xii AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
May, 1911 
i al SS wb sai Sen 
FOR LIGHT 
The Burlington Venetian Blind 
will make your rooms shady and your porch cool and 
comfortable. It can be raised or lowered at will, 
and can be adjusted to any angle to suit the height of 
the sun, 
Enclose your porch and see what a change it will 
make in your whole home, It will giye you a cozy, 
secluded room, ‘The air will circulate freely and you 
will get all the advantages of open air; at the same 
time you will not be subjected to an inquisitive public 
gaze. The Burlington Venetian Blind will give you a 
place to read, sew or entertain—a place for the children 
to play, too, 
Write for our illustrated booklet; it 
will tell you about the various styles 
Burlington Venetian Blind Co. , 339 Lake St.,Burlington, Vt. 
SHEEP MANURE 
Dried and pulverized No waste and no 
weeds Best fertilizer for lawns—gardens— 
trees—shrubs—vegetables and fruit. 
$4.0 Large barrel, freight prepaid East of 
° Missouri River—Cash with order. 
Write for interesting booklet and quantity 
prices. 
THE PULVERIZED MANURE CO. 
21 Union Stock Yards Chicago, II. 
Details of Building 
Construction 
A collection of 33 plates of scale 
drawings with introductory text 
By CLARENCE A. MARTIN 
Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, 
Cornell University 
This book is 10x!2% inches in size, and 
substantially bound in cloth. Price $2 
MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, NEW YORK 
Make Lawn Mowing a Pleasure 
You can keep your lawn neat, with a velvety 
appearance without coatinual raking — catch 
every blade of grass while mowing, if you use an 
“Easy Emptying” Catcher 
It can be put 
on and off in a 
second, 
So light that it 
never dragsonthe 
mower —so 
durable that 
it will last 
for many 
years. 
Can be adjusted 
to ht any size mow- 
er perfectly. Ask 
your dealer for it 
or write us. 
Send for booklet 
— Useful things 
for the J.awn.” 
It illustrates and 
describes a num- 
ber of mighty 
valuable articles, 
especially the 
Detachable” 
Hose Reel which 
revolves on the 
faucet. 
The Specialty 
Mfg. Co. 
1051 Raymond 
Ave. 
St. Paul, Minn. 
THE LAWN—ITS PREPARATION 
AND CULTIVATION 
: HE most beautiful feature of a city 
home or a country estate is a 
well-kept lawn.” 
This article is written for the city man, 
particularly he who has just completed a 
home and desires to finish off its genera: 
appearance with a thick, even-growing 
lawn, 
6 
Very many home builders make the mis- 
take ot not thoroughly cleaning up the yard 
after building, betore they attempt to start 
the lawn, and then wonder why the grass 
fails to thrive. It is probable that every- 
thing else has been made secondary to the 
rapid erection of the home, and conse- 
quently plaster and bits of wood and stone 
have been swept out ofthe building until 
they have covered the surrounding yard to 
a depth of several inches. On top of this 
the average man tries to start one of those 
thick, velvety, green lawns that he has so 
long admired. Of course many of the 
larger lumps of stone and wood have been 
raked up, but the top soil still contains 
many small bits of lath, shingles, plaster 
and often chips from the stone foundation 
piers and front sidewalk. 
The first step in building the foundation 
for a good lawn under these conditions 
would be to plow the surface in several di- 
rections so as to loosen and bring to the 
surface all of these foreign elements that 
should not be in the top soil. Then the land 
should be graded. It-the area is a small 
one and very flat, then a level surface is 
most desirable, but if the lawn is over an 
acre or more in size, it will be far better to 
leave the land with very little grading but 
preserve the slight hollows and elevations, 
as they are far more pleasing than flat 
lawns would be. If the soil is a heavy clay 
then perfect drainage is most essential, as 
this sort of ground does not allow the mois- 
ture to filter through as readily as sand or 
loam soil, and after a hard rain will often 
be found covered with small pools of water, 
unless the drainage 1s perfect. 
