AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
The Tree System— Lhe Bell System 
NOBLE tree thrives because the 
leaves, twigs, branches, trunk and 
roots are all working together, each 
doing its part so that all may live. 
Neither the roots nor the branches 
can live without the other, and if the 
trunk is girdled so that the sap cannot 
flow, the whole tree dies. 
The existence of the tree depends not 
only onthe activity of all the parts, but 
upon their being always connected to- 
gether in the “tree system.” 
y 
This is true also of that wonderful 
combination of wires, switchboards, 
telephones, employes and subscribers 
which helps make up what is called the 
Bell Telephone System. 
It is more than the vast machinery of 
communication, covering the country 
from ocean to ocean. Every part is 
alive, and each gives additional useful- 
ness to every other part. 
The value of telephone service de- 
pends not only on the number of tele- 
phones, but upon their being always 
connected together, as in the Bell System. 
AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY 
AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES 
One Policy 
Sample and 
Circular 
Free 
One System 
Universal Servicr 
, 
A House Lined with 
Mineral Wool 
as shown in these sections, is Warm in Winter, 
Cool in Summer, and is thoroughly DEAFENED. 
The lining is vermin proof; neither rats, mice, 
nor insects can make their way through or live init. 
MINERAL WOOL checks the spread of fire and 
VERTICAL SECTION, 
keeps out dampness. 
CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED 
U. S. Mineral Wool Co. 
140 Cedar St. NEW YORK CITY 
June, 1912 
buying from the foreigners who have but 
recently arrived and who are being “Ameri- 
canized.” His reply may suggest many an 
idea to the discriminating antiquarian for 
after all a very large part of the pleasure of 
collecting is in the experience which it in- 
volves. The pleasure of collecting in Eu- 
rope is being ruined by the unscrupulous 
frauds which are being perpetrated almost 
everywhere. Not long since the American 
consul at one of the continental cities, felt 
obliged to warn tourists from America of 
the trickery which was being widely prac- 
tised, and when one remembers the wiles 
of some antique dealers at home, he can 
readily understand the ease with which 
such frauds are managed abroad where a 
certain foreign setting lends more than 
usual attractiveness and plausibility to the 
wares. Then, too, Americans are often 
willing to delude themselves into supposing 
that what they see abroad must be really 
old, and they seem to have a genius for be- 
ing imposed upon. 
Not long since a New York woman pur- 
chased a great number of the really beauti- 
ful gilded glass objects on sale in Venice; 
she did not suppose them to be old for she 
could see them being made at the works at 
Murano, but she thought it would be im- 
possible to purchase the articles in America 
at any price. And yet the same wares and 
in many cases the identical patterns are 
on sale in the china and glass departments 
of many American stores. 
Everyone knows, or has heard, of the 
“salting” of antiques abroad and particu- 
larly in England and in Scotland. An en- 
terprising dealer in reproductions from 
London or Edinburg, will “consign” cer- 
tain coffers, chests, benches or gate-leg 
tables to farmhouses or inns much visited 
by tourists. These inns or farmhouses are, 
of course ancient, and their picturesque 
names and signs have been landmarks for 
centuries, while their quaint interiors form 
a fitting background for the interesting, 
beautiful, but not antique furnishings, 
which have been “consigned.” A number of 
young Americans were once having ale and 
cheese at a picturesque little inn in Devon- 
shire; one of the party was attracted by the 
beauty of the little table at which they were 
sitting and jokingly asked if it were for 
sale. He was surprised at the ease with 
which it was secured and it was triumphant- 
ly carried away in their motor car; but a 
few weeks later he found an exact dupli- 
cate installed in its place and still later on 
he discovered many such tables in similar 
taverns and inns, 
BREAD OF THE VIKING AGE 
R. SCHNITTGER, professdr at Stock- 
holm University, has made an interest- 
ing find relating to the remote past of his 
country at Ljunga, in Eastern Gothland, 
viz., some bread dating from the time of the 
Vikings. Microscopical examination has 
shown this bread to be made from pine 
bark and pea meat, thus proving the fact 
that peas were growh in Sweden as far 
back as a thousand years ago. Archzeologi- 
cal excavation has so far brought to light 
only a few specimens of bread dating from 
ancient or prehistoric times. The few 
loaves excavated in Egypt and in Swiss lake 
dwellings are of the highest archeological 
interest. In the northern countries only one 
or two finds of this kind have so far béen 
*made, foremost among which should be 
mentioned a corn-meal loaf dating from the. 
fourth century A. D., which was discovered 
by Dr. Schnittger in 1908 in connection 
with the excavation of Boberg castle. 
