VI 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1 910 



The Beauty of Quarter- 

 sawed Oak 



is brought out to perfection by our pro- 

 cess of making veneers and by the 

 careful attention given to the finish of 

 each and every door. 



are perfect doors. Built of several layers with 

 grain running crosswise, pressed together with 

 waterproof glue, making shrinking, warping or 

 swelling impossible. Veneered in all varieties of 

 hardwood— birch, plain or quarter-sawed red or 

 white oak, brown ash, mahogany, etc. 



Morgan Doors are light, remarkably strong and 

 absolutely perfect in every detail of construction. 

 Each Morgan Door is stamped "Morgan" which 

 guarantees quality, style, durabilit,v and satis- 

 faction. 



In oar new book, "The Door Beautiful" 

 Morgan Doors are shown in their natural 

 color and in all styles of architecture — 

 Colonial, Empire, Mission, etc., and it is 

 explained why they are the best and cheap- 

 est doors for pprmane-n 1 satisfaction in any 

 building. A copy tvill be sent on request. 



Architects*. Descripth'e details of IMorgan Doors 

 may i^e found iji Sweet's iudex, pages O78 and 679. 



Morgan Company, Dept A, Oshkosh,Wis. 



Morgan Sash and Door Company, Chicago, ill. 

 Morgan Company, Oshkosh, Wis. 

 Morgan Company, Ballimore, Md. 



In the March Scribner 





Trekking Through the Thirst to the 



CI --.X*!- A picturesque account of a march through the waterless country, 

 lOvlLllV with many hunting incidents and impressions of the natives. 



By Theodore Roosevelt 



A Notable Article on The Color Arrangements of Flowers by 



Helena Rutherford Ely, author of "A Woman's Hardy Garden." 



^T\ This is an article of timely and great practical value to every 

 fl garden lover by one of the foremost authorities. The illus- 

 ^^ trations photographed in colors by the famous Lumiere 

 _U Process are of great beauty. 





By Edith Wharton 



THE LEGEND-Tales of Men 



Some Musical Recollections of Fifty 



"V^kO ■»•£< Inti'T'^ts ^nd charmingimpressionsof the musical life and many fam- 

 i "dX ous musicians, including Mendelssohn, Liszt, Jenny Lind and others 



5?/ RICHARD HOFFMAN 



The Third Part of Rest HarrOW 



Bij MAURICE HEWLETT 



Another Danbury Rodd Aviator 



Story— Princess Thu-Thur's Half-Holiday 



By FREDERICK PALMER 



The Angel of Lonesome Hill 



By FREDERICK LANDIS 



$3.00 A YEAR 25 CENTS A NUMBER 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK 



HOME-GROWN SUGAR-BEET SEED. 



AS a result of an experiment which 

 has been conducted near Phoenix, 

 Arizona, it has been found that 

 sugar-beet seed can be grown successfully 

 in that section of the country, and better 

 still, that it can be grown in a single year. 

 In Arizona it is customary to plant sugar- 

 beet seed the latter part of November, har- 

 vesting the crop the following July. It has 

 been found that if the seed is planted a 

 month earlier in the fall the beets will pro- 

 duce a crop of seed the following year. 

 This takes sugar beets, for that section of 

 the country, out of the biennis' class, and 

 puts them in with the winter annuals. It 

 means the saving of a year in the produc- 

 tion of seed, and will greatly simplify the 

 process. 



Nearly seven million pounds of sugar- 

 beet seed are used in the United States 

 every year. At present the bulk of this 

 supply come from Germany, and costs the 

 American grower about ten cents a pound. 

 The German method of producing sugar- 

 beet seed is rather complicated. When the 

 beets are dug in the fall a number of the 

 best specimens, averaging in size from 20 

 to 24 ounces, are selected for "mothers." 

 A sample taken from each of these mothers 

 is analyzed for sugar content. In some 

 cases the density and purity of the juice are 

 also determined. 



These mothers are divided into grades, 

 according to sugar content, and stored in 

 silos during the winter. Those that fail to 

 come up to the required standard are dis- 

 carded. In the spring these mother beets 

 are set out and cultivated carefully. From 

 them the seed of commerce is produced. By 

 these painstaking methods the sugar-pro- 

 ducing ability of the beets is kept up to its 

 present high standard, and even increased 

 from year to year. 



Recently beet seed has been grown to a 

 limited extent in the United States in Utah 

 and Washington. This home-grown seed 

 has shown greater yielding ability than the 

 seed from Germany. The beets from home- 

 groM/n seed have better quality and higher 

 vitality, and seem better adapted to Amer- 

 ican conditions. Owing to the difficulty of 

 production, however, beet-seed growing in 

 Washington and Utah has not spread very 

 rapidly. 



With more favorable climate conditions 

 prevailing in Arizona, especially the absence 

 of severe winter weathers and' the dryness 

 at harvest time, it may be possible to make 

 beet-seed growing an important industry 

 there. Of course, since tlie beets are not 

 dug in the fall, they cannot be seeded as 

 carefully as is done in Germany. Whether 

 the quality of the product can kept up by 

 other methods of selection remains to be 

 proven. Perhaps some method of breeding 

 like that which is giving such good results 

 in the corn fields of the Mississippi Valley 

 may be adapted to sugar beets. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture has been 

 asked to investigate the matter. The re- 

 sults of this investigation will be awaited 

 with much interest by the people of the 

 sugar-beet-growing districts. 



TO MAKE BURNED ALUM. 



HEAT, with constant stirring, ordinary 

 alum (alumina alum) in an iron 

 pan, in which at first it will melt 

 quickly and then begin to raise bubbles. 

 Heat it until a dry, white mass, of a loose 

 character, remains, which should be pul- 

 verized and kept in carefully closed 

 glasses. 



