November 1928

ALONG the GARDEN PATH

BY the time you read these pages it will be October, and for many of you the garden path will be wearing a Paisley shawl of red, gold, yellow, and brown autumn leaves. Cold days will soon be here and once more the annual question of how to protect the flower garden during winter will come up for discussion.

The FLOWER of a BUTTERFLY

A CATERPILLAR hatched from its egg in the axil of the leaf of a giant tree. It was like being born in an airplane. But this altitude did not seem especially peculiar to the caterpillar because it never thought of looking down from its height in the tall tree.

Where Every Child Has a Garden

FIFTEEN years ago our schools here in Louisville, Kentucky, were just like those in thousands of other cities in the United States-- dull laboratories where boys and girls spent the days learning to parse nouns, extract square roots and bound the states of the Union.

He Built for His Parents

WHEN a friend who teaches cooking invites me to dinner, I expect a treat in the way of savory foods; when a woman whose hobby is budgets lets me look hers over, I am all interest; so when I found a beautiful house that had been designed by an engineer for his own father and mother, I expected the unusual in the way of comfort and convenience, nor was I disappointed.

A Square-Plan English Home

AN English exterior on a square plan is unusual, but has been successfully handled in this attractive dwelling. This compact small home has rooms of unusual size for the outside dimensions. The living-room, being square, follows the modern trend in getting away from the long, narrow, unsatisfactory living-room of the past.

We Battle Annually To Winter Perennials

TO begin with one of those confessions that are good for the soul, I must admit that I am no howling success at putting a garden to bed for the winter. There was a time when I thought I knew all about it. But the more experience I get, the less I seem to know. But at any rate I can sum up a few things I've learned here in my Ohio garden, plus what others have told me.

Amaryllis, King of Window Gardens

THE amaryllis is steadily growing in popularity with the people of the United States. This fact was clearly demonstrated by an attendance of 24,018 persons at the department of agriculture's fifteenth annual amaryllis show held in the greenhouses of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C., during the second week in March of this year.

Homes of Outstanding American Women

ONE of the most universal and heart-rending tragedies is that of a young widow with little children, left in straitened circumstances-- not because of improvidence or neglect on the part of her husband, but because the prematurity of his death made it impossible for him to safe-guard her financial future.

The Successful Fireplace

THANK Heaven, the fireplace has come back. You will find it in almost all the homes recently built and now being built, even in those being put up by speculative builders. That fact, by the way, furnishes one more reason for believing in the future of the home as an institution.

Does Gas Kill House Plants?

IF you were to announce at an afternoon club meeting that you intended to get together a collection of house plants for winter, you would hear a chorus, "But you can't have house plants in a house where gas is used; we've tried it."

Lengthen the Life of Your Tools

FATHER TIME will soon be completely bald if we amateur gardeners continue to grab the few remaining hairs of his forelock and compel him to keep us company. During these late autumn days he is less spry, therefore easier to catch than in the spring. For he then sprints past us at breakneck speed, unless we have prepared ourselves beforehand to seize him or give him a run for his money.

Shopping Here and There

What the Well-Dressed Table Will Wear

A GREAT deal of information has been set before the American woman since the war, instructing her in the whole art of running a household and, particularly, how her house must appear in order to make the best impression on guests. It is a good sign that we have become interested in the amenities of entertaining and in the small but important arts of appearing always at our best.

When and How to Read to Children

WHAT books to read to small children, what stories to tell, what songs to sing-- these are questions often asked by mothers, and it is proper to give them our attention. Less seldom considered, but really more important, are when and how to give reading, stories, and music to small children.

The Book That Meets Your Needs

AS I sorted and arranged the new books on my review shelves the other day (and incidentally that is no small task), I kept discovering fascinating new "family books" that fairly cried out to be advertised-- books not so much to be read aloud as to be studied, followed, used.

Gifts for the Book-Room

WITH Christmas just around the corner once more, perhaps we should consider some of the things of beauty that we may safely make and present to our homemaking friends. It is my firm belief that highest grade materials and good design are absolute essentials. It is such a mistake to spend precious hours and eyesight working on materials that pretend to be what they are not, and that show their true worth-- or lack of it-- the first time they are washed.

Among Ourselves

TIME was when alleys were the most unsightly spots in town. Seen only by the garbage man, the delivery boys, and wandering tomcats, they became the catch-alls of the neighborhood. Tin cans, discarded furniture, and refuse of long accumulation constituted their furnishings. High board fences hid them from view.

COME to the GARDEN CLINIC

WHAT should be done with tender perennials, such as red-hot poker plant (tritoma), and Japanese anemones (young plants), in sections of the country where there is severe freezing weather?

Gay Pantry Shelves

To Hang a Tapestry

Making Christmas Gifts

AFTER a neighbor boy had removed the thread from several spools, his mother came into the room. I am not going to tell you what she said, but I want to caution you boys to use only empty spools for making the Spooligator. Then if you do get into any trouble, blame it on to Elmer Gordon Ubbink, because the Spooligator is his idea.

Some Tips for the Handy Man

TO do good work one must have sharp tools. Hand saws should under no circumstances be filed by persons who have not learned the art of saw filing and setting.

TO THE WOMAN WITH DREAMS OF A NEW HOME IN HER HEAD

OAK FLOORS in the house mean that the builder wanted to put in the best floors possible-- and it is reasonable to assume that the entire house was built just as conscientiously. Such a house is not only more livable, but it is apt to be a better investment --if you are buying or building.

The Children's Pleasure Chest

DEAR Boys and Girls: Last month I promised that in November I would tell you how to make some Christmas gifts. It is quite a while until Christmas tho, so we are not going to tell the secrets until next month.

Did You Ever Try

Article

This Business of Being a Father

IT was an emergency of the direst kind which first introduced me to my own boy. For nine years he had been merely an occasional figure on my horizon. The young hopeful had been in his mother's charge, as is our custom. It had been she who fed and purchased for him; she who inspected his neck and ears of a morning; she who listened to his childish accounts of victory or defeat in play.

Growing Tulips in Red Clay

ALL my life, I had dreamed of raising tulips. They filled me with ecstasy when I was a small boy. Dumas' La tulipe noir fired my imagination, especially that quotation from the Tulip Guild to the effect that "to despise flowers is to offend God," and that the tulip being the most beautiful flower on earth, it was an especial offense against God to despise it.

Pretty things Prom Old Silk Hose

EVERY woman knows that old silk hose accumulate at a great rate, and probably almost every woman dislikes to throw them away. I have found use for them, and my friends are just as enthusiastic about the results as I am.

KNOW YOUR TREES

THE Douglas fir is a tree of distinctive beauty and commanding commercial importance. Its varied characteristics fulfill a two-fold purpose. Commercially it ranks first in annual lumber production, and aesthetically its graceful form is admirably suited to landscape beautification.

Sweet Peas in the Southwest

IN the South and Southwest, because of the intensely warm climate, the blooming season of the sweet pea is too short when the usual method of cultivation is used. However, by adapting the cultivation to the climate, the blooming season can be extended at least two months.

Two Garden Ideas

ACROSS The EDITORS DESK

IT is a long reach from the editor's desk to the Fiji Islands, but I want to tell you about a neighborly letter I received the other day from Frank Leans of Labasa Fiji Islands.