Xll 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1 910 



No Room is Complete 

 Without a Mantel 



^ It helps to furnish as nothing else can. 



A HARDWOOD MANTEL, fin- 

 ished like the woodwork of the room, 

 is always in perfect harmony with the 

 decorations and combines beauty with 

 utility. WOOD MANTELS are 

 made in all styles and at all prices, from 

 the plain and severely simple, suited for 

 the modest cottage, to the most elabor- 

 ate and richly carved — in all the popu- 

 lar hardwoods — also in Colonial style 

 finished in flat or enamel white. 



"Why Wood Mantels?" 



— a beautifully illustrated booklet, showing many 

 styles of WOOD MANTELS— will be sent to 

 anyone thinking of building, remodeling or decorat- 

 ing. Address WOOD MANTEL MANU- 

 FACTURERS- ASSOCIATION. 



H. T. BENNETT, Secretary 



Room 1218, State Life Bldg., Indianapolis, Indiana 



oose 



Hardware 

 In Keeping 

 With the House 



If you are building or remodel- 

 ing a home, the selection of the hard'ware 

 should have your personal attention. Let 

 the architecture be taken into consideration 

 in determining the Style of the hardware, 

 hut let your o-wn taste dictate the particu- 

 lar design to be used. Quality, of course, 

 as well as distinctiveness and durability, 

 are prime requisites — 



Sargent's 



Artistic 



Hardware 



combines all three in the highest degree, and 

 moreover offers you the widest latitude 

 of choice. 



All styles and finishes are represented, 

 each by several different patterns, so that 

 every period and architectural style are 

 adequately provided for. 



Sargent's 'Book of Designs 

 — Sent Tree 



illustrates over seventy of these artistic patterns. 

 TKis book "Will prove invaluable in determininti the 

 rn,'ht bartlware for your new home. If interested in 

 the Colonial, Sargent's Colonial Book will also 

 be sent on request. It describes Cut Glass Knobs. 

 Door Handles, Knockers, etc. Address 



S.A.RGENT & COMPANY 

 1 56 Leonard Street. New York 



'^^siFmsm^'^ 



BURLINGTON "S."' BUNDS 



SCREENS 



AND 



SCREEN 

 DOORS 



^ Equal 500 miles 

 northward. Perfect 

 privacy with doors 

 and windo-vi^s open. 

 Darkness and breezes 

 in sleeping rooms. 



WRITE FOR OUR CATALOGUE, PRICE-LIST AND PROPOSITION TO YOU 

 BURLINGTON VENETIAN BLIND CO., 339 Lake St., Burlmgton.Verinont 



The wooden racks, on which the bottles 

 rest in the washboiler, is made in this 

 manner: Have two strips of wood measur- 

 ing I inch high, i inch wide, and 2 inches 

 shorter than the length of the boiler. On 

 these pieces of wood tack thin strips of 

 wood that are 1^2 inches shorter than the 

 width of the boiler. These cross-strips 

 should be about i inch wide, and there 

 should be an inch between two strips. 

 This rack will support the jars and will 

 admit the free circulation of boiling water 

 about them. Young willow branches, 

 woven into a mat, also make a good bed. 



The wire basket is a saver of time and 

 strength (Fig. i). The fruit to be peeled 

 is put into the basket, which is lowered 

 into a deep kettle partially filled with boil- 

 ing water. After a few minutes the basket 

 is lifted from the boiling water, plunged 

 for a moment into cold water, and the fruit 

 is ready to have the skin drawn off. 



A strong wire sieve is a necessity when 

 purees of fruit are to be made (Fig. 2). 

 These sieves are known as puree sieves. 

 They are made of strong wire and in addi- 

 tion have supports of still stronger wire. 



A fruit pricker is easily made and saves 

 time (Fig. 3). Cut a piece half an inch 

 deep from a broad cork ; press through 

 this a dozen or more coarse darning 

 needles ; tack the cork on a piece of board. 

 Strike the fruit on the bed of needles, and 

 you have a dozen holes at once. When the 

 work is finished, remove the cork from the 

 board, wash and dry thoroughly. A little 

 oil on the needles will prevent rusting. 

 With needles of the size suggested there is 

 little danger of the points breaking, but it 



Fig. 3. — Fruit Pricker. 



is worth remembering that the use of 

 pricking machines was abandoned in cur- 

 ing prunes on a commercial scale in Cali- 

 fornia because the steel needles broke and 

 remained in the fruit. 



A wooden vegetable masher is indis- 

 pensable when making jellies and purees 



(Fig- 4)- 



A syrup gage and glass cylinder (Fig. 

 5 A and B), are not essential to preserving, 

 canning, and jelly making, but they are 

 valuable aids in getting the right propor- 

 tion of sugar for fruit or jelly. The syrup 

 gage cost about 50 cents and the cylinder 

 about 25 cents. A lipped cylinder that 

 holds a little over a gill is the best size. 



Small iron rings, such as sometimes 

 come ofif the hub of cart wheels, may be 

 used instead of a tripod for slightly raising 

 the preserving kettles from the hot stove 

 or range. 



To make a flannel straining bag, take a 

 square piece of flannel (2^ by 27 inches is 

 a good size), fold it to make a three- 

 cornered bag, stitch one of the sides, cut 

 the top squares across, bind the opening 

 with strong, broad tape, stitch on this bind- 

 ing four tapes with which to tie the bag to 

 a frame. 



To use this bag, tie it to a strong frame 

 or to the backs of two kitchen chairs. If 

 the chairs are used, place some heavy 

 articles in them; or the bag may hang on a 

 pole (a broom handle), which rests on the 

 backs of the chairs. A high stool turned 



^Continued on page 14) 



