November 1935

Across the Editor's Desk

FRANK BUCK isn't the only man who "brings 'em back alive." Do you know how much you owe to the plant-explorers of the United States government service and of specially endowed foundations? They are especially equipped men-- of good physique and mind, well trained in botany and horticulture-- who search the far corners of the globe for new plants that may be fitted into the American scheme of things.

THE Diary OF A PLAIN DIRT GARDENER

This morning over all outdoors there were frost crystals that made things look like fairyland. By the time the sun had melted these, I could tell from afar that summer is over and fall is here for sure.

IT'S News TO ME!

1 Nick found a portable wall lamp (Sketch 1) which has an opal glass bowl tucked inside to prevent glare-- its I. E. S. tag is sketched. This tag on any lamp means the design has been approved for close work (and no eyestrain!) by the Illuminating Engineering Society.

The Family Parasite

MARCIA is the youngest daughter of the Brown family. Most of the Browns are self-reliant, upstanding people who pull their own weight in the boat, draw out of difficulties under their own power, keep their troubles to themselves, and consume their own smoke.

I Know Something New About

BUT who believes all that nonsense from the dark past from which this Spanish proverb arose? Today things are altogether different. Women, of course, just won't stand for any of that treatment, and even the modern dog trainer knows that a piece of juicy meat is more effective than the whip, while in the world of trees, flowers, and plants, learned horticulturists with specs make elaborate notes of comparisons between happy and sulky specimens.

Sturdiness IN STONE

AT GLEN HEAD, in the low range of picturesque hills along the north shore of Long Island, adjacent to the Sound, is this beautiful English cottage, designed by Architect Roger H. Bullard, of New York City.

Our Five-Room Garden

NO ONE lives in a one-room house if he can help it-- so why have a oneroom garden-- a garden all of which can be seen at a glance-- a garden bereft of a single surprise? If a quick walk around one's place reveals all there is to be seen, the time has come to take action!

Eyes Floorward

IF YOU'RE a homemaker like myself, looking for new carpets or rugs, have you ever stopped to think what tremendous "furnishing power" your floor-covering has and how important it can be in your scheme of things?

Keeping the Home Wheels

ONCE the fireplace was the center of domestic activity. Now it's the electric meter and its twin, the gas meter. Bed-making is about the only domestic operation that hasn't yet been geared to an electric motor. And some electric-appliance manufacturer may right now be concocting an ingenious apparatus that pops out from under the bed at the flick of a switch, unlimbers its chromium-plated arms, smoothes and tucks each sheet and blanket into place, fluffs and pats the pillows, and finally folds up its crazy arms and crawls back under the bed.

WHICH Garden Books DO YOU READ?

Harry R. O'Brien, the "Dirt Gardener": It wasn't a garden book at all, but rather an elementary high-school textbook of botany, written by Dr. L. H. Bailey, that first turned my interest to flowers. I no longer own the book. I've forgotten its correct name. For all I know it may be out of print.

"Thank You"

"WON'T you please write an ar ticle about teaching children manners?" one of you recently urged. "When should one begin, and how far should one go? Some of my friends require that their little girls curtsy, that their little boys bow formally to adults. What do you think of this?

That Beloved Air of Being Lived In

THE day we went to see the George Halls in their pleasant Colonial house set on a steep bluff overlooking a winding little street in Westport, Connecticut, Mrs. Hall was standing on the sloping lawn, bareheaded. She wore a red sport coat, the while shading her eyes with her hand as she superintended a pair of Italian workmen who were building flagstone steps up to the front door from the street.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Even the optimist realizes by this time that he can do more housing and remodeling with one architect and a couple of carpenters than Uncle Sam can do for him with a billion dollars' and a buildingful of officials.

"NO. 8"... She is easy to identify

Eight million women have always had to consider the time of month in making their engagements-- avoiding any strenuous activities on difficult days when Nature has handicapped them severely.

YOUR CHILD'S Eyesight

THERE are certain statements of principle no one would deny. One is that every child is entitled to the best eyesight of which he's physically capable. And yet we know not every child is so fortunate as to obtain what he's entitled to, in this respect.

