April 1931

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

I HAVE just bought a new house. It is a little English house, and as yet it seems like a strange shell, hardly mine. There are no shrubs nor flowers, but I have already made friends with the trees. There is a big American Planetree that towers over the top of the house and really makes a wonderful background for it. Then there is a great, tall Canoe Birch which, I am relieved to find, is not affected by borers in this part of the country.

A Remarkable Act

Diary of a Modern Eve

April 5. "Roses are like husbands," said Uncle David this morning with a chuckle. "You must feed the brutes." He brought me three whole bushels of cow manure so old and rotted it is almost black. The books and catalogs of the rose specialists say that roses like nothing better!

What to Do in April

THIS month marks the active beginning of real outdoor garden weather and activity in the north-central portions of the country from New Jersey and southern New York westward to the mountain country.

You Also Can Grow Orchids as I Do in New York State

IN A HOLLOW of the old hills in the north country there lies a sphagnum bog, deep set among the forests of maple, birch, pine, and Balsam Fir. Here I have gone at all seasons of the year to find my delightful plant friends.

Her Garden Friends

WHEN I was a child my first intimate acquaintance with birds was in the beautiful gardens of an old English home in Suffolk, the home of General Allenby (of Jerusalem fame) when he was a boy. His mother and mine were dear friends, and one beautiful, long summer when the family was going abroad, they lent us their home.

How Flowers Change Their Citizenship

FLOWERS have been my friends all my life. I have tried to study their likes and dislikes, their ambitions, their desires, even their thoughts, and I find that the study is most interesting. In this article I wish to speak of just one phase of this study-- the adaptability of some plants to conditions radically foreign and entirely different from those which exist in their native homes.

For Your Home If It Is Graced by Small Children

FURNISHING and beautifying the home should always be a fascinating game to every woman, but some mothers feel, I know, that the game is one not to be undertaken by the household which boasts small children. "Wait until they grow older!" is the cry.

Manufacturing Weather

IN LAST month's article on manufacturing weather we discussed, in general terms, the new developments that have come in making our homes comfortable and healthy and warm, and then studied the use of various fuels and the advantages of each. We also discussed ways of burning fuels so as to get the best results, but even after fuel is burned, in our furnace or boiler or whatever it may be, another problem still confronts us-- that of conveying heat from the firebox to the parts of the house where it is most needed, and cleaning and moistening the warmed air so that it is truly fit for human breathing.

A Gardened American House of Spanish Beauty

A LARGE room is almost always preferable to a small one-- that's obvious. But, a number of lesser-sized rooms is often a necessity where fewer greater will not do. In a soldiers' barracks one great area will be a bedroom for a hundred or more men; in a comfortable family life that would hardly be desirable.

Begonia Growing

SOUTHWEST from the seaport town of San Diego a narrow promontory runs into the ocean and a picturesque road travels the ridge of it to the peninsula's tip. Along this path come horticultural fans from every quarter of the globe. They turn in at the double row of eucalyptus trees leading to the rear or at the equally attractive front entrance between red-brown stone walls to that mecca of begonia-lovers, the Rosecroft Begonia Gardens, the home of Alfred D. Robinson, dean of begonia-growers.

The Way to Interest Your Child in Food

WHEN it comes to appointments for a little table I am inclined to believe that the very young generation likes a nicely set table quite as much as do grown-ups. Not only that, but a well-appointed table provides the right atmosphere for developing table manners, an important part of a child's education.

My Garden, My Son--and Diplomacy!

SOME two years ago the home-beautiful movement which seems to be sweeping the country struck our little village, and I, being a lover of sightly surroundings-- a phase in my character heretofore undiscovered-- fell a frenzied victim to the project. I entered into it with a blithe ignorance which I have since realized was little short of appalling.

The Home Is Five Times More Important

A CHILD'S character and the entire emotional tone of his life, and therefore his success, are determined five times as much in the home as by all outside agencies combined. This is also as true of the man and woman as it is of the child.

The Junior Gardeners Plan an Attack

"OUR seeds came, and we brought them with us, Cousin Marion," excitedly exclaim the Junior Gardeners as they arrive at the Hollyhock Lane gardenhouse. "Now we want you to tell us when and how to plant them."

Learning Is Made Easy When Home and School Work Together

DID you ever visit one of the modern, so-called "progressive," schools, in which learning is made an exciting game for the fortunate children who attend?

The Private Life of a One-Tree Bug

HAD the infant box-elder bug been enrolled in the geography class of a school for bugs, he would have been taught that the world was not a sphere, flattened at the poles and revolving upon an axis, but that it was very long and slender and branching; that it was bounded underneath by a carpet of grass and overhead by a canopy of leaves; that its surface was very rough, having deep valleys, high plateaus, and jagged peaks of dark brown bark, and that the human animal, who was very, very stupid, called it a boxelder tree.

The Victorian Is Coming Back

THERE are many homes today which shelter chairs of the model of that in which Jefferson Davis sat for his portrait, or of the walnut-carved chair of A. Godey, of "The Ladies Book" fame, or of the fruit-crested rocker of Abraham Lincoln. Mathew W. King and Son of Broadway, New York, manufactured such chairs, and upholstered them in figured satin, black haircloth, plain or striped velvets, or Victorian chintzes.

The Embroidery of the Garden Path

I WAS very much interested in England recently to see how the planting of edgings is stressed in the beautiful gardens there and what a great addition to their charm is secured by the lovely low-growing plants that so delightfully embroider paths which would otherwise often prove too stiff and regular.

