February 1930

Along the Garden Path

SEVERAL months ago perhaps you read in The Atlantic Monthly Prof. James E. Boyle's statement that a mother plant louse "who lays her eggs the first of April becomes the progenitor of 12 generations by the middle of August. She produces 41 young in one generation. Therefore, by the middle of August, if all the mother-aphid descendants should live, there would be alive at one time some 560 quadrillion aphids!

The Roving Gardener

THIS month may well be dedicated to ordering seeds. I like to give plenty of time to it, making out my lists early, reading up on new things I order, and getting my orders off so that all seeds will be on hand by the time spring comes. Some firms give a discount for early ordering, too.

A House That Earns Its Keep

A COTTAGE on a hillside-- just the phrase suggests a picture, but when this cottage is simple and white, when it is framed by oaks and looks out into a virgin wood, it is a picture. And when this picture is supplemented inside by gay color of printed linen, the pattern of lovely paper, and the mellow glow of old walnut and mahogany, it becomes almost a little masterpiece.

New Flowers for Your 1930 Garden

SINCE seed catalogs were first published-- and they are said to be the oldest form of mail-order catalog-- a prominent feature of their make-up each spring has been the novelty pages.

An Adventure Into the Picturesque

MOST of our symmetrical, Colonial houses and houses of the fairy-book type retain their popularity not because of historical interest or sentimental tradition but because of the sheer merit of the balance and easy rhythm of their composition.

How to Landscape the Informal-Type House

PLEASINGLY informal architecture-- a picturesqueness in spirit and appearance-- a distinctly individual character-- in some such manner we might describe this home. A glance at the landscape plan will show that it possesses the same feeling. Each home grounds has its own particular problems and solution, but a study of the manner in which the picturesque is attained in this plan will give the principles for the naturalistic development of any place.

How, When, and Where to Plant Roses

KINDS of Plants to Buy. Years of experience teach me that many roses do equally well either on their own roots or budded, and some will never grow roots of their own, but all do well when budded on a congenial, vigorous root system. [To the beginner it may be well to say that roses may be rooted from cuttings.

She Was Too Dazed to Answer

MRS. DURHAM stood in the midst of her garden. Two red spots blazed in her cheeks, and her hands worked convulsively round a small hoe. From time to time she gave a vicious jab at the ground, then stood still again, and a bewildered look crossed her face.

The Small Dining-Room in Good Taste

THE small dining-room can be one of the pleasantest rooms in the house. Oftentimes, in actual fact, it is anything but that. No matter how small it is, the dining-room ought to be both pleasant and inviting, for it is supposedly a place of hospitality and agreeable social intercourse.

How Character Affects Home Buying

IN AN earlier article I said that one's vices and virtues determined the kind of house one should aim to have. "It is well enough to say I should do so and so in making my home," said Harriet, my daughter, "but what if I cannot do it, if I can't make myself?" I understood at once.

A Fire Chief Looks at a Home

IF IT were possible, as some near clay it surely will be, to speak to every person in America at the same time, and you had to limit your message to eight words, what do you consider the most significant thought that you personally could convey in those words?

The First Things in Gardening

BETTER gardening means better landscape design. One does not always realize this, as he makes his first venture in gardening, but as he goes on, he becomes more and more impressed with the fact.

What Lemoine Did for Your Garden

THERE are scores of kings and thousands of heroes who wear their medals and whose names are almost household words, but the greatest plant breeder of ornamental plants is hardly known to the people. Wherever there are flowers in gardens, there also is the unseen influence of Victor Lemoine.

When the Man of the House Cooks

NOW, when it comes to the organization of a cake, or other contraption that requires sweetening, I'll give my wife credit-- she can bake it. Or, for that matter, when it is a question of taking a nicely fattened spring chicken and doing this and that with it to bring it out of the frying pan brown, and-- well, almost fluffy-- and altogether delicious-- again, my wife's there.

Raise Your Own Strawberries

BEFORE I bought my present home I rented a property which permitted having a garden of about 50 by 75 feet. As my landlord would plant neither tree nor bush fruits, I devoted this area to annual vegetables and strawberries. ...

Let's Block Out the Garden

IT IS the assembling of earth, plants, bricks, and other materials that makes a garden, not the materials themselves.

Floors for Use and Beauty

I HAVE sometimes been asked, "What kind of a floor shall I put in my new home?" The question should be, "What kind of floors should I have?" The plural is important, for there are endless qualities and varieties of floors, even when one excludes, as we do in this article, those coverings, such as carpets, which are not a permanent part of the house.

What the Northwest Teaches the Gardener

YOU who are interested in rock gardens, or who are disciples of the principle that encourages the use of evergreens as the dominating note in the landscape plan-- what could be more natural, and logical, than for you to visit the Northwest, where, in such rugged topography, rock gardens thrive, and where Nature has endowed a region with a natural cover of evergreens-- great firs, cedars, and hemlocks?

Thumb-sucking--What of It?

I AM convinced that, next to insufficient training in the fundamental habits, the greatest foe to mental health in children is the various worries in which we parents indulge. The sad thing about it is that most of these worries, and probably the ones which give us most concern at that, are quite unfounded.

