HOUSE AND GARDEN 
16 
July, 1911 
] 
A very attractive feature on some of the English lawns is the live sun-dial with numerals 
and gnomon of growing plants 
or dead monument to other days, 
but an accurate time marker — 
it must be this or nothing, 
for a sun-dial out of ad¬ 
justment or improp¬ 
erly calculated is 
as shiftless and 
melancholy a 
speci m e n 
as a dead 
The first thing to do is to lay 
Al 
Fig. I. The plan of the gno¬ 
mon, showing size in relation 
to dial-face 
high 
clock 
w h i c h 
points 
sadly to 
noon. The impres- 
sun-dial is beyond 
income is erro- 
travel to the 
prices 
six o'clock at 
lion that such a 
the reach of modest 
neous. One need not 
older lands and pay fabulous 
to bring home one of doubtful his¬ 
tory, for in the large cities here 
there are numerous places to buy them, 
from the simple horizontal ones to the 
great globes of absolute precision. 
Then, too, the hunter of the antique 
can often find a treasure to reward his 
search. But if time or money stand in 
the way, there is the opportunity of 
making one. Dial makers may pro¬ 
duce more elaborate and finished 
works, but anyone can make a fairly 
accurate instrument and have the 
added joy of creating something. 
Of the many different kinds of sun¬ 
dials, the horizontal style is the one 
most common to gardens. It lends it¬ 
self most easily to garden decoration 
and its plotting is most simple. The 
directions given by the late H. R. 
Mitchell of Philadelphia for this sort 
-of instrument are exceedingly plain, 
and will be sufficient for the beginner 
in dialing without further enlargement. 
With a rule, compasses and a pro¬ 
tractor, these can easily be followed on 
paper and later transferred to the per¬ 
manent material to be used for the 
dial. 
The horizontal is perhaps the simplest of 
dials; there are some, however, of greater 
precision and ingenuity 
The paradise rose, if kept low, is charming when 
planted at the foot of the sun-dial pedestal 
out the 
gnomon—the triangular object which 
serves to cast the shadow. To do this one 
must know the latitude of the given place 
where the dial is to be used. For New 
York City, for instance, this would be 
40° 44' (about). Upon the base line de¬ 
scribe this angle and continue it to C, a 
variable distance depending on the size of 
the gnomon desired. From C, a vertical 
line is carried to the base line, and the 
gnomon is complete in its simplest form. 
Since only the upper edge and sufficient 
base for support are needed, the foot can 
be shortened and the back cut away in any 
fanciful design, as suggested in the dia¬ 
gram. One thing worth mentioning at this 
point is that when the gnomon is cut in 
the permanent material, sufficient pro¬ 
vision should be made to hold it firmly 
with the base line flush with the sur¬ 
face of the dial—such as with screws 
run vertically through the plate. 
The next step is to lay out the face 
of the dial. This is shown in Figure 
II. Draw a horizontal line CD, and 
at its center erect a vertical. From 
the intersection E, as a center, describe 
a circle the radius of which will equal 
. the length of the line BC in Figure I 
(the length of the gnomon’s face). 
The points C and D upon the circle 
will be the six o'clock points made by 
the daily passage of the sun. Inside 
of this circle another circle should 
then be drawn whose radius should 
equal the length of the base line (from 
B to the dotted perpendicular from C, 
Fig. I). The two quadrants of the 
outside circle A to D and A to C next 
divide into six equal parts — indicated 
by o, o, o, etc. Do likewise with half of 
the inner circle and obtain the points 
z, z, z, etc. From each of the points 
o, o, o, etc., draw lines parallel to CD, 
and from each of the point z, z, z, etc., 
draw lines parallel to AE. Mark the 
points of intersection x, x, x, etc., and 
