XVIU 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1907 



Know Paint 

 —before you Paint 



PAINT, to give right results, must be purchased and put on intelli- 

 gently. You must have a good painter — there is no quality 

 in paint that will replace his skilled knowledge — experienced 

 judgment. But the quality of paint used is a vitallj' important con- 

 sideration to your purse and your pride. 



You want the paint that has the greatest covering power, spread- 

 ing capacit}', beauty, wearing quality. In meeting all these require- 

 ments — 



Lowe Brothers "High Standard'' Paint 



Gi-Ves 'Best "Results 



It is the paint for you to use, whether the contemplated job is a smalt or a large one 

 be your painter. Slandai-d" Liquid Pu/h/ is made of the materials that thirty 



years of go-ahead paint-making and earnest search after the real paint truth have 

 proved to us to be the best. It contains nothing that does not need to be in paint for 

 actual working purposes. It </y(-j contain the necessary materials to give it body, life, 

 elasticity, beauty and wear-resisting qualities. 



Mi.xed and ground by the " High Sliuidai d" Machine Process which insures the 

 finest paint texture— tlic most thorougli mixing of pigment with oil. ' Nigk S/atidai d" 

 Faint has been proven by actual test to cover thirty to fifty per cent more square feet 

 to the gallon than white lead and oil, and lasts from two to three years longer. 



Because of tliese qualities, it is acknowledged to be the most economical. Other 

 famous Lowe Brothers' products are Vernicol Enamel White, for bathrooms and 

 finest finished surfaces, and "Uttle Blue Flag" Varnish— the world's best. 



Write today for the book, "Paint and Painting" — a whole library on the paint 

 question— and name of the dealer nearest you handling "High Standdid" Painl. 



The Lowe Brothers Company, 450-456 E. Third St., Dayton, O. 



New York Chicago Paintmakers, Varnishmakers. ICansai City 



however experienced may 



"'The Little 



Blue Flag" 



-—Your 

 Protection 



THE. coatfida/stte: 



COH/TEt/CTIOIi OF ^/H 

 RV/H J'HiKVJ & BA.GKJ: 

 CUETAIATcT OF FLAX 



n^nuan-ni55ion ruRniTURE 



PORTrOLIO OF L/KE^TCrLE^S --1^*-, 



SYiaWlNO, 400 ^ODE/LS . FOR. 23<^ IN ST-^MPS. ^ 

 (TO B£, DEDUCTED T^OrV FIRST PURC/iASE-.) 



o 5EPn . p. /^Auon e ® . 



Q West 4-2-11(1 5t.,7^(iw-York- 



^^^V^ICiN POPULTII^ 5nop. 



WROUGHT IRON 



Fence aiid Entrance Gates 



WIRE FENCING 



Ornamental Iron Vork, Tree Guards 

 Lawn Furniture etc. 

 Tennis Court Enclosures a Specialty 



F • E CARPENTER • CO 

 7 &. 9 Warren 5t. Newark 



Cabot's 

 Shingle Stains 



FOR 



HOUSES 



BARNS 



STABLES 



SHEDS 



F£NCES 



unJ all rough wooJ-vvork, especially 

 shingles. They are softer and 

 richer in color, easier and quiclcer 

 to apply, wear better, look better, 

 and are fifty per cent, cheaper than 

 paint. Creosote, the chief ingre- 

 dient, is the best wood-preserva- 

 tive known. 



Twenty-four samples of Stained Wood, with Chart of Color 

 Combinations, sent on application. 

 SAMUEL CABOT, Sole Mfr., 13 1 Milk St., Boston, Mass. 



Agents at all Central Points. 



St a in ed wit h Ca bat's S/n'n,^/ e St a in s. 

 Robert C. Spencer, Jr.. Architect, Chicago 



Tre SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN BOY 



By A. KUSSELL BOND 



J2mo. 320 Pages. 340 Illustrations. Price, $2.00, Postpaid. 



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

 affording entertainment, will stimulate in boys the 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. 



A 



MUNN ^ CO. 



Publishers of 

 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN- 



361 Broadway, New York 



will improve year by year, until you have ac- 

 complished your plans, and you will have a 

 place to be proud of. But the planless system, 

 which so many persons follow, never achieves 

 satisfactory results. It gives one the impres- 

 sion of something that started out for some- 

 where, but never succeeds in getting there. 



BEDDING PLANTS FROM SEEDS 



By Ida D, Bennett 



I T IS to be regretted that the ease with 

 wliich many ot otir summer bedding-plants 

 ot the toliage varieties may be raised from 

 seed is not more tully understood and apprc 

 ciated. To many the purchase ot any consid- 

 erable quantities of bedding-plants trom the 

 florist, must act as a deterrent quantity in their 

 culture, as it requires no small outlay to pur- 

 chase sufficient plants ot any really desirable 

 variety of cannas, lor instance, tor bedding 

 purposes, even a small bed costing from hve 

 dollars up. Coleus may be indulged in with 

 somewhat less outlay, uut even here the cosl 

 is so much in excess ot that of the seed-raised 

 plants that the claims ot the latter are well 

 w orth considering. 



Cannas are very easily raised from seed and 

 lor tlie past two or three years the florists have 

 made an enort to supply the demand for reli- 

 able seed of the more desirable varieties, and 

 excellent seed of the Crozy, and many of the 

 large-flowered, named varieties are to be had 

 at a reasonable price. In buying canna-seed 

 It is well to buy by the ounce, unless seed ot 

 several varieties are \\ anted, when the pack- 

 ages will have to be purchased. 



In sowing canna-seed — which should be 

 done in pots in the house early in March for 

 best results, the seeds must tirst be filed or 

 sandpapered until a bit of the white shows 

 through ; they must then be soaked over night 

 in hot water, or until the outer husk has 

 burst and the inner swelled and soltened. 

 Treated thus they will germinate in two or 

 three days, v\hile without this preparatory 

 treatment they would remain in the ground as 

 many weeks. Very small pots may be used 

 to start the seeds at first, and two or three 

 seeds may be planted at once and only the 

 best allowed to grow — if seed is plenty, but 

 ot course in the case of choice bought seed 

 one will not care to discard any, and one seed 

 may be sown in a pot, or the tu o or more may 

 be carefully separated when the plants come 

 to be repotted. The care of the potted seed is 

 the same as for all house-sown seed — warmth 

 and moisture and, after the plants are up, 

 light and sunshine; a position on the little 

 "sash-shelf" is excellent for the little pots. 

 When the pots are filled with roots, shift into 

 a si/e larger and grow on until time to plant 

 out in the open ground when all danger of 

 Irost IS passed, shifting trom time to time as 

 necessary. 



Loleus are easily groan from seed and 

 should be sown in flats or the little house- 

 boxes with glass lids. Sow the seeds in drills 

 or broadcast, covering an eighth of an inch 

 deep, and keep warm and moist. 



VVhen the leaves touch and the plants are 

 of a size to handle, prick out into other flats, 

 setting an inch or two apart in the rows and 

 grow on until the leaves again touch. 



By the time they are ready to go into the 

 ground they will have developed sufficient col- 

 oring to make a choice possible, and any poorly 

 marked or off-colored ones may be discarded. 

 It is better in planting to alternate the dark 

 and light varieties, using but two colors, rathei 

 than a mixture of many kinds. I have grown 

 beautiful coleus from seed that compared very 

 favorably with the cuttings grown by the 

 florists. 



Coleus thrive best in sandy soil in full sun- 

 shine, as the heat serves to bring out their rich 



