I 318 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
November, 1912 
If you are planning to build your new home—or other 
moderate sized structure— 100% fire-safe, you cannot be 
fair to yourself without thoroughly investigating 
NATCO • HOLLOWTILE 
Fireproof, damp-proof, vermin-proof, age-proof; warmer in Winter, cooler in Summer 
Often the term fireproof as applied to a finished building merely signifies 
that everything can be gutted by fire except the walls. 
The fire-safe building is one where fire cannot gain a foothold — one in 
which nothing outside the inflammable contents of the room where the 
fire occurs can be burned. This is the kind of home or house you ought 
to build — 100% fire-safe. 
The additional cost of Natco Hollow Tile construction throughout — walls, partitions, floors and roof 
— is totally overshadowed by the superior advantages gained. Complete immunity as against semi-safety. 
NATCO construction, even in its partial forms, is one of the soundest forms of investment. With 
NATCO you are building into the future. Your house can never be regarded as “obsolete.” Repairs 
do not figure with a NATCO house. 
Read up this form of construction before you go ahead with your building specifications. Drop 
a line for our 64-page handbook, “Fireproof Houses.” Contains 80 photographs of residences and other 
moderate sized buildings where NATCO has been used for exterior wall construction at costs between 
$4,000 and $100,000, also a few complete drawings and floor plans. An invaluable guide to the 
prospective builder. Mailed anywhere for 20 cents in postage. Write for it today. 
NATIONAL FIRE • PROOFING • COMPANY 
Organized 1889. Dept. Y, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. Offices in All Principal Cities 
Plant for Immediate Effect 
Not for Future Generations 
START WITH THE LARGEST STOCK that can be secured! It takes many 
years to grow many of the Trees and Shrubs that we offer. 
WE DO THE LONG WAITING —thus enabling you to secure Trees and Shrubs that 
give an immediate effect. Send for Fall Price List. 
ANDORRA NURSERIES H PHILAD™LPBM, L PA. 
WM. WARNER HARPER, Proprietor 
should be pruned back accordingly. 
The pruning of shrubs is a matter often 
overdone. For a general rule “the less 
pruning the better” might be taken. Dead 
wood, of course, should be cut out, and 
where growth becomes too thick a few of 
the oldest shoots should be cut out at the 
base. Individual specimens and hedges 
should be kept trimmed into symmetrical 
shape, but groups and masses should be 
left, for the most part, to take care of 
themselves. 
When to prune shrubbery is a question 
that depends upon the variety; but as it is 
a difficult task to keep track of all the va¬ 
rieties, the following rule is a good one to 
go by. Shrubs blooming before midsum¬ 
mer should be pruned immediately after 
flowering; those blooming after midsum¬ 
mer as soon as the buds start in the spring. 
For best results, the fertility of the soil 
should be maintained. The easiest way of 
doing this is to spade or fork into the soil, 
early in the spring, a dressing of ground 
bone, together with whatever decayed 
leaves and litter there may be, taking care 
to work it well down, as a rich surface 
soil would tend to draw the roots to the top 
— a condition just the opposite of that 
which is desirable. 
While the varieties of shrubs are so 
numerous that it is risky to pick out any 
one as the “best” for this or that special 
purpose, there are several in each class that 
are pretty sure to prove the most satis¬ 
factory. There are also some striking new 
varieties which are not as yet well known.' 
The following lists include some of these 
as well as the most popular of the standard 
sorts. 
Hydrangeas are, without question, more 
popular than anything else. H. panicul- 
ata gran did or a blooming in late summer 
with its huge pyramidal pannicles of flow¬ 
ers, opening white but changing to a rose 
color, is deservedly a universal favorite. 
H. arborescens grandiflora the “snowball 
hydrangea,” which blooms in early June 
and lasts almost until September, should 
be more generally used. 
Spiraeas afford a wide range of form 
and size from which to select. Of the 
larger sorts, suitable for single specimens, 
Van Houttei is the most graceful and beau¬ 
tiful. Prunifolia (bridal wreath), an old 
favorite, still one of the most beautiful 
shrubs, and Sorbifolia stellipeda, with 
leaves of fern like appearance making a 
background for its gracefully supported 
white flowers, are medium in size and very 
desirable. 
Deutzias are exceptionally free flower¬ 
ing and should have a place in every col¬ 
lection. D. crenata has pinkish double 
flowers; “Pride of Rochester” is a fine 
tall double white. Weigelas (Diervillas) 
are spreading in habit, with trumpet¬ 
shaped flowers in several colors, borne in 
June and July. Eva Rathke is one of the 
newest, and a decided addition to the list, 
it having flowers of a rich carmine and 
blooms for a long season. Rosea nana 
zariegata, with flowers of light pink, is 
one of the few variegated leaved shrubs 
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