IV 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1913 



T Want to Know You 

 i£* Like Me,\bu Love 

 The Hard^ Garden Plants 



Let us become acquainted — write to 

 me about your garden and 1 will send 

 you my new book of Hardy Plant 

 Specialties for both connoisseur and 

 amateur. In itl tell you of Delphiniums. 

 Irises, Peonies, Phloxes, Poppies and 

 other flowering plants, in all their most 

 desirable varieties. 



1 am sometimes as!:ed if it " pays" to grow 

 so many varieties of Peonies, and Irises, when a 

 shorter list might answer. I repeat here, then, 

 that 1 grow the things 1 like and because I want 

 them for myself, and for the pleasure they give 

 me. Incidentally I find others want them, too. 



The Delphinium of today is a tall and stately 

 plant, contrasting more varied shades of lovely 

 and rare colors than any other flower in the 

 garden. For beauty that is wholly ethereal and 

 makes you dream of far-away things, there is 

 none like that of the Iris, the "Rainbow 

 Flower," messenger from the Queen of Heaven 

 to mortals on earth. My book will tell you, 

 too, of the dazzling Phloxes, and the barbaric 

 splendor of the great Oriental Poppies, that are 

 the charm of the hardy garden. There are full 

 page color plates of fine specimen Irises, and 

 Peonies, and Poppies, and of the great field of 

 peonies which hundreds came to see last year, 

 reproduced for you from color photographs. 



If you care for these things, you 

 will want my new book, sent to any 

 flower lover on request. 



Bertrand H. Farr, *5KSS£fi* 



105 Garfield Ave., Wyomissing, Penna. 



RARE 

 LILACS 



In specimen sizes 



Send for Catalog. 

 The Elm City Nursery Co. 

 New Haven, Dept. M., Conn. 



* 



SUN 

 DIALS 



Any Latitude 



A Beautiful, Illustrated Book- 

 let, "WHERE SUN DIALS 

 ARE MADE," sent upon 

 request. Estimates furnished. 

 Ask for Booklet No. 5 

 E. B. MEYROWITZ, 237 Fifth Ave., New York 



Branches: New York, Minneapolis, St. Paul, London, Paris 



Rhododen- 

 drons 



Hardy varieties 



Send for Catalog. 

 The Elm City Nursery Co. 

 New Haven, Dept. M„ Conn. 



* 



Private Water Supply Plants 



EwanEF 



SYSTEM OF ^"* , 



V WATER SUPPLY 



SEND FOR CATALOC N HA 



« KEWANEE WATER SUPPLY CO. . 



NEW YORK CITY KEWANEE . ILL . CHICACO 



$421.27 Profit 



from one acre in one season, and that 

 on sandy New Jersey soil too. 



You can do as well or better 



with the new double crop Red Rasp- 

 berry Ranere. Yields two crops every 

 year — Ripe fruit from June until 

 November. 



A sworn statement showing daily 

 shipments and receipts, and expenses of 

 1 J acres of this berry mailed free. 



One dozen plants, postpaid, $1 .00 

 Half dozen . . . .50 

 Quarter dozen . . .25 



My new book, "Dahlias and How to Grow Them" 

 free for a postal card. 



J. MURRAY BASSETT 



Packard Street Hammonton, New Jersey 



There is nothing about the care of ban- 

 tams which is beyond the ability of any 

 boy. They need no more attention than 

 rabbits or cavies and are much more 

 satisfactory pets. They may be kept in 

 an ordinary back yard, or allowed to run 

 on the lawn. Some of the best bantams 

 seen at the shows are raised in very 

 limited quarters. A boy who is really 

 fond of his birds will spend most of his 

 spare time with them, and have them so 

 tame that they will stand on his finger 

 and fly to his shoulder. It is a pleasure to 

 work with bright, handsome pets like 

 these. 



VARIETY IN THE VEGETABLE 

 GARDEN 



By FLORENCE TAFT EATON 



IN planning for the planting of the 

 family garden, it is rather interesting, 

 and a really paying experiment, to try a 

 few vegetables a little out of the common 

 run. As a matter of fact, the "survival 

 ■ f the fittest" doctrine applies to garden- 

 ing as well as to everything else, and the 

 vegetables in common use are, as goes 

 without saying, the most satisfactory as 

 to results in yield and quality. Never- 

 theless, one finds some "fun" in trying 

 each year one or two varieties new to that 

 particular family and garden spot, and 

 there are many vegetables in this cate- 

 gory really worth while, even in a small 

 plot of land. I will suggest a few which 

 we have found an addition to our list of the 

 old "stand-bys" — the interesting cosmopolit- 

 ans, as it were — that give variety and 

 diversity to our "old inhabitants." 



