SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MONTH 
grr" W<' 
House 
4 = t;U »v|l n n ifijf 
.aaimsHw 
Garden 
r A 
The housekeeper’s aim in August is commonly to think as little 
about the house as possible, to shut up the household goods and 
banish all thought of their welfare. But this is not always feasible 
and there are compensations for those who take their holiday at 
home well worth considering. A little boy once said that leap year 
came every four years in order to give an extra day for the inaugu¬ 
ration of the President, and some housekeepers have thought, in 
like manner, that August has been included in the calendar that 
they might have a spare month in which to attend to neglected odds 
and ends. There are always things about a house which are not 
pressing needs, and therefore can be put off to a convenient season, 
but which, for this very reason, too often remain indefinitely un¬ 
done, some small repairs here and there which add immensely 
to the comfort and preservation of the house and yet are not urgent. 
It is so easy to accommodate oneself to inconvenience—to grow 
used to the “dear dilapidation” that has come upon us gradually. 
August is the time to have your reupholstering done, to have 
your mattresses made over and your pillows steamed. T he family 
is smaller then and the workmen are less busy. It is a good time, 
too, to repaint that old set of enameled furniture, or to give those 
odd pieces a pleasant, dull, Flemish oak finish. With the windows 
wide open the paint or stain will soon dry and the odor will not 
linger. To he sure, these are the expediencies of the “comfortably 
poor,” but the rest of the world, you know, are taking a make- 
believe holiday. 
In all probability expert painting, outdoors and in, and the neces¬ 
sary papering, and decorating, have been done in July, though it 
is a little better, perhaps, if it has been put off till August, for it will 
be fresher then when the house is reoccupied in the autumn. If so, 
care should be taken that the new surfaces are protected against 
flies, and if any long wet spell comes to have the house thoroughly 
aired lest mildew result. 
It is also very important at this time to examine the cellar and 
the safes, and to have all drains inspected, that there may be no 
stagnation and no lurking fever germs. See also to your roof gut¬ 
ters, and down spouts, for if you have overhanging trees, they 
are apt to become clogged with natural debris and when the Sep¬ 
tember rains come the result will be disastrous. 
And for present comfort give the house as cool an appearance as 
possible, and make the porches thoroughly livable. Get com¬ 
fortable chairs for the piazza whether they are picturesque or not, 
screen the light, and place a bowl of bright nasturtiums on the porch 
table with the current magazines. 
Indoors, avoid a glare of light, but insure plenty of air and good 
ventilation. Stuffy, cool rooms are less agreeable than breezy 
warm ones. Keep the slip covers fresh, even if they have to be 
laundered in the middle of summer; have the matting on the 
floors wiped up with a damp cloth once a week, or once in a fort¬ 
night, and put a little salt in the water if you wish to restore the 
color; and don’t have much bric-a-brac about. The pleasantest 
summer rooms are those in which the furnishings are simple. But 
it is also well to avoid the other extreme, to remember that the man 
of the house wants a home in August as much as in December, and 
that because the rest of the family are away the house should not 
be made dreary and uninhabitable. Curtains swathed in dust 
covers, furniture shrouded merely for protection, and pictures 
covered with sheeting muslin, even if cool, do not tend toward 
making a cheerful environment. Screen the windows to keep 
out the flies, and have the coverings attractive as well as useful. 
(Continued on page 8, Advertising Section.) 
Keep the garden sightly by removing weeds, dead leaves and 
flowers, and tying up vines. 
Tea roses and others that bloom in the fall should be given liquid 
manure. A tablespoonful of aqua ammonia in a gallon waterpot 
full of water is the proper quantity. 
Roses and other hardy plants should receive a liberal mulch of 
well rotted manure, grass clippings and other similar material. 
1 his serves the purpose of keeping the roots of the plants cool and 
moist, prevents the earth from crusting, without preventing the 
rain water from getting to the roots. 
Hardy hydrangea can be propagated from cuttings. Make the 
cuttings about four inches in length, remove all the leaves but the 
upper pair, and if the leaves are large, as they will most likely be, 
cut away a portion of each leaf from the tip downward; this will 
leave foliage enough to sustain proper circulation and not enough 
to cause wilting by excessive transpiration. Have the soil mellow 
and fully exposed to the sun. Set the cuttings in the ground and 
press the earth closely about the base and the stem. Water freely, 
and cover with a paper, for two or three days, during the hottest 
hours of each day. Be sure to remove the paper at night and do 
not replace it before nine o’clock in the morning. By the end of the 
third day this protection may be discontinued. If the weather is 
dull and damp the protection is not necessary. 
I his is the time to grow hardy rose cuttings. Procure strong 
shoots, of good length, plant deep in a well prepared bed, leaving 
at least two buds above the surface of the soil. Place over the 
cutting a glass fruit jar which should be pressed well into the earth. 
Keep the ground well moistened about the cutting, but do not dis¬ 
turb or remove the glass. Air is fed to the plant through the pores 
of the earth. 
As the winter comes on, cover the ground around the glass jar 
even to the top thereof with coarse barnyard manure, and leave the 
bottom of the inverted jar uncovered for a window to the plant. 
When the frost is out of the ground in the spring, remove the 
coarse parts of the manure and work that remaining in about the 
roots of the plant. Take away the jar. The cutting will by that 
time have been rooted and in condition for fine spring growth. 
During this month Easter lilies, freesias, buttercups, oxalis 
and zephyranthes must be potted if good results are hoped for. 
Do not wait until it is too late for these bulbs, then pot and com¬ 
plain at the outcome in the spring. 
In potting use porous, sandy soil and barely cover the bulbs. 
Water sparingly till the tops push up and then increase the supply. 
During the winter avoid a dry, hot room and give the plants plenty 
of light so they will not grow up slender. Do not hurry the growth. 
Keep the chrysanthemums well watered during the month and 
look out for the “black aphis,” an insect which has a decided liking 
for this particular plant. If this bug appears promptly dispatch 
(Continued on page 8, Advertising Section.) 
8o 
