92 
House & Garden 
THE BIGGEST INVESTMENT OF 
YOUR LIFE IS YOUR HOME 
SEND FOR THIS 
BOOKLET 
It contains instructive in¬ 
formation on pipe costs 
and the best installation 
methods. Also literature 
on Reading Cut Nails, 
which hold and prevent 
squeaking floors. 
STEEL IRON 
The above are actual un¬ 
retouched photographs of 
vent pipes on Wanamak- 
er’s Store, Philadelphia. 
Both these pipes were in¬ 
stalled in 1907. Under like 
conditions Reading Genu¬ 
ine Wrought Iron Pipe far 
outlived the steel pipe. 
Note conditions of both 
pipes. 
W HEN you buy or build a home, 
it’s not merely a purchase, it’s 
a huge investment—a life-long 
investment from which you want a high 
percentage of dividends in low upkeep 
and in happiness. 
A building like the Western Union 
Building, Welles and Bosworth, Archi¬ 
tects, is an investment too—only much 
bigger. It is built with all the care 
and economy that can possibly be put 
into any structure. The plumbing sys¬ 
tem is installed with the pipe that en¬ 
dures — Reading Genuine Wrought 
Iron Pipe. 
Reading Pipe resists rust and consequent cor¬ 
rosion. It gives long life that is free from 
the expense and annoyance of pipe replace¬ 
ment. Its ultimate cost is so low that you 
can’t afford not to use it. 
So, if you build a home, don’t take it for 
granted that the right pipe will be installed 
—see for yourself that Reading Genuine 
Wrought Iron Pipe is used. And if you buy 
a home, look for the Reading imprint on the 
pipe. It assures you of an investment that 
gives big returns in long uninterrupted service. 
" * Reading ’ on every length** 
READING IRON COMPANY 
READING, PENNA. 
BOSTON BALTIMORE CHICAGO 
NEW YORK PITTSBURGH FORT WORTH 
PHILADELPHIA CINCINNATI LOS ANGELES 
World’s largest makers of Genuine Wrought Iron Pipe 
READING 
A W GUARANTEED GENUINE 
Wrought iron pipe 
Quenching the Garden’s Thirst 
(Continued from page 67) 
be used successfully in small gardens as 
well as in western orchards, but takes 
much labor and is a waste of water. The 
flooding of the ground with the hose 
having no nozzle attached is one of the 
best ways to water a rose garden, but 
not a plan for general use. The com¬ 
mon practice of sprinkling the garden 
with the hose having a spray nozzle is 
about as ineffectual as can be imagined. 
A mere surface sprinkling does no good, 
but may do positive harm by coaxing 
the roots to the surface. On the other 
hand, a heavy watering with large drops 
often breaks the flowers and foliage of 
the more fragile plants. 
All these facts having been recognized, 
American inventive genius has produced 
types of rain-making machines which 
solve the problems for the home garden 
as well as on the large estate and the 
market gardener’s acres. 
There are several systems quite differ¬ 
ent in appearance and operation. A 
selection will depend largely upon the 
character of the garden, the volume of 
water available and the pressure to be 
obtained. These matters may be taken 
up with the manufacturers or agents of 
the different systems, who will supply 
the information necessary for choosing 
just the system needed for one’s special 
location. 
In the nozzle line system, all classes of 
crop growers are given a method of 
distributing water which is efficient and 
inexpensive. This consists of pipes hav¬ 
ing small nozzles inserted in a perfectly 
straight line 4' apart. These pipes are 
carried at the top of supporting posts of 
wood or iron, which may be from 2' to 
6' high. The low supports are best used 
when the pipes run the same way as the 
vegetable rows. Being low, they are 
inconspicuous. If the pipes run across 
the field, however, it is better to have 
them high enough so that the gardener 
can walk under them without stooping. 
The system is fed by a pipe attached to 
the water main, or if more convenient, 
by means of a hose leading from an out¬ 
side faucet. 
A necessary and very convenient fit¬ 
ting is a turning union located where 
the system starts. By means of a small 
handle attached to this union the dis¬ 
tributor pipe can be revolved so as to 
throw the water at any angle on either 
side. This arrangement makes it possi¬ 
ble to cover a total area 40' or SO' wide. 
