XXVI 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 191 3 



If you were going to buy silverware you 

 would probably ask for Tiffany's or Gor- 

 ham's or 1847 Rogers Bros.' 



If you wanted soap you would call for 

 "Ivory" or some other well-known 

 brand. 



So, too, in selecting a carpet sweeper, 

 you would instantly think of " BIS- 

 SELL'S." 



For over thirty-seven years we have 

 made carpet sweepers exclusively, and al- 

 ways some one mechanical expert has 

 devoted his entire efforts to improve our 

 product, each becoming in time a carpet 

 sweeper expert. 



Thus has the "Bissell" constantly 

 maintained its leadership from the start, 

 and is today the only universally recognized 

 carpet sweeper. 



BIS SELL'S 



"Cyco" BALL-BEARING 



is the outcome of this experience, and 

 insures easy running, high efficiency and 

 noiselessness. 



Countless steps and much ener.t, r y are saved by having 

 one of our new "Cyco" BALL-BEARING Sweepers 

 downstairs where it is most needed, and keeping your 

 older machine upstairs, thus always having a sweeper at 

 your immediate service. 



Sold by all progressive dealers in furniture, hardware, 

 carpets, and at housefurnishing and department stores. 

 Prices $2.75 to £5.75. 



Write for free booklet — " Easy, Economical, Sanitary 

 Sweeping."" 



BISSELL CARPET SWEEPER CO. 

 Dept. 125 Grand Rapids, Mich. 



(Largest Exclusive Carpet Sweeper Manufacturers 



in tue World.) (31) 



L 



Japan 

 Barberry 



Extensive stock 



Send for Catalog. 

 The Elm City Nursery Co. 

 New Haven, Dept. M., Conn. 



9 



SPARK COILS 



Their Construction Simply Explained 



Scientific American Supplement 1514 tells 

 you how to make a coil fur gas-engine ignition. 



Scientific American Supplement 1522 explains 

 fuTly the construction of a jump-spark coil and condenser for gas- 

 engine ignition. 



Scientific American Supplement 1124 de- 

 scribes the construction of a 6-inch spark coil. 



Scientific American Supplement 1087 gives 

 a full account of the making of an alternating current coil giving a 

 5-inch spark. 



Scientific American Supplement 1527 de- 

 scribes a 4-inch spark coil and condenser. 



Scientific American Supplement 1402 gives 

 data for the construction of coils of a definate length of spark. 



The above-mentioned set of six papers will be supplied for 60 cents. 

 Any single copy will be mailed for 10 cents. 



MUNN <fc COMPANY, Publishers 

 361 Broadway New York 



HESSMiCLOCKER 



The Only Modern, Sanitary 

 STEEL Medicine Cabinet 



or locker finished in snow-white, baked 

 everlasting enamel, inside and out. 

 Beautiful beveled mirror door. Nickel 

 plate brass trimmings. Steel or glass 

 shelves. 



Costs Less Than Wood 

 Never warps, shrinks, nor swells. Dust 

 and vermin proof, easily cleaned. 



Should Be In Every Bathroom 

 Four styles — four sizes. To recess in 

 wall or to hang outside. Send for illus- 

 trated circular. 



The Recessed Steel HESS, 926 Tacoma Building, Chicago 

 Medicine Cabinet Makers of Steel Furnaces.— Free Booklet 



STRAW ROADS IN FLORIDA 



FINE straw, heretofore regarded as a 

 nuisance and burned by the acre, is 

 coming to the front as a road surfacer in 

 Florida counties that are unable to make 

 immediate expenditures necessary to pro- 

 vide sand-clay roads, says an Exchange. 

 Automobilists who are familiar with them 

 are inclined to favor straw-surfaced roads, 

 if they are well kept, over highways made 

 of clay. • 



The announcement that Jacksonville 

 would be the southern terminus of the 1911 

 Glidden automobile tour stimulated all the 

 counties of the State into activity. The 

 necessity for quick action set road enthusi- 

 asts and engineers to looking about for 

 something that would make a temporary 

 surfacing and could be handled without de- 

 lay. Experiments were begun with pine 

 straw and sawdust, which also becomes a 

 nuisance when it accumulates about large 

 lumber mills. 



Tests are being made at several points 

 in the State, and some sections have been 

 so well convinced of the value of straw 

 that highways are being built of it as 

 rapidly as possible. St. Augustine mo- 

 torists and the good road organization of 

 St. Johns County are backing a proposition 

 to finish certain sections of the John An- 

 derson highway from Jacksonville with 

 straw surfacing. This is a trip that will 

 be made by practically every tourist. 



At Mount Dora experiments with pine 

 straw have been very satisfactory. If the 

 roadbed is properly smoothed up and lev- 

 eled as it should be before it is strawed, 

 rains and a little packing makes a surface 

 that is far ahead of a poorly kept clay road. 

 At least as a temporary surfacing pine 

 straw has not an equal. The cost of road 

 building by this method varies from $25 

 to $60 per mile, according to the original 

 condition of the roadbed. 



Volusia and Palm Beach are counties 

 which have experimented considerably with 

 pine straw in road building and it is stated 

 that they are proving satisfactory. Lake 

 County has 107 miles of straw road that 

 has been tested. It is found that where 

 roads are used regularly by all classes of 

 vehicles it is necessary to restraw the sur- 

 face about once a year. The most pleasant 

 roads to travel over in Lake County during 

 wet weather are the straw roads. The 

 estimated average cost of maintaining good 

 pine straw roads has been fixed at $50 per 

 year per mile. 



