The sundial adds the final touch of 
completeness to the garden, and lends an atmosphere of charm that is difficult to be duplicated by any other 
single feature 
mm 
Simple Instructions for Plotting a Lawn Sundial 
CALCULATIONS ENABLING ANYONE TO LAY OUT A SUNDIAL WITHOUT TECHNI¬ 
CAL KNOWLEDGE—COMPLETE MEASUREMENTS IN INCHES FOR A DIAL AND 
GNOMON THAT WILL WORK ACCURATELY IN ALL SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY 
by Claude L. Woolley 
Diagrams by the Author 
RDINARILY, making a sundial 
wherein the hour lines and figures 
are laid out and marked with lines 
of various colored flowers, or other 
means, is not necessarily a difficult 
matter, but it requires a knowledge 
of the measurements for the posi¬ 
tions of the hour lines for various 
latitudes, together with the meas¬ 
urements for the proper angle of 
the gnomon, or piece that casts the 
shadow. 
With this information at hand, 
and a level lawn or other suitable 
piece of ground on which the de¬ 
sign may be placed, you are in a 
position to lay out a large dial that 
will be very pleasing and attract 
much attention. 
In the present article I have supplied in the drawings and tables 
of measurements the proper measurements in inches for the posi¬ 
tions of the hour lines, and for the proper angle of the gnomon, 
for some of the principal cities of the United States, embracing a 
general range of North Latitude of from twenty-nine to forty- 
eight degrees from the equator. To apply these measurements and 
directions to any given location it is necessary only to select the 
measurements in the tables which are nearest in a north or south 
direction to the place where the dial is to be constructed and made 
use of. To illustrate, let us draw an imaginary line on the map, 
running east and west through Chicago. All cities or towns 
(379) 
nearest in a north or south direction to that line will use the 
measurements for Chicago; the same rule is to be applied in the 
case of other cities. This imaginary line, passing in an east and 
west direction and cutting through any given city on the table, 
may be extended, not only across the United States, but around 
the whole northern hemisphere, and cities and towns nearest to it 
in a north and south direction may make use of the measurements 
for that city. The distance that you may be located east or west 
This figure illustrates the outline of a rectangular dial, and shows the 
measurements and positions for the hour lines and figures. The letters 
refer to the table on the next page 
I 
