September 1928

Growing Up With Flowers

Along the Garden Path

HAVE you become acquainted with the human side of your garden? With the coming of late summer and early autumn, the average American gardener has the weeds and other pests under control and everything pretty well organized. He may now settle back with some degree of complacency and enjoy the entertainment that is spread before him.

Dog Days or Holy Days

Beauty and Convenience Built-In

WE are building cities today --not new cities, perhaps, as in the days of the pioneer, but each new addition and each new house, will leave its impress for a quarter of a century or more on the appearance of our villages, towns, and cities, and on the character of those who live in them.

Lilacs You Will Like to Know and Grow

IF you want beauty that will last a hundred years, plant a lilac. At least that is what our grandmothers believed years ago, and as a result we still find around old homes, often deserted ones, these mute evidences that a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Fall Planting for Spring Bloom

AUTUMN days are the time, as all experienced gardeners know, for the planting of bulbs that bloom in the spring. As the cool days and long nights come on, we take the homely-looking bulbs and place them in the ground, in the border, in the grass, under the trees or among the shrubbery.

Outwitting Winter With a Greenhouse

AMONG several hundred of my amateur gardener acquaintances those who are happiest and most successful in their work are those who have a greenhouse of some kind.

The Right Kind of Dog For Your Home

HE weighed about as much as a half-grown kitten. He stood shivering in the center of the wide and windswept lawn; a pinkish and tiny and hunched creature; as out of place as would be a ping-pong ball at the Battle of the Marne.

Four Years' Fun in a Garden

IN the beginning we bought our home just as it was being finished by the carpenters, a brick Dutch colonial, with the living-room across the front. The house stands back 90 feet from the curb, giving a wonderful green sward of lawn in front with an opportunity for a dainty little border of shrubs and perennials along the driveway.

Grandmother Builds Herself a House

AT 70 years of age, to plan, build, furnish, and operate a home of her own, was no task for Mrs. MacClanahan, mother-in-law of Sir Wilfred Grenfell of Labrador fame. It was just another experience in her life made rich by friendships and adventure.

Should Freshmen Stay at Home?

SHOULD a young man's first college years be spent at or near home?" The question was put to me, and, altho I have usually found it easier to settle abstract problems than concrete ones, I pondered not a little without finding a convincing answer. Having no son, I had to think in terms of a young woman at college, of my motherly concerns for a daughter, with such helps as I could have from the comments of friends who had sons.

Harold Lloyd in His Garden

IF it were humanly possible, I verily believe, Harold Lloyd would like to have every man, woman and child in the United States play on his golf course or tennis court, look thru his house, enjoy his wild flowers and waterfall, and have just as good a time as he is having.

That Mysterious Health Ray

RECENTLY I visited a model chicken farm kept by a nationally-known poultry expert, and what I saw there made me wonder whether we do not take more thought regarding the health of our chickens than of our children. Among other things, I noticed that the windows of his chicken houses were made of a widely-advertised glass substitute.

Another Fall Campaign

NOW is the time for all good--" Wait, that is a campaign phrase! It is a rallying call for action. What has it to do with gardens? Just this. If you finish it by saying, "Now is the time for all good gardeners to come to the aid of their landscape," then you have a fitting slogan for your fall garden campaign.

A Garden in the Desert

IN a sunlit toy canyon, hidden away in the vastness of the mountainous Arizona desert, lies a garden in which pulsate the life germs of many a southwestern garden yet to be created; a garden which seldom gets water but which, nevertheless, blossoms like the proverbial rose.

Are Your Draperies Decorative or Dowdy?

JUDGING from the numbers of letters of inquiry in my files there are a good many homemakers who are unaware of the supreme importance of draperies in a decorative scheme. When I get a letter that asks, "What sort of draperies should I have," with no mention of the size and style of the room, the prevailing colors, and the number and size of the windows, I can do no less than infer that the inquirer has no conception of the fact that the windows and their treatment are an integral part of the entire interior composition.

It's Fun to Hold a Flower Show

A FLOWER show, an affair sponsored by our civic association --that was the thing that opened our eyes to the fact that there were even more good gardeners in our community than we realized.

A Modern Magic Carpet

THE magic carpet of Fairy Tale Land was not such a wonderful carpet, after all. Next year many a back yard gardener will use just as marvelous a carpet to transport him to the land of brilliant flowers and crisp vegetables. This magic carpet does away with hoeing, keeps down weeds, conserves moisture and hastens germination.

Long Live Your Gas Stove

GAS stoves have lately earned a place of prominence and helpfulness heretofore unknown. They have become modernized by acquiring new lines, new accessories, and new colors. We no longer keep them black, we keep them clean. Cleanliness of all parts is very important for the best efficiency and long life of your stove.

Watching Your Family's Weight

MEN and women who are struggling with a special diet in an effort to lose or to gain weight usually think they have a mighty problem. They have. No one likes to eat food he does not crave or to deny himself dishes that appeal to his appetite.

Plain Foods in Fancy Dress

RING molds and good-looking clothes have much the same mission in life. Both beautify. The mold gives common, everyday foods a distinguished air, just as handsome frocks frequently make plain women attractive. Wise is the hostess who appreciates the value of these charm producers!

Must Children Be Obedient?

JUST at present there is no question on which we can get up a good argument more quickly in the mothers' group which is my particular inspiration and education than that of obedience in children.

For Better Housekeeping

MACHINERY for the household is decidedly important these days, and it is just as interesting as it is important.

