XxiV AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS June, 1912 
AKE your visit now, because 
simone 
during June the trees, shrubs, : ne 
and hardy flowers will be at oN, Ms pat - 
their best. It's the ideal time to j : : 2 mee 
make your selections. You can see = ay j 
things as they will actually be. 
It's so much better than trying to 
form a conception from catalog dé<- 
scriptions. Don't put off coming till 
Fall, when the flowers and foliage 
are passing, and your enthusiasm 
on the wane. o it now so youcan 
make Your selections when you are 
keenly alert to just the things you 
most nee 
Run down in your auto any day. 
It's a beautiful ride along the 
Jericho Turnpike, where our nursery 
is located. 
Perhaps you don’t know that we 
have trees in all sizes, from fifty 
cents for a three year old, to fifty 
dollars for one twenty. 
One very important thing to also 
bear in mind is that any of our ever- 
greens can be planted in August 
and September just as successfully 
as inthe Spring. Come and make 
your selections now, and we will 
tag them with your name, and ship 
them any time the latter part of 
July. 
If you can’t possibly come to the 
nursery, then let us send you our 
catalogs. This year’s editions are 
. exceptionally interesting and en- 
tirely untechnical. You'll enjoy 
them. 
Isaac Hicks & 
Westbury, Long Island 
.CH.BRrooKseCo. cLevEAN.0- 
Pm FLOORSSIDEWALK LIGHTS. 
s OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 
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. 
Shaking Dust Screen 
The Scientific American Boy 
By A. RUSSELL BOND 
12mo. 320 Pages. 340 Illustrations. Price, $2.00, Postpaid. 
q This is a story of outdoor boy life, suggesting a large num- 
ber of diversions which, aside from affording entertainment, 
will stimulate in boys the creative spirit. In each instance 
complete practical instructions are given for building the various 
articles. @ The needs of the boy camper are supplied by the direc- 
tions for making tramping outfits, sleeping bags and tents; also 
such other shelters as tree houses, straw huts, log cabins and caves. 
q The winter diversions include instructions for making six kinds of 
skate sails and eight kinds of snowshoes and skis, besides ice boats, 
scooters, sledges, toboggans and a peculiar Swedish contrivance 
called a ‘‘rennwolf.” @ Among the more instructive subjects cov- 
ered are surveying, wigwagging, heliographing and bridge-building, 
in which six different kinds of bridges, including a simple can- 
tilever bridge, are described. 
FOR SALE AT ALL BOOKSTORES 
FIVE MILES OF RHODODENDRON 
DRIVE 
HIE estate of Biltmore, in North Caro- 
lina, offers to the traveler constant sur- 
prises in the way of new vistas of liveli- 
ness at every bend in the forty-odd miles 
of macadamized road that wind through 
the private park about the Vanderbilt 
chi teau, Lut nothing more beautiful in the 
Spring and early Summer than the banks 
of the Irench Broad River which flows, 
with many a turn and twist around should- 
ers of the mountain, through this pictur- 
esque spot. 
So cunningly has art been applied to 
nature in enhancing the natural loveliness 
of this river that vine-clad rocks and bould- 
ers, with here the vivid glow of wild- 
flowers, and there the cool green of massed 
ferns, form a fringe that one fancies only 
Nature could fashion to frame a river’s 
margin. 
Most wonderful of all is the border of 
rhododendrons that seem to grow naturally 
among trees and shrubbery between road 
and stream and, for a distance of five 
miles, lean over the river’s brim, reflecting 
in its waters a glory of rose and pink, of 
amethyst and crimson, like sunrise clouds 
gathered into concrete form. 
Not as most persons know them, are 
the rhododendrons of North Carolina, and 
especially those to which such care has been 
given as the ones that glow along the 
curves of the French Broad River. Here 
rhododendrons attain a great height and 
spread of branches and are massed with 
boughs of marvelous colors. 
So famous is the rhododendron drive 
along this beautiful river that no one who 
can tarry, passes through North Carolina 
in the season when this native shrub is in 
flower without making pilgrimage to Bilt- 
more to enjoy the exquisite sight. 
EDIBLE BIRDS’ NESTS 
HE uninitiated are apt to think of 
birds’ nest soup as a most disgusting 
stew of twigs, feathers and what not. As 
a matter of fact, the nest used by the Chin- 
ese is a very delicate, semi-transparent, 
gelatinous substance, built by the swallow- 
like birds known as the Salangane. The 
nests are found in the islands about Siam 
and the Malay Archipelago, and the harvest 
in the year 1909 was 18,000 pounds, valued 
at over $100,000. It used to be thought 
that the nest was formed of inspissated 
saliva secreted by the highly developed 
glands of the bird. Now it is known that 
the nest is made of a species of alga, gath- 
ered by the bird. The season for harvest- 
ing the nests lasts from April until Sep- 
tember. It takes three months to build the 
first nest, and just before the eggs are laid 
the nest is stolen by the collector. The 
bird immediately sets about the building of 
a second nest, taking thirty days for the 
work. This is also stolen before the eggs 
are laid. The third nest, however, is un- 
molested and the birds are permitted to 
raise their young, after which the nest is 
taken and sold. The nests are built in most 
inaccessible spots, among the cliffs along 
the coast, and the natives must risk their 
lives to reach them. In preparing birds’ 
nest soup the nest is washed in cold water 
and then cooked for eight hours in a closed 
vessel, after which it is mixed with chicken 
broth, seasoned: and boiled for a quarter of 
an hour. This dish is considered a great 
delicacy among the Chinese, and Occident- 
als who have tried the soup find it very 
palatable and much resembling chicken 
soup. 
