hich is always in fair
condition except immediately after a heavy rain. The expense of
maintaining a tennis court is more than most boys or most families
would care to undertake.

As a rule, tennis courts fall in the same general class with golf
links in that they lend themselves readily to the joint ownership of a
club or school, where the expense falls on a number rather than on an
individual. In a great many places the boys of a town or village have
clubbed together and have obtained permission from some one owning a
piece of vacant ground that is not likely to be sold or improved
within a few years and have built a tennis court on it. This
arrangement helps the appearance of the land, that should be secured
at a very low rental, or none at all if the owner is public spirited
and prefers to see the boys of his town grow up as healthy, athletic
men rather than weaklings who have no place for recreation but in the
village streets, where passing trucks and automobiles will endanger
their lives, or at least cause them to be a nuisance to the public.

[Illustration: The dimensions of a tennis court]

To build a tennis court properly means a lot of work and it should
only be attempted under the direction of some one who understands it.
The things most important are good drainage, good light, and
sufficient room. A double court is 36 feet wide by 72 feet long, but
in tournament games or on courts where experts play it is customary to
have an open space about 60 feet wide by 110 to 120 feet long, to give
the players plenty of room to run back and otherwise to play a fast
game. A court should always be laid out north and south or as near
these points of the compass as possible. In courts running east and
west the sun is sure to be in the eyes of one of the players nearly
all day; this is of course a very serious objection. While it is very
pleasant to play tennis in the shade of a tree or building, a court
should never be located under these conditions if it is possible to
avoid it. A properly placed court should be fully exposed to the sun
all day.

First of all it will be necessary to decide whether a grass or "dirt"
court is to be built. If the grass is fine and the place where the
court is to be happens to be level, there is little to do but to cut
the sod very short with a lawn-mower and to mark out the court. If, on
the contrary, there is much grading or levelling to be done, a dirt
court will be much cheaper and b