HOUSE AND GARDEN 
Ju 
LY, 1914 
In the 
July 
Theodore Roosevelt 
SPECIAL: In this number he makes a pre¬ 
liminary announcement of his hazardous 
journey on The Unknown River, 
the full account of which will appear in 
later numbers of this Magazine, and 
describes his journey and hunting ex¬ 
periences Up the River of Tapirs. 
The River of Tapirs is in the very heart 
of the Brazilian Wilderness. 
RICHARD HARDING DAVIS 
contributes the first of his brilliant articles from Mexico: 
When a War Is Not a War. His experiences 
inVera Cruz and his capture and escape from Mexico City. 
Abroad with Jane 
by Edward S. Martin 
Humorous and illuminating observa¬ 
tions upon people and scenes of a Eu¬ 
ropean journey. Illustrated by May Wilson 
Preston. 
A Month at the Lizard 
by William H. Rideing 
“ Many are the tales the Lizard can tell 
of wrecks and adventure.” 
Other Stories, Articles, 
Poems 
Diversions 
of a Convalescent 
“ Roamings in pleasant reaches of mem¬ 
ory and fancy ” 
by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge 
Who is Silvia? 
(A paper dealing with the questions of 
Feminism) 
by Alice Duer Miller 
A Toast to Dewey 
by Mary Synon 
Author of “The Fleet Goes By.”—A 
story of the navy of to-da^l. 
$3. GO a year 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, NEW YORK 
Illustrated with photographs, dia¬ 
grams, and Frontispiece in color. 
$2.00 net. Postage 14 cents. 
The Craft of Hand=Made Rugs 
By AMY MALI HICKS 
The general interest in the arts and crafts movement has revived certain old- 
time industries and small crafts. These crafts should appeal to the amateur 
because they require such simple materials and equipment. It is the basis of this 
book to take these old-time methods of handicraft to revise and refreshen them 
by careful planning in color and design, and to add to them the art feeling of our 
own times. 
McBRIDE, NAST & CO., Publishers NEW YORK 
to man’s convenience in feeding upon 
frogs and toads, which are valuable insect 
destroyers. The common, dingy looking 
water snake that is so often and impro¬ 
perly called the water moccasin is a men¬ 
ace to streams stocked with game fish. It 
should be remembered that the poisonous 
water moccasin does not occur north of 
North Carolina, while the common water 
snake ranges from Florida to Maine. 
Lacking fangs and with no means of de¬ 
fense, the harmless snake resorts to one of 
two expedients when surprised in its wan¬ 
derings. The most desired is flight, and 
if an avenue of escape be open, there is a 
dash for shelter. If the way is barred the 
reptile flattens its body so as to look as for¬ 
midable as possible, then strikes with flat¬ 
tened head and darting tougue. Some 
harmless serpents vibrate the tail, and if 
among dried leaves, produce a buzzing 
sound not unlike a rattler. The flat¬ 
headed “adder,” a perfectly innocent rep¬ 
tile, but of decidedly villainous outlines, 
flattens its head and neck in a fashion that 
would make an angry rattlesnake appear 
quite angelic. This snake’s stubby body is 
too clumsy for flight, and if pretensions to 
be dangerous fail to scare the intruder the 
reptile despairingly tries other tactics. It 
writhes as if in intense agony, the head 
waves from side to side in groggy move¬ 
ments, there is an apparently dying gasp 
and the sly creature rolls on its back. 
Limp and motionless, it may be picked up 
and roughly tied in a knot. There is one 
humorous phase of this feat of playing 
“possum.” If the serpent be laid down 
on its crawling surface, it instantly flops 
over on its back. This performance is 
energetically repeated each time the crea¬ 
ture is normally deposited on the ground. 
Though its brain weighs but a thousandth 
the weight of its body, we realize that this 
serpent thinks and that its idea is most 
emphatically to the effect that the only 
position for a properly dead snake is upon 
its back. 
Quality Crops 
(Continued from page 33) 
watering whether they are in pots or 
boxes. If from pots, and the balls of 
earth seem quite dry, soak them for ten 
or fifteen minutes in a pan or pail of water, 
to get them thoroughly saturated. If the 
soil is very dry, as it sometimes is in June, 
pour a quart or so of water into each hill 
and let it soak away before planting. Set 
the plants well into the soil, “firming” 
them in after planting with the feet. If 
very bright windy weather follows, they 
may wilt, in which case shade the plants 
with pieces of news or wrapping paper, 
arched over them in the form of a tent, 
and held in place with soil. 
Sometimes an unexpectedly late frost 
nips the newly set plants of peppers, eggs, 
or tomatoes. Where there are but a 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & GARnev. 
