March, 1912 
BOT 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Xili 
ROSE GROWING FOR AMERICAN GARDENS AND 
OTHER ATTRACTIVE FEATURES FOR THE 
APRIL NUMBER 
HE opening article for the April number of AMERICAN 
YIOMES AND GARDENS will be from the pen of Mr. F. F. 
Rockwell, one of the leading authorities in America on the 
subject of gardening and horticulture. Mr. Rockwell pre- 
sents a thoroughly practical and instructive survey of Rose 
growing for everyone’s garden. Whether one has had ex- 
perience in growing Roses in the home garden or looks for- 
ward to taking up Rose culture for the first time, this article 
will prove a valuable aid to him, its material being clearly 
set forth. The article is exquisitely illustrated from photo- 
graphs and by diagrams. No Rose lover can afford to miss this 
number. AMERICAN HoMEs AND GARDENS for April will 
contain two delightfully written articles on houses, one dat- 
ing from Colonial times, filled with its original Colonial 
furnishings, and the other a modern house patterned after 
a famous Virginia manor and fitted with rare furnishings 
collected by its owner. One of America’s foremost author- 
ities on the house will contribute an article of intense interest 
to every dweller in the country, and other special features 
connected with architecture, interior decoration, the garden 
and the housekeeping, all finely illustrated, will make the 
April number of AMERICAN HoMEs AND GARDENS a treas- 
ure-trove of useful and delightful information within its field. 
THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE EXHIBITION 
HE Twenty-seventh Annual Exhibition of the Architec- 
tural League of New York presented to the considera- 
tion of its visitors the fact that year after year the League 
exhibitions show a growing tendency to display less of what 
is broadly termed architectural matter, and to give greater 
attention to architecture’s accessory arts. ‘There is also a 
marked tendency to include in these exhibitions works in 
sculpture, which one feels would be more properly included 
in the National Academy exhibitions, for instance. Of 
course, every article of aesthetic or of utilitarian interest 
produced has a direct or indirect bearing upon architectural 
problems, yet one cannot but feel that the League exhibitions 
would be more valuable in the long run if they clung more 
closely to the problem of building design and of landscape 
architecture. 
In the present exhibition there seemed almost a paucity 
of small house designs, while the section of decorative arts 
was overflowing with material that might more properly be 
shown elsewhere, several of these exhibits being really works 
for the painting exhibitions rather than for architectural 
ones, despite the ultimate places planned for their position 
by their artists. In the matter of stained glass designs, it 
must be confessed that the work shown in this year’s exhibi- 
tion hardly reached the plane of interest which it should 
have attained, considering the very excellent and, indeed, 
surpassing work done by American artists in glass. Much 
of the designs for glass shown at the league exhibition fol- 
lowed traditions strictly, although occasionally there was 
shown a design that departed from the time-worn medieval- | 
ism, as, for instance, one noted in the designs by Frederick 
Wilson, ‘“The Angel and Child” (865), ‘‘The Argonauts” 
(872). In the sculpture display, one remarked with sur- 
prise the absence of works by many of our foremost decora- 
tive sculptors, Victor D. Brenner among them. Janet Scud- 
der’s “Fighting Boys” fountain was, perhaps, the finest bit 
of completed work in sculpture shown. Also noteworthy was 
the model “Children Playing” fountain by Anna V. Hyatt, 
and the reliefs by John Flanagan for the City Hall, Chicago. 
It should be remembered that the Architectural League 
exhibitions in various cities are not mere student affairs, 
and while the initiate are interested in the processes of work- 
ing out a problem, it is, nevertheless, probably a fact that 
too much work of a mere sketchy nature is admitted in the 
department of decorative design. Some of the sketches for 
the mural decorations, while promising much, might suggest 
attempts at accomplishments that the artists themselves 
will never achieve, and one feels that the public should see 
more completed work—that is, actually complete, for in- 
stance, the paintings by Charles Hoffbauer, ‘Triumph of 
the Condottiere, Florence, 1450” (414), and William A. 
Mackay’s ‘Flying Dutchman” (518), and his “Legend of the 
Sargasso Sea” (520). Although the present League exhi- 
bition was attractive and interesting, it is hoped that future 
ones will be brought to a higher standard. Surely we have 
in America ample material and enthusiasm for a still better 
showing, and our architects should bend their efforts toward it. 
U. S. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS 
HE work accomplished by the various State experiment 
stations of the United States Department of Agriculture 
stand ready to render valuable service to everyone through- 
out the land, but it is not generally understood by the public 
at large that these experiment stations interest themselves in 
horticultural matters quite as much as in the broader field 
of agriculture in relation to farm lands and soil develop- 
ment upon an extended scale. The amateur gardener is 
quite as welcome to help from these sources as is the farmer. 
The directors of the United States Agricultural Experiment 
Stations and their associates are always glad to furnish any 
information possible on the subject of plant culture of any 
description, as influenced by the conditions of climate, soil, 
etc., within their respective States. The editor of AMERI- 
CAN HoMEs AND GARDENS calls attention to this fact in the 
belief that there are many of its readers who would be glad 
to avail themselves of the opportunity of consulting the 
members of the staff of their State experiment station if they 
knew that information of great value to them could be ob- 
tained upon application. For instance, the various experi- 
ment stations are best qualified to give information as to the 
proper varieties of plants for gardens (both flowers and 
vegetables) within their states, to answer queries pertaining 
to local soil conditions, and to suggest remedies for plants 
affected by the various pests that attack vegetable growth. 
The value of the service rendered by the State experiment 
stations is practically inestimable, and the great number of 
American home-builders is quickly coming to discover this. 
