HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 1912 
D ON’T be swayed from your 
decision to plant some ever¬ 
greens in August or Sep¬ 
tember, simply because your neigh¬ 
bor, or some one else, doubts the 
practicalness. It is the ideal time. 
We have been doing it with mark¬ 
ed success for years. 
How about some of Hick’s size¬ 
able cedars to screen an undesir¬ 
able outlook, or to give a touch of 
formality to your grounds? 
All evergreens are slow of 
growth, co unless you are willing 
to wait years for results, buy 
Hicks’ large trees and get imme¬ 
diate effects. Never in all our 
years of business have we had so 
choice a collection of trees for you 
to choose from. Come and pick 
yours out. If you can’t, then 
send for our Evergreen Catalog 
and order direct from it. 
Isaac Hicks (El Son 
Westbury, Long Island 
PRIVATE ELECTRIC PLANT 
What an improvement electric light would be in your Summer home. 
It is Clean, Safe, Convenient and Economical. No danger 
of explosions and no matches to handle. Electricity is the ideal 
illuminant. Install your own lighting set and be independent. 
ALAMO ELECTRIC LIGHTING SETS 
are absolutely reliable and easy to operate. Surely you are interested 
enough to read our booklet “Electric Light and Power on the Country 
Home and Farm.” 
ALAMO MFG. CO., Hillsdale, Michigan 
EAS TERN REPRESENTA 7 IVES: 
CHAS. PFAU OTIS WELLS & CO. LUNT-MOSS CO. 
Bourse Bldg., Phila. 2 Rector St., New York Boston, Mass. 
using new, avoid on general principles the 
new “scheme,” never use a plated metal; 
it will not wear. Buy locks that have good 
steel working parts, aside from the purely 
artistic side. Remember that a really 
cheap article cannot be otherwise than 
cheap. Select hardware that fits. 
One of the most important considera¬ 
tions relating to hardware is putting it in 
place, after having procured it. We will 
try to consider the fitness of it together 
with its placing. Our forefathers were 
very successful as a whole with the de¬ 
signing of units, but, in combining these 
units into a composition, they made as 
many failures as successes. Some of their 
blunders are so unwarranted as to be fool¬ 
ish. As a general thing, they passed over 
the hinges with credit. Sometimes, how¬ 
ever, a specimen out of all proportion to 
the door necessitated the cutting away of 
part of the back mold of the architrave, 
with the natural effect of mutilation. Much 
of this may have been the fault of the 
owner's selection. It was, however, with 
the adjustment of the latch that they fell 
most deplorably, and here again it was 
often the design of the door which caused 
the fall. With the inside problem there 
should be but little trouble as the fitting is 
comparatively small. Usually it was only 
necessary that the handle be set as near as 
possible to the center of the style and the 
latch not too far from the middle of the 
rail, which is commonly called the lock- 
rail. Of course it is very important that 
this rail be at the proper height; this was 
a chance for another blunder, and in the 
earlier work they generally made it. It is 
with the outer door that the real trouble 
occurred; old examples prove this. 
The place for the knocker is in the cen¬ 
ter of the door and at a convenient height 
for manipulation. If on a double door, it 
may balance the latch, or be placed above 
it on the same style. It is further import¬ 
ant that the style and shape of the knocker 
fits that of the door. When the door is 
divided by several horizontal rails, the 
knocker may approach a somewhat squat 
shape, and is perhaps best located at the 
juncture of rail and stile—if the same be 
feasible — or even a trifle above it. For 
doors with predominant vertical panels a 
more vertical knocker may be used. This 
last type can also be used on a many-pan¬ 
eled door by simply placing it on the stile 
rather than the intersection of stile and 
rail. The intermediate type may be used 
with any door; the result depends on its 
placing. The knocker should never be 
wide enough to interfere with or destroy 
the architectural lines of the door. It may 
fill the full width of the stile, but such is 
the limit. In this case the lines of the 
panel moldings still preserve the intention 
of the door design. 
It is often puzzling to determine just 
what knocker really belongs with the rest 
of the door fittings, and it is most difficult 
to lay down rules which shall effectively 
govern such questions. It is largely one of 
common sense, taste and a knowledge of 
things Colonial. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
