XII 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 1907 



Refinish Your Furniture 



Do It Yourself 



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" The Wood-Finishing Authorities " 



5^ 



American Homes and Gardens 

 and Scientific American 



9 

 9 



9 



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ARTIFICIAL STONE. By L. P. Ford 

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THE SHRINKAGE AND WARPING OF TIMBER By 

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Study Architecture 



EASY LESSONS, or Stepping 

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JANUARY WORK 



A Chapter of Seasonable Suggestions 



10OK over the carinas, caladiums, and 

 dahlias, to make sure they are keeping 

 well in the cellar. If any decaying roots 

 are found, throw them out, at once, before they 

 contaminate others. If any are moldy, you 

 may take it as an indication that their present 

 quarters are too damp for them. Either re- 

 move them to a dryer room, or spread them out 

 on shelves, near the ceiling. It is often neces- 

 sary to take tubers out of the cellar at this sea- 

 son, because of the great amount of moisture 

 there given off from vegetables. 



If any plants are stored there, in pots, it will 

 be well to examine them, to make sure they are 

 not getting entirely dry at the roots. It is not 

 expected that the soil will get rid of all its 

 moisture. Aim to keep it slightly damp, but 

 not enough so to encourage growth. 



Underground cellars ought to be done away 

 with. They are relics of a dark age. More 

 sickness originates in them, physicians claim, 

 than anywhere else about the place. They can 

 not be kept in sanitary condition while vege- 

 tables are constantly decaying there. The 

 place for a cellar is above ground, and outside 

 the dwelling. Leave the basement for the 

 furnace, the coal-bin, and a general storeroom. 

 An above-ground cellar is more convenient, in 

 every way. Your vegetables can be stored 

 with less than half the labor, when you do not 

 have to go up and down stairs with them. 

 You can keep an above-ground cellar clean 

 with but little trouble, while the underground 

 one, being difficult to get at, will be neglected, 

 nine times out of ten, and allowed to become a 

 source of infection to the family above it. I 

 hope the owners of homes in the country will 

 put some earnest thought on this matter, and 

 decide to build an above-ground cellar the com- 

 ing spring. Ventilation and temperature are 

 much more controllable in such a building than 

 in the old-fashioned under-ground cellar, 

 which obliges the housewife to use up so much 

 strength in climbing stairs. Locate it con- 

 venient to the kitchen, with which it can be 

 connected, in winter, by an enclosed passage- 

 way. 



Now is a good time to go over the garden 

 tools, and see that they are put in shape for 

 use when spring comes. Make whatever re- 

 pairs are necessary. Give all metal parts a 

 wash of oil to prevent rust. Paint the wood- 

 work. Care for these utensils properly, and 

 they will last three times as long as those which 

 are given no attention. 



There ought to be a workshop connected 

 with every home which has a garden. The 

 barn is a good place for it, if there is no other 

 building available. Fit it up with a stove, 

 provide saw, hammer, planes, and such other 

 tools as will be likely to come in play in the 

 work that must be done, and tell the boys of 

 the family to learn how to use them. I believe 

 in teaching boys how to work while they are 

 boys. Give them encouragement and praise 

 when they do things well, and let them feel 

 that you have so much confidence in them that 

 you are not afraid to put little responsibilities 

 on their shoulders. 



Now is the time to get hotbed and cold- 

 frame materials ready for use a month or two 

 later. If those who have never had a hotbed 

 would arrange one this season, they would 

 never be without one again. We can have 

 lettuce, radishes, and spinach weeks earlier 

 from the hotbed than we can from the 

 garden, and many kinds of vegetables can 

 be given an early start that will enable us 

 to secure results at least a month sooner than 

 we could hope to if we were to depend entirely 

 upon the garden for them. Hotbeds are easily 

 made, and a little intelligent care is all that is 



