August 1930

The Home Back of the Picture

Along the Garden Path

SO THIS is August-- named for Augustus Caesar-- languid August, when the garden must tolerate the heat. Nevertheless, we are worshippers of the sun.

The Roving Gardener

WHY is it that the whole country-- men, women, and children-- has taken to gardening? Why are 1,375,000 copies of this magazine read each month when ten years ago folks got along without it and would scarcely have been interested in it? Why the ever-expanding movement toward the country, out to suburban sections?

The Art of Combining Flowers Properly

A FORTUNATE few have instinctive feeling for fine composition, whether it is in the assembling of a costume, the planning of a landscape, the furnishing of a room, or the simple arrangement of flowers in a vase. Most of us, however, feel the need of some guiding principles which may help us to attain desired effects.

A Santa Barbara Barn Becomes a Beautiful Gardened Home

THE idea of remaking an old barn into a modern and livable house has always intrigued the minds of many people. It seems a shame to tear down the solid, well-built structures, with their heavy beams and framing, for many barns and stables erected even twenty-five or thirty years ago were built of far better material than some of the attractive residences of today.

How College Girls Spend Their Dollars

I WONDER if I can afford to go to college next fall," mused Mary, a high-school senior, as she and her chum Susan sat, one early spring evening, exchanging confidences and pondering mutual problems. Susan had finished high school the year before and was still working as a stenographer in the downtown office where she had meant to spend only one summer.

Epeira, Fastidious Spider, Weaves a Most Ingenious Web

IT WAS exactly 7:30 o'clock. A hot August day was closing calm and serene, and the florid sun had already retired beneath the horizon. The shadows were growing thick and long, and a moist coolness was creeping up from the earth. Cicada, faithful fiddler of the night, had broken the stillness with his rasping serenade, and phantomlike moths were silently sipping nectar from fragrant petunias.

How Do You Multiply Perennials?

HAVE you ever tried your hand at propagating? It's even better than finding a purse full of money or having a rich uncle in India! Why? Well-- the purse might be claimed by its owner and the uncle might be only a notion --but in propagation we have the unfailing Open Sesame to the gardens of our dreams.

August Notes From a Gardener's Scrapbook

THERE are many things that may be done in the fall just as well as in the spring, and if you will plan to do a large part of your planting this year you will be that much ahead next spring. Prepare your orders, if you have not already done so, for your plantings of perennials and evergreens that are to be planted during September and October.

The American Table and How It Grew to Fit Our Changing Needs

WHETHER or not we have any interest in old furniture, I doubt if there is a home-minded person who doesn't at some time or another in his life evince an interest that is more than casual in the type of furniture that he sees or owns or hopes to own.

What You Buy When You Buy Good Plumbing

THERE are veins and arteries in the house that may be compared to the veins and arteries in the human body. Silently and inconspicuously these veins and arteries of the house do their work every day. Upon them, as upon the blood channels of the human body, rests the responsibility for the well- being and healthfulness of the occupants of the home.

How They Built Their Home on a Hillside

THE steep hillside was once regarded as the least desirable site on which to build. If one did not have a level, oblong piece of land, cleared of trees and graded to a flat evenness, it was necessary to get one before discussing the house question with the local builder.

The Question Before the House

CAN an architect save me anything, or am I as well off until a contractor only?

You Can Observe Nature Thru These Books

WHEN I was a youngster we had no Nature study in our schools, and even for us who were so fortunate as to have the woods at our very back doors, there was seldom either any wise volume or any equally wise grown person at hand to answer our questions about birds and insects.

Placing the Stones in a Rock Garden

IF HAPPINESS lies in work, then real joy should be found in the making of a rock garden. For, between the budding of the idea in your mind and the blooming of the plants in the finished garden, there is bound to be intensive thought and genuine labor; that is, if you desire a rock garden worthy of the name and not "a geologist's pile of samples."

The Family Takes Its Daily Sunshine

WITH an abundance of summer sunshine all about us, it seems almost beside the point to consider ways and means of getting a daily dosage. But for many of us cold weather lies just ahead. With it come ills that sunshine can prevent, and we homemakers and mothers are wishing right now that we could include sunshine in our canning program and bottle a supply for winter use. Since we cannot do this we must look to the next best source.

With a Dash of Mayonnaise

MAYONNAISE in my childhood days was a party food. It was a real ceremony when the utensils and materials were assembled-- the bowl for mixing, one for cracked ice to surround it, the beater, and all the materials. One began with the prayer that the egg and oil would mix, and at the same time if there were any incantations of magic known, they were called upon.

Raffia Handwork for the Porch

A MIDSUMMER porch suggests two things: colorful surroundings and cold drinks. Colorful surroundings radiate cheer and gayety, while cold drinks express gracious hospitality. If our porch possesses these attractions we shall derive greater enjoyment from it.

For the Lawn and Porch

THE flawless lawns of England owe much of their excellence to rolling. Many American lawns, too, are rolled, but the average home owner does not own a roller and neglects the rolling because he hesitates to borrow one.

Come Wander With Us Down Hollyhock Lane With the Junior Garden Clubs of America

SUPPOSE we spend a few of our summer vacation days wandering thru the gardens of Hollyhock Lane! I have heard that there are no end of interesting people living there, and of course no end of wonderful things happening every day. Doesn't Hollyhock Lane, shown in the picture at the top of the page, look inviting? The lane seems to smile and beckon us to follow it thru the rows of gay hollyhocks bedecked in their frilly silken costumes of every tint and hue!

Aids to Better Housekeeping

DURING August all of us especially appreciate our refrigerators, and this month, therefore, is an auspicious time for that piece of equipment to request a few aids to gracious and efficient service.

Frozen Salads for Every Course

"GIVE me a refrigerator with contents having any degree of distinction and I shall make you a frozen salad!" In some such phraseology the homemaker of today boasts that the possibilities of the frozen salad are literally legion. Made in vegetable and fruit variations and accompanied by sandwiches and a hot drink, they form a delicious main course for summer luncheons or for simple home suppers.

A Travel Club at Home

I HEARD of the jolliest kind of club the other day; in fact, one of the members, who happened to be a high-school girl, told me about it, and asked me for some material to help the group in its study, if anything so altogether delightful could be called by so dull a name.

Three Handy Tips

The Children's Pleasure Chest

PIGGSY, Wiggsy, and Wag visited a strange new town all a-bustle and a-hustle with laughing, fun-having people. This place was called "Carnival Fair-Grounds," and never had the pink pigs seen such an amazing exhibition.

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Gulf Coast Notes

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

JUST a few days before this was written I saw one of the most phenomenal sights of my life. It was a crowd of about 15,000 persons at a flower show conducted by the Des Moines Garden Club.