February 1931

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

SO SAYS Robert Frost in his poem "Good-by and Keep Cold." In these three lines are summed up the most important principles of winter plant protection. In northern regions there is still plenty of time to protect our perennials, newly planted bulbs, and evergreens. Of course we know that a mulch of straw or branches used as winter protection does not actually prevent freezing. It is therefore better to allow the plants to become frozen and then protect them in such a way that they will remain frozen instead of thawing on every sunny day.

THE WOOD-WITCH AND THE GROUNDNUT

What to Do in February

MAKE up and send off orders for seeds of annuals and perennials and for dormant roses.

Diary of a Modern Eve

February 2. "DID any catalogs come today?" asked Peter this evening before he even got out of his overcoat.

The Appeal of Cactus

A HUNDRED years ago there rose a wave of popularity for the cultivation of the strange and interesting cacti in the gardens and greenhouses of Europe. Their unique form, glorious blossoms, and ease of culture explain their almost universal appeal.

Our Tree Friends Are Wearing Their Vacation-time Costumes

EVERY year there comes a time when the trees feel the need of a holiday. Their leaf children have finished their work and have been put to bed for a long, quiet sleep.

Furniture Petticoats for the 1931 Home

I LIKE to think of a gracious room as having personality, a personality that beckons to comfort and to beauty, that gives you a decided impression of liking to stay and of wanting to come again soon and often. There are rooms like that, you know! And one of the easiest and best ways to attain such a gracious and beautiful room is thru the use of slip covers.

Above All a Good Roof

A ROOF may be of stone, of wood, of asbestos, of clay, or even of paper. Whichever one of these you choose, if you buy carefully and have it carefully applied to the top of your house, you will receive proper value for your money. It goes without saying that a roof is a tremendously important part of the house, and as an element of shelter it ranks alone with the walls.

Three Years in the Making

ONE-- and just one-- moss-embroidered rock, irregular and fascinating in contour, with a natural butter-bowl center that caught the rain and coaxed the birds, so captured the fancy of Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Howe, of Nashville, Tennessee, that they coveted a rock garden to glorify their bit of the Tennesee woods.

The Little Old House Becomes Itself Again

IT WAS only by the merest chance that in the making over of my little old house a charming century-old cottage of Dutch type was not lost in a conventional bungalow.

Robin, the Chic Housekeeper

A LITTLE drama is enacted several times daily every spring on our lawn, yet despite its lack of novelty, I always lay aside my work in order that I may observe the final outcome.

Meals for the Convalescent Child

WHEN a sick child takes definite steps on the road to health, the whole family heaves a sigh of relief. Children get sick so quickly, and they can be so very sick! Parents can be fairly distracted with worry, I know, having been in the situation more than once myself.

A Quaint House of Stone

FROM the rolling countryside of sunny Brittany to the restricted area of a building lot in the average American suburb is a far cry. Yet the quaint charm and simple, graceful lines of the Breton farmhouse are unusually adaptable for use in the design of a moderate-priced home in this country.

Chayote--a New Vegetable From the Tropics

IT IS probably safe to say that there are no good plants of value that are really new, but there are still some of which many of us as yet have no knowledge. The homemaker who has searched the markets almost in vain for vegetables out of the ordinary may soon have the opportunity of buying something that at present is practically unknown in northern markets.

The Practical Use of Modern Furniture

MODERN furniture, because of its close association with modern industry, is more adaptable to the American home than to the homes of any other nation. And Americans, more than any other people, are instilled with the spirit of the modern age.

The Annual Flower Aristocrats for 1931

GOD gave us garden materials; man gave us gardens; but it lies only within the powers of the modern hybridizer to give us, each year, interesting variations of older plants. By trying these we give ourselves garden-spirit regeneration.

How We Use Plant Foods

STRICTLY speaking, the term "plant food" applies to the balanced commercial fertilizers which are being sold by many dealers.

From Grieg to Garden

HE PLAYED under the baton of Grieg; today he digs and delves, plants and prunes a thousand strange, exotic vines and shrubs and trees and blooming things within a horizon of palmettos, under the incandescent blue of almost tropical skies.

An Oldtime Design With Modern Conveniences

THE professional man who built this house had a happy hobby. He set aside a fractional part of his income for real-estate adventure, buying land in convenient localities and building thereon small houses to sell. For several of these lucrative "turnovers" he engaged the architectural services of the writer of this article, and when financial gain warranted self-expression in a residence for his own occupancy he again desired a plan-- one which would suit his individual ideas and yet be salable to an average-size family in comfortable circumstances, if the time came when he might desire to move to larger quarters or another neighborhood.

Placing the House on the Lot

PLACING THE HOUSE IN THE, CENTER OF THE LOT. This gives poor use of the whole area. The front lawn is rather large, but it is so open to the public as to be of little use. Also, because it is relatively large, it requires excellent maintenance at all times if the house is to present an attractive appearance from the street. The rear lawn appears small because of the short distance between the house and the street. Both front and rear lawns are of approximately the same size, and neither appears to be especially usable --the front because it is so open to the street, the rear because of its limited size.

