June 1930

Along the Garden Path

THIS is rose time. How universally we enjoy transforming ugly, thorny bushes into lovely roses. This is why, when we buy a rose bush, we do not merely plant it, but we consider, too, its plant-food requirements-- a high- test all- around fertilizer; its susceptibility to disease, to prevent which we need 9 parts dusting sulphur to 1 part arsenate of lead, applied to prevent, not control, black spot and mildew; and for plant lice we always need a nicotine or pyrethrum-extract spray.

The Roving Gardener

THAT time of year is at hand when our garden dreams begin to come true, when the long months of anticipation are over and our plans are consummated. The new things we bought or grew from seed are giving their first bloom.

Bringing Symphony Into the Home

BRINGING the symphony into the home is a responsibility utterly unparalleled in all my musical work. During my forty years with the New York Symphony, I could only be in one place at a time. Now, thanks to the radio, we are giving concerts for millions, thru the "musical university of the air."

Perennials Thru All Seasons

"TEN hardy garden plants constitute our heaven. Three of these are really bulbs, so we are seven" --so someone has chanted.

Iris--the Rainbow Which Fell to Earth

IRIS, goddess of the rainbow, has indeed a worthy namesake in the exquisite garden iris of today. Countless new varieties are being introduced every year, and the common "flag lily" of yesterday is definitely a back number.

Where Is the Japanese Iris at Home?

JAPANESE Iris breathe of old Japan and lend the garden an atmosphere nothing else can give. They have an oddly beautiful way of combining stiffness with grace. The leaves and stems are straight and angular, contrasting pleasingly with the soft, flowing curves of the petals, an unusual and fascinating combination.

What a Good Painter Does When He Paints Your House

A MAN in white overalls, swinging a paint brush along the side of a house, looks about the same today as he did twenty years ago. Right! But, can you think of anything that hasn't changed during the last twenty to twenty-five years?

Visit Nature's Gardens This Summer

THERE comes a day, about this time of year, when even the most ardent and devoted home-gardener feels in his marrow a certain restlessness, feels thru his veins the surge of wanderlust, feels in his heart that urge "to go and see and go and see and go and see some more," as a poet has said.

The Picturesque Colonial

UNTIL a few years ago little heed was paid to the destruction of our heritage of really old houses. Some of them were, without qualm, sacrificed to the expediencies of the moment. But, more often, poverty, neglect, and indifference were responsible for their desolation.

The Tree Flowers Entertain

BLOSSOMS that live in the trees are the original society buds. From early spring to late midsummer, some of them are entertaining guests every day. And so well satisfied are their friends with the welcome they receive that they return again and again for a jolly time, to share the treats which the flowers so generously prepare. Tree flowers are delightful hosts and hostesses.

Nut Trees for the Suburban Lot

MOST nut trees are real ornamentals, comely in form, stately in growth, enduring, resistant to storms, and with unusually attractive foliage. And they do not ordinarily require the same care that apple trees demand. Accustomed to shifting for themselves in the wild state, all they need is a chance.

Of the Other Peonies--I Write

THE most commonly grown peonies are varieties developed from the Chinese Peony (Paeonia albiflora). Many other sorts also deserve our attention, however, and it is of them that I write.

What Kind of Chair Is That?

IT IS not necessary to raise the question why people want old chairs in their homes, along with other antiques, or why old American chairs in particular are so much the vogue. The fact remains that it is so, and what concerns most people who are interested in old furniture is how to know the different kinds of old American chairs.

The Book Editor's Travel Guidebooks

THIS June article of mine is to be a personal one, the story of a group of books that guided my own family of four across Europe last summer on a ramble in a small American-made car.

You Can Build Your Own Log Cabin

"I CERTAINLY would erect a log cottage on my Adirondack lot," someone remarks, "if I were sure of getting artistic corners. You know how it is-- the log-cabin corner is something akin to the decorative coping or a border: it sets off the entire effect.

Getting Acquainted With the Eremurus

IT was in one of our city parks in May, as we came upon one of the hardy borders, that I caught sight of my first Eremurus.

How to Decorate for Every Occasion

LAST year I had the thrill of being chosen to decorate our church for the wedding of the most popular couple in our neighborhood.

Of Lovely Design, Economical

THE house presented here-- the home of Mr. and Mrs. William R. Spofford, at St. Davids, Pennsylvania-- is one of those dwellings that have made some suburban towns the center of some of our best small-house architecture.

The Bride Studies Homemaking

A BRIDE of fair education said to me: "I don't know a thing about housekeeping. I have never learned to cook. But I intend to prove that my schooling and office experience have not been wasted. If I set my mind to it, as I did to algebra, economics, and shorthand, I can master it.

A House for Any Part of America

AS A PICTORIAL admixture of the Norman-peasant type with English motives, this house would find a congenial setting in most any part of this country, particularly the wooded sections.

Good Proportions, or Making the Garden Look Right

YOU have often seen a garden in which the edges were neatly trimmed, the skyline was well varied so that there were accent points in the form of trees and shrubs reaching up or dropping down in their outlines, and there was good connection between it and the house.

Lessons From Japanese Flower Arrangement

THE American who studies Japanese flower arrangement will have no desire to copy it in detail, but he is sure to be impressed with the need for greater simplicity.

Round the Realm of Rock Rollers

"ROLLICKING rumpus! What is all the excitement about?" asks Uncle Sage as he joins our merry troop of Junior Gardeners who are waiting to start on their fifth adventure in the realm of the Landscape Architect.

How to Grow Grass Beneath Trees

THE chief agent in the production of a fine lawn is sunlight. Without it you can never produce a superfine growth of grass, no matter how much money you spend, how much material and equipment you use, how much time and thought you give to it. Trees are wonderful because of their foliage.