Let's Do the Kitchen in Calico

DURING the past year King Cotton has been enthroned anew and gingham and calico have achieved a social standing comparable to that of silks; sprigprint calico hats, quilted bags, swagger sports coats, and gingham ensembles flash fancy prices in the early Palm Beach showings, while the vogue for those same old-fashioned fabrics is invading our interior-decoration schemes.

Aids to Better Housekeeping

A BABY in the house! What a lot of things his majesty demands. Scales, bottles, and still more bottles, a carriage, a bathtub all his own, and numerous other things --all of which he will soon outgrow. Nevertheless, we must have them, and so here they are, a number of new pieces of equipment that make baby-housekeeping easier and lighter.

AMONG OURSELVES

MRS. HALLIE M. BROWN describes an extraordinary toolhouse which she discovered at St. Joseph, Missouri-- extraordinary because it proved much too charming for a toolhouse alone and found additional use as a summerhouse or resthouse such as our European neighbors delight in.

Garden How-to-Do

Berried shrubs are one of the most decorative features of the garden during the winter. Altho the birds eat many of the berries, the Regel Privet, the Ibota Privet, the European Privet, the Japanese Barberry, the arrowwood, the European Cranberrybush, the nannyberry, the snowberry, and the coralberry may be depended on for the entire winter.

Books Your Family Will Want for "Keeps"

NOT long ago a mother wrote me: "I think perhaps that people who do reviewing and thus receive the outstanding books of the year do not realize how few books are purchased in the average home. This past year I added only three volumes to my library, not by choice, of course, but thru necessity-- the amount I had to spend was so limited.

Teach Your Community Musical Expression

IN THESE days there is an exuberant welling up of expression which is national in scope. Men and women everywhere are striving for a definitely different and individual manner in which to express themselves. Even towns and communities vie keenly with each other in their struggle for recognition, and happy is the community that, having, something to say, has learned to "say it with music."

The Question Before the House

HOW shall we test the flues to determine their safety?

My Perennial Company Is Happy and Content

IN SUMMER, when the whole earth is a veritable horn of plenty, when every bush and tree and growing thing is lavishly jeweled with its own particular beauty, then how exquisite are the annuals, those lovely lightsome plants that are here and gone in a regrettably brief few weeks! How they do glorify the garden!

Three Useful Wooden Articles

YOU, the handy man or boy with a knife, saw, and hammer, can make these three things. One is a most ingenious toy. The second is a useful kitchen appliance. The third is a device which makes it unnecessary to drive nails in the plaster or door to provide hangers for cleaning apparatus.

Planning The Club Program

SUCH a lively interest has been taken by Better Homes and Gardens readers in my October book-article, "That Paper You Must Write," in which suggestions are made as to ways of handling club papers, that the editors have allowed me to establish a department devoted to the interests of clubs alone.

SOURCE MATERIALS FOR CLUB PROGRAMS

Exercises for the Baby

IT HAS always been taken for granted that a baby, like a young animal, takes the exercise he needs as Nature dictates. But when we consider that baby is not allowed to live the way Nature intended along many other lines, we can be pretty sure that his young body is not getting all the activity it craves.

Furnishing for Evening

WHEN do we use our living-rooms most, in the daytime or in the evening? Three out of four of us say, "Evening," I'll wager, when this question is asked. Yet have we planned our decorations with an eye to their becomingness when the lights are on and with a thought to their effects when daylight is gone?

Legal Points That Protect Home Owners

FEW persons are aware that the law requires a seller to guarantee impliedly that his product is reasonably fit for the intended purposes, altho he does not intend to guarantee it.

FLOWER STUDIES FOR FRAMING

Permanent Labels

THE NEW GARDEN LEAFLETS

The Children's Pleasure Chest

LET'S play we're all brave pirates, and for a month we've been treasure-hunting. Only we modern pirates have been armed with pencils and paper (pretending, of course, they were daggers and dirks). We've worn long black mustachios and a patch over one eye, and ventured boldly.

Captain Mary Louise Must Strong and Sturdy Grow

CAPTAIN MARY LOUISE, to sail well the seas, must grow up sturdy and strong; and she knows that rosy cheeks and cherry lips are signs of healthy red blood as well as marks of beauty. To secure these she recommends peanuts, which are rich in both copper and iron, two materials essential to the building of red blood.

"WHEN FATHER COOKS THE DINNER"

Winter Work for the Boys

HOW to keep the boys employed during long winter days and evenings has been met, in a degree, by the birdhouses. As a result of winter work, birdhouses surmount poles and hide in tree branches. A few are nailed to the eaves of the house, and when spring comes there is a gay array of bungalows, cottages, and cabins, every one denoting more artistry than appears in places set aside for the human tourist.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

FROM the letters you have sent to us: "If you grow larger and greater with the years, all right, but please stay always the same kind of magazine you are now. Stay as you are."-- Mrs. C. A. Carroll, California. "This is one reason I like your magazine so well-- you seem to share things, divide up with your readers. You seem to hang over your editorial backyard fence and swap experiences, to help and guide the beginner along the right paths, to stretch the lean pocketbooks to a budget."-- Mrs. Perley O. Mills, Vermont.