October, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XI 



or other drapery may well be omitted, but, as 

 is often the case in a rented house, a slate, 

 black walnut or ebonized mantelpiece is such 

 a disturbing feature that it is better to shut it 

 out. Instead of making a fitted cover, how- 

 ever, a strip of Bulgarian embroidery, a length 

 of Swedish hand weaving, or a piece of fine 

 Oriental brocade may be laid on the top of 

 the shelf, and allowed to hang several inches 

 over the edges. The eye, attracted by some- 

 thing really good in decoration, will not be 

 impressed by the larger object that is radically 

 inartistic. 



A bedroom mantel that seems to be hope- 

 lessly ugly may be greatly improved by a nar- 

 row frill made up with a heading. The pat- 

 tern should match something else in the room 

 — curtains, bed or furniture coverings — to 

 look well, and the width should be four inches 

 with the heading one inch wide. If the man- 

 tel is of slate or marble, a piece of board 

 shaped to fit the top may be covered with a 

 strip of the cretonne and the frill tacked along 

 the front and sides. 



A NEW WALL DECORATION 



P. R. I., of Detroit, Mich., in describing 

 his bachelor apartments, writes: "I intend to 

 re-decorate my small. apartment of two rooms 

 and bath, and I would like to use something 

 that will be more durable than paper. Burlap 

 I am tired of seeing in the other apartments 

 in this house, although I like its texture effect. 

 Still, I should prefer something a little dif- 

 ferent from a plain .color. I have some fine 

 photographs of Whistler's etchings, and these 

 I want to show against my wall. The 

 frames are of French walnut and the wood- 

 work is of dark oak. The widow light is all 

 from the north. The only colors in my rooms 

 are in the Oriental rugs, and these are so sub- 

 dued that they will accord with any refined 

 color that is associated with them." 



With these conditions, and considering the 

 individual preference, the best selection for the 

 wall covering is one of the new art cloths that 

 is applied in the same manner as the burlap. 

 The surface looks like a woven texture with a 

 slight touch of bronze. The cost is sixty cents 

 a square yard. One of the combinations of 

 red and yellow produces an apricot tone that 

 would look particularly well in the north 

 exposure, and, by its almost plain surface, 

 afford a suitable background for the Whistler 

 pictures. 



GARDEN WORK ABOUT THE HOME 



{Continued from page 414) 



dentatum, V. acerifolium, Rhus glabra, R. 

 copallina, clethra; white oak, 12 to 18 inches; 

 swamp white oak, 6 to 12 inches; Virginia 

 creeper, celastrus, clematis, wild grape, wild 

 roses of many kinds, bay, sassafras. 



Collecting these has been only a pleasant 

 incident in many delightful drives in country 

 lanes. 



From a mountain nursery I bought : 50 

 Rhododendron maximum, 3 to 5 inches, $1.25 ; 

 25 R. catawbiense, 3 to 5 inches, $1.00; 50 

 R. punctatum, 6 to 9 inches, $1.25; 10 Oxy- 

 dendron arboreum, I to 2 feet, $1.00; 10 

 Ledum groenlandicum, 12 to 18 inches, $1.00; 

 IO Pieris floribunda, 6 to 12 inches, $2.00; IO 

 Dendrium buxifolium, 6 to 12 inches, $1.00. 



These have grown in spite of many un- 

 avoidable hardships, so that the Rhododendron 

 maximum art now a foot and a half high and 

 make a respectable show under the trees in 

 the dingle. 



From other nurseries I have bought tiny 

 conifers which are now thrifty young trees. 



The neighbors who took an interest in my 

 efforts gave me layers and suckers of Spiraea 

 Van Houttei, S. prunifolia, S. bumalda, Sy- 

 ringa vulgaris, S. vulgaris alba, Philadelphus, 

 honeysuckle, wistaria, privet. 



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