September 1934

The Home--Strong as Government Itself

SOMETHING tremendously big and important has happened: The recently enacted National Housing Act, explained in detail on Page 7, contains a new principle whose importance cannot be over-estimated. By reading the article in this issue you will realize that the 20-year amortization period for home mortgages and the 3-to 5-year period on remodeling loans, together with the privilege of borrowing up to 80 percent of the value on new homes, will make a great difference in the homeowner's situation.

THEY STARTED THEIR HOME WITH Better Homes & Gardens

OUR GUARANTEE TO YOU

When National Housing Act Administrator James A. Moffett Talks About Modernization

What the New Housing Act will do for You

SECURITY for the lending agency and investor is the central feature of the new Housing Act. This being true, local lending agencies should be glad to lend money for modernizing and building. They should be encouraged and urged to do so.

The Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener

These are cheerful days. Daily we dine on roasting ears, and beans, and cabbage, and beets, and new potatoes from our own vegetable garden. Slowly I'm getting ahead of the weeds and making progress in my garden rejuvenation. And on this September morn Donald is so much better, tho there's still a red quarantine sign on the house, that I carried him downstairs and outdoors. where he sat for nearly an hour.

IT'S news TO ME!

Nick and his boy friends are off on a camping and fishing trip. Yes, and a most scientific orfe as to eats. For the boys, you see, are a group of young fellows from the state university who are studying to be doctors.

How to Buy a Friend

THE best friend I have in this world-- and I have a lot of other friends, please understand-- cost me just $75. As I write these words, he lies on the big Siberian tiger rug before the fireplace, watching me from beneath his shaggy brows with wistful eyes that seem somehow to mirror all the canny wisdom of his highland countrymen.

There's a Knack to Choosing the Right Companions For Spring Bulb Flowers

THREE white birches, slender and tall, beside the windows of a little home, a background of Vanhoutte Spirea just coming into flower, at their base eighteen or twenty scarlet tulips closely grouped, with pansies at their feet.

New Magic in Today's Radios!

IN THE magic realm of the Arabian Nights, Aladdin rubbed his lamp and evoked fabulous genii who performed remarkable feats. Today we have only to turn a small knob on a piece of furniture and out of the ether comes Rudy Vallee with his brilliant array of entertainers, Wayne King's dance rhythms, good old Cap'n Henry's Showboat troupe, Grand Opera, "The March of Time" with its stirring dramatizations of important news events, and plaintive Irish ballads sung as only John McCormack can.

Add Charm and Grace at Mealtime

INVEST mealtime with charm and grace, add to it an attractive setting, and the simplest meal transcends the mere perfunctory act of eating. It becomes at once an important factor in the happiness of family life, a vital influence on the manners of the growing generation, and a social occasion to which the guest looks forward.

Schoolday Lunches

"HONEST" ,Mom, I've had all I want to eat! Jim's coming by and we're going to play in the treehouse."

Vines for Shade

ONCE heard a landscape architect refer to vines as the lace curtains and draperies of exterior decoration. Ever since I have been trying to incorporate them in my garden picture with that comparison in mind.

Fritillarias Will Fascinate You

WHEN April comes dancing across the land, she brings the quaint fritillaries to join the sunny daffodils and the gay, bright tulips. The engaging little guinea-hen-flower and the stately crown-imperial, two fritillaries, of legend have long been known and loved in gardens. Even more anciently cultivated is lutea, a species from southwestern Asia.

Oriental Poppies Are Real Garden Stand-bys for Everyone

ALMOST every garden needs more gay splashes of color somewhere --and that's why poppies were born! No other hardy garden flower can be quite so debonair, so flaunting, and yet so subtle as an Oriental Poppy. No other flower flares out so gayly, dazzles us so utterly, yet holds such mystery in its heart.

FOR OUR President And Our Country

IF THE President of the United States were speaking to the Junior Gardeners of America, we are sure he would say:

For the Pool

Closing

IN THE September, 1932, issue Better Homes & Gardens announced its second More Beautiful America Contest, to close October 1, 1934. Already this closing date is almost upon us, and many cities and towns thruout the United States are busy this month completing preparations for sending their "before" and "after" photographs and reports in to us.

ENTER THE BETTER HOMES CONTEST!

Look what's coming in October!

TAKE a peek behind the scenes of the Better Homes & Gardens editorial sanctum and what do you see? A great deal of enthusiasm and excitement... all in preparation for the OCTOBER issue which will feature HOME FURINISHINGS and HOME EQUIPMENT.

How to Plant Bulbs

Along the Garden Path

THE United States is the melting pot of people, but how many of us realize how much of a melting pot our gardens have become? Sometimes shrouded in mystery, often written on the pages of history, but generally passed without a thought, is the source of our commonest garden flowers and the fruits and vegetables which nourish our bodies.