Macon beacon., 1913-07-11
BACK YARD FARMER
Interesting Pointers on Garden
ing for the City Man or
Suburbanite.
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN
Advice by an Expert on Agricultural
Matters-WaIks and DrIveways-
Blossoms for FalI-Prepar.
lnu for Next Year.
BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD eoLTE.

BY PROF. JOHN WILLARD 6oLTE.
Where the householder Is merely
seeking a means OF getting from his
house to some outside point, without
wetting the sole OF his shoe in damp
weather, there Is no substitute for q
cement walk. 1t ID clean, dry. smooth
and practically imperishable, but 1t Is
not artistic, no. not even pretty. And
lots Of us prefer to be artistic even
II 1t is damper.
Cement sidewalks do not harmonize
with formal gardens. They are too
modern. Neither do they fit into the
beautiful or picturesque landscape, be-
cause In both they are too regular
and mechanical In fact the best pave
ment known to man has q hard time
pleasing the doctors Of curve and per-
spective. They tell US that there Is
little sense in going to q lot Of
trouble to get the lawn, flower beds,
garden, shrubs and trees, all parts OF
harmonious picture, and then ruin
the entire effect by drawing white
chalk mark across the beautiful can
vas, in the form Of q straight cement
walk.
OF course these sentiments would
not apply to walks which are much
travelled. but where some effort Is
made to have the home and Its sur
roundings both beautiful and In har-
mony, the character and course Of the
private walks and driveways 10 OF
great Importance, because 1t is by
them that we approach or leave the
house, and along these approaches the
eye most frequently travels.
II we must have cement walks, let
them be modest In their demeanor,
their tint gray, or, best Of all, a pale
green. The edges snugly Joined to the
turf, bordered, If you will. by beds Of
perennials, with clumps of shrubs In
the bends, so as to hide the successive
views until the full effect Is made in
stantly, upon rounding each bent.
This rule applies to roadways as well
IS walks.
Do not curve road or walk with
out some apparent reason. A curve
without any excuse Is merely wiggle
and it's worse than q straight line
far worse. This does not mean that
long lines may not properly be
curved, because they should be, but
II there is no natural object to curve
them around, plant something there,
a flower bed, tree or clump OF
bushes. Nature may abhor vacuum,
but she abhors a straight line, too, and
all of her curves have some reason.
A brick, tile or flag walk is per-
missible in a formal garden or land
scape, because 1t Is ancient in usage,
not because 1t is natural. In beautiful
or picturesque scenes the very best
taste In walks Is close-cut green
sward, high enough to dry off rapidly.
Next in good order, and certainly the
most popular natural walk, Is gravel,
round gravel from some old water
course or beach.
Gravel Is also the best material for
the private drive, with the possible
exception of crushed limestone. Make
the foundation of your gravel walk or
driveway firm, with a good crest In
the center. Make the first two inches
coarse and the next two finer, binding
all with liberal top coating of sand,
cinders or fine crushed stone. Roll 1t
with heavy roller and keep vehicles
off when wet. Rake the surface
smooth after each rain and keep the
weeds out. A good way to kill weeds
is to soak them with solution of one
pound arsenate of soda to three gal
Ions of water.