VI 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1 9 1 3 



P 



;■;,, , . ... - 



The love of Music, Nature's priceless gift to 

 mankind, find's most triumphant expression in 



Upright, Grand and Player Pianos 



The matchless gift that both giver and 

 recipient will always enjoy 



Just a little of your Christmas money for a first 

 payment secures one of these beautiful instruments 



KRANICH & BACH 



237 EAST 23rd STREET - . NEW YORK CITY 



swop 



Just Published 



The Swiss Chalet Book 



By WILLIAM S. B. DANA 



THIS book tells the story of the Chalet in Switzerland, its 

 history, evolution and construction. It is picturesque 

 as well as instructive and is replete with illustrations 

 and diagrams, sections and plans. The author has not 

 neglected the Swiss Chalet in America and tells the reader 

 of the use that has been made of Chalet forms in California, 

 accompanying his text with attractive pictures. 



Table of Contents 



Chapter 1. — Switzerland Visited; Swiss Architects and 

 Builders. 11. — Construction Details; Granary Construction ; 

 Examples of Modern and Older Chalets. III. — The Chalet 

 Skeleton; Basis of Ornament; Small Chalets. IV. — Balcony 

 and Gable Construction ; Doors, Windows ; some Classic and 

 Modern Chalets. V. — The Chalet Facade ; Window Disposi- 

 tion; Plans and Elevations. VI. — The Chalet Facade; Sys- 

 tem of Ornamentation. VII. — The Chalet Interior ; Planning, 

 Plans and Elevations. VIII. — The Chalet Interior; Interior 

 Decoration ; Furniture. IX. — Adaptation of Swiss Chalet in 

 other Countries ; American Adaptations. Bibliography. 



Cloth, 7^xlOX inches 

 151 Pages 250 Illustrations 



Price, $2.50 Postpaid 



MUNN & CO., Inc., 361 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 



had succeeded in acclimating the giant birds 

 in Germany, and in raising them at Stellin- 

 gen, near Hamburg, a place of little sun- 

 shine and cold Winters. 



I can best demonstrate the profit that 

 there is in the industry by stating that one 

 acre of alfalfa in Arizona will maintain four 

 ostriches during the entire year, with hardly 

 any other food except that they must be 

 given gravel and ground bone at all times. 

 This same acre of alfalfa will support a 

 cow the year around, but at five years the 

 cow may be worth fifty dollars, while an os- 

 trich of the same age will sell for $250. The 

 birds yield annually about a pound and a 

 quarter of feathers with an average value of 

 twenty dollars a pound, so that each ostrich 

 yields about ten per cent of its value in 

 feathers each year, to say nothing of the in- 

 crease, or of the food value of the eggs that 

 may not be used for incubation. Even the 

 shells of infertile eggs are sold as curi- 

 osities. 



But no one knows how long an ostrich 

 will live, because the birds have not as yet 

 been under domestication for a sufficient 

 period of time. Although they are matured 

 at the age of five, their average life is sup- 

 posed to be about that of a human being. 

 A famous cock in South Africa, known as 

 "Old Jack," has been regularly plucked for 

 over thirty-five years, and his feathers are 

 still good. The last report about him says, 

 "The old bird is still very vigorous and 

 active and is at present sitting on a nest 

 of eighteen eggs." 



The price of the feathers varies accord- 

 ing to quality, from $10 to $150 a pound. 

 Statistics were gathered in the United 

 States in 1909, and it was found that the 

 average return in feathers per bird was 

 $25.98, so that by pasturing ostriches about 

 $100 can be obtained from an acre of al- 

 falfa. It costs about ten dollars a year to 

 support each bird, leaving a profit of about 

 sixty dollars an acre from the feathers 

 alone. The birds themselves are very valu- 

 able. They are worth, in my country, at 

 least $500 for a good breeding pair. Some 

 finely bred birds command much higher 

 prices. 



THE MILK OF INDIAN BUFFALOES 



THE Government agricultural chemists 

 of Bombay and Bengal recently pub- 

 lished a paper on the milk of some breeds 

 of Indian buffaloes. As buffalo milk is 

 extensively used in India, the records of 

 the experiment have been received with 

 considerable interest. The Indian Agricul- 

 turalist says on the subject: 



It is known that buffalo milk is richer 

 than that of European or even Indian cows 

 and hence the buffalo is valued highly as a 

 butter-producing animal. Most of the data 

 on record, however, seem to be for the buf- 

 falo in other countries than India. F. 

 Strohner analyzed the milk of buffaloes in 

 Transylvania and found a high percentage 

 of fat (over 9 per cent) he did not notice 

 any essential difference in the butter pro- 

 duced from cow's milk. A very complete 

 examination of the composition of the milk 

 of the Egyptian buffalo was made in 1890. 

 The next analysis was that made by Mr. 

 Leather in India, who summarized his re- 

 sults as follows: "The majority of the 

 samples analyzed are characterized by an 

 extraordinarily high proportion of butter 

 fat, 7 and 8 per cent being common, and in 

 one case close on 10 per cent was found. 

 Buffalo milk is white and the butter is 

 also usually white. The percentage of pro- 

 teids in buffalo milk is distinctly higher 

 than in cow's milk. The percentages of 

 milk sugar and mineral matter correspond 

 very closely to those of cow's milk." 



