April 1926

Those Queer Folks, Ourselves!

THEY dream about owning a home some day, a place all their own "in the sun," then they get soft o' heart and flabby o' will and say: "It is cheaper to rent than to own." (Correction: Use the word "easier" instead of cheaper.")

Let Us Have More Shade Trees for Comfort

DO you appreciate the full value of that great spreading elm in the backyard? Perhaps it has been there so long that you have just taken it for granted, but consider for a moment how desolate the place would seem if its strong branches now arching so high over the house were no longer there. Unlike most of our material comforts a well-developed tree is not to be judged merely by money value for money could not replace it should it be lost.

Grow Some of the Tall Annuals This Year

EACH springtime I say to myself, "This year I'll have the handsomest garden of annuals ever seen in this state." And every autumn I have some new plans for a better arrangement next year.

Planning the Cutting Garden

HALF the joy of raising beautiful flowers is in being able to pick quantities of them at all times for decoration in the house, or as gilts to friends. Yet oftentimes since it may leave it in a more or less denuded state, we hesitate to pick flowers lavishly from the garden which is at once the pride of our hearts and the chief decorative feature of our landscape.

Blue Flowers for Dainty Gardens

MANY gardens, well arranged in other respects, show a strange lack of balance in the color scheme. This may be due to an overabundance of one color, or to the total absence of another. Blue, for example, is lacking in many gardens, yet it is most desirable, since it can be arranged tastefully with the more common colors.

What Roses Shall We Grow?

THERE are two answers to this important rose question. The first answer is the easier, for it is that the right roses to grow anywhere are those found, thru repeated painstaking questionnaires, to do well in various parts of the country. Thus, if we put together the returns for three years, covering the whole of America, we find that the best twelve Hybrid Tea roses, or rather the dozen that most people believe in, include Ophelia, Radiance, Gruss an Teplitz, Los Angeles, Mrs. Aaron Ward, Duchess of Wellington, Red Radiance, Columbia, Mme. Edouard Herriot, Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria, Mme

Homes of Famous Americans

IT was on a sloppy and sunny March morning that I went to St. John's Church, in Old Richmond, for the first time. Patches of snow here and there over the ground were melting and the water was running down the sidewalks and standing in steaming little pools over the graves. A robin hopped about, somewhat wet and miserable for all the sunshine.

Gooseberries and Currants for the Home Garden

CURRANT jell, gooseberry pie-- the remainder of the meal does not matter for it is soon forgotten. No jelly is quite so sparkling, so daintily tinted, so attractive of flavor as currant. Blended with the juices of other fruits, many wonderful combination jellies are possible; the currants giving to the product not only their exquisite flavor but also the high pectin content so necessary for successful jelly making.

Permanent Furniture in the Home

ABOUT 3,500 years from now, when some descendant of the Earl of Carnarvon or other celebrated Americanologist excavates the American Valley of Things, one of the notes in his log will certainly deal with the extraordinary amount of built-in furnishings in the houses of ancient 1926.

Paint and Varnish Are Spring Allies!

THE primary things to know in the use of paints, stains and varnishes are: what surface you want the material for; what firm makes it; and who is going to apply it. For example, when you want an outdoor varnish or paint, don't buy one that is meant for "home life" only, for varnishes are made with kindness of forethought and work well for what they are made.

This, Then, Is My Daily Pledge!

The Work of The American Iris Society

ANYONE with a love of hardy plants will find the work of the American Iris Society of value and interest. Since its formation in 1920 we have developed steadily and surely until now we number over 875 members and publish four goodly bulletins each year.

We Learned About Dogs From Our Own

IN a far corner of our generous-sized city lot garden there is a family burial ground where rest three wefl-loved pets. "Old Susy" was the first to be laid away. She was a phenomenal hen of the Rhode Island Red breed, a charter member of our small flock, and she lived to the ripe old age of ten years. Susy was an emancipated woman and she raised her families at odd times of the year, refusing to be bound by the silly convention that chicks should be hatched in the spring.

An Out-of-Door Living Room

WE of this country have yet much to learn of the comfort, the healthfulness, and the charm of a room in the out-of-doors. Visiting in England, France, or Italy, one notes with pleasure the provision almost universally made for life in the open-- the walled-in gardens, sometimes very small, in which one may sit and where his meals are often served, while in Spain and other semi-Oriental lands, is the delightful patio, or open-air room with its fountain and palms, around which the rooms of the house are grouped.

What About the Porch?

