January 1926

Why Apologize for Happiness?

THE other night I was invited to the house of a man who dwells in the domain of dollars. I was ill at ease, and I noticed that everyone else in the company was. It wasn't the wealth shown on every hand, so much as it was a certain restraint which the very atmosphere reflected.

He Who Loves a Garden . . . . .

ALONG about the middle of January you settle down to weather out the balance of the winter. "Now is the winter of our discontent," for up to this time winter has held something to anticipate-- Christmas and the New Year with their attending jollities; the annual novelty of the snow, which in spite of its beauty becomes monotony in time.

A Little Share of the World

TO dig in one's indisputably own bit of earth is to fully realize the meaning of the old Gaelic phrase, "my little share of the world!" To the ancient Irish this was their affectionate description of home. What similar expression today is quite so effective? A neighbor of mine has hit the nail on the head as far as home is concerned, and every time I can find a decent excuse I wander over to his "diggin's."

Planning the Little Rock Garden

ROCK gardens with the increasing interest being shown in them, and the results comprising a form of nature beautiful, with unequaled effect, are one of the most interesting types of gardening possible. They are a topography miniature, that places no limit on the designer's artistic ingenuity. They are a delightful diversion from the formal type of gardens, as one can on a comparatively small space of ground display a far greater range of effects than in formal type gardens.

Some Mechanical Details of Small Rockwork

THERE has been so much rockwork upon a grand scale, such huge stones have been employed with the entailing heavy cost of men and teams to move them that it is discouraging to the man who has already strained his purse upon the new house or upon renovating the old one to build a small rock garden. But after all, rockwork is only the background for the flowers that should be there and not a substitute. Time after time there are enough rocks turned up in the basement excavation to build a good wall or a rock garden if they were set aside at the time.

Berries and Briars for Beauty and Use

IF one has a garden of any size at all it seems to me tremendously worthwhile to include a few berries and bushes. Gooseberries,for instance. How seldom they are found in the family garden. Of course one must consider, nowadays, the possible proximity of the white pine, as both gooseberries and currants afford a harbor for the "blister rust" so fatal to the white pine; but with this one objection, I should certainly include both of the above.

The Best of Climbing Vines

PERENNIAL climbers are the most useful of the ornamental vines because they grow on year after year with but little attention. A very few are evergreen, and to be especially prized for that reason. Undoubtedly the English ivy is the best known vine in this class and the most popular, but unfortunately it is not very hardy in the northern states. It can be used satisfactorily as a ground cover and to drape over low walls, but is certain to be killed back when trained on the side fo a building in the manner which gives an unrivaled charm to English cottages.

Homes of Famous Americans

IT is in those dark and foreboding hours when the storm of the Revolution is gathering on the political horizon. Men are muttering ... some whisper in their fear and ... others are explaining and tiptoeingabout doing valiant deeds with their lips. A massmeeting has been called in what is now City Hall Park, New York, to decide whether the colony of New York will join the hot-heads of Boston Town in resisting British oppression. As if it should take debate to defend liberty!... but men are ever thus-- they put off, they shirk, they avoid responsibility.

Some Observations on the Iris

IT is not my purpose to discuss in this article the relative merits of different varieties of iris but rather to offer some timely suggestions relative to their propagation and care. Most things that can be said along this line have been said many times but the great army of amateur gardeners is being annually reinforced and these beginners are as eager to absorb practical garden lore as were any of us.

Is the Radish Unconstitutional?

I GET these Amendments to the Constitution of the United States all mixed up in my mind, and I never know whether the Nineteenth is the one that created bootleggers or the one that gave my wife a chance to say, "Well, Ellis, who ought I to vote for this time?" or which is the Eighteenth, and when it comes to those with low numbers-- such as the Sixth or the Tenth-- I am all mixed up and never know which is which.

The Mintage of Home-Making Wisdom

Nature Lore for Youthful Readers

ON the prairie lands of the Middle West you can occasionally find a certain plant with a flower similar to a baby sunflower, or perhaps like a blackeyed Susan. Its blossoms are attractive, but the really interesting portion of the plant is its leaves. The lower leaves especially have the peculiar habit of turning their edges directly north and south.

Under the Library Lamp

THE following six new books (published within the past three years at most) were selected because of their "sociable" qualities. They are quite different, but all are good books to read aloud in the home circle to people of various ages.

How to Manage Your Furnace

YOU'VE had experience with an oil burner. What makes my heater smoke so?" a friend asked me last winter. I went to his cellar and took a look. "It isn't getting air enough. You close some of the draft in or out of a lamp chimney and it will smoke. That same kind of oil burner in my furnace burns without smoke just like a good lamp.

