THE TRELLIS AND WHAT TO PUT UPON IT—THE GLORIES 
OF CLEMATIS AND THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF GOURDS 
Photographs by Nathan R. Graves 
F EW are the country places that do not have some undesirable 
outlook which could be screened from view. Especially is 
this feasible when the screen can be made to be a thing of beauty 
and interest in itself. Our annual vines serve this purpose well, 
because they are easy to raise, quick of growth, inexpensive, and 
for the sake of variety, different sorts can be planted each season. 
Gourds, morning-glories, climbing nasturtiums and others are 
frequently seen, but more often on fences, or planted by veran¬ 
dahs for shade, than used on separate trellises. 
In our own grounds we have found gourds attractive and satis¬ 
factory ; their wonderfully rapid growth and their curious fruits 
make them desirable for trellis culture. Besides, they are said 
to attract insects troublesome to the squash tribe. The seedsmen 
offer dozens of varieties: bottle-shaped, gooseberry, spoon, onion, 
ringed, bell-shaped, apple, Angora, luffa, Hercules' club, Turk's 
turban, sugar-trough, pear, lemon, dipper, orange, nest-egg, ser¬ 
pent and umbrella. In addition are a number with names too 
long and complicated to mention. In one year not all of these 
came to perfection with us, but among those that did some de¬ 
serve special remark. Our Hercules’ club reached a length of 
three feet and made a striking appearance, with its glistening 
white coat among the bright green leaves. The Angora looked 
like a small and beautifully marked watermelon. The Turk's 
turban was the most peculiar one in the collection. The part 
corresponding to the rim of the turban was almost identical with 
the ordinary pumpkin, but the portion that represented the crown 
of the turban was divided from the rest of the gourd by a distinct 
line and was streaked and striped with bright shades of green, 
red and yellow—truly a gaudy looking turban. The sugar trough 
variety is supposed to attain the ten-gallon size, but ours fell short 
of that mark. The luffa gourd makes a really valuable brush, and 
many of the others can be made into articles both useful and 
amusing. All the kinds, when thoroughly dried, provide harmless 
playthings for the children. Surely these facts, together with the 
entertainment supplied to friends and neighbors, will justify rais¬ 
ing a good crop of gourds. 
Morning-glories of all sorts are well-known screen plants. 
Some of the new and improved varieties are very beautiful; 
others of the more hardy type will become troublesome weeds if 
allowed to self-sow every year near the vegetable garden. These 
and other ornamental vines are useful for covering fences, dead 
trees and stumps. A peach tree that grew too near the house was 
used as a support for morning-glory vines. They covered it to 
the top, making an attractive arbor, over the side path. 
Common vegetables, such as tomatoes and pole beans, make 
very good screens, by no means unpleasant to look at, and yielding 
a useful crop at the same time. For a place where the garden 
space is cramped this arrangement will be found very satisfactory. 
One desirable screen plant, the castor bean, will stand without 
a trellis. As they are sometimes blown over by heavy winds, how¬ 
ever, it is advisable to tie them to a background of wire netting. 
These excellent 
plants will sat¬ 
isfy the gar¬ 
dener who 
wants a screen 
in a hurry. 
For many sea¬ 
sons we have 
made use of a 
variety of trel¬ 
lises. Some 
kinds are cleared 
of the vines and 
left standing all 
winter. Others 
are taken up in 
the fall and 
stored in the 
barn. We make 
one sort by set¬ 
ting up strong 
natural posts, 
six feet apart 
( Cont. on page 
169) 
Rapid growth and curious fruits make gourds desirable for 
trellis culture. They serve also as traps for the insect 
enemies of the squash tribe 
• ■.> j 
142 
