April 1955

Latest Garden News

We'll have better roses for spring planting, as a result of research by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

First yon find a site ...then build

Houses should be fitted to lots. Lots should not be fitted to houses. If you're building, you should first develop a site plan to achieve the best orientation for view, privacy, and appearance. Even when buying a development house, you should be sure this planning hasn't been overlooked.

We visited a Nevada ghost town

We were lost when we stumbled into Virginia City, Nevada, but our visit to this ghost town will forever remain in our minds as the best side trip we ever took.

How to plant a shrub

WHIT'S NEW in home furnishings

How to help your husband succeed

Someone once said that "being in love is not looking into another's eyes-- it's looking in the same direction." I don't know who said that but-- bless him or bless her --no better advice could be given to married couples seeking a higher rung on this complex ladder we call life.

Spokane's most admired teacher

School Superintendent Shaw looked out over the 1,000 Spokane teachers in the auditorium, then again at the speaker he was introducing. The trim young man sat there expectantly, a guide dog by his side.

TV's fabulous "private eye"

Recently, in a Los Angeles TV service branch, police sat watching a television screen. The "program" was different from anything you're likely to see at home. There was no music, no talking, no sound of any kind. The picture didn't look dramatic-- two men loading boxes into a pickup truck.

God meant us to find the atom!

Once I stood within 9 miles of one of our sizable nuclear explosions. I stood riveted, dumbfounded, awe-stricken. I had a feeling I might be looking into eternity.

SPLIT LEVEL: A better small house?

Split-level planning is not new, but it hasn't been long in use. It harks back to the story-and-a-half house in shape, the two-story house in space. And it's a big improvement on both.

So you don't have a green thumb!

Don't miss Canada's Maritimes

If you and the family have been yearning for a few days' escape to a land of quaint fishing villages, historic shrines, and peaceful valleys, where summer sunshine is cooled by a tangy breeze from the sea, then by all means head for the Maritimes. In the three provinces-- New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia-- 10 days will give you time to see the best.

You can be a handyman . . . sure you can!

How to cut costs without cutting Space

Every square foot of a house is measured in dollars and cents. To cut costs, you either cut space... or, as in this builder's development house, employ planning and construction that give more of everything for less money.

The secrets of add-to decorating

Of all the questions we receive from readers like yourself, one of the most asked is how to combine the old and new. It's really easy to do. Here's a good step-by-step check list to help you plan. Remember, you'll want to add some things, but you'll also want to make the most of old things.

Small trees can do big things

CHOCOLATE DESSERTS

Bananipops (1) are good, and good for kiddies. Easy fixing, too. Just perch half a banana on a paddle stick, coat with melted chocolate, and chill to harden. For children's party, anchor the pops in plastic foam for a centerpiece. Ours is topped with a toy "chocolate" soldier and trimmed with big gumdrops and packaged chocolate-drumstick candies.

These kitchens won't fence you in

Something new is happening in the kitchen. It no longer has to be boxed off with walls. Kitchens now may open into the living area of the home and give a feeling of space without increasing house costs or size.

Money for your recipes

YOUR FAVORITE RECIPE for harvest fruit salads or quick casseroles may win one of the cash prizes in our new contest. The Cook-of-the-Month will receive $20. Twenty other winners will receive $5 each. Eight of the winning recipes will be pictured in the Prize Tested Recipes pages next November. The winners of these 21 prizes will receive the Better Homes & Gardens Certificate of Endorsement and six copies of the endorsed recipes.

Bake hot cross buns for Easter

Soften active dry yeast in warm water or compressed yeast in lukewarm water. Combine milk, sugar, salt, and shortening; cool to lukewarm. Sift 1 cup flour with the cinnamon; stir into milk mixture. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in yeast and currants; add remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Rhubarb wonders

The word for rhubarb? Some say pieplant. But we say delicious! And now that the first shoots of rhubarb are appearing, it's time to treat your family to rhubarb sauce, refreshing punch, tart-sweet pie and cobbler.