How to Vary the Skyline of Your Boundaries

TOP ILLUSTRATION: An interesting treatment of the rear lot line is the use of an ornamental feature such as a bench, a bird-bath, or a fountain as the center of interest. This is backed by low shrubbery in the front of the planting, while a darker background of evergreens, such as redcedar, is introduced at the rear. Such an arrangement furnishes a pleasing setting for an architectural detail and is a good treatment for the rear of the lot.

The Termite, Real Enemy, Is Easily Routed

TERMITES are wonderfully real enemies, easily found, easily stopped, but so insidious are they in their methods of warfare on all fiber that few stop them in time.

Evergreens May Be Pruned in April

NATURE in the evergreens has given us materials for fulfillment of a living composition that is little affected by change of seasons. Our relatively recent discovery and subsequent use of them in plans for the home landscape is a progressive story of achievement.

Will It Wash?

"IT'S LOVELY, but will it wash?" --the eternal question in every shop where modern fabrics for personal wear and for the house are sold!

Three Home Conveniences With Novel Features

THE ladder-chair at the right will find a multitude of uses about the home. One of its features is that the hinged top can be swung back to serve as a holder for soap, nails, tools, and other objects when the ladder part is being used. It also provides a convenient support that can be grasped when the steps are being ascended.

Bringing Your Clothes Closet Up to Date

THE modern closet is orderly, colorful, and compact, a beautiful file arranged for clothes protection and convenience. Walls can be painted in a washable glaze, covered with washable paper, or papered with gay oilcloth. Shelves may be treated likewise, and of course the closet is electrically lighted.

The Best of the Waterlilies

WHICH waterlilies would a landscape architect plant in his own pool? Probably only the best, some people would say, so my answer to this question may be of interest to those who have a pool or are about to build one.

A California Hillside Home

THE house on a hillside always offers an interesting challenge to the skill of an architect, for no two sloping lots present the same difficulties, and to fit the house to the undulations of the land and take the best advantage of the view requires much thought and careful planning.

The Bicycle Club Helps Betty Do Over Her Room

"WHAT do you think?" was Betty's first question as we hurried into her house on a Saturday afternoon between two of April's first showers. "I'm to have a room all my own!"

When Pie Is the Dessert

HOW closely related the ability to make good pies is to the art of keeping husbands happy is a matter of speculation, but men folk have long been known to relish this dessert. This is why I have a feeling that many domestic duels are averted in the course of a year by the satisfaction promoted by luscious cherries or slices of apples between layers of flaky pastry.

Unusual But Useful Shrubs

FOR the mainstay and background of the garden picture we must always rely on the old stand-bys, Forsythia and Weigela, mockorange and lilac, and other well-beloved and reliable shrubs. There are, however, many plants seldom seen outside botanic gardens that deserve to be widely planted because of their garden-advancement value.

Everyone Likes Home Cooking!

NEW YORKERS-- and that means those who have come to New York to live, from Texas, from California, from Maine, from all the other interveningstates, as well as the native born, are just like everyone else-- we love home cooking. Oh, of course we enjoy an expedition to a French, an Italian, or other foreign type of restaurant just as much as do visitors to New York, but for a steady diet we prefer plain, homelike food.

SCRAPS

"HOW'S this as a title?" I beamed at my husband. "It's all right, I guess," he answered. "But why 'scraps'?"

The Question Before the House

If practicable dig away the soil on the outside and brush on two thoro coats of hot tar or other membrane waterproofing, missing no spot. If this is not practicable we suggest applying a coat of neat cement on the entire wall of the cellar, then brushing on two coats of tar. (The exterior application, however, is far better than the interior application.)

Next Year's Club Program

IT is difficult in April, with all outdoors enticing us, to plan a program for next winter, but if next winter's program is to be a successful one, it must be done. (One club I know follows the jolly plan of holding its program-committee meetings in the gardens of the members!)

New Methods for Growing Roses

MARCH is rose-planting time, and the earlier you plant the better will be the results the first year.

An Earthworm's View of the Garden

I HAVE often seen an automobile transporting a tree bundled up with burlap, but the roots were gayly waving in the breezes. I have also seen a person throw a shrub upon the soil in the full sunshine and leave it there for hours before he planted it.

A NOSEGAY OF VARIETY

Service Leaflets You May Not Have

Success With Goldfish

SUPPOSE someone asked you casually, "What is the relation between a garden pool and the United States Navy?"

The Children's Pleasure Chest

BABETTE and Jerry were enjoying a trip thru the country in Father's shiny car. Past white farmhouses, basking in the April brightness, across a chattery bridge, and thru mysterious woods they sped along until at last they came to Sunnycrest Hill, where lived kind Uncle Will and smiling Aunt Mary.

New Garden Books We Recommend

Readers Ask

Have You Ordered Your Budget Book?

Article

WHEN A WOMAN SHOPS

TODAY in building, remodeling, or even in redecorating your house or a room you may buy paneled rooms that will not be exorbitant in price because they are made to order. There are rooms all made up, including mantel, doors, and so on, in pine, beech, or any wood for which you have a preference.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

THERE is an interesting suggestion in the article on "Manufacturing Weather" in this issue, and perhaps someone will write a book on the topic, since books have been written on almost every other conceivable subject. It has to do with the fact that families, for time immemorial, have gathered around the fireside at eventide.