Suggestions for the Month 
paint much thinned with turpentine, even water-color 
or pastels, properly applied, can be made to cover a 
multitude of shortcomings and help eke out a fair 
appearance until the end of the season. The re¬ 
sourceful householder will gladly make use of many 
such expedients. 
Beware at this time of frozen pipes and drains, 
when the danger seems to he over, vigilance often 
lags with disastrous result. 
Do not neglect the chimneys either. If open wood 
fires have been used constantly much soot wdl have 
accumulated which under special provocation may 
quickly burst into flame. The worst conflagrations 
commonly occur at the beginning and end of the 
winter season. 
THE GARDEN 
EBRUARY is a good month in which to turn 
over gravel walks or paths which are weedy or 
on which moss grows. The walk should be dug 
over with a spade or fork, burying the weeds and 
moss. This will give the roots more exposure to the 
late freezes which will practically eliminate them for 
the year. Immediately, if the walk is to be in use, 
pack the earth, put the gravel in shape and roll it 
down firmly. If the walk is not in constant use dur¬ 
ing the winter, defer the shaping and rolling until 
the latter part of March—that will leave the walk in 
better condition for the spring and summer months 
as it will have settled considerably. In finishing up 
make it highest in the center, to give a slight fall for 
the water to the sides; two inches will be fall enough 
for a walk five feet in width. 
The matter of constructing walks is not, usually, 
given the consideration its importance demands. 
In laying out a walk let convenience be the factor of 
first importance. Put it where a walk is needed. It 
need not be straight, but if it be curved, let the curve 
not involve too much of a detour. When possible, 
avoid having a walk bisect a lawn, as that makes 
two lawns where there should be but one, and the 
larger the lawn can be made the more parklike and 
natural is the landscape. By all means avoid taking 
the walks circuitously around the borders, unless they 
are laid simply to permit rambles of inspection of the 
grounds; all walks designed for serious use should be 
convenient and direct. 
In making a walk several things, besides location, 
must be considered. Some soils, especially those 
which contain much loam and sand, will pack with 
use and make reasonably good walks without further 
preparation. But most soils require additional 
material, such as gravel, cinders, etc., and even then 
they are at times objectionable for in walks with 
decided slopes and down which water runs in much 
volume loose material slides to the low places or edges. 
Usually this can be avoided by repeated packing or 
going over with a heavy roller after a rainfall. 
All things considered, where a walk is to be per¬ 
manent, put it down with cement. The cement 
walk will last indefinitely. True there are difficul¬ 
ties in laying it, but they can be easily overcome. If 
a cement walk is put down, lay it on a foundation of 
at least twelve or eighteen inches of such material as 
brickbats, cinders or the like, for drainage purposes. 
If the ground where the walk is to be put is low even 
more drainage would be better. Pound this material 
down or else let it stand until well settled before laying 
the cement, which should be put on in two courses. 
Let the first course be two or three inches thick and 
made of well-mixed concrete composed of one part 
Portland cement, three parts clear, sharp sand, and 
five parts broken stone—about the size of walnuts. 
When this course has partly hardened, but while it 
is still moist, put on a finishing layer, omitting the 
stone, of one inch thickness. This last course can 
be dressed off and lined as desired. 
While it is necessary to let the frost get out of the 
ground before undertaking to lay a cement walk, the 
fact should be kept in mind that this phase of the 
work ought to be done before the gardening proper is 
begun in the spring. 
At this time of the year the bedding plants and such 
things in the greenhouse are practically dormant, and 
they consequently require very little water, only suffi¬ 
cient, in fact, to keep the soil slightly moist. By this 
is meant not to give driblets of water, but to make 
sure that it is needed before any is given, and 
then let it be sufficient to moisten the ball of soil 
thoroughly. After this give no water at all until the 
soil is dry. 
One of the best annual climbing plants or vines is 
the morning glory, which may be likened to a large 
convolvulus. It is a very tender annual, and the 
seed must be sown in heat in February, the seedlings 
potted out, and then gradually hardened off. Rich 
soil is necessary, such as may be made by incorpo¬ 
rating loam and well-rotted manure together. The 
morning glory, of which there is a great variety, does 
best in a warm, sunny corner. 
The question will naturally arise, “What can I 
grow beneath trees ?” Very few plants are a suc¬ 
cess under these conditions. The pretty, small- 
flowered Vinca minor (the periwinkle) may be relied 
upon. Its leaves are dark green, and the blue flowers 
peep up from amongst them in profusion. Ivy is, of 
course, excellent; but the small-leaved variety should 
be chosen. The St. John’s wort or Rose of Sharon, 
too, luxuriates in the shade and poor soil usually 
found beneath large trees. This question is raised 
(Continued on page 15, Advertising Section.) 
69 
