April, 1911 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS ix 
THE ANNUAL SMALL HOUSE NUMBER 
HE May number of AMERICAN HoMES AND GARDENS 
will be devoted to the small house, its building, 
its decoration and its furnishing. The subject will 
be strongly featured, including a display of bungalows and 
small houses, which will be illustrated by exterior and in- 
terior views, and floor plans. 
The small house will be given special attention, since it 
is the most numerously constructed building in this country, 
and because it is a type of building that excites the widest 
interest and offers the largest field for helpfulness to the 
home builder. 
There will be articles from the decorating of the home 
to the arrangement of flowers for the table, from the plan- 
ning of the kitchen to the building of a garage, from the pur- 
chasing of a motor car to the planting of the garden and 
the home grounds. 
Everything pertaining to the home and garden will be 
presented in such a form as to solve the problems which 
so often confront the house owner. 
The various departments conducted by specialists add 
greatly to the value of this number, and besides these de- 
partments the magazine will contain a host of articles 
which will prove of great interest to our readers. 
The table of contents published on page 121 in the cur- 
rent issue will give a synopsis of the contents for the May 
number of AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS. 
THE ELM LEAF BEETLE 
A CCORDING to the leading State Entomologists, 
the indications are that the ravages of the Elm 
Leaf Beetle will be far more serious this year 
than during the past, and it is certainly a matter of vast 
importance for the consideration of all owners of estates 
in the country to do their utmost to eliminate this insect. 
It is suggested that the owners of elm trees should have 
them sprayed as soon as the foliage develops in early 
May. The winter of the Elm Leaf Beetle is passed in 
adult condition. The beetles take refuge in attics, sheds, 
barns and other places of similar nature. They emerge 
from their hibernating quarters as soon as the foliage of 
the elm develops in the spring, when they take to the leaves 
and in early June, eggs are deposited by the beetles on the 
and early June, eggs are deposited by the beetles on the 
under side of the leaves, from which caterpillars are 
hatched. These feed on the layer of cells on the under side 
of the leaves, giving the foliage a skeletonized appearance. 
Beginning during the last days of June and continuing 
until the middle of July, the full grown larve, which are 
less than half an inch long, crawl down the trunk and 
change to yellow pupe at the base of the tree and on the 
ground near it. Adults develop a week after the forma- 
tion of pupe, and in the last part of July the summer 
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brood of beetles is abundant. These fly to the leaves again, 
feed on them, deposit eggs and the life cycle of the insect 
is repeated. There are two broods a year. 
The only effective way to control the Elm Leaf Beetle 
is to spray the foliage with arsenate of lead as soon as 
the leaves unfold. This spraying is important for the 
reason that if the beetles can be killed before they lay their 
eggs there will be no larve to deal with later. It is this 
early spraying to catch the adult beetles that is suggested. 
If early spraying is neglected, an application of arsenate 
of lead is necessary when the larve begin to feed. This 
spraying, however, is not as effective as the early one. 
When the full grown larve crawl down the trunks to pupate, 
great numbers of them collect in the crevices of the bark, 
at the bases of the elms, and on the ground near the trees. 
At that time every owner of a tree can do his part to destroy 
the pest by sweeping up the caterpillars as they come down 
and kill them by pouring boiling hot water over them. 
There are plenty of firms in practically every city, town 
or village who will do the spraying at a nominal cost, in 
case one is unable to do it himself, for it should be the 
pleasure of everyone to assist in the preservation of that 
most beautiful tree, the elm, so splendidly mentioned by 
Ruskin, who speaks of it as the mother of Gothic architec- 
ture. 
THE REAL ESTATE AND IDEAL HOMES SHOW 
HE second exhibition of the Real Estate and Ideal 
Homes Show will be held at Madison Square Gar- 
den from April 26th to May 34d, inclusive. 
The first exhibition was held last year, and, while an in- 
terest was to be expected from the public, it was not antici- 
pated that the attendance would be so large. On account 
of the demands of the public it was found necessary to 
extend the show ‘another week, which was a very unusual 
concession, and the first on record where the exhibitors made 
a unanimous request to the management for such a pur- 
pose. 
The show was organized to afford an opportunity of 
studying various types of house construction, decorations, 
and furnishings, and includes everything that goes to make 
a home. 
One of the principal features of the exhibition will be 
the presentation by real estate companies of models of 
suburban development. Another feature worthy of note 
will be the splendid collection of photographs of houses 
and architects’ drawings, from which one may secure sug- 
gestions for home-building. The exhibits of all kinds of 
materials for the building of a home, the models of the 
most improved kind for use in its perfect equipment, and 
the latest designs for the decorating of the interior are fea- 
tures in this show, and will prove helpful to those who are 
interested in either the building or the improvement of the 
home. 