Colored Linens for the Guest Room

SOME of the more conservative housewives awakened with alarm one morning not long ago to find that color had invaded the kitchen. Over night pots and pans and containers for sugar, flour, tea, coffee, and even bread and cake had suddenly changed their Quaker-like garbs and stepped out in bright reds, blues, yellows, and greens.

Bookshelves Redeem Awkward Spaces

THIS is another version of the story of the ugly duckling which grew into a beautiful swan. In this particular instance, the duckling was a pair of rather ugly and unnecessary openings in the wall flanking the door between the entrance hall and the living-room.

The Story of Musical Notation

NOTATION is the general name for the art of expressing musical ideas in writing. Musical notation is so familial to all of us today that few people are aware of the difficulty of the problem which had to be solved and the innumerable experiments which had to be undertaken for the sake of perfecting a satisfactory method of recording musical sounds.

For Winter Salads and Cocktails

HOSTESSES always welcome melon time. From the time the first cantaloupes and watermelons appear until the last is gone, they are used and relished in salads and cocktails.

Two New Garden Books

WHEN a plant or tree bears the stamp of approval of the Arnold arboretum, we know it is good. By the same token, books written by Ernest H. Wilson, keeper of the Arboretum, never fail to carry worthwhile and interesting information. "More Aristocrats of the Garden" (The Stratford company, $5), the second of a series by this well-known authority, will prove a treasure-trove to the home gardener who is anxious to get the newest and best of shrubs and trees.

Among Ourselves

I ENJOY Better Homes and Gardens more and more. I thought the June issue particularly fine. Not the least in point of interest and in valuable suggestions is the "Among Ourselves" column.

Zinc Pigment Paints

"No"

THE other day a father asked me why our children, four girls and a boy, do not attend the university at home instead of going elsewhere. My answer was, "Because we believe a boy or girl gets better training in self-reliance away from home than he or she does at the home institution."

Your Literary Club Program

OH, no, we aren't a club of travelers," said a rosy old lady whom I met in a middlewestern town the other day. "In fact, nearly all of our members are 'stay-at-homes' of the most confirmed kind. I may spend Christmas with my daughter and son-in-law in Wichita but that's as far away as I expect to get this year, and most of the others are in the same fix.

A Little Garden for a Narrow Lot

FOR the small householder who must solve the problems of a service yard and a garden, we present the following plan. For the first problem, that of the service yard, we have a delightfully constructed house. The driveway for the automobile, which is placed far to one side of the property, leads up to the kitchen entrance and the garage.

GENERAL ELECTRIC

"HOW TO BUILD A BETTER HOME"

Equipping the Home Workshop

EVERY home needs a workbench and a few tools, first to keep the home in repair, and second, to provide a place for Dad and the boys to work out their hobbies.

Calendulas as Winter House Plants

Come to the Garden Clinic

HOW early in the fall may deciduous trees and shrubs be planted?

Flower Designs for Curtains and Quilts

THO nowadays we like to use several colors rather than just one in a room, still we want one predominant color to give character to the room. It is for a north bedroom that I have planned designs this month, tho of course one can use them to equally good advantage in a bedroom on any other side of the house, merely by varying the color to suit the amount of sunlight admitted.

Rubbish as Fertilizer

WHAT will we do with all the fallen leaves in the city lot? Rake them up in piles in autumn and burn them? Of course, that is one way to get rid of them. It furnishes considerable amusement for the children, but it is also wasteful of an abundant supply of soil enriching material-- humus, one of the very important items of fertility in soil, which is nothing but decaying organic matter.

"The Book of Green Vegetables"

DOES your family grow weary of the familiar spinach, lettuce, and cabbage greens? If so, you will find "The Book of Green Vegetables," by Mollie Gold and Eleanor Gilbert (D. Appleton & company, $1.50), a real help and inspiration. This compact little book lists forty- two "green vegetables," and gives new and unusual ways of preparing them.

Work and Play, as Taught by Indians

EVERY kind of corn that you can think of was once "Indian corn." That is, all of the many hundreds of varieties which are known today came from the five general kinds that the Indians grew centuries before white folks came to this country. For corn, as you probably know, was the red folks' "staff of life."

Some Useful Garden Devices

SIFTING dirt to cover small seeds is a tiresome process by ordinary methods; pulverizing the dirt by hand is slow and gives poor results, while using a wire sieve is quite as tedious, even tho the results are better. I thought of using an ordinary two-cup flour sifter, the kind that sells for about ten cents at the stores, and my troubles along that line were soon solved.

The Children's Pleasure Chest

I HAD always heard Mother say she wished she had a set like Aunt Nell's for her salt, sugar and the like, but it seemed like each week her allowance was used for something else.

Fertilizing Strawberry Plants

THE two things which most influence the size and vigor, ultimately the yields, of a strawberry plant, are food and water. If shortage of either one occurs during the development of the plants, the formation of fruit buds for the following spring's crop will be lessened.

In the September Garden

DEWY, foggy mornings, the gradual yellowing of leaf and blade, the autumn gold of goldenrod over the countryside-- our summer is almost gone. Perhaps gloom might stalk thru the garden with us were the air less invigorating, our fall blossoms less charming, and our garden hours less full of tasks.

Across the Editor's Desk

THE circulation of Better Homes and Gardens continues to increase rapidly and by large figures! As will be noticed by the statement on the front cover this month, the circulation is now over 1,075,000.