New Tools for Old Uses

IF ANYONE ever institutes a gardener's hall of fame, I wish to nominate for elevation to a pedestal a man whose name I do not even know. He was a German blacksmith who some years ago was living in eastern Pennsylvania and in his humble shop used to hammer out on his anvil from old wagon springs a peculiar kind of hoe for use in his community.

Don't Blame the Teacher If Johnny Has to Stay After School

IT NOW becomes my pleasant duty, in this series on easing the way for the grade-school child, to bring to your notice a very pleasant duty of your own.

Biographies of Our Nation's Statesmen

TO DISCOVER rich significance where you have recognized only drab commonplace is one of the joys which gives life its perpetual zest.

The Question Before the House

ON THE exterior of my house small knots are showing thru the paint. How may this he prevented?

The Handy Man Can Quickly Make Them

DURING the winter months the home workshop is a cozy place which invites construction of projects for the home and children's play.

The Thought-Out Vegetable Garden

THE most interesting solitaire game I play never ends in a stalemate! It always gives me a thrill while I am playing and sooner or later pays me in tangible winnings-- a thing no other game with which I am acquainted does. It is the planning of a vegetable garden to get the largest possible quantities of produce from a minimum area!

How to Change a Variety by Grafting

THE topworking of apple trees is sometimes considered merely the pastime of the amateur gardener. (By topworking we mean the changing of a variety by grafting.) Once it was a mark of distinction for a gardener to be able to exhibit a tree bearing severaldifferent varieties of apples.

Hardanger, Hooking and Crochet

MANY of our modern handcrafts have a background of tradition that would make them interesting even if the resultant pieces were not as lovely as they are. Among these crafts is hardanger, of pure Scandinavian origin. Hooking, reminiscent of Colonial days, is another; and crocheting also enjoys a very strong revival because most women so thoroly enjoy doing it.

As Winter Goes We Plan the Garden's Summer Clothes

"WHEN!-- feels like spring, Cousin Marion. It's sure too warm for my winter coat," exclaims the first Master Gardener to arrive with Uncle Sage at the Hollyhock Lane Garden House.

Building Quiet Into Your House

TWO years ago a new house in a southern city was awarded a prize in a national architectural competition. Two weeks ago the owner of that house wrote me for help in making the house quiet. The best advice I could give him was to sell it! The location of the house was such that to have made it quiet enough for living purposes would have entailed heavy expense.

Irish Food?--Then step this way

NEAR the close of that antebellum period which marked the heyday of the Southern Planter, and just shortly before Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, an Irish eating house was established in the then downtown New York. At that time an event hardly worth recording, Cavanagh's restaurant is particularly interesting today because, after 70 years, it is still doing business in the same location.

What a Club President Ought to Know

"CAN you tell me just what are the duties of a club president? I am newly elected to this office and am so anxious to have a successful year. Will you tell me what to do?"

A FEBRUARY SUGGESTION

Biographies of Our Nation's Statesmen

WHEN we come to Lincoln, undoubtedly the most picturesque retelling of the Lincoln folk legend is Carl Sandburg's lovely book, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years (Harcourt, Brace and Company, $5). A poet here rebuilds the life that the heroic Lincoln might have lived. This is a book to budget for and buy and keep to hand on the open shelves near the reading lamp.

WHEN A WOMAN SHOPS

COLOR ensembles today include even the bedding of the well-appointed bedroom. For those who still use the purewhite sheet and pillow case, there is now in the market a clever new idea. The hem of the sheet and pillow case is finished with a tiny piping of color. What a help this will be in the linen closet of the house that has different-size beds.

The Thought-Out Vegetable Garden

IN ORDER to compel the area to achieve so much I found it necessary to make numerous combinations of the plan mentioned. Among them the following are particularly good:

Cooks' Round Table

THE already-seasoned, canned tomato juice, sometimes referred to as tomato-juice cocktail, may be used in making this jelly. Canned or cooked tomatoes sieved may be likewise used. In this case the tomato juice is seasoned to suit the taste.

Color Charts and Color Schemes

The Practical Use of Modern Furniture

HOWEVER, no one need be deterred from furnishing a room in the modern manner by the supposition that all of the old furniture must be displaced with new, for one may combine the old and new when the old is simple in line and without ornamentation. Pieces of simple Early American and Biedermeier furniture may be used successfully with modern chairs, cabinets, and incidental tables.

Tips for the Handy Man

New Foods Leaflets

The Children's Pleasure Chest

WHEN the Snowman in Mother Nature's garden (back of Neighborly House) said the buntings were hungry, he was putting it mildly. They were ravenous. For days they had been drifting down with the storm from the far Northland, and a garden filled with seed pods was a comforting sight.

Article

"Walls, Floors, and Ceilings"

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

THIS is the time of the year when you begin to feel the urge to plan your garden and home grounds. Unless you live in the South or California, the weather may not be suitable for outdoor work. But you can plan.