ASTRIDE A HOBBY 
HEN a man buys an automobile there are few details of its 
construction, design or working characteristics that he 
does not investigate in advance. Before he pays real money for 
a car he knows enough about it—unless he is the one man in a 
thousand who is willing to buy a “pig in a poke’' — to expatiate 
at length upon its advantages in design and the excellence of 
the materials employed. He knows that only the highest class 
of drop forgings have been used in the axles; that the best 
known type of magneto has been put into the car ; that there 
are installed all the little devices that make for comfort and 
luxurious ease of operation. It is hard to conceive of a man 
who would buy a car without knowing that he was getting 
tires of a reputable manufacturer. Yet this same man, who must 
have the quality of every part in an automobile demonstrated 
before he buys, will buy a house after the most casual sort of 
an inspection. He does not know whether the stucco on the out¬ 
side walls is on a good or a worthless support. He does not know 
whether this support is fastened directly to the stud frame or 
whether it has the desirable board' sheathing and building paper 
in between. Whether the flooring consists of a single thickness 
of cheap North Carolina pine or of dependable Georgia pine on 
an under-floor, is a question that he does not think it worth while 
to investigate. Why this unquenchable thirst for information in 
the case of the automobile and this blind faith in a protecting 
Providence in the case of the house ? The only reason that occurs 
to us is the tendency on the part of a hobby to induce hard riding. 
Moral: Get the house hobby. 
PRIDE OF CRAFT 
I F you will examine in detail a house built a century or more 
ago, comparing it with a modern house of the same general 
class, you will notice a difference that corresponds very closely 
to the difference between a piece of jewelry that is modeled by 
an enthusiastic hand-craftsman and one that is stamped out by 
a die in a machine. Here and there in the old house you will 
find some curiously interesting eccentricity of construction- — some 
ingenious solution of an awkward problem. W hen a carpenter 
was fitting the wood trim around a door close to the end of a 
partition he used his judgment and turned out an attractive if not 
a perfectly symmetrical doorway. Today the carpenter would 
change the location of the door rather than risk being unable to 
follow his rule-of-thumb treatment of the opening. The result is 
that the great majority of our modern homes look as if they had 
been stamped out with the same set of dies from some vast house¬ 
making machine. It is too bad, for this makes it all the harder 
for a home to have that air of individuality that we all recognize 
and promptly covet on sight. Our houses are turned over to us. 
fresh from the die-stamping machine, and our only hope of attain¬ 
ing individuality in them lies in the furnishings and decorations. 
But there is a way out of this and it deserves earnest considera¬ 
tion. Before the building is quite finished, go over it and note 
the details that are not beyond your own ability as a craftsman. 
There are sure to be some of these, even for the most unskilled. 
In all probability you are enough of a carpenter to build your 
latticework for vines, from your own designs; or perhaps you can 
take the bread out of your mason’s mouth by laying your own 
hearth ; homemade hardware can be given an air of distinction 
very easily, as Mr. Maxfield Parish has so well shown in his own 
home; built-in shelving and presses for photographs, engravings 
and such things are not beyond most of us. If we would stamp 
something of our own personality upon our homes we must make 
up our minds to the fact that the work of our own hands must 
find its way into the structure — the more it is in evidence, pro¬ 
vided only that it is well done, the more surely will that particu¬ 
lar house be ours unmistakably. 
A SUGGESTION FROM THE COUNTY FAIR 
T HE county fairs of 1911 are past and the man who failed to 
attend at least one of them missed a rare treat. There 
is a good wholesome atmosphere about these fairs that fosters 
optimism. Each year the prize pumpkin seems a bit larger than 
ever before, the broad-backed hogs more unwieldy and shorter- 
legged. On every side there is something to remind you that 
nature has once more produced a marvelous harvest of grains, 
fruits and livestock. A day at a big county fair is the surest 
antidote for pessimism that we know. 
It seems a pity that the amateur gardener has not taken his 
cue from the county fair and shown a greater activity in organiz¬ 
ing competitive exhibitions of flowers, fruits and vegetables. 
While we do have the great benefit and pleasure to be derived 
from a few of these shows, like the recent Dahlia Show in New 
York and the annual events of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, competitive exhibiting among amateur gardeners is not 
nearly so common as it should be. In England the various local 
shows of the National Rose Society bring out not only the keenest 
competition between amateurs and professionals, but a wide dis¬ 
semination of rose-growing knowledge that has made our Eng¬ 
lish brothers the most skillful rosarians in the world. Our fellow- 
enthusiasts, the amateur photographers, have no end of competi¬ 
tive exhibitions, tending always to raise the standard of pictorial 
photography in print or lantern slide to a still higher level. The 
time has come for some much-needed work in organization of 
local horticultural societies among amateurs. What can you do 
toward helping along the good work? 
EGG LAYING IN THE CANAL ZONE 
A S related in the Canal Record of August 23, 1911, the hospital 
at Ancon started a poultry farm in January, 1910. They 
began with 200 Brown Leghorn hens and 15 cocks. Later 100 
hens and 10 cocks of the Rhode Island red type were added, and 
the next winter 230 Plymouth Rocks arrived. This stock was 
increased this year by 100 Brown Leghorn fowls. The first 18 
months saw a total egg production of 53,469 eggs (about 4,455 
dozen). Analyzing the part each breed had in this total it was 
found that the Leghorns laid 29,329 eggs, the Reds. 9,098 and the 
Plymouth Rocks, 15,042. As to the comparative share each hen 
had in this total, the figures showed that the monthly average over 
a period of eighteen months for each Brown Leghorn was 8.2 
eggs; for R. I. Reds, 7.7 eggs, and for Plymouth Rocks, 6.5. A 
table is also published giving the monthly number of eggs pro¬ 
duced and the approximate cost. Although difference of climatic 
conditions would have to be taken into consideration to apply 
these figures to conditions here, the comparative laying ability of 
the different breeds and the cost of running the farm may be used 
as standard with our results. We reproduce this table entire: 
No. of Total Cost per 
Dozen. Cost. Dozen. 
January. 287 $36.97 $0.13 
February. 243 28.33 .nj 4 
March . 247 28.81 ,irj 4 
April . 281 29.16 . 10)4 
May . 299 29.94 .10 
June . 235 32.34 .13)4 
July . 223 25.15 .11)4 
The greatest story that these figures tell is the careful method 
of proceeding in a business-like way in recording the success or 
failure of a husbandry undertaking. Without such a record the 
last year’s experiences have nothing to teach us for the future. 
They shed no light on improving our methods or buying new 
stock. 
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