The Fruit Garden Invites You

ONE of my city-bred friends and his young family spent their first summer in the country several years ago and were so delighted with the free, healthful life that the father bought a small place 100 feet front and 200 feet deep and built a little cottage. Tho he might have commuted to business daily thruout the year, it has been feasible to live in this house only during the summer months because the mother teaches in a New York City school and the children attend there.

The Room That Is More Than a Bedroom

IT IS comparatively easy, no matter how small a bedroom may be, to make it more than just a place to sleep and dress. With a little thought and care the average bedroom may become an expression of the individual-- and a great convenience to him-- offering comfort and including the equipment for occupations that require solitude.

State Flowers I Would Grow

ACROSS the sun -scorched prairie crept a train of canvas-covered, ox-drawn wagons. On springless seats stolid-faced women suffered uncomplainingly. Far to the westward a faint purple haze marked the mountains beyond which lay a land of opportunity and a new home. Visions of sturdy cabins with flowers by the doorstones tempered the hardships of the journey and lightened the ever-present dread of Indian attack.

We Go Shopping With a June Bride

"TELL me," said a little bride-to-be friend of mine the other day in such a woeful voice, "whatever shall I do? I have just about $75 to spend on my table-- china, silver, and linen, I mean. Can I possibly stretch it over these three items and have anything that is worth while at all?"

Shall We Take Vacations With Small Children?

BECAUSE this is the time when father is going over his fishing-tackle and mother is collecting data on summer resorts, I make no apologies for breaking our mental-health series long enough to say a word about the children's vacations.

Good Food in an English Chophouse

GOOD food has a way of attracting people no matter how obscure its source may be, and New York City, the famous melting pot of the world, might also be said to be the great stew pot, gastronomically speaking, of the nations of the earth.

Fresh Meats in Packages

STEAKS and chops and roasts, cut, wrapped, and ready to carry home when we enter the meat market! Not so many months ago I saw for the first time a display of these cuts in their attractive transparent parchment-paper wrappings, and I was interested immediately.

What Is Right About My Garden?

ONE of my friends once remarked, "When your garden is in that state of perfection that you cannot see the need of any changes, then you will lose all interest in your horticulture endeavors." I agree with him. His philosophy convinces me that I have great interest ahead of me.

To Keep the Children in Their Own Back Yards

ALL mothers have experienced the coaxing requests, as soon as vacation begins, "Mother, may I go over to Jane's?" "Mother, may I go to the movies?" and the like.

June Notes From a Gardener's Scrapbook

JUNE is the month when even the poorest of gardens blooms in all its glory, when no one has an excuse for not having bloom. Those of us who are really interested in our gardens should be one step ahead of the others by having something different in annuals and perennials and something finer in shrubs and roses.

They say it about her... ...they may say it about you Listerine ends halitosis

WHAT a pity it is that so many otherwise fastidious men and women give no thought to keeping their breath beyond reproach.

Putting Color Schemes Into Practice

IN THE two preceding articles on color the properties of color and the principles of color combination were set forth, and several methods of working out color schemes were explained; so the purpose of the present article is to analyze certain concrete examples of color-scheming to illustrate more fully how the theories mentioned may satisfactorily be put into actual practice.

The Jacket for Your House

AN HOUR'S ride thru a well-built suburban section in any American city today will afford the prospective builder a display of houses never before equaled in variety of color, texture, and materials. Brick, stone, stucco, and wood, used singly and in endless combinations, greet the eye at every turn of the road.

Building Questions Answered

I AM told that certain damage to my house is caused by termites. What can I do to stop further damage?

Four Simple Home Helps

CHILDREN are wont to push against the wire netting when opening the screen door, and it is soon torn loose from the frame or becomes bulgy. A simple and inexpensive way to remedy this is shown in the sketch at the upper right. Stretch cheap window-curtain rods across the door frame.

Artcraft Summer-izing

MAKING the home seem cool and inviting in summer is not so much a problem of addition as of subtraction. The outdoor porch enhanced to the rails with attractive and convenient accessories achieves the maximum in comfort as a family gathering spot. And artcraft for the gárden becomes of real import.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT PAPER MULCHING?

SOMEONE said the other day, when a photograph arrived showing a paper mulched tomato plant fifteen feet high and bearing two and a quarter pound tomatoes-- "Well, there's no doubt about the truth of the thing... there's the unretouched photograph and here's the statement from a minister of the gospel who grew it, certifying to the fact that Gator-Hide Mulch Paper did the job.

Ways to Keep Your Evergreens Healthy

IN HOT, dry summer weather evergreens should be given plenty of water and carefully guarded against red-spider attack. This pest is a very small mite, barely visible. If it is allowed to become numerous on your evergreens it will, thru its habit of sucking sap from the foliage, cause them to lose their characteristic colors and assume a rusty appearance.

June Garden Tips

THE portulaca is an oldtime favorite which people sometimes overlook because it is so common and cheap. A 5-cent package of seed will guarantee a mass of brilliant bloom all summer. This plant is ultra-tropical, coming from Brazil, so do not plant the seed until late May or early June after the ground has become warm.

Prices of Artcraft Articles

The Children's Pleasure Chest

LITTLE Choo-Choo sat puffing outside the door of Piggy-wig Gee House at daybreak of a fine June morning. Long before much larger engines were awake he had whistled goodby to the roundhouse and hurried up Twisty Hill to the home of the three pink pigs.

The Smyrna Fig

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

JUNE is the month that people are thinking most of vacations. You will enjoy reading in this issue about how to make a log cabin, how to care for small children while on vacation, and where you can find marvelous scenery and exhilarating air and stalwart pines. After all, the vacation is very much of a family affair, and you take your home spirit with you as you journey.