xxvi 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1907 



ENTERINR THE VESTIBULE ^ ^'''^^ impression is received, wliich 

 tnitlllllU int VbOIIUUbb must strongly influence any appreciation 

 AC ARFQinENPP further interior. What is the 



Ui M nCOIUCIiUC character of this introduction into your 



own home? 



The chief tlecorative opportunity of a vestibule is the floor. Wood is never a proper material, 

 Because it is not adaptable to striking-Iy predominating effects. Nor is marble, or tiling's of ceramic 

 composition suitable, being cold and iniiileasantly harsh under foot, and necessarily having un- 

 sightly cracks between the pieces impossible to keep clean. 



A flooring for your vestibule capable of being rendered into designs more beautiful and of 

 richer coloring than any other, that gives peculiarly agreeable contact to the foot, that never wears 

 out, but grows more elegant with years of use, that affords the visitor a foretaste of fa\iltless 

 refinement within, is 



PENNSYLVANIA 

 INTERLOCKING RUBBER TILING 



The high character of this material is best conveyed by the fact that it was chosen over all 

 others for such classic interiors as the five-million-dollar Pittsburgh Carnegie Library, where it 

 covers 108,000 square feet of floors; St. Paul's Cathedral, one of the few really magnificent edifices 

 in America, where it is laid over tlie main aisles, and hundreds of other situations involving 

 equally high architectural requirements, both for art and enduring permanence. 



While Pennsylvania Rubber Tiling is suggested as the most effective flooring for the 

 vestibule, this is not by any means its most important use in your residence. It is practically a 

 necessity in yovir bathroom, being absolutely waterproof and sanitary, warm under foot, and most 

 easily kept clean; in your kitchen and pantries, because it is restful to walk and stand upon; in 

 your billiard room, for its non-slipperiness and silence — ALL these qualities are vastly desirable 

 in ALL these uses. Pennsylvania Rubber Tiling is non-inflammable, odorless, 

 and outwears even marble. Any workman of ordinary skill can lay it success- 

 fully right over your existing floors. 



Wlicn you write for our Book-of-Designs-in-CoIor. which will be mailed free on request, it is sug- 

 gested tliat you seinl measurements of your vestibule, bathroom, or other space you might possibly wish 

 covered, and receive ti^'ures of cost and full information, 



PENNSYLVANIA RUBBER CO., JEANNETTE, PA. 



NKW YORK. 1741 Broadway BOSTON. 20 Park .Square DETROIT, 2J7 lefferson Ave. 



CHICA(.0, 1241 Michigan Ave. Blil'FALO. 717 Main St. CLEVKLAND, 2H4-6F. 9tb St, 



PHILADELPHIA, 615 N. UroadSt. ATLANTA, GA,. 102 N, Prior St, LONDON, 26 City Road 

 SAN FRANCISCO. 512-14 Mission St. 



KINO MANTELS 



are the Kracefiil, artistic and hifjh-grade product of a house expert in its 

 line, usin.e; perfected, tip-to-date machinery, located in the hardwood 

 belt and favored by excellent labor conditions. 



IF YOU ARE GOING TO BUILD 



don't you think it is woilh while to investiy:ate our claim that KING 

 MANTELS are the best high-grade dependable mantels for the money 

 in the country ? FRliE : Our 64-page proof book called "Evidence." 

 Shows 37 leaders in KING M.VNTELS and tells what others say. 



A handsome 72-page (ll.sl4) catalogue sent for I2c. to help pay 

 postage (which costs us 50c, to deliver.) including our book, "Colonial 

 Beauties." If you write, state numher of mantels required. 



Uo it now ! 



KING MANTEL CO., 519-521 W.Jackson Ave., Knoxville, Tenn. 



Protect Your Home 



by inclosing ynur grounds vi ith the strongest, most ornamentat 

 and durable fence on the market. T liis illustration can give 

 you but a faint idea of tlic beauties of 



WIRE 

 FENCE 



It has all the advantages of any other form of fence without 

 their disadvantages, and is made in Bcveral aizes and styles to 

 meet all requirements. Complete illuitrated catalogue mailed 

 on rcqueii. Kindly ask for Catalog G. Do it to-day. 



