May, 1915 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
367 
Neighborizing the Farmer 
the other things do as well in proportion. 
I have had but little success in water 
lilies; not that they do not thrive, but my 
fish eat them. The beautiful browns and 
greens of the leaves are lovely, but I have 
never had any blossoms. 
But plant life is not the only thing of 
interest in my garden. The fish have 
proved most fascinating. Some of my 
gold fish are nearly nine inches long, while 
the smallest are not more than two or 
three inches. 
From experience I have learned that 
while fish kept indoors are unable to stand 
sudden changes of temperature in the 
water, those living in the pond can endure 
almost any extremes of heat or cold. In 
summer the water in the pond sometimes 
is so hot as to be almost unbearable to 
the hand, and again, in the winter, the ice 
forms several inches thick over them, yet 
they thrive and increase in size wonder¬ 
fully. Indeed, it is hard to realize how 
fast fish grow when kept out of doors. 
Fish that have changed in size almost im¬ 
perceptibly in two years in the house will 
in one summer out of doors almost double 
their measurements. One fantail from a 
lead-colored mite two inches long has in 
two summers in my pond developed into 
a red-gold beauty nearly five inches long 
and so fat that she is almost round. The 
scales become coarsened and less beautiful 
than the indoor fish, however, but the 
colors are brilliant. 
There is as much difference between 
individual fish in intelligence and disposi¬ 
tion as between different dogs or cats. 
Some are responsive, coming to feed from 
my hand, while others are stupid and in¬ 
different, and some remain shy and timid 
even after years of association. 
However, they all seem perfectly fear¬ 
less of the dogs. They swim in between 
their feet when the dogs go into the water 
to drink, and often I have seen them nib¬ 
ble at a dog’s nose as the dog stood in the 
water, the dog merely brushing them away 
with its paw. 
During the winter the fish are kept sep¬ 
arate ; the big ones are in an old tin bath¬ 
tub in a cool attic room, while the little 
ones are scattered about the house. In 
fact, there is scarcely a room in the house 
without a globe or an aquarium, where 
the gold fish give a bit of life and color to 
the room. 
But while they are not much care, I 
believe that I am quite as glad as 
they are when the time comes for them to 
go out in the pond in the spring. 
And now, although done in a haphazard 
fashion, my pond truly is very charming; 
and please bear in mind that all this is 
within a short distance of “the loop” in 
a large city, and that it really took little 
beside planning to transform a very ugly 
yard into an adorable spot to loaf away a 
summer’s day. 
One of the most significant facts 
of our telephone progress is that one- 
fourth of the 9,000,000 telephones in 
the Bell System are rural. 
In the days when the telepnone was 
merely a “city convenience,”the farms of 
the country were so many separated 
units, far removed from the centers of 
population, and isolated by distance 
and lack of facilities for communication. 
But, as the telephone reached out 
beyond cities and towns, it completely 
transformed farm life. It created new 
rural neighborhoods here, there and 
everywhere. 
Stretching to the farthest corners of 
the states, it brought the remotest vil¬ 
lages and isolated places into direct 
contact with the larger communities. 
Today, the American farmer enjoys 
the same facilities for instant, direct 
communication as the city dweller. 
Though distances between farms are 
reckoned in miles as the crow flies, the 
telephone brings every one as close as 
next door. Though it be half a day’s 
journey to the village, the farmer is but 
a telephone call away. 
Aside from its neighborhood value, 
the telephone keeps the farmer in touch 
with the city and abreast of the times. 
The Bell System has always recog¬ 
nized rural telephone development as 
an essential factor of Universal Service. 
It has co-operated with the farmer to 
achieve this aim. 
The result is that the Bell System 
reaches more places than there are post 
offices and includes as many rural 
telephones as there are telephones of 
all kinds in Great Britain, France and 
Germany combined. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
For All Kinds of Houses 
from bungalows and camps to suburban residences 
and country mansions, the deep, rich colors of 
Cabot's Creosote Stains 
are most beautiful and appropriate for the shingles, siding or 
timbers. The colors are clear and transparent and bring out 
the beauty of the grain of the wood instead of covering it as 
paint does. They cost only half as much as paint, can be put 
on twice as fast, the colors are lasting, and the Creosote “is the 
best wood preservative known.” 
You can get Cabot’s Siams all-over the country. Send 
for stained wood samples and namejof nearest agent. 
SAMUEL CABOT, Inc., Manfjj. Chemists, 11 Oliver Street, Boston, Mass. 
Stained with Cabot’s Creosote Stains 
W. W. Ward y Architecty Liverpool N. Y. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
