October 1972

How much snow tire do you need?

Deciding which tires you'll need to maintain your car's footing this winter isn't easy. Your problem, of course, is that you want tires that will get you through the worst days your area has, yet you don't want to buy more winter rubber than you need.

How to avoid a lemon

True lemons are about as plentiful among new cars as Indian heads are among pennies. Most so-called lemons are nothing more than cars with a half-dozen manufacturing flaws that should have been caught and corrected during the dealer's new-car preparation. If you meekly submit to the dealer's delivery routine when you buy a new car, you're all but asking for this kind of trouble.

A gardener's dilemma

Outside my window the grass is glowing with late dew and early morning sun. A bee jets by on important business, and the dog twitches her ear as she lies sleepily guarding the lawn from robins. It's very hard to believe that the world is hopelessly defiled, its air and water unfit for living, its children doomed by their own hand.

WINTER CAMPING

If you enjoy camping in summer, you may take to winter camping, particularly if you like winter sports. It's now possible to camp in 70-degree comfort in a winterized recreational vehicle-- one you've purchased especially equipped for such use, or one you've modified yourself.

How can you find out about no-load mutual funds?

You can't sit back and wait for a no-load fund salesman to ring your doorbell, because there is no such animal. No-load funds are bought directly by the investor, with no middleman. In most cases, you cannot buy them through brokers.

Can you get a tax deduction for a casualty loss?

That depends on what caused the damage to your home or property, how much the damage cost, and what reimbursement you get for your loss.

Home settlement costs: are you a victim?

Settlement costs are all the charges to both buyer and seller that are related to transferring title and obtaining a mortgage loan. These can include title examination and insurance, recording fees and transfer taxes, survey, brokerage commission, attorney's fees, loan discount points, credit report, appraisal, escrow deposits, and any of a dozen or more similar expenses.

Your child can't read: How can you help?

The facts speak for themselves. A large number of American children are not learning to read effectively-- and in most cases their parents, and too often their schools, don't even know there's a reading problem.

DECORATING CLINIC: The most common problems solved

Decorating problems are easy to spot-- the room is dull, drab, too small, too big, unworkable, or just plain unappealing. But coming up with solutions isn't quite so easy. Plenty of careful planning is essential if you don't want to make the same mistakes all over again. To help you save time and headaches, we've devoted ten pages to a variety of common decorating problems. And to give you a general idea of what it would cost to do the same thing at your house, we've included price charts.

What's happening to the AMERICAN FAMILY?

Of all the perplexing dilemmas your family has to face, the most elusive have to do with how your family works together-- and how it copes with a society that's as mystifying and as frustrating as any in history. Some family problems-- like the mortgage, that kitchen remodeling, even an illness-- at least have reasonably defined choices.

Good news!

These compact stereo speakers double as bookends and produce a full 18 watts of power-- but they're just six by ten inches and only 1⅜ inches thick.

OUR TEN BEST PROJECT PLANS FOR KIDS

Since we began our Project Plan series over nine years ago, we've shown a wide variety of projects to make for kids-- everything from dollhouses to study centers. Our projects can be built as pictured, or adapted to fit your needs. Why not build one of these units for your favorite youngster?

How to make the kid cuddlers on the cover

How to do more with the space you have

What do you do when your house is straining at the seams, but you don't want to move out or invest in a major addition? You'll find the answers right here. We've come up with dozens of ways to ease the space crunch at your house-- whether it's storage space you need, or a home office, or a roomier bedroom, or whatever. Pick the ideas that suit your family's needs, then get started.

FLEXIBLE FITTING FOR YOUR TABLE

If you have a stack of china tucked away on a top shelf, bring it out of hiding and introduce another friendly pattern. Here, we alternated pastel yellow octagonal plates with a splashy golden geometric pattern. The full-length "parasol" cloth adds another dramatic dimension.

