March, rg11 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
w CORRESPONDENCE © 
xill 
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 
BREAKFAST TRAY FOR A GUEST ROOM 
EVV sheand Jot a) special itay,” 
writes L. O. R., from. Canada, “that 
is fitted for serving breakfasts in a 
room. I would like information about this 
if it would be suitable for a guest room.” 
There are special trays fitted for serving 
breakfast in a room, and that are suited 
for a guest room. The English china is 
particularly interesting. The tray is of 
white enamelled ware, and is oblong in 
shape. A small plate, covered dish for 
toast, eggcup, cup and saucer, porridge 
dish, cream pitcher and sugar holder are 
the usual pieces that are sold with the tray. 
The prices range from eight to fifteen dol- 
lars according to the quality of the china. 
Of course, this idea could be carried out 
less expensively, by selecting the necessary 
pieces for the tray from American earthern- 
ware. In this case the open stock should be 
drawn from, so that any breakages could be 
replenished. 
An oblong table made of mahogany with 
a glass tray on the top is sometimes used 
in a guest room for serving tea or lemon- 
ade. 
BUNGALOW FITTINGS 
“The bungalow we have rented for the 
summer, on the south shore of Long Island, 
is partially furnished with beds and bed- 
ding, dining room furniture and kitchen 
utensils. Please suggest what we can add 
at small expense to give a homelike atmos- 
phere.” —G. N., Geneva, N. Y. 
The living-room should be made com- 
fortable for stormy weather with rugs, a 
divan, chairs and small tables. None of 
these need cost very much as there are sum- 
mer furnishings now that can be bought 
very cheaply and will give a season’s wear. 
The Kazak rug comes in good colors 
and costs $8.50 for a size six by nine feet. 
Unstained Windsor chairs cost about $2.50 
each. These can be painted and used on the 
porch as well as in the living-room. A 
woven wire divan of good quality costs five 
dollars, and other grades would probably 
be less, An excellent mattress of cotton felt 
may be had for eight dollars. 
lf the living-room is not very well lighted, 
the curtains should be of thin net. If 
heavier material can be used something with 
colors in the pattern would be attractive, if 
the walls of this room (as is usual with the 
summer bungalow) are plain. 
Two good reading lamps should not be 
overlooked for the living-room. Colored 
prints made in Germany can be had from 
twenty-five cents up that are successful wall 
decorations. Some attractive table covers 
may be found among the hand-blocked In- 
dia prints, and covers for the divan pillows 
from the imported sun- fast or unfadable 
fabrics. 
Some inexpensive aoe jars in the 
Mexican and Spanish ware would serve as 
well for mantel ornaments. 
(Continued on page xvi) 
Hints for the Housewife 
By MARGARET SEXTON 
K. G.—The life of silk stockings 
may be prolonged very much if 
a small piece of black silk is 
sewed on the inside of both toe and heel. 
The soft Japanese silk is the best to use. 
It should be basted on first and the edges 
darned on, so as to avoid any roughness or 
seams. A piece of the silk may be sewed 
also at the top where the suspenders are 
fastened. This is a very easy thing to do 
and will take only a little while to ac- 
complish. 
S. W. A.—If you make “home-made” 
ice-cream, you have probably seen before 
now that when cleaning a freezer, after 
having made ice-cream, there is generally a 
quantity of salt to be found in the bottom 
of the freezer. Remove the salt and put 
it in a jar or crock to dry, either in the sun 
or near the stove. The salt can be used 
again at the next ice-cream making, and so 
a bag of ice-cream salt can be made to last 
a long time. 
Veet careful buyer will plan to 
get her table linen after some holiday 
exhibit—Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter 
—if you ask to see the stock which has 
been mussed by being used as decorations 
for the windows. There will be a fine 
assortment of linen goods, especially in the 
strictly linen store, and although they may 
not be offered for sale by the clerks, they 
can be found by inquiry. Even if the 
soiled linen is not attractive at first, it 
is perfect after laundering, and choice qual- 
ity and patterns may be bought at great 
reductions. 
