[ March, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
71 
higher than at the ends, and on porous soil 
this will be sufficient to carry off the water. 
When the drain pipe is placed near the 
net the tilt from the ends toward the cen¬ 
ter should be from one to two inches. 
We have more difficult drainage prob¬ 
lems in very thick loam and clay soils. 
Artificial drainage of a more elaborate 
nature is required here or else the courts 
will be muddy and sticky for days after 
rainstorms. Drain pipes must be laid un¬ 
der the courts at various places, and tilted 
toward one particular point. The open 
drain pipes are laid down before the trap 
rock is placed and filled with broken stoijes 
so they will not fill up with dirt. Two or 
three of these lines of open pipe should 
be placed on either side of the net. They 
should run from the ends of the courts 
toward the net and drain into the stone 
gutter that has been placed under the net. 
The number of these drain pipes depends 
upon the sticky nature of the soil. Four 
parallel rows of them on either side of the 
net should be sufficient for the poorest 
kind of soil. 
When the drain pipes are laid, and the 
courts properly leveled with the trap rock 
foundation, a three-inch layer of coarse 
gravel or fine broken stone should be 
spread over the surface. This must be 
pounded and hammered down and 
watered. The water will tend to show any 
weak places where settling is liable to oc¬ 
cur, and the depressions thus formed must 
be filled up with fresh material. When 
this layer of coarse gravel has been leveled, 
pounded and settled, the top layer, of 
sandy loam and clay mixed, should be ap¬ 
plied. This finishing layer should be at 
least three inches thick, and four or five 
is better. Sandy clay and loam must be 
mixed for the top dressing, but the pro¬ 
portion of each depends upon the nature 
of the clay. If the clay is very sticky it 
will require more sand. It needs to be 
sufficiently porous to permit the water to 
pass through easily, and yet not so porous 
that the surface is too soft. If there is not 
sufficient sand the surface will be sticky 
after a rainstorm. For ordinary purposes 
one part of fine sand to four parts of clay 
make an ideal finishing surface, but some¬ 
times one and a half parts of sand have to 
be used. 
When the finishing surface is laid it 
should be leveled off and rolled repeatedly. 
Watering is also essential, but a good rain 
will do wonders to settle the surface. 
Faults and depressions will then develop, 
and they can be corrected by filling in with 
new material. Also if the surface is found 
to be too sticky add a little more sand to 
the top and work and roll it down. It may 
take several weeks to perfect the top sur¬ 
face of the court so that it is rainproof. 
The construction of a grass court is 
simpler, for no attempt is made to drain 
it. The first thing to do is to lift the grass 
sod as carefully as possible and lay it aside 
for later use. The sod should be cut down 
as nearly to six inches depth as possible, 
and should be lifted in squares of fifteen 
to eighteen inches. Pile the sod carefully 
vK -ft 
WVrV; 
Some Sound Tree 
Isaac HicKs ^ 
Son 
‘ <Tr REES for Long 
Island” is an 
invaluable catalog 
for Long Islanders. 
It tells you just the 
trees best adapted to 
its soil and condi¬ 
tions, and why. We 
have a large collec¬ 
tion of such trees. 
P VERGREENS 
^ can be planted 
practical 1 y any 
month, save June 
and July, but Aug¬ 
ust and September 
we find has its ad¬ 
vantages. This cata¬ 
log tells them. Send 
for it now and plan 
for the planting. 
and Shrub Advice 
T rees and shrubs, like people, 
thrive best in certain locali¬ 
ties, and under certain condi¬ 
tions. Eor years we have been tak¬ 
ing particular pains in suggesting to 
our customers the things best 
adapted for their purposes and spe¬ 
cific locality. 
Sometimes we have been accused 
of interfering and have consequently 
lost some sales. Nevertheless, we 
keep at it, because we do not want to 
simply sell you certain fine trees and 
choice shrubs — we want you to have 
the things that will give you the last¬ 
ing results you are striving for. 
Eor instance, we discourage the 
planting of elms on Long Island be¬ 
cause they are bound to be disap¬ 
pointing. 
So if you want Hicks’ fine, sturdy 
trees and shrubs, along with some 
dependable, helpful suggestions as 
well, then send for any, or all, of 
these catalogs, and let’s get ac¬ 
quainted. We have trees from 20 
inches up to 20 feet; and choice 
shrubs up to 6 feet high. Those big 
trees in the illustration above are ex¬ 
amples of the larger trees we have 
for sale. 
T F you are inter- 
•* ested in large 
tree planting, and 
the wonderful re¬ 
sults possible, this 
catalog will prove 
unusually interest¬ 
ing. It is richly il¬ 
lustrated and beau¬ 
tifully printed. We 
have apparatus for 
moving trees weigh¬ 
ing 40 to 50 tons. 
Westbury. Long Island 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