"Picklepuss" specials

Find yourself reaching for the pickle dish not just once, but twice, three times, or more? Like to munch on a dill? Do you fairly load pickle relish on a hot dog? Then you're a Peter Piper at heart. You'll want to try a peck of pickle tricks, whip up our extra-tasty recipes (they're on page 135) using your favorite pepper-upper.

Frosted sandwich loaf

No more mud pies for these kids!

Your youngsters' cherished mud-pie modelings need no longer crumble in the sun. Clays that bake in your kitchen oven are the modern way to keep your children's treasured designs.

Shirt-laundering know-how

Even rooms change their ways

You can't help but relax

Greet them at Easter

Canada's Maritimes

Drive from St. Stephen to Saint John, N.B., over Highway 1; 89 miles, paved all the way. Some very sharp turns. Driving time: about 2½ hours. Spend the afternoon and evening seeing Saint John.

New furniture arrangement

How to put your tools away

The best room came last!

Here's furniture you can make

The drop of water that wrecks your house

Many materials in your home are highly susceptible to damage from water. It may be the free water that comes in from the outside, or the invisible vapor produced inside. Either way, the results can be equally ruinous and very costly to repair.

What is this thing called PUBERTY?

In the office of a Detroit high-school principal recently, the mother of a 14-year-old girl-- let's call her Mrs. Haywood-- poured out a familiar story.

The house that looks in on itself

Once inside this house, you've left the city-- although it's located on a narrow (50-foot city lot with neighbors on all sides. Surprisingly, it wasn't necessary to encircle the house completely with high fence to achieve this privacy.

How to be friends with a shovel

Dailies brought up to date

Handy Painting Guide

Planning makes the difference

Tips for care of tots' clothes

Silver made truly yours

Personalizing your silver with a family monogram has revealed proud ownership since the sixteenth century. Your own taste and personal feeling should guide you when selecting engraving or embossing. A jeweler can be of great help if you want to know what types of initials look best with your pattern.

Try these decorating ideas

One room does many jobs

You can paint fast with a roller

New life for your old shrubs

Pruning can be a whack, slash, chop routine, or it can be the first step in changing an overgrown shrub into a strong, attractive plant.

Garden storage to save time and temper

How to care for Easter pets

Chicks. The cardboard box-- first home for your baby chick-- should be covered with cheesecloth or wire screening to prevent escape. Warmth is a "must"-- 92 degrees. Each week, this is reduced by 3 degrees until room temperature is reached.

Good Small pools yon can build

Maybe you'd like a pool to improve the looks of your garden-- but you've held off because you're thinking in terms of a costly, Hollywood-size structure, complete with diving board. Well, you needn't.

Plan for comfort-plus

New headlights add 80 feet to your vision!

Almost 15 years ago, the sealed-beam headlight was introduced. Anyone who remembers the old dirty reflectors and separate bulbs will admit this was a great improvement. Four years ago, new designs were again started. After a good deal of engineering and development, the new headlight has arrived.

Five "to-grow-in" rooms for children

Can you improve your soil?

Soil is made up of many things-- silt, clay, insects and microorganisms, decaying roots-- and, around new homes, the debris left by builders.

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

April 1 There was no foolishness about it-- my reliable old thermometer outside the window stood at 25 this a.m. All outdoors was covered with white frost.

Now's the time to...

Plant your strawberry bed, a dozen everbearing plants for each member of the family, for berries all summer. Set out fruit trees, berry bushes, and grapevines.

Garden words

Here's a spot we'd like to own

The "inside" bathroom

Good for another 100 years

Personal help in home building, remodeling, and decorating

When you're looking for ways to make your home more comfortable and attractive, look for this seal. It identifies the Better Homes & Gardens Home Planning Center, where you can get personal counsel on your home-planning problems.

Safe driving

Many a driver, cruising along the highway at normal speed, has been confronted by another car in his lane heading toward him at high speed. What a driver does in those three or four seconds may save his life-- and the lives of others.

Greet them at Easter

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Christine warned me to take my raincoat the other morning, but there wasn't a sign of rain, so I left without it. Of course, it rained all the way home! But Chris never rubs it in; she always thinks up some extenuating comment, such as: "Oh well, at least the sky was bright this morning."