xviii 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GA 



RDENS 



February, 1907 



What is Roof Durability? 



DURABILITY is an elastic word, A shovel used six months, a shoe 

 worn a year, a buggy driven eight years, a locomotive run fifteen — 

 they all are durable in their class. 



^ Some makers of roofing advertise their material as durable, claiming it 

 will last 10, 15 or 20 years (with frequent repainting or recoating). Would 

 a house lasting that long be called ' durable "? 



^ Why should any roofing be called "durable" unless it, like 



Genuine Bangor Roofing Slate 



outlived the building without paint or repairs ? 



^ Our free book of Roof Facts gives all the facts about all the roofs; 

 tells what the tin people say about tin roofs, the tile people about tile roofs, 

 the patent people about patent roofs (tar, asphalt, gravel), the slate people 

 about slate roofs, etc. It is a complete but concise handbook on the roof 

 problem, on which the life of your building depends. Write for it NOW. 



GENUINE BANGOR. SLATE CO., Inc. 



Fair Building 



EASTON, PA. 



SUNLIGHT AT NIGHT ! 



WE WANT TO TELL YOU 



HOW 



EASILY 

 SAFELY 

 CHEAPLY 



YOU CAN MAKE THE BRILLIANT 



cAcetylene Gas 



IN YOUR OWN HOME 



The Sunlight "Omega" 



Generates the Gas; you fill 

 the hopper, it does the rest ! 



A 25 candle-power light for one hour for J cent. Tbink of it ! 



ABSOLUTELY SAFE 



TNVICE as bright as electricity or coal gas and CHEAPER than kerosene 

 Thousands of enthusiastic users. Why not YOU? 

 Send for free booklet NOW 



The Sunlight Gas cTHachine Co., 51 Warren Street, New York 



The Sunlight •■ OMEGA" 



34 Years Selling Direct 



Our vehicles and harness have been sold direct from our 

 factory to ust-r fur a third of a century. We ship for 

 examination and approval and guarantee Bafe delivery. 

 You are out nothing if not satist^ed as to style, quality 



and price. 



We are the 

 Largest 

 Manufacturers 

 in the World 



selling to the oon- 

 bunier exclusively. 

 We make 200 styles 

 of Vehicles, 66 

 styles of Harness. 

 8end for large, free 

 catalogue. 



No. 756. Bike Wagon with Fine 

 W Intr Dash, Automobile Seat and % In. 

 Giiarariteed Rubber Tires. Price com- 

 plete, $58.60, As good as sells forJ25.00 more 



No. 313 Canopy Top Surrey with Auto- 

 mobile Style Seals. Price complete, $73.50. 

 As good as sells for 125.00 more. 



EHchart Carriage t Harness Mfg. Ce. 

 EHchart, Indiana 



Trc SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN BOY 



By A. RUSSELL BOND 



nmo. 320 Pages. 340 IHustrations. Price, $2.00, Postpaid. 



STOKY OF OUTDOOPv BOY LIFE, suggesting a large number of diversions which, aside from 

 affording entertainment, will stimulate in boys Ae creative spirit. Complete practical instructions are 

 given for building the various articles. The book contains a large number of miscellaneous devices, 

 such as scows, canoes, windmills, water wheels, etc. 



MUNN 6r CO. 



Publishers of 

 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN " 



361 Broadway, New York 



table close to a window having the best sun 

 exposure. 



In country homes where only stoves are 

 used, the kitchen is the best place, as the fire 

 in the range is kept up generally day and 

 night ; in houses where steam or hot air is used 

 for heating purposes any convenient room can 

 be assigned, provided the temperature on cold 

 nights does not fall too low. 



The end of February, even the first week 

 in March, is time enough to sow the seeds. Too 

 early planting will advance some vegetables 

 too far for successful replanting, besides it will 

 weaken them if kept too long in the atmosphere 

 of a living-room. As to the kind of seeds to 

 be planted individual tastes have to be con- 

 sulted. 



Head lettuce, also romaine, tomatoes, early 

 cabbage, eggplant, cauliflower, beets, kohlrabi, 

 parsley, early celery, and the like, can be 

 started in this way and safely transplanted 

 later on. After the plants are well up they are 

 thinned out from one-fourth to one-half an 

 inch apart, leaving the strongest plants and 

 removing the crowded weaklings. Lettuce, 

 cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, also parsley, can 

 be transplanted in the open if two distinct 

 leaves are grown on the plant. 



Tomatoes, beets, eggplants, and celery 

 should be transplanted first in new boxes, an 

 inch apart, giving them more space to de- 

 velop in. Before they are set out in the open, 

 they will do better if their tops are cut off. 



Even sweet com, lima beans, canteloupe, and 

 watermelon can be started early and then 

 transplanted, but a different principle in sow- 

 ing has to be followed. Good, solid sod is cut 

 in squares about two inches in diameter and 

 placed, not touching one another, on top of the 

 soil in boxes as used for the other vegetables. 

 Three to four seeds are placed in the center of 

 the sod pieces and covered with about one-half 

 an inch of soil. If the plants come up, the 

 roots will grow into the sod ; the plants can 

 then be taken up at the proper time by hand- 

 ling them correctly. Of course, care must be 

 taken to moisten the sod so that it does not 

 fall apart, either by lifting it out of the box or 

 setting it into the ground. Hardening the 

 plants is necessary. This is done first by open- 

 ing the window on clear, sunny, mild days at 

 the noon hour, and is followed up later, at the 

 end of March and during April, by taking the 

 boxes outside in the sun on warm, mild days 

 for a few hours. 



Lettuce, cabbage, celery, parsley, cauliflower, 

 and kohlrabi can be set out in the open in 

 April if properly hardened. Tomatoes, egg- 

 plant, corn, lima beans, and melons can not be 

 safely transplanted in the open before May 

 15th in the latitude of New York, even then 

 they should be covered every night with an 

 empty flower-pot, or its like, during the first 

 week or two. Otherwise their growth will be 

 retarded by the chilly night air or killed by a 

 late, light frost. 



In transplanting one rule prevails : press the 

 soil firmly around the newly set-out plant so as 

 to get the air out. Daily watering for the first 

 few weeks, if the weather is dry, is necessary. 

 The distance to set out each plant varies, but, 

 taking for granted that the space is limited, the 

 minimum distances are as follows: 



Lettuce, eight inches each way ; cabbage, 

 cauliflower, one foot apart ; tomatoes, corn, 

 celery, bush or pole limas, two feet apart ; beets, 

 parsley, and kohlrabi, in rows about three 

 inches apart ; canteloupes, in hills four feet each 

 way; watermelons, five feet each way. 



It is well to understand that the ground 

 where plants are to be set out must be properly 

 prepared by plowing or spading over, and must 

 be well pulverized with the rake or harrow. 

 A liberal supply of well-rotted manure should 

 be well worked in the soil, so that the tender 