AS the days grow longer, foretelling the unlamented end of another winter, how our thoughts turn longingly to springtime pleasures and pursuits! Weary of winter inertia and confinement, we fairly yearn for outdoor air and exercise-- so much so, indeed, that many of us simply cannot resist sundry expeditions to basement, storeroom or attic, where lie in winter storage such varied spring wares as porch shades and fishing tackle, garden implements and tennis nets. And these visible evidences bring cheer, even tho we are but anticipating their actual use.

Landscape Design for Unit House No. 8

Nature Lore for Youthful Readers

LITTLE daughters of the red folk did not have many different kinds of toys. And yet, some of the toys they did possess would delight the heart of the most modern little white lassie in the land today.

Under the Library Lamp

NOW that April is here, or almost here, I find myself wishing to devote one number of Better Homes and Gardens to useful books: reference books, garden books and the like-- the sort of reading matter that isn't "literary" exactly, but which we refer to again and again.

Grow More Sugar Corn in Your Garden

CORN on the cob makes any dinner invitation thrice welcome, especially if it be real sugar corn, crisp and sweet, direct from the garden, served before it has time to lose its flavor. If there ever was a time when a boy wanted to be a horse, it is with corn on the cob and no one to limit the number of ears for a feed.

Garden Reminders

WHETHER or not your garden work has progressed far this month depends, of course, upon the season and upon your locality. April, however, will find gardeners everywhere busy with the cleaning up, planting, spraying, and getting ready for a better garden and finer flowers than ever before.

What I Have Learned About Tomatoes

I HAVE been an amateur gardener for about ten years now, and on the vegetable side have, perhaps, got as much fun out of tomatoes as anything else. In the first place I don't confine myself to a single variety, but each year have a number varying in both type and color.

Article

Rhubarb, the Spring Tonic

RHUBARB is one of the earliest gifts from the garden in the spring, that portion of the year when we are all craving something fresh. It pushes out its crisp, tart, acid stalk at the first invitation of the sun. This vegetable has a great many factors in its favor and possesses scarcely a single drawback.

Traveling Heirlooms

SOMETIMES I think I'd like to write an All-America "antique-ing" series, and some day, indeed, I'm very sure I shall. For, you see, every week come letters to me: letters from East and West and South and North, telling me of old furniture, or glass, or pewter, or china, or silhouettes which these distant collectors have found, and are anxious to know about.

Dad's Practical Pointers

TO learn what mechanical jobs most frequently needed doing in the households of pupils in the manual training department of the New Orleans public schools, lists of household repairs were sent to their parents by the pupils with the request that those be checked which had been needed during the last year.

Twelve Ways to Improve the Garden

1 Many lawns are damaged after each heavy rain storm, particularly where the water rushes out of the eaves spout, flows over the sidewalk, and down a terrace. The small ditch that is left is always hard to keep in grass.

The Control of Apple Blotch

BLOTCH seldom occurs on apples in the cooler parts of the country but in the warmer apple regions like southern Indiana it is one of the worst menaces to the apple crop. On the fruit it forms large dark brown blotches which will not only disfigure the fruit but, since it also kills the skin, it results in large irregular cracks and various distortions of the fruit.

WILLIAMS OIL-O-MATIC HEATING

A Panel Screen From Magazine Covers

Poison in the Street

SPRINGTIME has brought little joy to young Marshall Haywood, of Lafayette, Indiana. Instead of ball games and the old swimming hole, the advent of spring meant misery and suffering because Marshall has been the victim of ivy poisoning regularly each spring as far back as his memory can recall.

How to Control Brown Rot

THE stone-fruits, peaches, plums, prunes and cherries, and rarely apples, are all particularly susceptible to a soft brown rotting commonly known as brown rot. When clusters of these stone-fruits are found clinging together, every fruit rotted and covered with a mealy grayish brown growth, that is brown rot.

The Foxglove

TO give distinction to the ordinary hardy perennial and shrubbery border few plants equal and none surpass the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), especially when its improved horticultural varieties are used. Its erect racemes, usually two to four feet tall, rise above the ruck of ordinary sprawly plants like dignified spires adorned with bells.

Factors in Raising Poultry

TO obtain the fullest value and enjoyment out of backyard poultry raising, the individual must give special attention to three factors-- buying, care, and feeding. The first factor, namely, buying, is the first step toward an enjoyable and profitable pastime. Parentage of any animal is vital but this is particularly true of poultry.