Quilts With Ancient Heritage

FADS come and fashions go, but beautiful quilts are in the heirloom class forever. For quilts are quality folks, with traditions and ancestry. "Star of the West" traces its lineage back thru "Henry of the West" and "Clay's Choice" to Henry Clay himself. Names of great enterprises and ideals, of statesmen, heroes, and even presidents, of battles and campaigns, snug neighborhoods, and sovereign states are all abundant on the family tree of quilts.

Bulbs to Flower From Christmas to Easter

WHY think of winter as a bleak and flowerless season when a few November hours of potting bulbs may furnish indoor bloom weekly from December thru April.

THIS MONTH ONE YEAR AGO

Nov. 1-- Last night's closing of the Chicago World's Fair turned into a riot as thousands ran over the grounds destroying property.

Problems SOLVED HERE

OF COURSE you belong to a club. Perhaps you belong to two or three of them. It seems that in this age of organization it's the simplest way to make congenial friends and interesting contacts. And so you're on the alert for programs-- serious ones on book reviews, brisk discussions of current events, gay diversions for your social hours.

New Artcraft Catalog!

Easy Upkeep VS STAIR CARE

"Oh, You Wrap It!"

"Thank You" Said Mother

In return, it's only fair that when children are entertaining their own friends, we should keep in the background ourselves and let them chatter.

Sally Makes a Sale

IF SALLY K., a young wife of 35 with two small children, had chosen business instead of matrimony as her career, she would have made a top-notch salesman, for she knows how to put herself in the other fellow's place. The story her insurance agent told me about her may offer a hint to others who think the family should be protected with more life insurance.

A Man Menu FOR AN AUTUMN NIGHT

HAVE you ever lingered in an old New England kitchen when, after day-long baking, a pot of Boston beans has been taken sizzling from the oven? And have you wished that, by some magic, you could serve that king of feasts without the fuss and bother of a tedious kitchen session?

More House Plants That Make Good

In Support of Books

Keeping the Home Wheels Running Smoothly

Sometimes the pilot light accumulates so much carbon on the hood that it makes fumes and burns unsteadily. The simple remedy is to unscrew the pilot light from the range, put it in a vise, and bore a large hole in the top of the hood. The amount of gas used by the pilot light is adjusted by a screw at the button end.

A Purse for the Winner!

FOR the best winter recipe sent us during November, Better Homes & Gardens will pay $5. The magazine will pay $1 each for the next best 20 winter recipes received during November.

Miracle Cookery by Wire

WE women all know what it is to be "kitchen tired"-- just sick of bending over a hot stove in a stuffy room, with not a moment we can really call our own!

Varnish

THE living-room floor needs a coat of varnish. The job is up to you tomorrow-- and gosh how you dread it-- till you get at it-- and then, somehow, it's fun.

The Family Parasite

I have in mind a young woman who has recently married. She lives in the same neighborhood with her mother, a woman of 55, still in her prime. "I don't know what to do about Mother," she told me. "You see, I can't desert her. She gave up everything to raise me and my brothers and sisters after my father died.

Garden Christmas Gifts

A Room for an All-Boy

New Ways to Decorate for Christmas

So You're Going to Build a New Home!

IT'S IMPORTANT, whether you're building a new home or not, for you to know what the "latest things" in home construction are-- materials, equipment, techniques. You may not approve of them all (not all change is progress!), but you will have done what you owe yourself as a homeowner: you'll have given careful consideration to everything that makes up your home.

Which Garden Books Do You Read?

Fleeta Brownell Woodroffe, authority on rock-garden plants, Oriental Poppies, and bulbs: It's a confirmed "Bowles-ite" I am when it comes to favorite garden books. It was a long time ago-- when I should have been studying my first-year Latin-- that I discovered among my mother's garden books the first of the matchless trio-- "My Garden in Spring," "My Garden in Summer," and "My Garden in Autumn and Winter"-- three fat and delightful volumes written by that kindly humorist, careful student, eager collector, artist, and admirable English gentleman-- E.

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

THERE was a legend among the ancient Aztecs that they would discover a land of plenty when they found an eagle, a snake, and a cactus. In 13 12, having found what they were seeking, high in the mountains they laid the foundations of Mexico City. Today the coat of arms of Mexico bears an eagle and a serpent in its beak, resting on an Indianfig Cactus.