332 



HOME- LIFE ON A RENTED PLACE. 



ghany vine is a beautiful climbing plant, and makes a 

 lovely panel, but must be sowed the year before to make 

 good strong plants, with which to cover a frame 



If you have a large mound in your grass-plat which you 

 would like to make a thing of beauty, construct a circular 

 wire frame with the center raised high, or look about for 

 an old umbrella-frame with a strong handle. Take off 

 the cover, cut the knob off the handle, and sharpen it so 

 you can drive it into the center of the mound ; fasten the 

 end of each rib in the earth so that the^wind cannot 

 loosen it. Buy a good supply of cypress-vine seed and 

 soak twenty-four hours before sowing. Make the soil 

 mellow around the outside edge of the umbrella-frame. 



sow the seeds quite thick but not deep, covering them 

 lightly with sand. Run wires or cords between the ribs 

 to the top of the handle and fasten. After the seeds are 

 sown, if there are cold nights, throw an old carpet over 

 the whole, remembering to take it off in the morning 

 after the sun is up. When the plants are up a few inches 

 loosen the soil with a trowel around them, and whan they 

 begin to show signs of climbing start them on the strings 

 and they will soon cover the frame with a mass of lovely 

 foliage and star-shaped blossoms. The scarlet variety 

 is more desirable than the mixed seed, and will give bet- 

 ter results when treated as above. 



Illinois. M. J. Ashton. 



HOME-LIFE ON A RENTED PLACE. 



PRACTICAL HINTS TO RENTERS. 



0 BE "only a renter" is the 

 condition of the majority of 

 people in the larger towns 

 and cities, and a miserable 

 condition it is in most cases. 

 Much of the tendency to 

 wildness among young peo- 

 ple arises from a lack of at- 

 tractive homes ; and this is 

 too often the cause of trouble 

 between older members of 

 the family. Toiling all day 

 amid dreary surroundings, 

 week after week , is not likely 

 to make sweeter or more cheerful the temper of the wife. 

 If, on the other hand, the husband comes home after a 

 hard day's work, forces his way through a gate off the 

 hinges, across a dreary, flowerless yard and up rickety 

 steps, stubbing his toes against stray bricks, he isn't an 

 angel by the time he gets into the house. But if you ask 

 him why he doesn't put a couple of screws in that gate- 

 hinge, get up a bit earlier to-morrow and sow some grass- 

 seed about the yard, and spade up some flower-beds after 

 tea, his reply is sure to be, "Oh ! I am only a renter, 

 and you don't catch me fixing up for some one else." 



Such a man may remain in the same place for five or 

 six years, but will be ' ' only a renter " still. All improve- 

 ments that he can't coax or browbeat the landlord into 

 making are unmade, and so he and his family drag out 

 lives that seem merely mechanical. If he only knew it 

 this man is not capable of nearly so much good work as if 

 he w-ere blessed with restful, cheery, home surroundings. 



My experience has shown that the landlord who finds 

 you inclined to improve his place and keep it attractive 

 will be much more willing to furnish you with paint, 

 paper, repairs, etc., even though he be a skinflint with 



every one else. Try this plan for a time and see how it 

 works. Don't expect results the first week, but wait three 

 or four months and then see if he has not softened a bit. 



In your morbid fear of benefiting some one else you 

 are only cheating yourself. The greatest outlay necessary 

 to make your rented place a real home in all but perma- 

 nent possession is in muscle. The work can easily be 

 done by your own hands, and if you don't know how to 

 do it, it is high time you learned. Of more actual im- 

 portance to you is the fact that this work in the open 

 ground and open air, done by your own will and for your 

 own benefit, is just what you need physically. If you 

 do not believe me, try it for a week or ten days, getting 

 up in the early morning and doing what you can before 

 leaving home for your day's work, and see if you have 

 not a better appetite, and do not feel more like taking up 

 regular daily employment. 



An outlay of 25 cents will buy a rake, with which you 

 can level your yard, and a dime will purchase grass-seed. 

 But don't stop here ; have at least one flower-bed, plant 

 two or three good outdoor roses and some lilacs. Grape- 

 vines will not be out of place, and small-fruits, like 

 currants and raspberries, will save you money for your 

 table in two or three years. All these plants are cheap , 

 and easily cared for, will make the home attractive to 

 yourself and family, and (a great point to be gained) 

 you will learn to like the place. 



Moving is very expensive business, when you come to 

 look at it carefully, and a working-man can easily keep 

 himself poor by moving every spring and fall, as so many 

 do. Money and property cannot be accumulated by a 

 married man in running about the country or moving 

 from place to place every few months ; so if you are 

 forced by circumstances to rent instead of own the place 

 where you live, try to make a home of it and stay there. 



Micliioati. D. M. Farnsworth. 



