74 
House & Garden 
The Variety of Ranges 
{Continued from page 72) 
the rate is still too high for any but 
lamp socket devices. It has been esti¬ 
mated that there are at least 4,000 com¬ 
munities in the United States where the 
special rate of heating and cooking elec¬ 
tricity is at five cents per kilowatt hour. 
The advantages of cooking by electricity 
are so many that even a slight lowering 
of the rate will be a big inducement for 
many who can afford to install electric 
ranges, especially those who are wedded 
to the use of lamp socket electric de¬ 
vices. 
Considering that the appearance of 
food is more attractive when cooked by 
electricity than by coal or gas, that 
there is from fifteen to twenty-five per 
cent saved in weight when cooking by 
electricity, it is wise to compute the 
difference in the cost of electricity and 
gas in your community before deciding 
that you cannot afford to cook by elec¬ 
tricity. Besides these facts there are 
others important enough to enter into 
the decision. There is absolutely no dan¬ 
ger in cooking with this medium, it is 
the most sanitary of all cooking agents 
and there are no consequent foul gases 
and fumes, the heat regulation is per¬ 
fect, hence the perfect results, and the 
operation is most simple and con¬ 
venient. 
With ranges in all sizes from the two 
plate with portable oven on a pivot for 
light housekeeping to the enameled 
double oven range with fireless cooker 
compartment, there are many interven¬ 
ing sizes from which the housewife can 
choose. In fact, every cooking require¬ 
ment is met in these ranges. Ovens are 
lined with aluminum to retain the heat 
and defeat corrosion and rust. There 
are two heating units in all ovens. In 
one model one may broil on the top 
unit and roast on the lower one, but 
only one can be used at a time. Hot 
plates are equipped with three heat 
units. Wire heating units are sheathed 
so that every portion can be cleaned 
without danger of shock. Oven doors 
in some models drop in a horizontal 
position so that a shelf is formed on 
which one can draw out the roast or 
bread. Many oven doors have glass 
windows for inspecting the food while 
cooking, obviating the constant open¬ 
ing of the oven door. Many are 
equipped with an automatic clock 
which will turn off the current at any 
desired time. 
Of all the fuel savers the gas and elec¬ 
tric combination range is possibly the 
greatest. 
Other Fuels 
Gasoline is the most dangerous of all 
fuels and should be used with the great¬ 
est precaution and only when there is 
no other available fuel. Manufacturers 
who have the consideration of the cook 
at heart have put on the market very 
desirable oil ranges. This method of 
cooking is most practical in the country 
during the summer where there is no 
other fuel than the coal range. It is 
difficult to bake quickly in an oil oven 
for it heats slower than any other and 
the baking is consequently slower. 
Alcohol is used in many cases where 
other fuels are considered dangerous or 
not procurable. Alcohol burns at a 
lower temperature than other fuels, con¬ 
sequently spilled alcohol will burn and 
leave the table or tray on which it 
spilled unharmed. Portable alcohol 
stoves with separate ovens will meet any 
unusual need. 
All mediums considered, electricity is 
par excellence and it is to be hoped that 
in the near future cooking and heating 
rates will be lowered sufficiently to be 
within the reach of all. 
Layering Carnations 
J ULY is the month best suited for car¬ 
nation layering, and layering is the 
surest and easiet method of propa¬ 
gating these plants. Unless they are so 
propagated, and their youth renewed, 
the old plants become leggy and woody, 
rot and decay set in, and when the 
winter is over the carnations are found 
to be no more, or so far debilitated as 
to be useless. Layering is, therefore, a 
necessary cultural operation, apart from 
the mere multiplication of plants. 
The leafy growths are the ones to 
layer, not the flowering stems. First 
clear away all dead leaves and rubbish 
from the plants, and fork up the soil 
all around with a hand fork. On this 
put a layer of gritty, sandy loam as a 
rooting medium and press down slight¬ 
ly. Now select a shoot for operating 
upon and trim off all leaves from the 
lower part. Bend it down to see where 
is the most suitable part to cut, and 
then with a keen knife cut halfway into 
the stem just below a joint and slit the 
stem upward toward the end of the 
shoot for about 1". This forms a 
tongue. If the incision is made below 
a joint the piece of stem should be cut 
from the tongue, so that the joint forms 
its base. 
The idea is the making of a cutting 
without severing it from the parent 
stem, and cuttings in general must be 
cut through just below a joint. Press 
the cut shoots on to the soil, and peg 
firmly down just behind where the cut 
was made. Then cover with 2" of the 
sandy soil, and place more in front of 
the shoot, so as to bend the tuft of 
leaves more or less upright. This needs 
to be carefully done, or the stepi may 
snap. Should it do so, then make the 
shoot into a cutting, and insert under 
a hand-light or in a frame, and keep 
close and shaded for a time, in the hope 
of getting it to root. 
Some growers cut the leaves off to 
about two-thirds of their length to re¬ 
duce the drain upon the plants, but 
this is not essential. The pegs may be 
small wooden ones cut from birch 
brooms, stems of bracken, privet, etc.; 
or bent pieces of thin galvanized wire, 
or the ubiquitous lady’s hairpin, may be 
requisitioned. Layering pins can be 
purchased cheaply if desired. 
After layering water with a rosed 
watering can to settle all, and repeat as 
necessary should the weather be dry. 
Each layer should be widely spaced 
from its neighbor, so that when finished 
the parent plant will be surrounded 
with a circle of layered shoots. 
Carnations in pots can be similarly 
layered, either by setting the old plant 
in the garden or in a frame, or by 
dropping it into a box or large pot, and 
filling all around with light, sandy, 
loamy soil and layering therein. Layer¬ 
ing carnations is, perhaps, best done 
after a hot day, when the stems are 
more or less limp, as they bend better 
then and are less liable to break. The 
best soil for layering into is equal parts 
leaf mould, loam, coarse sand and burnt 
refuse ash. A folded sack, to form a 
kneeling pad, so that the operator can 
get right down to his work, is a help. 