Dope for Mrs. Mite

The Growing of Forget-me-nots

ONE of my hobbies the past few years has been the growing of forget-menots, and there are few flowers I would be less willing to be without. And yet, as memory carries me back to the gardens I have visited, there are only two in which I have seen this blossom featured. So there are some sections, at least, where it is not appreciated as it should be.

How to Have a Good Lawn

OH, what is so rare" as a lawn without weeds? Yet, it is just as possible as a day in June. I know, because two years ago my next-door neighbor had one and today we both have.

How We Financed Our Home

THE lot which my aunt left me was "away out" at that time, but the city grew to it, and like everybody else we wanted to build a real home. But our funds consisted of one $500 victory bond.

Going Into Debt

THE writer of an article in this magazine tells of his great disappointment when buying a home on the easy-payment plan to find that it would require eleven and one-half years to pay for the place. He was especially chagrined to find that his home would actually cost him nearly double the purchase price because of the interest payments he would have to include.

Gay Linens for Diningroom and Bedroom

DELIGHTFULLY effective is the bedroom set embroidered in brightly harmonizing colors with heavy floss. The colorful set shown this month may be made in an amazingly short time, as the stitches are simple and the heavy flosses fill in quickly.

The Coreopsis

The Development of Jazz

NO art has surpassed the art of music in the hearts of the countless millions who have wandered over the earth thruout the ages. Music itself goes back to the very beginning of time. No savage tribe has been entirely without it. Rude tunes were expressions of emotions long before there were spoken words.

The Why of a Pretty Kitchen

EVERYONE knows that home is really where mother is. And mother can usually be found in the kitchen.

Fritters, Croquettes and Doughnuts

WHO started the rumor that fried foods are palatable only in winter? No one will deny the appeal of doughnuts and of French fried potatoes when snowflakes are falling.

Dried Fruits in Salads

THE salad habit being a confirmed one in our family, the late winter shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables offers a real problem. Fortunately it is a problem which can be solved, and dried fruits are a chief factor in my solution of it.

Gay Curtains to Beautify the Better Home

NOTHING adds more to the charm of a room than pretty curtains. A room that is dark and gloomy may be transformed entirely by the addition of colorful curtains, while a room without curtains of some sort looks bare and uninteresting no matter how attractively it may be furnished otherwise.

How to Polychrome

POLYCHROMY, in the days of the Persians, meant the use of many colors, in the sense of decorative arts, and seems to have been the most important source of primitive decorations in architecture and sculpture.

Just Eggs

OUR male guest had been served foamy omelets and French omelets and savory omelets and we felt quite proud until we heard him confide to Junior that he'd rather have just plain fried eggs.

Shrubs That Attract the Birds

IN planting for the birds, the first thing to remember is an evergreen shelter and windbreak. A row of thick evergreens will serve the double purpose, altho it is well to have a thick clump in addition to the windbreak. The species which remain in winter will find refuge there and it may save the life of many a tiny bird, should that robber of the skies, the sparrow hawk, come your way.

Along the Garden Path

I AM a confirmed old vegetable gardener and it sometimes seems to me that there is no other garden, in the world where I get quite the solid satisfaction I do among the corn, the beans, peas and potatoes. I like my flowers and they fill a very large place in my life; and my water garden is a continual source of interest and satisfaction thruout the whole gardening season.

A Bit of White in the Garden

IN buying seed of the nicotiana, it is wise to be familiar with the varieties, as there is a considerable difference in their habits and beauty. My experience has shown that the sylvestris variety is entirely devoid of fragrance, but I was quite well pleased with that branch of the nicotiana family, until I tried the affinis, which I like much better.

Start Your Winter Bouquet Now

NO garden, however small, is quite complete without a few Helichrysum flowers, or, as they are commonly called, strawflowers, a name suggestive thru the sense of touch. They are among the everlastings, so they not only supply beauty thru the growing season but, thru-out the winter months as well.

Points for the Bean Patch

IN growing string beans, the old-timer advises gardeners to make it a rule to keep all pods picked as soon as they become large enough for table use, for often the amateur, thru ignorance or carelessness, allows the ill-favored or short ones to hang and produce seed, thereby curtailing production in his patch.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

AGAIN we are in a position to lay before you a big, vital, important issue of 120 pages! I sometimes wonder if you readers appreciate what a thrill it is to those of us here in the office to see the magazine maintain a size sufficient to enable us to publish the articles we have been dreaming and hoping we could give you, but half fearine they would have to be out aside at the last moment?