There are few troubles with this sim¬ 
ple system, although it requires some 
attention to keep it working properly 
as the fine nozzles occasionally get 
clogged. The water is distributed in the 
form of a mist, which soaks into the 
ground wherever it falls without making 
the soil muddy and without any danger 
of washing out even the smallest seed¬ 
lings. Moreover, it is warmed in pass¬ 
ing through the air, a fact for which the 
plants are grateful. It reminds one of 
the quality of mercy. “It falleth like 
the gentle rain from Heaven upon the 
place beneath.” Moreover “it is twice 
blessed.” It is blessed by the plants 
that receive it, and by the man who 
pays the bills, as the costs are surpris¬ 
ingly small for the results obtained. 
A single line of pipe run down a 
vegetable garden SO' square will supply 
all the moisture needed. The pipe will 
be arranged in sizes so that the nozzles 
at the end of the line will throw the 
same distance as those at the head. If 
it is too much trouble to turn the line 
at intervals, you can install an auto¬ 
matic device which will do it for you, 
the pipe turning gradually on its own 
axis and carrying a spray across the 
garden as fast or as slow as you wish. 
Naturally this adds to the expense. 
An obvious system like the one de¬ 
scribed is well enough for some situa¬ 
tions, but might be unsightly in the 
I flower garden. If so, you can have a 
sprinkling line laid just beneath the grass 
roots which will follow the contour of 
the lawn, the beds or the walks. Finally, 
you can have a portable sprinkler of 
the same type, which can be wheeled 
into position anywhere, and includes an 
automatic oscillator with a little motor 
which clicks along quietly, carrying a 
spray back and forth over a given space. 
Quite different in type but efficient in 
operation are several sprinkler systems 
which cost but little and are adapted to 
both large and small properties. Several 
kinds are so constructed that they can 
be kept entirely concealed. In one well 
known system the nozzles are placed in 
metal cups, which give them adequate 
protection, while they are low enough 
so that lawn mowers and rollers can 
be run over them without difficulty. 
In another and somewhat similar sys¬ 
tem the spray heads are entirely covered 
when not in use. In operation, an inner 
nozzle rises up above the grass so as to 
give an unobstructed delivery of the 
water. 
Home makers may feel that to install 
an underground system will necessitate 
deep digging, but this is not true. It is 
oply necessary to take up a narrow strip 
of sod which can be replaced readily 
when the work has been finished, and 
the pipes themselves go only a few 
inches below the surface. At the same 
time they are so arranged that the water 
can be completely drawn off in the Fall. 
It is a pleasure to see the miniature 
fountains covering an entire lawn with 
a fine, mist-like spray, keeping the grass 
green and beautiful in the most torrid 
weather. 
One of the underground systems has 
a modification by means of which the 
same nozzle is used for overhead and 
low down systems, one for vegetable 
gardens and orchards and one for the 
flower garden, where the owner may 
desire to have the system inconspicuous. 
By means of added pipe sections, this 
system may be built up high enough so 
as to spray the tallest shrubs. This is 
a distinct advantage, as all plants grow¬ 
ing out of doors are benefited by having 
their foliage wet down. There is also 
a half nozzle adjustment by which the 
water can be thrown in a semi-circle 
to meet any special arrangement of 
flower beds or grass borders. 
While permanent systems are required 
for large estates, portable devices are 
needed for a small garden. One such 
apparatus has been mentioned. Most of 
the other systems have devices which ac¬ 
complish similar results. One kind 
which while light and easily handled is 
yet substantial and efficient is moved 
about on skids wide enough so that they 
will not damage lawn or garden. A 
motor oscillates the water jets, which 
throw a straight stream for several feet, 
after which the water breaks up and 
falls in tiny drops on the plants. As an 
area 60' by 12' is covered at one time, 
it is necessary to move the apparatus 
only at long intervals. This apparatus 
is extremely useful, and its unique ad¬ 
justments allow it to be employed in 
any part of a large estate or very small 
garden plot. 
Some of the newer sprinklers which 
are portable but are raised on standards 
are notable for the ease with which they 
are handled and adjusted. You can 
approach them without danger of get¬ 
ting a wetting while they are in full 
operation. One kind throws a spray a 
distance of 40' at twenty-five pounds 
pressure. 
Finally, there is a rotary sprinkler, 
which came onto the market this year 
and which is very inexpensive, while 
covering a wide radius. This device, 
like the one previously mentioned, is 
attached to an ordinary hose. The water 
pressure causes the revolution of a wheel 
(Continued on page 94) 
