AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
February, 1912 
a 
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Mogazine Agency 
STATIONARY VACUUM CLEANERS 
Broomell’s Electric—The VICTOR 
The time is rapidly coming when it will be considered just as necessary to 
install a Stationary Vacuum Cleaner in residence, church, office, schoolhouse, 
or other building as it is to have a Heating System. The cost of a Vacuum 
Cleaner is small in comparison to the Heating Plant. It is only necessary to 
heat six months, while the house can be kept clean and free from moths, disease 
germs, dust and dirt the entire year with a Vacuum Cleaner at an expense of 
only a few cents per day. 
Broomell’s VICTOR is a strong, durable machine, is equipped with the best 
possible electric motor (1 H. P. for a single sweeper outfit). The Victor Pump 
is positive in its action and pulls a strong, steady vacuum. The pump has only 
three moving parts, and will last a lifetime. 
In addition to the Stationary Electric machine shown in the illustration, we 
manufacture a special type Stationary Vacuum Cleaner to be used with Gasoline 
Engine, or other available power. Send for booklet giving full particulars. 
VICTOR CLEANER COMPANY York, Pa. 
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DAHLIAS that will grow and bloom 
From the most exclusive collection in America 
Shaking Dust Screen 
on, 
A new Dahlia must have decided merit — some quality above others in its class—to be honored 
with space in our catalog. The varieties listed have been thoroughly tested by comparison, and 
only the best find place in our lists. 
To get acquainted with you, we will send by express (charges to be paid by purchaser) 10 
large undivided field clumps for $1.00, with directions for dividing and planting. These clumps 
are equal to two or three of the small divided roots that are usually sent by mail. Catalog free. 
BASSETT & WELLER Hammonton, N. J. 
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MINIATURE TREES AND GARDENS 
AS ORNAMENTS 
By FLORENCE A. DAWSON 
MALL trees may provide a means of 
securing a very distinctive and pleas- 
ing ornament in the house. ‘Lhe small Fir 
and other trees, set formally in garden pots 
and placed in doorways, will immediately 
come to mind in this connection; but while 
these, especially if chosen very carefully as 
to size and the appropriateness of the pot 
in which they are placed are attractive it is 
not always possible to give them room; yet 
this does not entirely exhaust the sugges- 
tion. Very small trees, however, can be 
used within the house. It is quite possible to 
get such miniature trees oneself from the 
wood or meadow when one makes a trip 
to the country, and then to select some un- 
usual pot for them, as a setting; or the Jap- 
anese dwarf trees, if one is fortunate 
enough to be able to secure one, can be 
made a delightful point of ornament in a 
living- or reception-room. To anyone at all 
familiar with the meaning attached to the 
use of the tree from all time, and especially 
the symbolism appropriate to it as used in 
the East, its value as an ornament will be 
greatly enhanced by the significance which 
it carries, 
An ornament which is closely akin to this 
of the tree, is the miniature “Japanese 
garden.” This need not be Japanese at all, 
the hint merely being taken from these 
people and from their sometimes treatment 
of their dwarf trees. To make such an 
ornament, take a shallow dish of pottery— 
any desired sort or shape or color—and put 
some pebbles in the bottom, covering these 
with about two inches or less, according to 
the size of the dish and of the “garden’”’ 
one proposes to have. In this is planted, 
closely as you please, any sort of tiny tree 
(a few inches high), which can be captured 
in the fields or woods as it is just starting 
to grow and is well above the earth; any 
kind of fern or other plant which seems suf- 
ficiently harmonious with those already 
chosen. Plant these in pretty closely and 
cover over with some pretty moss. all the 
space that intervenes. 
Such a “garden” as described may be a 
few inches or a foot across and small ones 
which respond nicely can be used as center- 
pieces for the table. Of course, the propor- 
tion of the plants used will be considered in 
planting them, and a pebble representing a 
“rock” can be permitted. How far the 
picturesque may be carried and how far the 
interest should be kept upon the growth 
itself of this tiny vegetation, is a matter to 
be decided by the taste and preference of 
the maker of it. It will astonish anyone 
who makes one of them for the first time, 
to find that the little things do really grow 
and apparently thrive. Of course, they 
must be frequently and carefully watered. 
THE INDEFATIGABLE MOTOR TRUCK 
N a paper read before the Electric Vehicle 
Association of America, Mr. Hayden 
Eames called attention to the fact that 
horse-drawn vehicles must remain idle for 
a certain portion of the day in order to rest 
the horses. A recent investigation showed 
that the teams of the different express com- 
panies in New York city were idle forty 
per cent. of the total working hours, much 
of this idleness being due to the fact that 
the horses needed rest, and that the periods 
of loading the wagons had to be suited to 
these rest hours. The motor vehicle, on the 
other hand, requires no rest, and hence re- 
quires no adjustment of the loading hours. 
“Se Ma 
