May 1931

THE HOPE OF AMERICA

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

Æ (GEORGE RUSSELL), the noted Irish poet and agricultural worker, has been traveling in America. One evening he said, "There are certain people in the world who may not have much money, but they have something better --they have an inner light."

Old King Pansy and His Dutiful Daughters

What to Do in May

IN THE Gulf states May is for many gardeners largely a maintenance month, when, except for cultivation and other care, one can relax a bit.

Diary of a Modern Eve

May 2. "ANTS change the face of the earth like wind and water," said Tom McCurrin tonight as we stood looking at an ugly eruption on our front lawn.

A Home to Begin With and how to get it

DESIRE and realization-- how far apart these two seem to be, and yet bringing them together is the sum total of a lifework. Oftentimes the major portion of this work consists in building the desire for a home into the concrete reality. There is a great deal of difference between the two statements "I want a home" and "I have a home," altho only one word is changed.

How to Tame the Wildflowers

OUR native wildflowers are just now being noticed. Garden enthusiasts are at last beginning to add some of these so-called "simple" flowers of the countryside to their cultivated favorites.

The House With the Welcoming Flower Box

THE house with the well-devised flower box speaks a welcome to friend and stranger alike, it expresses personality, and it is rejuvenating in its effect upon the house and household. Moreover, the flower box is a particular asset if the house is severe or commonplace in design, for it adds a note of color and interest to it that has the further advantage of being relatively inexpensive.

Zoar Restores Its Century-Old Gardens

HISTORY is repeating itself in the quaint, old village of Zoar, Ohio. Where, a century ago, German Separatists planted their nation-famed community gardens to be the center of their village life, three acres of flowers and shrubs are again growing in a colorful glory of bloom, after thirty years of neglect and despoilation.

A Room That Expresses the Seasons

FOR those of us who spend both summer and winter within the same four walls, now is the time, during spring cleaning and readjustment of the house, to look forward and prepare for the heat of July and August. A skillful adjustment of our rooms to the gay, carefree spirit of summertime is the secret thru which we can rout the oppressiveness we so often find in our rooms during those warm months.

Great New Boons to Motherhood

HAVING a baby in 1931 A. D. is not what it was when grandmother was a young matron and having her babies with the assistance of only that grand old mythological bird the stork and a general practitioner. Nor is it yet the same as in our mothers' day, when much unnecessary pain and discomfort was suffered because such things were taken as a matter of course. Modern methods, thank goodness, have eased the way for all mothers.

My Garden Is Ready for Summer

WHAT a glorious time of the year this is, with the sun warmly penetrating even the darkest corners and the damp west-wind whispering gayly thru the garden. And the garden itself, especially the perennial border, where every green growing thing is filled with the age-long urge to expand, where fat rose buds are bursting into astonishing loveliness-- how fascinating it is, and how delightful to linger there!

A Rebuilt Colonial Home in Connecticut

IN MANY parts of the United States, if you are lured into the picturesque, winding roads of the back country you will discover many very old homes still standing-- homes which have passed the century mark at least, which is old from our American point or view.

When Relatives Come A-visiting

UNCLE GEORGE is coming for a visit. Uncle George always stays-- and stays some more. Uncle George means well and his good intentions have already paved several miles of road. How Uncle George does love a good visit with his favorite nephew Jim, and with Jim's pretty young wife Sarah!

Colorful, Well-designed Wallpapers

WALLPAPERS of lovely design and appropriate for those of us who necessarily must adjust a limited purse to our desire for wall coverings |in excellent taste have never been so numerous in the shops as they are this spring. Whether it be a paper of simple design for the bedroom or papers of importance for the hall, living- room, and dining-room, there is a wide range both in design and color.

VIBURNUMS for Variety

TRULY remarkable in flower, fruit, and foliage, producing a rare combination, the Viburnums excel most groups of shrubs. Individual forms may surpass one another for their loveliness of flower, the abundance and color of fruit, or the striking splashes of autumn color, but each species is always excellent in itself. For the shrub border, foundation planting, bird garden, or lawn specimen, there is always a Viburnum to enhance the situation.

Diamond Panes and Casements

DIAMOND panes and casements --what visions those words bring us of romance and adventure, the high seas and whaling ships, and the salt tang of the sea when man mastered it only with a sail.

Amusing Wild Life Antics I Have Observed

IT WAS a lucky thing for that particular Junco that he fell into good hands, for otherwise his earthly troubles would no doubt have bothered him but a short time.

The Reading Habits of Boys and Girls

"I DON'T believe it!" I carried on the argument as we walked away from the lecture. "My children, I know, as they grow up are going to read and love Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot. Why, when I was 10 years old...."

Planning the Outdoor Living-Room

IN GARDEN design, the modern tendency, more and more, is to relate the garden closely to the house itself. In the final analysis most gardens are simply outdoor living-rooms, or some sort of an extension of the living area into the out-of-doors. This should, however, be done with care, as the whole success of such a scheme depends largely upon the interrelation between the house and the garden itself.

Furnishing the Outdoor Living-Room

FURNISHINGS for the outdoor living-room are as varied and plentiful as for the indoor one, their usefulness and charm depending on the individual taste of the owner and their artistic arrangement.

