2C6 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1906 



Wax Your Furniture 



with Johnson's Prepared Wax 



A Complete Finish and Polish for All Wood 



You apply our wax with cloth to varnished, 

 shellacked or any finished or unfinished wood, 

 and polish with dry cloth. Write for our 

 new 48-page book, "The Proper Treat= 

 ment for Floors, Woodwork and 

 Furniture." This is our regular 25- 

 cent edition, but we send it FREE 

 for a limited time. It tells how to 

 keep your furniture and all wood in 

 beautiful condition. Don't wait — 

 write to-day. Sent compliment- 

 ary by the man- 

 ufacturers of 



Johnson's 

 Prepared Wax 



"A Complete Finish and Polish for All Wood" 



For Furniture, Woodwork and Floors 



It produces a beautiful, lasting and sanitary finish 

 and polish to which dirt and dust will not adhere. 

 It will not show scratches, blister, peel off or 

 crack. It cleans, polishes and preserves the 

 wood and brings out its natural beauty. Fine 

 for linoleum, oil-cloth and leather. Johnson's 

 Prepared Wax is sold by all dealers in paint; 

 Universal size, \% oz., 10 cents; Household 

 size, 4 oz. , 25 cents; 1 and 2 lb. cans, 60 cents 

 per pound; 4, 5 and 8 lb. cans, 50 cents per 

 pound. Write for above book. Remember it 

 is our regular 25-cent edition sent FREE for 

 limited time. Mention Edition AH10. 



S.C. JOHNSON & SON, Racine, Wis. 



"The Wood-finishing Authorities " 



Waxing Furniture with Johnson's Prepared Wax 



BOOKS 



Relating to Architecture, 

 Decoration, Ceramics, Rugs, 

 Furniture, etc., -will be rec- 

 ommended and supplied by 

 our well-equipped 

 Book Department 



Munn ®> Co. 



36 1 Broadway, New York 



Beauty and ' 

 Solid Comfort 



K 



N appropriate Man- 

 tel balf-furnishes a 



Beauty, artistic design and 

 harmonious colorings are 

 the characteristics or our 

 Mantels. 



The Mantels are reason- 

 able m price. A catalog 

 showing various styles 

 ■will be mailed free. Ask 

 for Catalog M. 



A* 



Architectural Faience 

 Faience Tile and Mantels 



ifw 



THE HARTFORD FAIENCE CO., HARTFORD, CONN. 



FLORAL OCTOBER WORK 



By Eben E. Rexford 



IT IS not too late to move shrubs and 

 hardy border plants. Indeed, most kinds 



will not have fully ripened their annual 

 growth before the first of the month In mov- 

 ing, then, do the work leisurely and carefully. 

 A plant that is not well handled will be sure to 

 suffer, if it does not die. A little care will re- 

 duce the chances of failure to the minimum, 

 and probably do away with them entirely. 



In lifting a plant for removal, take up 

 with it as much earth as possible, and to make 

 sure that it will not crumble away from the 

 roots, apply water in liberal quantity a few 

 hours before you begin work. Then cut about 

 it carefully with a sharp, thin-bladed spade, by 

 running the tool into the ground perpendicu- 

 larly its full length. Then lift away the soil 

 outside this cut. This will leave the bulk of 

 the roots of the plant intact, inside an undis- 

 turbed block of earth. When you have made 

 an excavation all around the plant, work the 

 spade under the block in such a manner as to 

 cut it loose from the earth below. By work- 

 ing in this way, you will have your plant ready 

 for removal without seriously disturbing it. 

 If the block of soil containing the roots is 

 large, do not attempt to handle it alone. Get 

 some one to help you. Take hold on each 

 side of it. Lift it out and put it on a wheel- 

 barrow or a sled, and trundle or draw it 

 wherever it is to go with as little jarring as 

 possible. Have the place made to receive it be- 

 fore this part of the work is done. Let it be 

 large enough to take in the block of soil with- 

 out crowding. Lift it from the barrow or sled 

 with great caution, and lower it to its place, 

 making sure before you do so that you have it 

 in the right position. Then fill in about it 

 with fine soil, firming it down with a blunt 

 stick, after which water well. A plant 

 handled in this manner will be almost sure to 

 come out in spring as if nothing had been done 

 to it. 



Peonies can be set now to excellent advan- 

 tage, much better, I think, than in spring, 

 because these plants begin to grow very early 

 in the season, and, by the time the ground is in 

 working condition, they will have made con- 

 siderable headway. At this time of the year 

 they are dormant, therefore removal will not 

 greatly disturb them if the directions given 

 above are carefully followed. Make the soil 

 in which you plant them very rich. Because 

 the peony will live on indefinitely in a poor 

 soil is no good reason why one should starve 

 a plant as fond of good food as this is. Feed 

 it all it can digest and you will be surprised 

 at the difference between it and a neglected 

 plant. It will have a dozen flowers where the 

 latter will have one, and every blossom will 

 be so large and perfect that you will feel sure 

 it must belong to a superior variety. The 

 difference will all be attributable to good 

 care. Never neglect the peony if you want it 

 to do itself justice. 



Be sure to provide yourself with a stock of 

 good potting-soil. Some of your plants may 

 need a shift during winter. And whenever a 

 plant really needs attention of this kind it 

 ought to be given promptly. A really fine 

 compost for nearly all plants that are adapted 

 to window-culture is prepared as follows: 



One part garden-loam ; one part turfy mat- 

 ter, or leaf-mold ; one part sharp sand. 



Mix well, and add bone meal in the propor- 

 tion of a teacupful to every half-bushel of soil, 

 and mix again. 



The turfy matter spoken of can be obtained 

 by turning over old sward and cutting away 

 that portion immediately below the crown of 

 the grass. This will be full of grass-roots. As 

 they decay, they will supply vegetable matter 



