The place of the pitcher's box is fixed by measuring a line of fifty
feet from home to second base. The pitcher's box should be five feet
six inches long by four feet wide. For batsman there are two
positions, one for the left and the other for the right handed. The
batsman's stand is two rectangular spaces, each six feet long and four
feet wide. The nearest line should be six inches from the home plate,
and should extend three feet in front and three feet behind the center
of the home plate.

Having thus laid out the field, we proceed to further mark the various
points. In doing this, if the field is to be a permanent one, it is
best to make use of the most improved apparatus; but if the field is
only a temporary one, there are various devices which save expense,
and which answer the purpose quite satisfactorily. The home plate is,
by the rules, a whitened piece of rubber a foot square, sunk flush
with the ground, its outer edges being within the lines to first and
third bases. An excellent substitute for rubber is a piece of board
painted white, or a bit of marble such as can be readily obtained at
any marble yard. The first, second and third bases are canvas bags, 15
inches square, stuffed with any soft material, and so fastened as to
have their centers at the corners of the diamond which we have already
marked out. They will thus extend several inches outside the diamond.
The customary method of fastening the bag is by means of a leather
strap passing through loops upon the bag and directly around the
center. This strap is slipped through an iron staple in the top of a
post driven firmly into the ground at the corner of the diamond, and
the strap is then buckled on the under side of the bag.

The wooden post and the iron staples can easily be had. It is better