Planning the Garden on Paper 
MAKING A SURVEY AND A TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS—THE 
FIRST ESSENTIAL IN MAKING A SUCCESSFUL HOME PLOT OF ANY SIZE OR SHAPE 
by E. O. Calvene 
T HE task of representing a square or rectangular plot of 
ground to scale on paper is of course a very simple one, 
but when the form is irregular, difficulties arise—difficulties that 
grow in ratio with the irregularities. Yet before any garden 
planning can be done on paper, the garden site must be transferred 
from the earth to the drawing board. 
The simple solution of the problem is an engineer’s survey— 
but it is not the only one, under 
ordinary circumstances; and it 
isn’t the economical one. For 
places above two acres I should 
advise it, however, as an ama¬ 
teur will pretty certainly fail of 
accuracy in undertaking anything 
so extensive, unless it is the sim¬ 
plest square, and level into the 
bargain. This a plot over two acres 
in extent is very apt not to be. 
But if you are the owner of less 
than this much land and have 
patience and an intelligent helper, 
there is absolutely no reason why 
you cannot do it yourself, satis¬ 
factorily and as accurately as 
need be. Provide a drawing board 
of convenient size to carry around 
outdoors, a pencil with eraser 
attached, any piece of manila 
paper that is available—which 
tack firmly to the board—a tape- 
line 50 feet long or a line measured to that length by a yardstick, 
and a second line, or even two, 75 to 100 feet long; also a half 
dozen sharpened stakes and a stone or hammer to drive them into 
the ground. 
Thus armed, go out and begin at the longest straight boundary. 
Measure the length of this straight line, calling it A B.and draw a 
line any length upon the paper, setting down upon it the figures 
denoting its length—81 ft. 6 in. Pay no attention to how long 
you may actually draw the line as that does not matter now; 
only leave room enough on your paper for as many lines as you 
are going to need. Pass on from the point B to C, measuring 
and setting down that distance—76 ft.—on B C. Now take a 
measurement from A to C; this will determine the angle formed 
by A B and B C later, when you come to making the drawing 
accurately and to measurement. Set this distance A C down 
upon a dotted line drawn to connect these two points. In the 
plot used for illustration it was 95 ft. 2 in., but you may have 
the two lines already drawn diverging at an angle which makes 
this line much shorter on the paper than the others. Never mind 
—that is of no consequence now, as will appear presently. 
Go on from C to D—56 ft.—then across to A again—108 ft. 
8 in. that records—setting each down on the line representing 
it; and so on until the last measurement, that from F to A, is 
made. While the line is stretched between these two points take 
a measurement—or several—from it to the curving boundary 
which falls within it, thus finding the depth of the arc which 
this forms. Note how many feet from one or the other end on the 
straight line these measurements are and set down the figures both 
ways. For example, at a point 59 ft. from F the arc measures 
6 ft. deep, so 59 ft. goes down on the long line and 6 ft. on the line 
crossing the arc. 
With the data thus collected go in the house and proceed to 
lay it out to scale upon a fresh and suitable piece of paper. A 
convenient scale is 8 ft. to 1 in., which is an eighth of an inch to the 
foot, of course. This does not make a drawing too large for 
comfort if the subject is an average place, 100 ft. being represented 
by 12b ins. A sheet of paper 30 
in. square will leave a goodly 
margin, therefore, around a plot 
208 x 208 ft., which is, roughly 
speaking, one acre. 
A map will be sufficiently ac¬ 
curate for all practical purposes if 
measurements which you have 
obtained in inches are transposed 
to fractions of a foot. Divide an 
eighth of an inch into four parts 
on a folded straight edge of heavy 
paper, if you have no scale ruler 
available, dotting the little quar¬ 
ters with a fine pencil. In each 
quarter of a foot there are of course 
three inches; the initial line A B, 
which is 81 ft. 6 in. long, is there¬ 
fore 10J in. and one-half of an 
eighth of an inch, long. Draw this 
the proper length and proceed 
from B just as you did out-of- 
doors, getting the point C by 
measuring the angle from A. An easy way of doing this, 
without having to measure and experiment in a tiresome fashion, 
is to lay off the distances B C and C A on two folded strips of 
paper. Lay the point representing C on one over the same point 
on the other, and hold them together by a thumb-tack—or a pin 
—passed directly through the point itself. With a pin through 
one slip at A and another through the other at B fasten A to A 
and B to B—and C will fall where it belongs. Drive the pin 
representing it down into the drawing to mark its exact location. 
Locate each successive point in the same way and you will 
find your map taking shape with surprising facility. The curv¬ 
ing boundary is drawn from a dotted straight line connecting 
F A, with measurements first laid off on the paper just as they 
were taken in the outdoor work. So much for the outline. 
Contours are not so simple, yet they are by no means difficult. 
But they take more time and patience and can, of course, be only 
approximated without instruments. This is all that is necessary, 
however, unless terraces and elaborate architectural features are 
to be contructed. For these an engineer’s survey and plan is 
imperative. 
Five-foot contours are usually shown on a map of the scale 
recommended. They are represented by a series of irregular lines 
running across it in the same general direction, at distances vary¬ 
ing greatly sometimes, from each other. To understand them 
exactly, what they mean and how they are determined, it seems 
to me that the supposition of a series of water marks, left by a 
flood, receding gradually, is the greatest help. Starting with 
a complete inundation of the land in question, which exactly 
(Continued on page xiii.) 
A watch, a tape-line, a cord and some stakes are all the instru¬ 
ments necessary for an approximate survey of your property 
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