J. D. N.—A very appetizing way of serv- 
ing cucumbers is to slice them very thin 
and mix with them radishes, also thinly 
sliced. They look well together ; the tiny 
line of red of the radishes adds color to the 
cucumbers, and the slight biting sensation 
of the radish makes a very good flavor. 
This is a particularly good relish to serve 
with a fish course. A little watercress is 
a nice addition and is a pretty finish. 
R. O. O. J.—If you should have the mis- 
fortune of breaking the string of your 
beads and must string them again yourself, 
if it is a graduated necklace, begin with the 
smallest sized bead, and as you string, lay 
aside a duplicate bead in each side until 
you have reached the largest. You will then 
have, by arranging the beads in this way, 
the other half of the string to match the 
first half. 
M. R. T.—When washing cut glass make 
a solution of baking soda and soap so as to 
have a good suds. In this wash your cut 
glass, scrubbing with a soft brush. After 
this is done rinse in water that is not too 
hot, as it might crack the glass. Then dry 
with a clean tea towel. The result will be 
the glass looking clear and sparkling. 
R. W. D.—If£ you have a little family 
whose rubbers must be taken care of, the 
following is a suggestion. Provide yourself 
with a patent clothespin, the kind that has a 
(Continued on page xvii) 
Garden Work About the Home 
By CHARLES DOWNING LAY 
PLANTING A SLOPING BANK 
66 HAT do you think of the idea of 
planting shrubs to trail down 
the embankment shown on 
the enclosed sketch,” asks H. W. G. 
Cleveland. “I want to do away with mow- 
ing the slope. What shrubs should be 
used? I should also like to know if large 
specimen lilac bushes should be pruned 
back when first planted?” 
There are many things you might use on 
this low bank along the sidewalk and the 
choice must be determined by your own 
taste. 
One of the best ance for such a bank 
is the Memorial Rose (Rosa Wichuraiana), 
but it is a rampant grower and might soon 
get beyond bounds. English Ivy is another 
good thing, more difficult to establish than 
the rose and of slower growth, but it is 
very satisfactory and it will last forever. 
Plant the roses four feet apart at the top 
of the bank. The ivy should be closer for 
an immediate effect, say two feet each way. 
The ivy and the rose are both so low and 
grow so close to the ground that they will 
not screen the house nor be a barrier to 
keep people out unless they are trained to 
a fence. This could be done very easily 
and would be very beautiful, especially if 
the lawn is lower than the sidewalk so that 
the fence could be at the top of the bank 
and next the sidewalk. It would scarcely 
do to have the fence at the bottom of the 
slope. 
Japanese Barberry (Berberis Thunber- 
gi) would be a good shrub for this situa- 
tion, and it will serve as a screen and a bar- 
rier at the same time. Plant them four 
feet apart in a row in the middle of the 
slope. They will need no clipping and in 
a few years they will form a compact and 
impassable hedge. 
If you want a thornless flowering shrub 
you might use a spiraea, either Van 
Houtte’s or Waterer’s. 
The lilac bushes need not be cut back 
when they are transplanted if their shape is 
satisfactory, but it would be well to thin 
the head, cutting out about one-quarter of 
the wood. The lilac is easy to transplant 
and if most of the roots are dug with the 
tree it will need almost no pruning. 
THE GARDEN PLAN 
“In making plans for my garden I find 
your article and illustration in the October 
number, 1910, of AMERICAN HOMES AND 
GARDENS most practical, and would like to 
inquire the dimensions over all of the 
plans you gave there, and also to inquire, 
if where you have marked 472 early tulips 
and dahlias, or 100 late tulips and snap- 
dragon, the numbers given refer to the 
tulips, or the dahlias or both. Do you 
plant the given number of tulips first, and 
after they bloom do you put in the same 
mumber of dahlias, or are they planted at 
the same time? 
“Being an amateur and just starting my 
(Continued on page xv) 
