House and Garden 
Brainerd, Leeds & Russell, Architects , Boston. 
Renowned for 
their durability 
Admired lor tbeir 
Artistic effects 
DEXTER BROTHERS’ 
ENGLISH SHINGLE STAINS 
Cost 50% less than paint and preserve your shingles 
50% better. Send for samples and ask for our New 
Ideas for Stains. 
DEXTER BROTHERS’ COMPANY 
103*105-107 Broad St. - Boston 
AGENTS: H. M. Hooker Co., 57 W. Randolph St.. Ch cago; W. 
S. Hucston, 22 E. 22d St.. Ne-v York: John D. S. Potts, 218 Race 
St., Philadelphia; F. H. McDonald, 619 The Gilbert, Grand Rapids; 
F. H. Crowe & Co., Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma. Wash.. and Portland, 
Ore.; Klatt-Hirsch & Co.. 113 Front St., San Francisco, Cal. 
T TITCHINGS & CO. make every kind of a green- 
-*■ house and accessory, from cold frames to 
large ranges and conservatories. Each proposition 
receives our careful supervision—you are assu red 
of pleasant dealing and the guarantee of Hitchings 
& Co.’s long greenhouse experience. 
HITCHINGS Up COMPANY 
Greenhouse Designers and Builders 
Manufacturers of 
Heating and Ventilating Apparatus 
1170 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 
It’s easy digging 
POST HOLES 
with the 
BUTCHER DIGGER 
11 
We will send you sample 
one, express paid, and if 
satisfactory you can remit 
us 52 for it. 
LARAMY-HOWLETT CO. 
Standish Street 
* — 
CAMBRIDGE 
P. 0. Box 42 Mass. 
In Building 
Your Home 
are you building for one summer or for a 
generation. 
Are You Erecting 
a New House 
that is going to look shoddy or shabby in 
a year or two? 
Are you familiar with the economy 
of using floor and wall tile in bath-rooms, 
kitchens, butlers’ pantries, laundries, 
fireplaces, vestibules and porches ? 
For free information write to the In¬ 
formation Bureau of the 
TILE INDUSTRY 
318 Corcoran Bldg. Washington, D. C. 
It is no argument to say that 
other locks have the YALE 
mechanism. A dollar watch 
has the same principle as the 
most expensive watch but it 
does not do for regulating 
trains. 
YALE £ T0WNE, New York 
AMERICAN SASH PULLEYS 
Made of Pressed Metal, having a strength, beauty 
and finish never before possible, with Plain 
Axles, Roller Bearings and Ball Bearings 
Catalogue for the asking 
THE AMERICAN PULLEY COMPANY 
29th and Bristol Streets Philadelphia, Pa. 
the construction of floors, troughs, gut¬ 
ters, tanks, ditches, dams, walks, posts, 
building blocks, etc. 
Prof. H. M. Bainer, of the Chair of 
Farm Mechanics, at the Colorado Agri¬ 
cultural College, makes the following 
valuable suggestions: 
CH.lVI±tn 1 
Use nothing but the best cement that 
can he obtained. It should be in a fine, 
powdery condition and contain no lumps. 
Cement should be stored in a dry place, 
as dampness is an element of great 
danger. 
SAND 
T he sand used should be clean, sharp, 
and not too fine. It should be free from 
loam or clay, as these will tend to destroy 
the adhesive quality and to retard the 
setting of the cement. Clay mixed with 
the sand may be removed by washing. 
By sharp sand we mean that the edges 
of the grains must be sharp and not 
round or worn oft', as will often be the 
case with sand found in the bed of a 
stream. Coarse sand is better than fine 
sand. T me sand, even if clean, makes a 
poorer mortar or concrete and requires 
more cement to thoroughly coat the 
grains. A large proportion of the grains 
should measure from 1-32 to 1—16 of an 
inch in diameter. Some fine sand is 
necessary to help fill the spaces between 
the larger grains, thus saving cement. 
WATER 
The water used should be clean and 
tree from acids or alkalies. For making 
the best concrete, add just enough w ater 
so that when all the concrete is in the 
form and is well tamped, moisture will 
show on the surface. I he tamping is a 
very important operation and the qual¬ 
ity of the work is dependent upon how' 
well this is done. Unless this is thor¬ 
oughly accomplished, the concrete is 
likely to be honeycombed and imperfect, 
especially near the forms. 
PROPORTIONS 
For the ordinary farm construction, as 
the making of floors, walls, walks, gut¬ 
ters, etc., the following proportion is to 
be recommended: one part cement, 
two and one-half parts clean, loose sand, 
and five parts of loose gravel or broken 
stone. For floors this should be tamped 
into a depth of from five to eight inches. 
This should be finished with a surface 
coat of one to one and one-half inches in 
thickness, composed of one part cement 
(Continued on page 30 .) 
26 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