Using the Electric Heater

IT is hardly necessary to remind the housewife that proper home heating is far from a matter of merely starting a fire in the furnace or turning steam into radiators. There are many chilly mornings in fall and spring which scarcely justify calling the main heating plant into play, as well as whole days during the winter with this plant doing its best, when comfort depends very directly on some auxiliary source of heat; and one of the devices which has been designed to meet this need and which has come into marked popularity of late is the electric radiant heater.

Along the Garden Path

WHAT'S the use of trying to have a real garden?" a friend of mine asked, the other day. "I wish I had an acre or two, and then I'd show you!" We were looking at his flowers in a bed in the backyard. While it is laudable to want to improve one's opportunities, even in the direction of one's hobbies, I could not but feel that my friend's discontent was not founded on real love for gardening so much as it was founded on our old lust for the rainbow's end.

Garden Reminders

JANUARY is the month of resolutions, and every gardener may well resolve to have a better garden this year than ever before. Actual garden work is at a standstill now in most sections of the country but spare time may be used to good advantage in planning and preparing for the coming year.

Dad's Practical Pointers

ONE subscriber writes that his New Year's resolutions this year are going to include a promise to do one definite thing for his place each month. It may be a useful article with tools or that badly-needed coat of paint for the garage.

Controlling Peach Leaf Curl

IN the spring, peach leaves often take on some curious shapes and colors. The mid-rib is often bent backward so that the tip of the leaf touches the stem. Furthermore the leaf blade will be greatly blistered and puckered, often appearing as if the mid-rib were a shirring string that was drawn too tight.

Staking Tomatoes

TWO years ago I lost a good many of my garden tomatoes because the plants fell over on the earth and the fruit rotted. I had staked them up, but when the fruit became heavy they were borne down and my loss was not small by any means.

Wrinkles in Parsnip Growing

THE one root crop that last year did remarkably well with me was the parsnip. My soil is a heavy clay which has been neglected and soil robbed alternately for years, so most of my root crops did poorly in it. Indeed, the land is not at all a "root crop soil." The variety I grew is the Offenham Market, which has rather short, relatively thick roots.

How We Made Our Poultry Pay

WHEN we came to live on our one acre at the edge of town we decided to raise chickens for home use and as a source of revenue. Realizing that eggs were being used more in the place of meats, and that the demand was ever increasing, we were assured that the enterprise would prove both pleasant and profitable.

Our Unique Poultry House

Our Feeding Ration

Article

The Care of Boston Ferns

NO house plant excels the Boston fern in grace, beauty and attractiveness, and no plant rewards its caretaker with quicker growth and beauty if it is properly cared for. However, some people attribute the success of any house plant to luck and most particularly to ferns, but like any plant the conditions must be right, or nearly so, or they will not thrive.

A Window-Sill Greenhouse

ONE of the serious problems in the propagation of houseplants is the question of moisture, for very few homes contain a sufficient amount of this plant necessity. The potting soil may be good, and the sunlight ample, but if uniform moisture is lacking, you cannot get the best results from your plants.

A Playhouse For the Children

WAS there ever a little girl who did not want a playhouse? The ofttimes pitiful attempts which children make to have some place in which to act the part of homemakers is the answer. Sometimes it is a large packing box turned on one side, or a corner of the yard with a few boards leaned against the fence.

Needlework Directions

AN adorable colonial boudoir set is given this month in response to many requests. Next month we are planning to give bedspread, curtains, etc., in the same design. The simplest stitches are used in developing this design, the flowers being done in lazy daisy and rambler rose stitches, while dress and parasol may be done in outline or applique, as fancy dictates.

Article

"Baked Potatoes"

ALMOST every one enjoys a large, smooth baked potato, especially if it has a crisp, golden brown skin, and when opened reveals a mealy white interior that allows the butter to trickle thru it. Such potatoes are doubly enjoyed if they come from your own garden.

How to Grow Swiss Chard

A SPLENDID vegetable for the small home garden, becoming more popular each year but as yet a comparative stranger in some sections is Swiss chard.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

THE best news I have heard for the new year is the building forecast issued by "Building Age" in which it predicts that residential buildings will total 296,916 structures in 1926. Of these homes to be built this year, 270,241 are to be one-family houses. The balance will be made up of two-family and apartment houses, with the two-family houses outnumbering the apartment houses more than two to one.