A Wise Choice of SILVER

THE general trend in modern-day silver is toward beauty of shape and simplicity of design. Designs are largely adaptations of the simple, lovely patterns of the Early American, Early English, and Spanish silver of the eighteenth century. In some cases the designs have been reproduced exactly, in others adapted to conform to modern ideas of beauty and utility.

We Give a Play in the Garden

THE Bicycle Club has just finished its most successful evening! Our play, "The Masque of Pandora," has been given and everyone is talking about our club and the clever performance.

In the Nursery of Mother Nature's Children with the Junior Garden Clubs of America

"WHAT, ho! Cousin Marion is singing a lullaby to the plant children in Mother Earth's Nursery," chuckles Uncle Sage as he and his Master Gardeners come tripping into the Gardens of Hollyhock Lane.

A Straightforward House of Wood and Brick

RETURNING popularity of Early American architecture has led many of us to build our homes after that style. This new wave of popularity, however, was not the reason Theodore and Gertrude Fletcher, brother and sister, built the Colonial house shown here.

Do You Give Your Rugs the Right Care?

WHEN a new rug is bought for the house the entire family may have a voice in the choosing, but the responsibility as to the care of the rug generally falls on the homemaker. This is a serious responsibility because the life of a rug depends largely upon the care it receives.

Flowering Shrubs That Enhance the Rock Garden

WE DIDN'T have enough color in our rock garden. We had beautiful little treasures, and when we came up close to them they were delights that just took our breath away-- blue gentians and blushing Androsaces, the lavender of Linaria, the shy beauty of Houstonia.

The Black Widow Moves In

IT WAS thoroly understood by my friends that a certain old hickory chair in the sunroom was not to be used for sitting purposes. Not that Old Hickory was so decrepit it was unable to support the weight of the average person, or haunted, or otherwise disqualified, but for the very unique reason that early in the summer it had passed from the humble ranks of mere rocker to the glorified status of anchor for a delicate bit of tapestry and was also reserved as a seat for a mysterious guest, of whom more later.

Wash-Day Helps You Can Build

YOUR laundry room can easily be made a convenient place to work and keep as ship-shape as any other room in the home.

The Good Points of Brick

BRICKS from Babylon, bricks from Rome, bricks built into the walls of English manorhouses, bricks burned in the kins of the early settlers of our country-- all would today be thoroly good building material.

GOOD FOOD Up Cape Cod Way

IF I WERE a good fairy and could wish a good wish true for each reader of better Homes and Gardens, I would wish that each one of you might take a trip around Cape Cod in the summer or fall.

The First Air-Cargo Carriers

HUNDREDS of years before Lindbergh made his historic flight, the most prosaic flowers were daily sending air-mail messages to one another. Powerfully motored, skillfully piloted aircraft hummed from blossom to blossom or zoomed over the fields in swift, direct flight to centrally located airports throbbing with activity. Honey bees, the messengers of the blossoms, have always been almost as much a part of the garden as the flowers themselves.

My Satisfaction in the Garden especially in Growing Perennials from Seed

THERE is no pastime more pleasurable or economical than that of growing your stock of perennials from seed. What a satisfaction it is to tell your friends that you propagate all your plants thus. It is really an accomplishment. Patient, intelligent effort is always rewarded when good seed is procured.

Fences Mr. Average Man Can Build

FENCES were once used to protect one's property against roving cattle and runaway horses. Then, with the decrease in number of roving animals within cities and towns, fences appeared to go out of style. But now they are coming back. Some people need them to preserve their privacy against roving picnickers, wandering children and dogs; others need them to keep the baby and pup from wandering off, and others, well, they just want a fence, that's all.

Courtesy in the Club

EVERY club president is familiar with the woman who continues a whispered conversation with her neighbor after the gavel has sounded and who comments semi-audibly to those about her on the paper that is being read. On the other hand, nothing is more stimulating to a presiding officer than to face an alert, attentive audience, and certainly nothing is more distracting to the average clubwoman than these semi-audible remarks concerning a paper she has spent hours in preparing.

The Reading Habits of Boys and Girls

Papa, if discouraged, gave no sign, and dung to the faith, for his next letter was wrapped around a beautiful limp-leather edition of Tennyson, "because in it there is a lovely poem about a school of girls."

WE RECOMMEND Practical New Books for Home and Garden

The Children's Pleasure Chest

GYPSIES in the garden back of Neighborly House? Whoever would have dreamed it! But Babette and Jerry live in Neighborly House, and they declare this is true. "Our guests," explained Babette, "wear very bright costumes, like the Gypsies who camped in Uncle Will's pasture."

Little Reviews

Oh, My--Umph!

WHEN A WOMAN SHOPS

EVERY day bathroom appointments are being perfected to keep pace with the bathrooms of the modern home. Now matching fixtures are here. Every fitting and fixture is being made to conform closely to the design of the bathroom in which it will be used. The new flat straight line square edges with beveled corners, of the latest bathtub design, is carried right thru in the wash basin, toilet seat, and in all the accessories, such as hooks, racks, rails, and holders.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

THIS being the time of the year for the greatest interest in gardening, you will doubtless think of some friends who do not take Better Homes and Gardens but who need it very much in their home-and-garden venture. We want to increase the usefulness of your magazine, and securing larger circulation makes this possible. It is yours to mold and make, so we know you will get a lot of satisfaction in putting it into the hands of your friends.