40 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
January, 1909 
w CORRESPONDENCE & 
The Editor of American Homes and Gardens desires to extend an invitation to all its readers to send to the Correspondence Department inquiries on any matter 
pertaining to the decorating and furnishing of the home and to the developing of the home grounds. 
All letters accompanied by retum postage will be answered promptly by mail. 
Replies that are of general benefit will be published in this Department. 
Problems in Home Furnishing 
By Alice M. Kellogg 
Author of “‘Home Furnishing: Practical and Artistic” 
FLOWER BUCKETS 
ce OMEONE has told me about a kind 
of bucket to hold flowers,” writes H. 
A. F., of New Hampshire. “I think I 
would like something of this kind in 
my home, but I do not know where to send for 
it nor how to describe it. Have I been misin- 
formed? If not, where could I send, and what 
would be the price of a pair?” 
The pen-and-ink sketch gives a very good 
idea of a pair of Japanese flower buckets. They 
are usually hung in front of a window, and are 
used for cut flowers or plants that will thrive in 
water. Earth is rather heavy for the cord on 
which the buckets are tied. While the general 
shape of the flower buckets is similar, the deco- 
ration varies, as well as the colors. Sometimes 
a basket-work is fastened around the sides. 
‘The price runs from two dollars up to six, and 
the large cities show them in their Japanese 
shops. 
Flower. buckets 
BREAKFAST ROOM FOR A PROFESSIONAL WOMAN 
A professional woman in a large town, Miss K. G., is desirous of 
fitting up a little room in her apartment as a breakfast-room, where 
she may prepare an informal meal for herself, and also for her friends 
on Sunday evening. In her letter she says: “I would like to make 
my eating place dainty and attractive, yet with practical arrangements 
for simple meals. I am away for luncheon and dinners, but I should 
enjoy having the home element in my morning repast.” 
If the woodwork can be painted white and the pieces of furniture, 
chairs, table, corner-cabinet and serving-table, stained gray, the walls 
could be covered with a charming garden paper printed in pinks, 
greens and grays. “This would allow a green curtain to be hung 
over a white muslin curtain, finishing the former with chintz braid. 
For a rug a green Caledon may be used, with a border in two shades 
of the same color. The candlesticks may be of glass with pink shades, 
and brass sconces may be hung against the wall for the extra illumi- 
nating. An oval-shaped mirror with gilt frame would be pretty 
against the wall paper. 
Green linen doylies may be used on the table, with an English 
china decorated in roses, and a few pieces of the green saji ware. If 
there is:no kitchenette (this is not mentiond in the letter) it will be 
necessary to screen off a portion of the room for a refrigerator or ice- 
chest and a table for washing the dishes. 
SUBSTITUTE FOR A “HALL PIECE” 
“Where no combination hat and umbrella is used in a hall,” in- 
quires J. C. B., of South Carolina, “what would you suggest in its 
place?” 
The combined hat tree, seat and umbrella stand is not in such 
general use as it used to be, as a more artistic generation has dis- 
covered its inability to produce a satisfactory effect. Some kind of 
a seat or settle, however, is necessary for the hall, and over this a 
mirror with a wooden frame may be hung. A few metal hooks may 
be fastened to the mirror frame for holding the hats of visitors, and 
a well constructed costumier may be placed near for outer garments. 
A porcelain tile may be used for holding umbrellas, choosing some 
design that is not seen in every department store, or a holder may 
(Continued on Page x) 
Garden Work About the Home 
By Charles Downing Lay 
“TREE DOCTORS” 
HE country seems to be full of various wanderers who call 
themselves tree doctors, horticultural experts or what not. 
Some of them may be good, but most, I think, are living 
on the universal admiration for fine trees; an admiration which 
is seldom tempered by any knowledge or even common sense, so that 
it is easy for the tree expert to convince an owner of old trees that 
they need pruning. 
In the present case I can only advise “‘Hortensia” to look at work 
done, say two years ago, by the experts she proposes to employ. If 
that work is satisfactory and the owners are pleased, then it will 
probably be all right. 
As a general thing tree doctors do too much work; try to save 
trees which are past saving, and which would be worthless if their 
miserable existence were prolonged for a few years. 
If a tree has real historic or sentimental interest it may be worth 
much to save it, but the abuse of trees has been so great in the 
past, and their neglected state is so hopeless now, that many of them 
had better be cut at once and new trees planted to take their place. 
I have seen many trees ruined by ignorant pruning; not only have 
they been killed by the severity of the treatment, but their appear- 
ance has been spoiled even if they should live. 
An old tree may have much picturesque beauty, with its. dead 
branches, deep holes where old stubs have rotted away, and its air 
of antiquity: a relic of past time. The same tree cleaned up, 
pruned, the holes carefully cemented, is likely to look ridiculous; 
like an old and decrepit man turned dandy. 
‘The object of pruning is to increase leaf surface, which is done by 
cutting back the branches and not by thinning them out, as some seem 
to think. Cutting back a branch by one-third sends the sap allotted to 
that branch into fewer leaves, which consequently grow larger— 
larger in area than the greater number of leaves would be on the 
unpruned branch. ‘This increased leaf area means increased power and 
opportunity to elaborate sap, and hence greater vitality. 
It is a safe rule to head back an old tree one-third the length of 
each branch. The cutting must be done with care and intelligently, 
and it can be done so that one would never know the tree had been 
pruned. 
The tree will look a little stiffer, there is no doubt of that, because 
it will loose the slender tips of its branches, but the increase in its 
vigor will make up for its loss in grace. 
The cut should always be made in a crotch, that is, just above a 
side branch; then the side branch should be pruned further out and 
the whole will have a more natural appearance, diminishing in size 
to the tip. 
If it is not done this way, but is cut off anywhere, leaving a stub, 
the result will be horrid, because the stub will die back to the next 
lateral branch or a bunchy lot of shoots will start to grow from the 
end. For a season or two a pruned tree may look stubby anyway; 
this depends somewhat on the kind of tree, but more upon the skill 
of the one who prunes it. Each cut should be as close as possible to 
a side branch, no matter how large the cut, so that the wound will 
heal quickly, and the raw surface should be painted with coal-tar to 
keep out fungi. 
Scraping the old bark off is no benefit to the trees, except as it may 
dislodge insects, and it gives the tree a horrid naked appearance which 
lasts for several years. 
Filling holes in the trunks may be worth doing, if they are not too 
large; covering with tin is useless, as the bark will not grow over 
it, but a solid filling of concrete, properly joined to the sides of the 
opening, will in time be covered. 
(Continued on Page xv) 
