NORTH S 
hold than a granolithic or concrete paving. 
——SE 
Cow f 
——- 
Vol. xIl 
HORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, September 18, 1914 
No. 38 
What Can be Done With Cobblestones 
By MARY HARROD NORTHEND 
"THE use of cobblestones is coming more and more into 
yogue and is solving a problem unusual and effec- 
tive. Having become accustomed to look upon them as 
useful for street pavings chiefly, the introduction of 
them for house and garden purposes gives a new incentive 
to owners of large estates for the making use of unusual 
varieties of these stones. 
Cobblestones are of various sizes and shapes, ranging 
from the dimensions of a hen’s egg to a much larger 
size. In fact, the smallest are scarcely more than large 
pebbles while the largest are little less than small boulders. 
We find them in stable yards, garden walks, terraces and 
porches. For the former they should be small, chosen of 
uniform size and carefully set on or in concrete with the 
same substance poured over them, firmly pounded into 
place and made level. The advantage of a cobble paved 
space in front of a stable is to give the horses more foot- 
If properly 
laid it is nearly as easily kept clean. 
For a garden walk or terrace, cobblestones may be 
used either by themselves or in combination with other 
materials. If small cobbles are used alone they must be 
closely laid, pounded into place and filled with gravel or 
concrete. ‘The latter is better for it does away with weeds 
that come up between, just the same as with brick 
paving. ; 
Large cobblestones, selected with flattened surfaces 
and laid flat side up make a desirable garden walk. They 
should be ready to present a fairly even surface but not 
fitted too closely together, for in between the chinks can 
be planted low growing simples such as thyme, which 
when trodden upon and bruised yields a sweet perfume. 
A porch paving can be made of cobbles but the porch 
should be of the ground level. For: this purpose large 
cobbles are most suitable and much care should be taken 
in selecting and laying so that as even a surface as pos- 
sible may be secured. 
For porches where the covers are simply of rafters 
or trellis work for vines to clamber over, much like a 
pergola, supports are attractive if made of cobblestones. 
he intersection between vines is effective with the gray 
cobblestone showing through. 
Garden walls intended for planting, when made with 
a batter or slope and sufficient soil between, make a dur- 
able wall little affected by frost, and afford particularly 
favorable conditions for the growth of such rock and 
other plants as may be set in between. For such walls 
the large irregular cobbles are more desirable than field 
stone or quarry faced stone. ‘The sharp angular edges of 
the latter necessarily give the wall a somewhat harder 
aspect while the worn and rounded edges of the cobbles 
impart a much more agreeable and mellow effect. 
For field divisions nothing can be pleasanter to look 
upon than the old stone walls of New England. A dry 
cobble wall can be made of all sizes, the larger and heavier 
stones being placed on the outside while the small stones 
can be used for filling. Frost does not affect such walls. 
Large cobbles may also be similarly turned to account 
for the retaining walls of low grass terraces, or terraces 
in a hillside vegetable garden. The batter or slope of 
such a wall will depend to some extent upon its height. 
Freedom from frost, damage, and ease of drainage are 
strong points in its favor. 
Rough gardens made of large cobbles are always 
interesting. In a shady nook in many a garden or in an 
angle between house walls, a load of large cobbles with 
rich soil in the crevices will often give just the necessary 
setting for ferns, hepaticas, columbines, and other wood 
plants that like to be let alone. 
In the building of bungalow fire-places, large cobbles 
may be used to advantage, their rustic tone according well 
with the informal character of the structure. When used 
for this purpose it is necessary to set them in a strong 
mixture of gravel and cement, or in a very strong mortar. 
With a setting of this sort, smaller cobbles, too, may be 
introduced at will for the sake of variety. 
By selecting stones of graded sizes in this manner, 
and combining them with large slabs for lintel and mante! 
shelf, a fireplace of unusual character and not a little 
charm can be made at comparatively small expense. 
Another use of cobblestones, both staunch and orna- 
mental, is in the construction of chimneys. In cases like 
this, owing to the nature of the materials employed, it is 
usually best to slope or batter the sides of the chimney, 
making it taper towards the top like a cone or pyramid. 
If sufficiently strong mortar or cement mixed with coarse 
gravel is used, the outer surfaces can be encrusted with 
little cobblestones and in that way a very pleasing texture 
can be secured, similar in its softness of line to some of 
the old English buildings whose walls are made largely of 
small flint in combination with the soft chalk stone of the 
southern countries. A chimney of this sort built entirely 
on the outside of a bungalow or cabin is a feature of real 
architectural merit. Indeed there is no good reason why 
walls entirely built of cobbles or coated with them, can- 
not be built with excellent effect. 
Although the possibilities of the cobblestone have 
been far exhausted in the few hints given, these sugges- 
tions give some idea of how these often despised cobble- 
stones may be utilized. 
War 
Not Murder but Surgery. 
Time was, to cure the body’s ills and pains, 
Physicians shed the ichor of our veins. 
Phlebotomy! To save a nation’s life, 
The leaden pillule and the soldier’s knife. 
J. A. Torrey. 