In the selection of the grass seed you will 
have to be governed by the local climatic 
conditions, the amount of shade and othe 
points particular to your location alone. 
It is advisable to purchase seed from a 
nearby seedsman, who can probably supply 
you with a close-growing wide-rooted va- 
riety. Sow the seed on a day of little wind 
and preferably in the late afternoon. Rake 
the soil lightly in order to spread a thin 
layer over the seed. 
to which can be ascribed nine out of ten of 
the failures in attempted lawn-making— 
those who fail do not realize the value of 
a lawn roller. The seed bed should be 
rolled with a heavy lawn roller so as to 
force the seed into close contact with the 
soil and so establish a firm root founda- 
tion. This point is positive. You cannot 
expect to produce a thick, even-growing 
lawn on a soft, springy seed bed. 
The lawn roller must be used at least 
twice a month throughout the season from 
early spring to the first snow fall in order 
to keep the action of sun, wind and rain 
from drying out the soil and to keep the 
roots thoroughly imbedded in the moist 
sub-soil, from which they take their 
strength and nourishment. 
The assertion that rolling is absolutely 
neeessary need not frighten one out of at- 
tempting a perfect lawn, for lawn rollers 
are now made with roller bearings so that 
even the heaviest sizes are extremely easy 
to operate; in fact a mete child can push 
even a 650 pound roller:..: 
Then comes the point. 
Beauty and Comfort Combined 
With the Honest Skill of Sweden 
is Yours if You Use 
Ericsson Venetian Blinds 
MADE IN SWEDEN 
Let us tell you how to | -autify your windows and add to the 
comfort of your home in our 
“Blind Book for People Who Can See” 
and appreciate art and luxury in house equipment. 
We’ll prove the Ericsson lasts longer, is rigid in position, more inexpensive 
than you think, light, strong, occupies small space and. is removed like a 
roller shade. Write for the “BLIND BOOK”’ today—-NOW. It’s free 
Ask for Booklet D. 
to “PEOPLE WHO CAN SEE.” 
SWEDISH VENETIAN BLIND CO. ,1123 Broadway. New York, N.Y. 
The Wizard 
*-—-KALAKA 
Lawn Producer 
4*4 Mixed seed and fertilizer that comes up even where everything else 
"K failed. 
* seed. 
west of the river for $1.25. 
Make a Lawn’’ FREE. Written by experts; solves every grass 
problem. Send for it tonight. It will prove interesting and valuable. 
The Kalaka Co., °°9,2.xcuanss.3"°° Chicago, Ill. 
Union Stock Yards 
All it needs is soil and moisture. Cheaper than common 
5 lb. box express prepaid east of Missouri river $1.00, or 
Our instructive booklet “‘How to 
Gates of all designs and for all purposes. 
{| Correspondence solicited: Catalogs furnished. 
Tennis Court Enclosures, Unclimbable Wire Mesh 
and Spiral Netting (Chain Link) Fences for Estate 
Boundaries and Industrial Properties—Lawn Furni- 
ture—Stable Fittings. 
253 Broadway 
F. E. CARPENTER CO., New York City 
[Ya me 
"THE most modern, and best illuminating and 
cooking service for isolated homes and institutions, 
is furnished by the CLIMAX GAS MACHINE. 
Apparatus furnished on TRIAL under a guarantee 
to be satisfactory andin advance of all other methods. 
Cooks, heats water for bath and culinary purposes, 
heats individual rooms between seasons—drives pump- 
ing or power engine in most efficient and economical 
manner —also_ makes brilliant illumination. IF 
MACHINE DOES NOT MEET YOUR EXPECTA- 
TIONS, FIRE IT BACK. 
Send for Catalogue and Proposition. 
Low Price 
Better than City Gas or Eleo- 
Liberal Terms 
tricity and at Less Cost. 
C. M. KEMP MFG. CO. 
405 to 413 E. Oliver Street, Baltimore, Md. 
