April, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XI 



must be hung with colored pictures try at 

 least to place them upon different walls. 



Family portraits and photographs belong 

 in a class by themselves. As a rule these 

 pictures of somewhat intimate character 

 should be placed in rooms which belong 

 more exclusively to family life. Sometimes 

 family portraits, particularly if they be 

 large and somewhat massive, may be hung 

 in the library and I know of some fine old 

 southern homes where they are placed in 

 dining-rooms with splendid effect. Small 

 family photographs belong entirely in 

 one's study or bedroom and are woefully 

 out of place anywhere else. These little 

 family pictures may be most attractively 

 framed, and suitable frames either to stand 

 or to hang may be had in convenient shapes 

 and sizes at any of the shops. Long cords 

 and wires almost always detract from the 

 decorative value of a picture and should be 

 avoided whenever possible. Very small 

 pictures should be held in position by 

 slender and invisible brads and this should 

 always be done where pictures are hung 

 along stairs or wherever they are apt to be 

 disarranged by being brushed against. 



After all, the entire subject of pictures 

 like any other item of decoration must be 

 settled upon the basis of suitability and this 

 general fitness of things which is the 

 foundation of anything regarding beauty 

 or art. 



FEEDING BEES IN THE SPRING 



OFTEX the amateur's bees need to be 

 fed in early Spring if they are to be 

 strong and in condition to work rapidly 

 when the honey flow begins. This is par- 

 ticularly true when the Spring is back- 

 ward or when the colonies seem to be weak. 

 The best way to feed is to make a syrup 

 of sugar and water and p^ce it in a shal- 

 low dish in the top of the hive. There are 

 many feeding devices on the market, but 

 few give better satisfaction than a tin pan 

 such as may be purchased at a ten cent 

 store and a little excelsior for the bees to 

 cling to while they take the syrup. The 

 pan should not be quite filled and the ex- 

 celsior should be placed in the syrup. 



It is necessary to have a pan for each 

 colony. If a "super" is put on the hive 

 there will be plenty of room for the pan 

 on the brood frames. Of course the cover 

 should be placed on the "super." The 

 syrup is not to be made as thick as in the 

 Fall, as this Spring feeding is really stimu- 

 lative and is designed to make the bees 

 active. Three ponds of the best granulated 

 sugar should be used with one quart of 

 water. The syrup may bo mixed warm or 

 cold. A little more time is required when 

 cold water is used, but this plan is much 

 safer than placing the sugar on a stove, for 

 if it is burned the result is pretty sure to 

 be disastrous when the bees take the syrup. 



A BABYLONIAN INVOICE 



THE Academy of France, says Harper's 

 Weekly, has received the translation of 

 an inscription on a terra-cotta tablet dis- 

 covered in the ruins of Susa. The in- 

 scription is of the nature of an invoice. In 

 it several antique articles are listed : a 

 leather casque, a cow's hide, a kid skin, a 

 bronze helmet, a silver helmet, a hatchet, a 

 bow, and a lance. The inscriptions give 

 definite information concerning the quan- 

 tity of bronze and silver used in making 

 the arms mentioned and makes it a simple 

 matter to estimate the cost of the wool used 

 for the uniform of an Elamite warrior of 

 the great Babylonian period. 



Before Buying Your Screens 

 See PEARL Wire Cloth 



Heretofore, you have regarded screened doors, windows and porches as 

 unsightly affairs. That is because you have been using the old-fashioned, ugly, unsatisfactory 

 painted screening. This year — before you buy screens— see Gilbert & Bennett PEARL Wire Cloth. 



Its beautiful appearance will make you realize why owners of the handsomest residences 

 in America have chosen it above all others for their homes. The very process that gives it the beautiful, pearl- 

 like appearance from which its name is derived makes it practically rust-proof— consequently almost ivear-proof. 

 T-ivo copper wires in the selvage identify the genuine Gilbert & Bennett PEARL WireCloth — look for them. 



N. GILBERT 4 BENNETT 



l 



Wire Cloth 



For Screening Doors, Windows and Porches 



In addition to the regular grade of Gilbert & Bennett PEARL 

 Wire Cloth designed for doors and windows, we make an extra heavy, extra strong 

 grade of " PEARL" for porch and door use. See it before buying any other kind. 



There is no comparison between Gilbert 

 & Bennett's PEARL Wire Cloth and the common 

 painted screens so universally used, "PEARL" is 

 so much handsomer and so much less costly in the 

 long run that you can't afford not to use it. 



The best hardware dealer in your city sells 

 Gilbert & Bennett PEARL Wire Cloth. To 

 make sure of the genuine article look for the tnuo 

 copper ivires in the selvage. 



Or — if you prefer — write our Chicago 

 office for samples and complete information. 



Architects 



Find out about Pearl Wire 

 Cloth. Send us your name 

 and we'll send full particu- 

 lars and samples. 



Write for These Samples 

 and Particulars — 



Address our Chicago OfTicel 



The Gilbert & Bennett Mfg. Co. 



(Established 1818) 



CHICAGO 



GEORGETOWN, CONN. 



NEW YORK CITY 



KANSAS CITY, MO. 



For 



$5 



Jlmerican Homes and Gardens 

 and Scientific American sent to 

 one address for one year. A» / 



REGULARLY *P™ 



ENGLISH 

 IVY 



7 to 8 feet specimens. Heavy pot grown 



Send for Catalog. 



The Elm City Nursery Co. 



New Hftr*n, Dept. M., Conn. 



s 



CRAFTSMAN" HOUSE PLANS 



THIS is a Craftsman house: — durable, beautiful and convenient, with no useless partitions, no waste space, no over-decoration. 

 *■ "We. design homes of this character for CRAFTSMAN subscribers. Write for free booklet, ^'Craftsman Service ror 

 Homebttilders, ** containing cuts and plans of Craftsman houses. We are prepared to aid in every phase of home-making. The 

 April CRAFTSMAN, our great homebuilding number in colors, should be in the hands of every homebuilder. Write for the 

 free Booklet to— THE CRAFTSMAN, Room 473, 41 West 34th Street. New York City 



