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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1908 



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 return 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" 



FURNISHING A NURSERY 



WHAT fittings can be introduced in an ordinary third-story 

 room to make it attractive for three children all under 

 six years of age? Also, what colors will be the most 

 suitable for such a room?" 



The advantages of a special play-room for young children are 

 obvious. Elaborate effects, either in the arrangement of furniture or 

 the introduction of decorations, are not essential, as simplicity of de- 

 tail gives an opportunity for the expression of the normal activities 

 of childhood. 



A warm rug may cover nearly all of the floor, with the edges 

 fastened down at intervals by brass pins that slip into sockets. A 

 Scotch rug in mixed colors will withstand nursery usage better than 

 any of the moderate priced rugs. 



A charming treatment for the lower wall of a nursery is to use 

 the French picture paper, "The Goose Girl," up to a height of five 

 feet, and above this a plain buff paper (repeating one of the tones 

 in the landscape), joining the two papers with a narrow photograph 

 shelf of wood that matches the other woodwork in the room. By 

 this plan the picture element on the wall is within range of the 

 children's vision, the upper wall serves as a background for framed 

 pictures, and on the little shelf the children may make their own 

 gallery with post cards, photographs, etc. Large colored prints of 

 outdoor life appeal especially to children, and some of the nursery 

 friezes that are designed for wall coverings are well adapted for 

 framing. 



In repainting the woodwork of this room the suitable color would 

 be one of the tones of green that is prominent in the picture paper. 



Furniture in small sizes for children may now be had in splint, 

 cane, oak, mahogany and willow. Each child may have his own chair 

 and table, with extra benches and settees added for visitors. In the 

 selection of each of these pieces care should be taken to exclude such 

 as have sharp points or corners. A comfortable divan and a wall 

 blackboard may be added to the necessary furnishings of this room. 



With an open fire there should be one of the new spark guards 

 that fits straight across the chimney opening. Iron bars across the 

 lower part of the window, on the outside, are another means for 

 preventing accidents. 



A narrow wooden shelf in line with the window sill will be found 

 a pleasant change from the tables and floor for playing with small 

 toys. An orderly disposal of toys, books and games, when not in 

 use, may be provided for by shelves and cupboards that are within 

 reach of the little folks, with individual lockers wherever practicable. 



Curtains for a day nursery need only to be of a light weight goods 

 in a color that harmonizes with the wall covering. In the new 

 Scotch gauzes that are guaranteed to withstand fading there is a 

 plain green that would be suitable with the proposed scheme for the 

 wall treatment. 



FURNITURE COVERINGS 



"How can I bring the coverings of my chairs and sofas into 

 harmony with the other colorings in the room?" asks a correspondent 

 in the West. "My wall paper is a tapestry pattern with a brown 

 background and a good deal of green in the pattern. The carpet is 

 vari-colored and of Oriental design ; the over-curtains are of still 

 another pattern, with no special color predominating. I am ready 

 to recover all of the furniture if I could be sure of not making a 

 mistake." 



In the room described there has not been enough thought given to 

 a balance of effects. When all of the materials are figured the result 

 is unrestful. (On the other hand, when only plain textures are em- 

 ployed, there is a feeling of monotony.) 



( Continued on Page ix) 



Garden Work About the Home 



By Charles Downing Lay 



SELECTING PROPER SEEDS FOR THE VEGETABLE 

 AND FLOWER GARDEN 



TP. L. asks "how to determine the quantities of seed to order 

 and how much space to give to different vegetables in the 

 . garden." 



Beginners in gardening will find it advantageous to make 

 a plan for the planting of their vegetable and flower gardens at the 

 same time that they make their seed and plant lists. 



The plan of the garden space should be drawn in ink on tracing 

 cloth, to any convenient scale; one-eighth of an inch to a foot is 

 usually large enough. Prints can then be made from this tracing 

 and used for pencil studies of the arrangement. The plan should 

 show the spacing of plants in the rows or hills and the length and 

 distance apart of the rows; in fact, all the details of the vegetable 

 garden. This will give some idea of the quantities of seed needed 

 and of the probable yield, so that one may avoid having too much 

 corn and not enough beans, or the reverse. Seed catalogues give 

 all the information about distances apart to plant and the amount 

 of seed required for a given length of row, as well as the proper 

 time to plant ; which should also be noted on the plan. 



Another print can be used as a record of the actual work, and this 

 should give the date of planting, date of gathering the first mess, end 

 of picking, and the yield. If this scheme is carried out you will have, 

 at the end of the season, definite information about the proper time 

 to plant things in your garden, of the time it takes to mature, of the 

 duration of yield, and the date of clearing away for another crop to 

 follow. You can decide much better about the planting for a second 

 year when you have a record of actual consumption for one season. 

 No one can tell in advance just how much of each vegetable a given 

 family will need. 



On the plan of the flower garden you should note the number and 

 date of setting out plants, the date of blooming; and if there are bulbs 

 growing among the herbaceous plants a record of them should be kept 

 on the plan so that you will know where they are after they have 

 bloomed and their leaves are gone. 



While the plants are flowering notes of color relations and ideas 

 for their improvement can be made for use when the garden is next 

 overhauled. For instance, you may find a predominance of one blue 

 in the iris bed, and mark a portion of that variety for removal in the 

 autumn, or you may find that the best chrysanthemums have been run 

 out by poorer varieties, or that your Oriental poppy is in front of 

 a red paeony. 



Without such notes and locations of things on a plan it will be 

 difficult to remember what you want to do and where the plants are 

 when the time comes for doing the work. 



C. C. S. wants to know the best varieties of gladioli. 



They are the new hybrid gladioli, known in catalogues as Groff's 

 hybrids. They are developments of a strain originally grown by 

 Luther Burbank, and they are extremely interesting, and some are 

 very beautiful. They have a wide range of color, from the whites, 

 striped and blotched with pink, through the many shades of red, to the 

 varying purples with golden streaks and patches, and the dark blues 

 which almost equal the iris in richness and depth of tone. The 

 yellow series, ranging from pale cream tints through the lemon yel- 

 lows to the many salmon and light orange shades, has many charming 

 individuals. Then there are other tints which are only curious, such 

 as the pale lilac and violet colors. One expects new colors in flowers 

 to be quite ugly, but these are not so, and they relieve the monotonous 

 reds of the older types. 



Some of the blue section are small, quill-like, almost tubular 

 flowers, with a certain primness about them which is most attractive 

 in contrast with the more luxuriant and freer petals of the red section, 

 ( Continued on Page x) 



