrete. I have 
already referred to this part of the work, 
but speak of it again at this point, because 
every single operation in the whole matter 
is essential, and the care and pains that is given to one part 
must, with equal care and pains, be bestowed upon every 
other part. It is presumed, 
of course, that those who 
may undertake the task of 
making concrete garden or- 
naments from the directions 
given in this brief series of 
articles are prepared to fol- 
low the very detailed direc- 
tions that have been given. 
It is for this very reason 
that the directions have 
been presented in such de- 
tail, and since this discloses 
Fig. 8—Parts of mold before assembling 
Fig. 9—Shaft mold assembled and 
in position ready to pour concrete 
of these concrete garden ornaments. 
making of the mold may be looked upon as quite a formid- 
November, 1909 
the way by which the 
author of these papers has 
repeatedly obtained the re- 
sults described and _ illus- 
trated, it is earnestly urged 
that his experience be re- 
spected and the things de- 
scribed as being done be 
done in that way and in no 
other. 
A word or two may be 
introduced here on the use 
In some cases the 
able task, and since a well-built mold may 
be available for use many times, it may 
appear a wise economy to manufacture a 
considerable number of objects from it. I 
want to suggest that this is not always the 
thing to do. A successful garden is not one 
crowded with ornaments of identical pat- 
tern, nor with many ornaments of any 
pattern, unless they have a definite place in 
the general ornamental scheme. One may 
use a single sun-dial pedestal in a given 
garden, but one would hardly use half a 
dozen. One might have a garden bench 
or two, but hardly a whole row that might 
accommodate a multitude of people. 
One may experiment, of course, to one’s 
heart’s content, and the more one does so 
the greater will be the zest manifested in 
work of this description; but, like all gar- 
den work, and, indeed, all architectural 
work, it must be done with a definite end 
in view if the result is to be wholly satis- 
factory. And the work must be satisfactory in the end, and 
completely so, or it had better not be undertaken. If one has 
use for a garden vase, or a 
dozen of them, the work of 
making them will be found 
not only agreeable, but emi- 
nently satisfactory in the 
ornamental effects obtained. 
There are many other gar- 
den ornaments that one can 
use in multiple to advan- 
tage, but always with a gen- 
eral scheme, a completed 
plan in view. It is easy to 
realize an ideal when such a 
standard is maintained. 