Culinary dictionary

I can't cook like the master ... till you understand the ... age of their recipes. Here's ... rundown on some of the ... commonly used terms:

Get more from a griddle

There's more to a griddle than pancakes and waffles. What ever type of griddle you have, why not bring it out of hiding and teach it some new culinary tricks?

Beat the dry-skin blues

Take heart if you or someone in your family has a problem with dry skin. You're in good company. Nearly all of us suffer from dry skin at some time-- whether it's mild dishpan hands, a case of winter itch so common in overheated homes, or the chronic dry skin that often plagues the aged.

Which kitchen scales for you?

HOUSEPLANT HOW-TO

They get too big and unwieldy. Specimen sizes are fine, but they don't always fit the space you have. The thing to do is divide your plant, or at least take off pieces of it. If you don't want additional plants, give them away.

Down with tiresome tables!

As demonstrated by those flexible fittings on page 78, today's tables don't have to be dressed in a dull uniform. Collect patterns of china and silver that play well together and you can come up with all sorts of creative combinations. Don't overlook dramatic backgrounds, like the two illustrated below. An appropriate cloth can help coordinate an eclectic table.

Quick patches for leaky pipes

Water leaking from a pin-size hole in a pipe can do a surprising amount of damage. Although a hole in a pipe usually means the pipe is corroded and should be replaced, your first worry is to stop the leak now before it does any major harm.

What to do if your pet has worms

Worms are unpleasant-- especially for the dog or cat harboring them. Most pets play host to one type of worm or another sometime during their lives. The more you know about the worms plaguing your pet, the better you can cope with them.

How to sell your antiques

Whether you collect antiques as a hobby or have inherited them, a time will probably come when you'll want to sell some or all of your collection.

Places for paperwork

The outdoor look made easy

GARDENING IN OCTOBER

Few flowers are more welcome than tulips and other flowering bulbs that bring the news of spring. And they're even more appreciated because of the minimum care and work involved in getting them established. With proper treatment, tulips, hyacinths, and many other bulbs bloom in almost any part of the country.

Sewing with pile fabrics

Crisp fall weather and school days call for fashions made of pile fabrics. They're endlessly versatile, ranging from practical corduroy to plush velveteen and velvet. Because of their distinctive napped surface, all pile fabrics require special handling in sewing.

CENTRAL MEXICO AND THE SEACOAST

Most Americans who've been to central Mexico can judge it about as well as they could a diamond. If they've been to Acapulco (the Miami Beach of Mexico), they'll tell you all about the flash and glitter. If they've been to Guadalajara or Taxco or the other handcraft centers, they know how much you should pay (and where to buy it).

14 ways to save on home settlement costs

When you buy or sell your home, the only thing you can do about many kinds of settlement costs is pay them. Some are set by law. Others may be required to obtain financing. And still others are caused by a property settlement system that badly needs revision (see p. 30).

Manejando en Méjico Driving in Mexico

If your car quits along a Mexican highway, start looking for the "Green Angels." The green tourist patrol trucks are manned by friendly drivers trained in mechanics, first aid, and English. They'll supply you with gasoline at cost, and will provide their services free.

Shortcuts to a cleaner kitchen

Dirt goes by different names in the kitchen. It's called grease, grime, spatters, and spills. By any name, it means work. You can shorten the job considerably by using good cleanup techniques and the right equipment-- scrubbers, cleaners, brushes and mops.

After the flood... beware those washed-up cars

... could have been thousands of miles from the devastation ... by the floods this year and still be directly affected-- specially if you happen to be in the market for a late model ... car. For many of the cars that sank below the turbulent ... are not being junked. Instead they're being hastily conditioned and shipped to distant states.

Shopping editor's choice

Discover the fun and convenience of shopping by mail! You can order with complete confidence any of the items shown: each company will refund your money if you're not delighted.

The man next door

My wife Christine is concerned about all the consumer-protection bills the government is proposing. She says she's beginning to feel like a whooping crane, or some other endangered species.