2l8 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 1907 



another arum and have brought pollen with them; in which 

 case they fertilize the knob-like female flowers as they buzz 

 about. But when they try to return to the open air they 

 find themselves unable to do so. The hairy circle acts as a 

 kind of lobster trap, and they struggle in vain to pass it. 



They are, in fact, held prisoners for many hours until the 

 male flowers come to perfection and shed their pollen. Then, 

 and not until they are well covered with the yellow dust, 

 are they able to depart. For not until the male flowers have 

 ripened does the spathe expand and the hairy trap wither 

 sufficiently for them to pass out of their prison. The method 

 of attraction employed by the Arum raises another point of 

 interest. We noticed that it does not employ bright colors, 

 but relies upon a liver-colored, meaty-looking club. The rea- 

 son for this appears to be that it does not cater for honey- 

 loving insects, but for small flies whose chief delight is decay- 

 ing meat or other carrion. 



In the tropics a number of large flowers attract carrion- 

 loving insects. They have blossoms which look like decompos- 

 ing meat, and their smell (to human nostrils) is disgusting. 



Yet just as larger animals feed on vegetable and animal 

 matter far beyond human consideration and utilization, so 

 there are insects that are both attracted and fascinated by 

 flowers that, to human senses, are filled with loathsomeness. 

 It seems strange that nature should thus provide an equaliza- 

 tion in consumption, yet it is a phenomenon of frequent and 

 quite common occurrence. Doubtless it is a mere difference 

 in point of view. 



In conclusion, it must be added that insects are not the 

 only bearers of pollen from one flower to another. In tropi- 

 cal and sub-tropical countries no small part of this task is 



accomplished by flower-frequenting birds. Of these, hum- 

 ming birds are notable examples (Fig. 11). Many native 

 Southern and Central American flowers are specially modified 

 for cross-fertilization by bird agency. They are usually pen- 



1 3 — The Last Flowers of the Garden, Balsams, 

 Are Visited by the Bee 



dent, have no alighting platform for the convenience of 

 insects, and are commonly red or scarlet — colors for which 

 humming birds show a marked partiality. The fuchsia is a 

 good type of bird-fertilized flowers in general. 



Walls and Their Meaning 



^^^^^t^^^l HE interior walls of a house are the back- 

 ^^^^ ground to the life led within them. That 



^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^''^ enclosures; that they separate the 



rooms from each other; that they afford 

 ^^fe^T^^^^ space for the display of pictures; and that 

 ^^ gpsj^^ ^/^ they are colored in one way or another 



with paper, silk, cretonne, denim, tapestry 

 or other material, is likewise true. It is true, also, that walls 

 have a structural significance, and that without them the 

 building can not stand erect; but all these matters are in- 

 significant compared with the more important fact that the 

 walls are backgrounds to human life. They thus have a 

 social as well as an artistic significance, and need to be con- 

 sidered from their social side as well as because of their 

 utilitarian qualities. 



The walls are not only backgrounds to life, but they are 

 backgrounds to what is placed within the rooms they bound, 

 and their esthetic treatment is usually — in the domestic 

 dwelling of to-day — considered from this point of view. 

 And this aspect is an important one, for a true comprehen- 

 sion of this aspect of walls means their relegation to their 

 proper function in the art qualities of the house. It is as 

 backgrounds they should be treated. 



A complete knowledge of the contents of the room and 

 its use is essential to any successful wall treatment. If the 

 room is a public or general apartment, in which the family 

 gather frequently and where guests are entertained, a richer 

 treatment is allowable than in those rooms set apart for pri- 

 vate and personal use. This is a fundamental proposition 

 adhesion to which will greatly clarify the difficulties of wall 

 decoration. And it is quite as essential that a proper rela- 

 tionship be maintained between what is placed within the 



room and its wall treatment. A room richly furnished, on 

 the walls of which it is proposed to place a considerable num- 

 ber of pictures, paintings, photographs, prints and the like, 

 will require a much more modest wall covering than might be 

 permitted in a room in which the furnishings were compara- 

 tively slight. In the former case the walls do not need to be 

 felt; they certainly do not need to be emphasized; they have 

 a quiet indispensable part to take in the decorative scheme. 

 The spectator is aware that there are walls, but he does not 

 need to be informed of their presence by the walls themselves. 



The case of more moderately furnished rooms is somewhat 

 different. A certain completeness of effect, in which walls, 

 curtains, furniture and rugs have each a part, seems in- 

 dispensable to Western eyes. The cool, slenderly furnished 

 rooms of Japan seem bare to American eyes, and are bare; 

 we can not go to that extreme; but there are many excellent 

 American rooms, quite sufficiently furnished, that are, never- 

 theless, poor in contents. Such rooms require a rich wall 

 covering to add to the furnished effect. This, of course, is 

 dependent on the fact that there are no pictures or only a 

 few. Strong figured patterns do not go with pictures, and 

 should be avoided when any dependence is placed on them 

 for room decorations. 



Individual taste, when it has been properly trained, is the 

 safest of all guides for every part of household decoration. 

 Few parts of the furnishings are more important than the 

 wall coverings. Even the cheapest sorts of papers entail ex- 

 pense, not only in putting them on the walls, but in the fuss 

 and labor they entail. One may change furniture more 

 readily than they can the wall coverings, and it is always the 

 wisest to be thoroughly sure that the result will be good and 

 satisfactory before proceeding with any installation. 



