Vlll 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 19 1 3 



Coldwell Lawn Mowers 



Near the first hcle, Pelham Bay Park links, N. Y. 



Two Mowers in One 



You get practically two horse mowers — or 

 two putting green mowers — in one with Cold- 

 well Demountable Cutters. 



These cutters are removable at will, like 

 the blade of a safety razor, and two or more 

 go with each machine. 



If one cutter needs sharpening or repair, it 

 takes less than a minute to remove it from the 

 frame and attach another. 



No waste of time sending the whole 

 mower to the shop. No heavy freight charges. 



The new Coldwell Horse 

 Mowers and Putting Green 

 Mowers are now made with 

 this money-saving, time- 

 saving, labor-saving device — 

 Coldwell Demountable Cut- 

 ter (patented). Send for 

 leaflet giving full description 

 and prices. ,. , , 



r Demountable Horse Mower 



The Coldwell Company makes lawn mowers in 150 different styles and sizes. 

 The Coldwell Combination Motor Roller and Lawn Mower is the best 

 and most economical mower ever made for use on large stretches ol lawn. 



Descriptive catalogue mailed on request, together with practical booklet on The Care of Lawns. 



COLDWELL LAWN MOWER COMPANY 



Philadelphia 



NEWBURGH, NEW YORK 



Chicago 



WITCH 

 HAZEL 



Fine specimens 



Send for Catalog. 

 The Elm City Nursery Co. 

 New Haven, Dept. M., Conn. 



For 



$5 



jlmerican Homes and Gardens 

 and Scientific American sent to 

 one address for one year. (t» /" 



REGULARLY *P^ 



To Build Beautifully You Should Have These Books 



More than three hundred illustrations and plans of artistic and comfortable homes of 

 practically every size and style. Innumerable valuable suggestions and ideas. 

 Modem Dwellings-9xl2in., 1 50 lllus. ($3,500 to $50,000) ) BOTH 



with Plans $1.50 ' BOOKS 



American Homes— 1 50 Illustrations ($2,500 to $10,000) ( (O DH 



with Plans ___$1.00) "P^'W 



These books contain a profusion of the latest ideas in Georgian, Colonial, 

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GEO. F. BARBER & CO., Architects, Knoxviile, Tenn. 



JH.BROOKSeCo.CU5(E!^»0- 



iEooR&SiDEWALK Lights. 



OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 

 SENDffaCATALOGUE. 



in making new columns from my rather 

 vague and hazy description. So care- 

 fully was his work done that the old 

 columns, when they were found some 

 months later, might almost have been 

 used as models from which the new parts 

 had been fashioned. 



The refinishing of old furniture, as de- 

 scribed in certain magazines, is a process 

 so simple that one wonders why cabinet- 

 makers are ever asked to perform, such 

 work. One is apt to suppose when reading 

 the description of the work that the re- 

 moval of the old finish and the applying of 

 the new is mere child's play, or such work 

 as anyone might do in a few odd moments. 

 Anybody can attempt a copy of a. Poiret 

 gown, but only a skilled worker can im- 

 part the deft and finished touch which pro- 

 claims it to be the work of a master hand. 

 In like manner anyone might try to refinish 

 old mahogany and yet fail to bring out the 

 beauty of form and material which the art 

 of a skilled workman will reveal. With 

 my own small collection of old furniture, I 

 have always felt it to be money well in- 

 vested to have such work done by the most 

 careful and conscientious workmen I could 

 find, even when such work has cost the 

 most. 



Before beginning upon the refinishing of 

 wood of any kind the old surface must be 

 removed, and this process is both laborious 

 and tedious, inasmuch as it often means the 

 removal of several layers of paint which 

 have been applied upon the varnish which 

 may have been the original finish. This 

 removing of finish is done by various edged 

 tools made for the purpose, or it may be 

 done equally well by scraping the surface 

 with glass. The process is tiresome rather 

 than difficult where a plain surface is being 

 worked upon, but the scraping off of the 

 finish upon an elaborately carved object is 

 extremely difficult, for care' must be exer- 

 cised lest in removing the finish the wood 

 itself be deeply scratched. When the old 

 finish has been entirely removed, the sur- 

 face must be rubbed with sand paper until 

 it becomes perfectly smooth and satin-like, 

 and prepared to receive the new finish 

 which is applied in the form of wood fillers 

 and coats of various mixtures, of which 

 turpentine is the chief ingredient, and each 

 of these .must be carefully rubbed in to 

 prepare the surface for the varnish which, 

 of course, completes the finish. Should the 

 furniture be refinished to match some pieces 

 already in use the wood must be colored 

 before the refinishing process is begun. 



The restoration of furniture other than 

 mahogany is much less difficult, and amateur 

 workers who are blessed with much pa- 

 tience might reasonably be advised to at- 

 tempt the work, particularly if the refinish- 

 ing is not to be clone in the highly technical 

 method used where a high polish is desired 

 The removal of the old surface must, of 

 course, be done by much the same process 

 which precedes the refinishing of mahog- 

 any, but where this has been done the treat- 

 ment of the surface with some of the useful 

 and beautiful stains which may be bought 

 in the paint shops is exceedingly simple and 

 often productive of excellent results. 



Some years ago, when passing an antique 

 shop in Fourth Avenue, New York, my 

 attention was attracted by an exceedingly 

 graceful Windsor chair of a shape com- 

 paratively rare. Its beautiful proportions 

 as well as its battered and discouraged 

 aspect convinced me of its antiquity, and 

 when it had been acquired and removed to 

 a little shop where such things are done 

 a scraping off of many thicknesses of paint 

 of various colors and energetic sand paper- 

 ing of its surface showed the chair to be 



