April, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



Vll 



extent of territory, show how extensively this 

 type of house has been adapted to modern 

 American needs. The adaptability of a ma- 

 terial is established by its usability; and it 

 would seem to be a fair proposition that the 

 material which can be used in the greatest 

 number of ways is, of all materials available 

 for use, the most desirable and the most ad- 

 mirable. The contents of these volumes cer- 

 tainly clearly establish the practically univer- 

 sal adaptability of cement. The book on 

 country houses deals, as a matter of course, 

 with structures of a single kind ; but the vol- 

 ume on the home and farm shows, both by 

 text and by pictures, that there is not a build- 

 ing needed for home or farm use that cannot 

 be admirably constructed of concrete. Both 

 will repay study; the one for the agreeable 

 houses reproduced in its handsome pages; the 

 other for its suggestiveness and practicability. 

 As evidences of a modern age of concrete both 

 are highly suggestive. 



Practical Steam and Hot-Water Heat- 

 ing and Ventilation. By Alfred G. 

 King. 8vo. Cloth. 402 pages, 302 il- 

 lustrations. New York: The Norman 

 W. Healey Pub. Co. Price, $3.00. 



In these northern latitudes every house- 

 holder is forced to have an interest in heating 

 and ventilation. Although the simple open 

 wood fire of the "good old days" still con- 

 tinues to provide its crackling companionship, 

 its habit of roasting the near side of the 

 anatomy while the far side freezes, makes 

 the possession a source of more evenly dis- 

 tributed heat a modern necessity. 



The development of the art of heating has 

 been very gradual. Among the ancient 

 Romans the poorer classes were accustomed to 

 make use of the practise followed at the pres- 

 ent day by many savage tribes ; namely, of 

 building fires on the floor, the soot and smoke 

 of which were more or less erroniously sup- 

 posed to pass out through a hole in the roof. 

 The brazier with carefully dried wood pro- 

 vided warmth for the wealthier classes. In 

 America the first heating device was the enorm- 

 ous "New England" fireplace, burning a cart- 

 load of fuel at once, and allowing fully ninety 

 per cent, of the heat to escape through the 

 gaping flue. The Franklin stove next came 

 into use, made necessary by the increase in 

 population, and the growing scarcity of wood. 

 Upon the idea of the Franklin stove was built 

 the inclosed stove with conducting pipes; and, 

 finally, from this last grew the modern hot-air 

 furnace. 



The steam and the hot-water furnace make 

 one short step further in the scale of progress, 

 as a more efficient heat-conveyer was sought 

 for. 



The various systems of heating in practical 

 use, too numerous even to mention, together 

 with methods of installation and the like, are 

 ably treated of in "Practical Steam and Hot- 

 Water Heating and Ventilation," by Alfred 

 G. King. Mr. King is well-known as a con- 

 tributor to the literature of heating, and speaks 

 from knowledge and experience. 



Details of Building 

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SPECIAL-PURPOSE FLOWERS 

 AND PLANTS 



By Eben E. Rexford 



AMATEUR gardeners are always in- 

 /-\ quiring after plants with which to 

 work out special designs, or with 

 which to secure results somewhat out of the 

 ordinary, and it is my intention to devote 

 this paper to a consideration of plants and 

 flowers suited to the wants of flower-loving 

 persons who hardly feel familiar enough with 

 this class of material to trust to their own in- 

 dividual selection. 



"What shall we grow to shade doors and 

 windows? We want something of rapid 

 development. If it is a flowering vine, all 

 the better, but shade is the all-important con- 

 sideration." 



The best vine for this purpose, all things 

 considered, is, to my mind, the wild cucum- 

 ber. No other annual vine excels it in 

 rapidity of growth. It will grow thirty feet 

 in a season, in good soil. It has attractive 

 foliage, and about midsummer it comes into 

 bloom. Its flowers are white — delicate, fringy 

 little things, in spikes — and there are so many 



of them that a plant will have the appearance 

 of being drifted over with snow. The vine has 

 tendrils with which it takes hold of anything 

 within reach, therefore, it does not have to 

 be given any special kind of trellis. It has 

 one drawback. Its early leaves will ripen and 

 fall off while those of later growth are in 

 their prime, thus leaving its lower stalks 

 naked and unsightly. This defect, however. 

 can easily be remedied by growing tall plants 

 at the base of the vines to hide their naked- 

 ness. 



Another most excellent flowering vine is 

 the good old morning glory, with its blue, 

 purple, pink, carmine, violet and white flow- 

 ers, produced in such profusion that they 

 literally cover the upper branches in the early 

 part of the day. This vine will climb to the 

 second-story windows if given stout strings 

 to climb by. Don't make the mistake of using 

 ordinary twine, as the great weight of the 

 vines will almost always break it down, and 

 when that happens your vines are spoiled. 

 This vine grows very rapidly, and blooms 

 throughout the season. It is much showier 

 than the wild cucumber, but it lacks the ex- 

 treme delicacy which characterizes that plant. 



Another good vine for covering porches 



