HAS HOME AND FLOWERS HELPED YOU? 



217 



—all in bloom. ... I could eat, sleep, and 

 enjoy life. I say the magazine is responsible, 

 and I know what I am talking about." 



Mrs. Eva D. Griffith (Iowa) values the 

 magazine for its help in floriculture, but 

 says that, in ^^bringing up her children in 

 the highest physical health on a small in- 

 come. Home and Flowees has been 

 invaluable, telling of braver and stronger 

 spirits in other parts of the world, and 

 of their beauty and simplicity.'' 



Home and Flowers has been instru- 

 mental in remodeling a whole neighbor- 

 hood in North Dakota, according to a 

 reader in that state (Mrs. W. J. Hutche- 

 son). In two years, she says, "several 

 plain little houses set on the bare prairie 

 sod" have been "transformed into homes 

 and beautiful gardens by following out 

 the precepts laid down in Home and 

 Flowers.'' Two years ago Mrs. Amanda 

 Sigler (Indiana) "moved to the worst 

 looking lot in to^." 



"The yard was filled with rubbish. The barn 

 was in front next to the street, the woodshed 

 at the side of the house, near the front. The 

 cistern and a pile of clay were in view also. 

 I was discouraged, nervous, and unhappy. A 

 friend induced me to subscribe for Home and 

 Flowers. The pictures of lovely homes and 

 suggestions of improvement roused my am- 

 bition. I persuaded my husband to move the 

 barn and woodshed to the rear, and make walks. 

 We cleared away the rubbish and planted 

 vines and flowers everywhere. Wild cucumber 

 vines now climb over one porch, and madeira 

 vines over another. Where the woodhouse stood 

 a bed of cannas is blooming. Where the barn 

 stood trees and chrysanthemums are growing. 

 Between the house and the barn there are 

 trees and cosmos. An immense caladium and 

 two oleanders hide the cistern pump. Where 

 the pile of clay lay is now a mass of geraniums 

 and verbenas, and the walks are bordered with 

 petunias. The fence is covered with nastur- 

 tiums. People say we have doubled the value 

 of our place. Our yard is beautiful, and we 

 are happy— thanks to Home and Flowers.^' 

 ^ ^ ^ 



To have brought about such a change 

 in a home as the following (described by 

 Mrs. Hattie C. Bon, Nebraska) really 

 makes one feel proud. 



•'One day my husband came into the house 

 and remarked, 'I never saw this dining-room 

 look as cosy and comfortable as it does today. 

 . . . Everything seems to look and taste 

 better than ever before. My dear, have you 

 been going to a cooking-school, and talking les- 

 sons in dining-room decorations?' . . . 'No, 

 indeed. I have only been reading and studying 

 the very best of magazines ever published— 

 Home and Flowers.' " 



❖ * * 



These letters, and many others like 

 them which are being constantly received, 

 encourage me to believe that the magazine 

 is accomplishing what it set out to do — 

 to help people live the life beautiful. Bnt 

 I want to receive more such letters as those 

 quoted above. What has the magazine 

 done for you all in a practical way? 



* ❖ * 



An editor and a preacher, you know, la- 

 bor under one serious disadvantage. Their 

 audiences seldom "talk back." Perhaps, 

 on first thought, it would seem that im- 

 munity from being "talked back'^ at were 

 anything but a disadvantage,. The aver- 

 age reader, however, has no idea how much 

 it helps and pleases an editor to have his 

 readers tell him plainly just what they 

 think. By this, I do not mean either in- 

 discriminate praise or captious criticism, 

 but a frank, fair exchange of views Speak 

 out plainly, please. 



It is generally admitted that Home and 

 Flowers has been improved during the 

 past four months— since it assumed reg- 

 ular magazine form. We hope to make it 

 better still — much better. Meanwhile, the 

 magazine is for you all, to help you all. 

 ^^The Well-Ordered Household" can be 

 taken advantage of much more widely and 

 freely than has so far been done. Miss 

 Van Rensselaer presides over this depart- 

 ment in the same way as Mr. Rexford 

 does over the floral section of the maga- 

 zine. Be quite free to ask her as many 

 questions pertaining to household prob- 

 lems as occur to you, and, above all, 

 do not fail to write her of your experiences 

 in simplifying your life and so reducing 