It is necessary to protect pine straw 

 roads against fire by sand bulwarks, but 

 this same precaution must be taken against 

 the destruction of sawdust roads. Saw- 

 dust has not proven so satisfactory as 

 straw, particularly that from the regular 

 cut of lumber. The waste from shingle 

 mills is more on the order of excelsior and 

 gives better results. The less fibrous saw- 

 dust is blown away by the winds. The sand 

 barrier problem is one of the small diffi- 

 culties, however, of pine straw road con- 

 struction. 



THE USE OF PERFUMES 



SINCE perfumes are unpleasant to many 

 people, and are often considered to be 

 in questionable taste, the only certain way 

 of avoiding hostile criticism is not to use 

 them, says the Youth's Companion. How- 

 ever, if you feel that you are made happier 

 by them, you may use them — within certain 

 limits ! 



If you buy the really good quality of pure 

 flower perfumes, and use a very small 

 amount, you are comparatively safe; but 



VALUABLE PAPERS ON 



CONCRETE 



REINFORCED CONCRETE 



and CONCRETE 



BUILDING BLOCKS 



Scientific American Supplement 1543 



contains an article on Concrete by 

 Brysson Cunningham. The article 

 clearly describes the proper compo- 

 sition and mixture of concrete and 

 gives the results of elaborate tests. 



Scientific American Supplement 1538 

 gives the proportion of gravel and 

 sand to be used in concrete. 



Scicutiiic American Supplements 1507, 

 1568, 150!), 1570 and 1571 contain an 

 elaborate discussion by Lieut. Henry 

 J. Jones of the various systems of 

 reinforcing concrete, concrete con- 

 struction and their applications. 

 These articles constitute a splendid 

 text book on the subject of rein- 

 forced concrete. Nothing- better has 

 been published. 



Scientific American Supplement 997 

 contains an article by Spencer New- 

 berry, in which practical notes on 

 the proper preparation of concrete 

 are given. 



Scientific American Supplements 1508 

 and 1569 present a helpful account 

 of the making of concrete blocks by 

 Spencer Newberry. 



Scientific American Supplement 1534 

 gives a critical review of the engin- 

 eering value of reinforced concrete. 



Scientific American Supplements 1547 

 and 1548 give a resume in which the 

 various systems of reinforced con- 

 crete construction -are discussed and 

 illustrated. 



Scientific American Supplements 1564 

 and 1565 contain an article by Lewis 

 & Hicks, in which the merits and de- 

 fects of reinforced concrete are ana- 

 lyzed. 



Scientific American Supplement 1551 

 contains the principles of reinforced 

 concrete with some practical illus- 

 trations by Walter Loring Webb. 



Scientific American Supplement 1573 

 contains an article by Louis H. Gib- 

 son on the principles of success in 

 concrete block manufacture, illus- 

 trated. 



Scientific American Supplement 1574 

 discusses steel for reinforced con- 

 crete. 



Scientific American Supplements 1575, 

 1576 and 1577 contain a paper by 

 Philip L. Wormley, Jr., on cement 

 mortar and concrete, their prepara- 

 tion and use for farm purposes. The 

 paper exhaustively discusses the 

 making- of mortar and concrete, de- 

 positing of concrete, facing concrete, 

 wood forms, concrete sidewalks, de- 

 tails of construction of reinforced 

 concrete posts, etc. 



Scientific American Supplement 1586 

 contains a review of concrete mixing 

 machinery by William L. Larkin. 



Scientific American Supplement 1583 

 gives valuable suggestions on the 

 selection of- Portland cement for, con- 

 crete blocks; ' : f 



Scientific American Supplement 1581 

 splendidly discusses concrete aggre- 

 il gates. A helpful paper. 



Scientific American Supplement 1595 

 and 1596 present' a thorough discus- 

 sion of sand for mortar and concrete 

 by Sanford E. Thomson. 



Scientific American Supplement 1586 

 contains a paper by William L. Lar- 

 kin on Concrete Mixing Machinery, 

 in which the leading- types of mixers 

 are discussed. 



Scientific American Supplement 1626 

 publishes a practical paper by Henry. 

 H. Quimby on Concrete Surfaces. 



Scientific American Supplement 1624 

 tells how to select the proportions for 

 concrete and gives helpful sugges- 

 tions on the Treatment of Concrete 

 Surfaces. 



Scientific American Supplement 1634 

 discusses Forms of Concrete Con- 

 struction. 



Scientific American Supplement 1039 

 contains a paper by Richard K. 

 Meade on the Prevention of Freez- 

 ing in Concrete by Calcium Chloride. 



In Scientific American Supplement 1005 

 Mr. Sanford E. Thomson thoroughly 

 discusses the proportioning of Con- 

 crete. 



Scientific American Supplement 1578 

 tells why some fail in the Concrete 

 Block business. 



Scientific American Supplement 1G0S 

 contains a discriminating paper by 

 Ross F. Tucker on the Progress and 

 Logical Design of Reinforced Con- 

 crete. 



fl Each number of the Supplement costs 10 cents. 

 QA set of papers containing all the articles above 

 mentioned will be mailed for $3 40. <JSend for a 

 copy of the 1910 Supplement Catalogue. flFree to 

 any address flOrder from your Newsdealer or from 



Publishers, 



NEW YORK 



MUNN & CO., Inc., 

 361 BROADWAY, 