SLEETH-BROOK & SEAMAN CO. 



253 BROADWAY 



NEW YORK CITY 



COLONIAL FIREPLACE CO. 



2537 WEST 12TH STREET 



CHICAGO 



A study of our large illustrated Design-Book will 

 give you a new idea of tow mucli a true Colonial 

 Fireplace w iUadd to your new tome. 

 MV^e design and fumisli beautiful Fireplaces of 

 moulded trick in ctaracter and etades to tarmonize 

 Witt your decorations. 



For it is on the average the warmest room 

 in the house, its floor is subjected to having 

 water containing vegetable and meat juices 

 spattered or spilt upon it, and the very efforts 

 to keep it clean by frequent wiping with water, 

 supply the necessary dampness which starts the 

 colonies of "anaerobic" germs growing, which 

 spread from it throughout the entire wood- 

 work of the house. 



Another place which is tiled too seldom, 

 but for which tiles are absolutely imperative 

 from reasons of economy, is the porch of a 

 suburban villa. So many of these villas other- 

 wise kept up, present a shabby appearance to 

 the visitor, because of the porch, which is first 

 seen hy him. Its floor is warped and decayed 

 from the rain water that has stood upon it, 

 and the walls are untidy from the rubbing of 

 hands, and can not be cleaned like a glazed 

 surface. It would occur to no architect to 

 recommended the flat part of a roof to be made 

 of boarding, and why thoughtlessly they allow 

 the imperfectly sheltered porch floor to pass 

 without a recommendation for its proper pre- 

 servation, must always be an enigma to disin- 

 terested observers. 



It has been the purpose in this brief treatise 

 to explain why tiling for floors and walls is an 

 indispensable building material. 'I'here is 

 much to be said of its use for decorative pur- 

 poses, but so much has been said and thought 

 on this, that its utility has almost been entirely 

 overlooked by American builders, and even 

 architects trained abroad have lost sight of its 

 importance and not thought of the reason why 

 so great a number of European dwellings 

 have retained their freshness and habitableness 

 for centuries. 



NEW BOOKS 



Three Acres and Liberty. By Bolton 

 Hall. New York: The MacmiUan Co., 

 1907. Pp. 24+435. Price, $1.75 net. 



This book, Mr. George T. Powell tells us 

 in his introduction, is not intended to deal so 

 much with the technique of agriculture or to 

 give instruction in its requirements, as to 

 awaken active and earnest thought upon the 

 social betterment of our rapidly increasing 

 population. As this betterment is, according 

 to the author, to be found in small farming, 

 the responsibility of stirring people up to new 

 modes of life, with every detail of which they 

 may be unfamiliar, is very great. Mr. Hall 

 attacks his subject vigorously; he quotes 

 copiously from the printed experiences of 

 others and from the various persons who, in 

 the last few years, have extolled the pecu- 

 niary advantages of country life. He does 

 not present his own experiences, as the title 

 of his book might suggest, but summarizes 

 the whole of recent literature on this subject. 

 He does so in an interesting and orderly way, 

 marshaling his facts in due order, presenting 

 them with enthusiasm, but tempering his sug- 

 gestions with many words of caution that are 

 weighty indeed. 



Perhaps the real test of the value of the 

 book is given in Chapter VI, touching on 

 "What an acre may produce." The reader 

 who advances as far as pages 91 and 92 will 

 there find tables of the crops that may be 

 obtained from an acre of ground, and their 

 money value. We can, we learn, obtain 10,- 

 000 quarts of blackberries, which, at seven 

 cents a quart, will give the handsome amount 

 of $700.00; asparagus, yielding 3,000 

 bunches at twenty cents the bunch, will 

 bring in $600.00. Labor, we are further 

 told, will cost from $1.35 to $1.50 per day. 

 It is just to Mr. Hall to say that he gives 

 authority for these figures and that he re- 

 gards them as conservative. Let it be granted 

 the crop figures are correct, it by no means 