Foremost among our experiments 

 which have proved of permanent value is 

 the New Zealand spinach. Nothing new 

 about the New Zealand spinach? No, 

 but in how few gardens is it seen ! This 

 we have found a good "filler," as it may 

 be cut any and every day after it gets 

 well established until the heavy frosts 

 come, having no season. It is the best 

 example of both having one's cake and 

 eating it, as for every sprig clipped two 

 new ones appear. Whenever the choice 

 vegetables are a little sparse, spinach may 

 be added to the bill of fare ; and if the 

 garden is expected to add a little to the 

 children's pin money, a bushel or two 

 may at almost any time be cut for the 

 market man, who is usually glad to 

 obtain it fresh. Half of a short garden 

 row will be enough for a small family, as 

 it spreads generously. 



Swiss Chard is another prolific and 

 ever-yielding "green," of the same gen- 

 eral kind. This also lasts until after even 

 hard frosts, and its tender and most 

 attractive green and white inner leaves 

 may be cut and cut indefinitely, and to 

 advantage. It has the additional value of 

 being two in one, as the snowy midrib 

 may be used alone, boiled, buttered, and 

 either served entire, as asparagus, with 

 or without toast, or cut in small pieces, 

 stewed and served in a cream sauce. The 

 stalks are also delicious, cooked, chilled, 

 and used with French dressing as a salad. 

 The green parts of the same leaves mav 

 be boiled, chopped fine, and prepared like 

 spinach, and is equally good. 



Kohl Rabi is another very satisfactory 

 but little used vegetable, and if caught at 

 the perfect moment, when tender and 

 succulent is most delicious. It should be 

 cut when rather small, before the woody 

 fibres develop, which absolutely spoil it 

 for table use, as no amount of cooking 

 will then render it tender. After cooking- 

 it may be sliced and served plain, with 



CI 



Vi 



1 



Our Newest Rose Triumph 



No Lawn or Garden should be without it 



The Climbing 

 American Beauty 



The most beautiful climbing, pillar or bush rose ever 

 introduced. Hardy as an oak. Fine, dark green, 

 healthy foliage, free from black spot or mildew. A 

 perfect mass of bloom in June and flowering occa- 

 sionally throughout the entire growing season. Hoses 

 3 to 4 inches in diameter on single stems; color and ap- 

 pearance like the old American Beauty, with the 

 same exquisite fragrance. While the old American 

 Beauty is rarely satisfactory in the open ground, our 

 new Climbing American Beauty has proved perfectly 

 hardy, stands heat and drought as well as any rose in 

 our collection and produces twenty times as many 

 flowers as its pollen parent. 



Don't fail to plant 

 this beautiful rose 

 this spring. Strong 

 One Year Plants, 

 $1.00 each, $10.00 

 per dozen. Sent 

 immediately upon 

 receipt of price, or 

 at the proper time 

 for spring planting, 

 post or express 

 paid. Colored 



illustration on request. 



£1 UNEXCELLED 

 NURSERY 

 FACILITIES 



Our Nurseries cover 

 about 800 acres, where 

 we grow a full line of 

 Fruit and Ornamental 

 Trees, Evergreens, 

 Shrubs, Vines, Roses, 

 etc. 60 years of ex- 

 perience enables us to 

 offer exceptional ser- 

 vice. Landscape work 

 in all its branches. 

 If you contemplate the 

 J» improvement of your 

 grounds or the plant- 

 ing of a commercial 

 orchard, write us for 

 information or prices. 

 HOOPES, BRO.& 

 THOMAS 

 COMPANY 

 Dept. A 

 West Chester, Pa. 

 Philadelphia, Office: 



Room 202 

 Stephen Girard Bldg. 



Beautiful Lawns 



Lawns that are distinctive; that show early and 

 late and all of the time that they are different; 

 lawns of wonderful texture; a rich green, velvety 

 carpet out of doors; such lawns are made with 



KflLflKfl 



FERTILIZED QRAS5 SEED 



Expert blendingrof purest seeds of choice lawn grasses 

 in combination with specially prepared natural fertil- 

 izer insures best distribution and quick, strong germination. 



Kalaka in 5 lb. boxes at $1.00 express prepaid East 

 or $1 .25 West of Omaha. Special prices for quantities 

 of 50 lbs. and over. Order today. 



Froo Rnnbler "How to Make a Lawn," 

 rree oooniei valuable t0 every )awn 



maker, sent free if you mention your dealer. 

 THE KALAKA CO., 1110 W. 35th Street, Chicago 



||| 



ML 



^DREER'S 



^ 6PECUL -CATALOGUE" 



^ fDAHLF 



describing nearijjj*500 Oi 

 *■■- choicest sorts of all types, . 

 » -^beautifully illustrated. 



S COPIES FREE ON REQUEST 



HENRY A. DRET" 



ft ' 'JK-- PHILADELPHIA ^ 



*W 



