HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, 1912 
T nio DooKiet tens tne straignt tacts ot the matter in a 
frank, clear way that will give you a new point of 
view about trees in general—and yours in particular. 
I'ou spend time and money on your lawn, on your shrubs, 
on vour garden, and unthinkingly pass your trees bv. You 
do it because you have got in the habit of thinking that 
nature will look after them. And she does, in a way, by 
each year sending more pests and more troubles to prey 
upon them, endangering both their beauty and life. 
What a reasonable thing it is, then, to send for one of 
our inspectors to examine your trees and find out just 
what their condition really is. You are under no obliga¬ 
tions to us to have any work done—but you will at least 
know their actual conditions. It’s worth knowing. Send 
FORKSTERS 
New York, 823 Fourth he. Bldg- Boston, 623 Tremont Bldg. Pittsburg, 743 Oliver Bidg, 
Dairying didn’t pay, but the apple-laden 
tree looked good to me. I had found holes 
in the management of the orchard in every 
branch of the work which I had yet seen. 
Mr. West knew the practice, but I knew 
the theory. 
I bought the farm. My dreams were 
realized and I zvas a farmer. I was fairly 
dizzy with elation, and looked out over 
“my” fields. The trees were laden with 
fruit, the meadows rolled up over the hills 
and the pastures stretched away to the 
eastward. Of a sudden the full realiza¬ 
tion of what it all meant came over me and 
the dizziness was of another kind. I had 
found certain weak spots in Mr. West’s 
system, but I didn't know enough to feed 
a horse, to harness him, or to drive him. 
I scarcely knew a harrow from a sulky 
plow. The job was put squarely up to me 
to learn to farm. 
Hope Agricultural College has a four 
weeks’ summer school, whenever the 
Governor isn’t too busy building automo¬ 
bile roads to sign the appropriation for its 
maintenance, and I was enrolled as a stu¬ 
dent. It was the event of my life. I filled 
my note books with practical points, but 
my spirit was uplifted for me. I was 
shown a new world, and its treasures were 
unfolded to my gaze. Farming didn’t con¬ 
sist of a backache and a small yield of 
potatoes. It consisted of deep study into 
the processes of life. It took one into the 
sciences and carried one deep into the 
doctrine of evolution. It needed foresight 
and instant adaptation of methods to meet 
changing conditions. It compelled grap¬ 
pling with the business methods of the 
day. to evolve ways to overcome the ex¬ 
tortion of vampires. I was not going to 
rusticate, and I was already wondering 
where the hours were to come from to 
permit all this. 
A’hen I went back to my farm I plunged 
right into the busiest season of the year. 
My note books were stowed away, but 
nothing could stow the enthusiasm which 
1 carried back from Hope College. I was 
like the shaving that carries the flame from 
the match to the kindling. The Faculty 
of Hope College had lighted the match, 
and I conveyed the fire to that farm in the 
hills. 
Laying Out and Improving Tennis 
Courts 
{Continued from page 17) 
stone gutters, such as are used on tiled 
roofs. They are laid parallel with the net 
and filled with loose stones. The drains 
are tilted sufficiently to carry the water off 
at the sides or to a receptacle in the center. 
Sometimes a barrel is sunk in the middle 
and filled with stones, and the drain pipes 
empty into it. 
Another method common on some 
courts is to drain them at the ends. In 
this case the court at the net is two inches 
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