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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 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" 



PICTURES FOR A BUNGALOW 



FROM a correspon- 

 dent in New York 

 State, F. de N., 

 comes the inquiry : 

 "What would you sug- 

 gest in the way of pic- 

 tures for our summer 

 camp or bungalow? The 

 walls are of Georgia pine, 

 and the photographs that 

 we have heretofore pinned 

 up have not been very 

 satisfactory. We are ten 

 miles from the railroad 

 station and do not wish 

 to transport framed pic- 

 tures." 



The yellow pine walls 

 of this camp will be more 

 interestingly decorated if 

 colored prints rather than 

 the monotones are se- 

 lected. The best effect at 

 the minimum cost can be 

 attained with the three- 

 color and four-color Eng- 

 lish prints that are made 

 to paste against the upper 

 walls as a frieze decora- 

 tion. These are outlined 

 with a vigorous touch and 

 are strong enough in color 

 to show against the pine 

 walls. There are farm 

 yard scenes for the chil- 

 dren's enjoyment and 

 Holland views for the 

 older folks. There are 

 also coaching, country 

 club, automobile and 



hunting scenes. The prices range from fifty cents to three dollars 

 each. Brass thumb tacks may be used to fasten the prints to the wall. 

 if a tiny piece of muslin is placed underneath to prevent tearing at the 

 corners. 



A better idea for protecting the prints is to make a simple frame 

 of picture molding, without using glass. At wall paper stores the 

 oak molding is sold in twelve foot lengths at six cents a foot, and a 

 working outfit — miter box, saw, hammer, nails and glue — may be 

 bought for a dollar and a quarter, making the total cost for the frames 

 very slight. 



COVER FOR A PIANO 



C. H. B., of New Jersey, writes: "Is there anything new in the 

 line of piano covers? I have hunted the shops in vain and find noth- 

 ing suitable for my own use. The piano is a mahogany upright, and 

 it stands against a rose-colored wall paper." 



A strip of brocade in Elizabethan design will make an attractive 

 cover for the piano in this room, giving a mixture of colors in soft 

 tones. The edges may be finished with an antique braid or galloon, 

 laid on flat. Another suggestion for this correspondent is to use a 

 length of pongee silk lined with pale green sateen, and decorate the 

 ( Continued on Page x) 



On the Island of Maarken 



Garden Work About the Home 



By Charles Downing Lay 

 THE DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE 



WE HAVE several times been asked by correspondents who 

 live on small places in the country, where there is no organ- 

 ized system for disposing of household waste, how to get 

 rid of trash and garbage of all kinds, and we have always 

 been impressed by the disorder and confusion about the back doors 

 of such houses when we have seen them. 



The heaps of ashes, old shoes, tin cans, waste paper, old bottles 

 and junk are not found only about the hovels of the town but are too 

 often behind the best houses. 



Indeed, in old neighborhoods such rubbish piles are sometimes full 

 of interest and charm for the collector. We have found on such 

 heaps rare old bottles of stone and glass, blue china and earthen 

 dishes — even pewter lamps and platters and tin lanterns! 



On a small place properly kept up there is no room for bonfires or 

 even pigs, so an old ash can should be punched full of holes, and the 

 papers, old shoes, and all rubbish put in there, with a dash of kerosene 

 to start it, and be burned. 



In England they make a "rubbish destructor," or incinerator, for 

 dealing with garden and domestic rubbish. We wish such a thing 

 might be introduced here. 



Coal ashes had best be put in a special bin and carted away at 

 regular intervals. They can be used to fill swamps and low places, or 

 may be buried. If much wood is used with the coal, then the ashes 

 can be sifted and the fine part put on the land as fertilizer. 



Wood ashes, of course, are kept in covered cans and spread on the 

 lawn every spring. 



Glass bottles are hopeless — give them a special bin and hire some- 

 one to cart away the ones that can not be sold. 



Tin cans may be put in the incinerator, and when the tin and 

 solder are melted off it will be easy to straighten them out and bury 

 the pieces in small bundles in the earth. 



The garbage should be kept in a covered pail which is emptied on 

 the compost heap every day — no paper, tins or glass should be put in 

 the garbage pail. It is easier to sort things before putting them in 

 the can than afterward. It will be better if the cook can be induced 

 to burn all bones, fat and meat scraps, because their value for fuel 

 is greater than for compost, and in the compost heap they attract 

 rats and mice, not to speak of stray dogs. 



The compost heap should never be lacking on a country place, as 

 its purpose is to save humus to be used in enriching and improving 

 the soil. 



Excelsior, straws, leaves, weeds and lawn clippings are put there 

 with the garbage to heat and decay, and in the course of a year make 

 an excellent dressing for the garden. 



Manure for the garden may be bought a year ahead and worked 

 in with the compost. 



In our house we burn everything, except the kitchen scraps, in the 

 large open fireplaces. Have you ever burned an old paint bucket? 

 Try it some day and see if it is not a pleasant fire to watch. 



Burning paper in the fireplace is objectionable, however, because 

 the black cinders of partially consumed paper destroy the clear gray 

 color of hard wood ashes. 



In houses which have no sewerage system the chamber slops should 

 be emptied on the lawn every day in a different spot. This though 

 brings us to the question of disposal systems, cesspools, earth closets, 

 etc., which we may consider in a later issue. 



SEASHORE PLANTING 



From Long Island comes a query about seashore planting. 

 The planting which can be done about cottages on the sandy shores 

 of our coast is very limited, because there are not many things which 

 ( Continued on Page xii ) 



