June 1932

TRANQUILITY . . .

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

NEIGHBORLINESS! That is a word we have often used in Better Homes and Gardens, for it describes a certain quality better than any other. The other night I heard neighborliness used in a significant way by J. Pierpont Morgan, reputed to be the world's greatest financier, in the first radio talk he has made. He was talking about the "Block-Aid" campaign in New York City and the nation, and he said that New York was divided into 16,000 districts, each under a block director, for mutual helpfulness in relieving unemploymentand distress.

The Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener

JUNE 1. Iris is in bloom today and a glorious sight it is. It won't make so good a show this year, for I divided about half my varieties last year. But there is plenty of bloom anyhow.

Article

A Mountain Bog Garden You Can Make Anywhere

HAVE you the idea that rock-gardening is difficult, a sort of mixture of garden black magic, super skill, and redistilled luck? If you have, let me bring you good news. For I introduce with this article a form of rock-gardening that is next to automatic after you get it started.

Gardening After Hours

THE length of the day was once, as Mark Twain said of the weather, something about which nothing ever had been-- or could be-- done. Now, however, we have succeeded in adapting even the length of the day to our own convenience. Long summer evenings, to the garden-lover who has a daytime occupation, are fraught with tantalizing possibilities.

We Operate on Windows and Eaves

IN THE November, 1931, and the March, 1932, issues, discussing in one the alteration and improvement of walls and roofs, and in the other, rebuilding porches and front door stoops, it was necessary to consider at the same time many other parts of the home. So very frequently, when one element is faulty, others will prove likewise.

ROSES for All Summer

OF OUR important garden flowers the rose alone can be called upon for continuous duty during all the growing season. In my Breeze Hill garden, mid-May found a half- dozen roses opening the season. No day thereafter was without roses, and even on Thanksgiving Day I found an occasional rosebud.

Your Child's Imagination

READING and writing are such everyday accomplishments that at first blush one might wonder why these "tool subjects," as they are called by educators, should be included in a series on training the child in the arts. Consider, however, that on the higher levels they form one of the great arts-- literature-- and that they are also the keys to distinguished performance in any art, or indeed in any field.

The Knack of Growing Clematis

I HAVE grown tens of thousands of Clematis in Holland as well as in America, and I have learned many lessons from experience. May I pass on to you the knack of growing the large-flower Clematis?

A Distinctive Dutch-Colonial Cottage

THIS delightfully gardened home would gracefully fit into the landscape of any American community, and would be at home. In its simplicity there is a remarkably rich flavor, free from the weird tricks which all too frequently result in the mediocre, and yet fine proportions and details lend a wholesome picturesqueness that will increase thru the years.

The Cost to Build This Home

A 2-CENT stamp, for postage and handling, will bring you a complete list of materials requiredto build this home, with the exact quantities of each item. This list, carefully prepared by experts, is a part of Better Homes and Gardens' BILDCOST GARDENED-HOME PLAN.

Honeymoon Sets You Can Make

WE PROPHESY that new homemakers, as well as more experienced ones, will welcome these charming variations in smart new colors of linens, especially designed for those important first few months of meals.

Summertime Books for Boys and Girls

FOR the next three months of vacationtime our bouncing young will be hurtling around us from daybreak to, dark. The gang will sweep in and put the door's, leaving devastation and' fresh breezes in its wake. Picnics, swimming parties, and all-day hikes set the key, and if we're wise we'll do our best to play a harmonious accompaniment, for all this is exactly as it should be.

Food for the Bride and the Wedding Guests

A WEDDING in the family or in the friendly circle is an event which brings in its train much pleasant entertaining. It begins with the announcement luncheon, continues thru the "showers" and other parties in honor of the bride, culminating usually in the luncheon for the bridesmaids, if there is to be a large bridal party, and has its grand finale in the wedding breakfast or reception.

A Small Garden for You

MANY gardens as they were first conceived by the one who originally planned them must have been charming at a certain stage of their development. However, with the increasing love of flowers, which is bound to come to one who plants a garden year after year, came the longing for more space, and so these gardens, well planned at first, were enlarged piece by piece until all semblance of design and balance has been lost.

When You Select Window Shades for Your Home

AN INSTRUCTOR in a home architectural course once said, "When you build and furnish a home you do it, of course, to please yourself, but please, oh please, never forget that you owe something to your neighbors." Windows, of course, are designed to let in light and air and to add to the beauty of a room, while window shades are designed to shut out unnecessary light, to insure privacy, and also to add to the beauty of a room.

Junior Gardeners 125,000 Strong!

HOW proud we are to be members of so wonderful an organization! Think of it, Junior Gardeners, more than 125,000 members of the Junior Garden Clubs of America are now happily adventuring-- making a garden, studying flowers and Nature.

And When You Need a Boundary Hedge

ACCORDING to present-day planning, the home grounds should be divided into sections, as front yard or public area, and possibly a side yard which is semi-private, with full privacy at the back for the outdoor living-room and for the service area. These areas may be separated or bordered by various hedges.

An Architect Builds a Home for His Mother

SELDOM does one find the beauty, the dignity, and the elegance of the Georgian style of architecture so successfully infused into the design of a small house as it has been in this one which Dwight James Baum, well- known New York architect, built in Syracuse, New York, for his mother, Mrs. Fayette Baum.

Ups and Downs and Swing-Arounds

JUST suppose, for a moment, that you were a very young person who had a back yard full of untouchable flowers, perhaps a garage, undoubtedly some clothes poles, but not a thing to really play with. It would give you the wanderlust, wouldn't it?

Cook-Book Owners!

My Favorite Menu

Food for the Bride and the Wedding Guests

The Children's Pleasure Chest

LEONIDAS was a fly-- not a bright- coated butterfly as you would like to believe, but a wicked housefly that flew about the countryside leaving sickness and unhappiness behind him. From the day Leonidas had hatched out in a pile of rotting waste back of a deserted stable, he had spent his time searching about for heaps of decayedfood or filth.

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

OF ALL the lovely flowers in the world, I love the rose best. To be able to cut one lovely rose from my garden is better than having any other flower. There is something so human about this flower. It has its faults, but they are all forgotten when we look at a pink rosebud in June. Not even the poets have been able to exaggerate the beauty of a rose.