AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 377 
The Broad Path beyond the House is Beautifully Bordered with Annuals and Herbaceous Perennials 
be reached. And here one reaches the flower bordered walk 
to the house and completes the circle. 
Much attention has been given throughout the estate to 
the growing of trees and shrubs, many of the latter especially 
being fine examples of their particular kind. Although 
‘‘Pembroke”’ is not large, it has been developed in an ex- 
ceedingly admirable manner, including as it does ample 
lawns, spacious flower gardens and arbors, native trees of 
fine growth and size, and many shrubs and other trees that 
have been brought here and beautifully placed. ‘There is a 
true quality of joyousness in this place which is beautifully 
indicative of the interest taken in it by its owner. 
Fashions in Wall Coverings 
HE season brings around its fresh suggestions 
in the matter of wall coverings. Changes in 
wall coverings have a more substantial rea- 
son behind them than most changes dictated 
by fashion. Modern wall coverings are not 
permanent. Paper, which is the most popular 
material, has little sanitary value. It readily absorbs dirt, 
loses its color and in many ways ceases to be both useful and 
agreeable at the same time. Other materials are hardly more 
sanitary, and hence the need for frequent change in the wall 
covering is very apparent in most houses. In the majority 
of cases, in fact, it is changed much less frequently than it 
should be, a circumstance due, perhaps, not so much to cost 
as to the inconvenience entailed. 
Fashions in wall coverings, therefore, represent not only 
an advance and improvement proposed by the vendors of such 
wares, but correspond to an urgent household necessity. The 
chief thing to be considered in changes of this kind is not the 
obtaining of the newest fashion, but betterment. A satis- 
factory wall covering is often permitted to outlive its useful- 
ness because it is pleasant and agreeable; in a word, because 
it is satisfactory, and no idea occurs to the houseowner as to 
how to improve it. The simplest remedy in such cases is the 
best—to renew it. If that be impossible, for papers and 
fabrics popular at one time can not always be duplicated sey- 
eral years later, make the new covering as close to the old as 
possible. 
There are few more irksome tasks in household equipment 
than the selection of the wall covering. It is a matter that 
tries the patience of the purchaser and calls for the utmost 
tact on the part of the salesman. It is always safest to con- 
sult a trained decorator, and when several rooms are to be 
done over proceed on a related scheme. ‘The trained deco- 
rator may not always give complete satisfaction, he may not 
always be the cheapest possible agent to employ, but his in- 
creased cost, if any, is more than likely to be compensated for 
in the superior quality of his work; and the occasions when 
he fails are certainly bound to be fewer than when the un- 
trained housekeeper sets forth to recover her house without 
any idea of what to do or how to do it. 
Changes in wall coverings can seldom be made too fre- 
quently. They can never be made without inconvenience; 
without more inconvenience than, for example, would attend 
a complete change in furniture. But with the first indication 
of wear a change should be made. The latest fashions may, 
then, be followed with advantage. Often enough there is 
nothing else to be done, and the improvement in taste, both 
among the manufacturers and the decorators, is so pro- 
nounced that the new work is likely to have charm that the 
older did not have. 
