July, 1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
mon mistake is to make the bowl too deep. 
It really ought not to be deeper than two 
inches in the middle and should slope 
gently from the edge. Attractive concrete 
bird baths may be made and will serve 
their purpose admirably. Tall baths pur¬ 
chased at the stores cost from $15 up. 
Low designs may be bought for as little 
as $6.50. 
Bird baths on pedestals are rather to be 
preferred to those which are level with the 
ground or elevated slightly. They make 
a better appearance, especially in a formal 
situation, and, what is even more impor¬ 
tant, they offer the birds protection from 
cats, while those close to the ground may 
prove veritable traps. In open situations, 
however, even a pool may be satisfactory. 
Certainly a little pool is very alluring, with 
iris or lilies growing at one side. It is im¬ 
portant, though, that a pool have a sloping 
bottom and that it be accessible to the birds 
at the edge. Even a broad cake tin or a 
similar utensil may be set into the ground, 
and if properly arranged, will be wel¬ 
comed by the birds. A shingle or a tri¬ 
angular-shaped stone may be used to give 
the little bath tub a sloping bottom, and 
the water should not be more than two 
inches deep at the deepest place. 
It is a fact sometimes overlooked that 
the birds have a preference for cool water, 
and they may desert an attractive bathing 
place in the garden for a roadside pool if 
the water in the former has been heated 
by the sun. It is desirable to have a tiny 
stream of water piped to the bath, but in 
many gardens it can be filled frequently 
by means of a hose. With cement bath 
tubs it is a simple matter to have a little 
hole in the bottom to provide an outlet for 
the water when the bath is to be emptied. 
E. I. F. 
The Bluebird’s House 
HE little bird house shown in the 
photograph stands about one hun¬ 
dred feet from our house. It is home¬ 
made, of birch bark, with a partition in 
the center, dividing it into two cozy apart¬ 
ments, and is securely nailed to a small 
shelf built in the tree, and fastened to a 
branch above with wire. 
If only more people would realize how 
much pleasure can be had during the sum¬ 
mer by having two or three of these little 
houses near their homes, placed so that 
they can be watched from a safe distance! 
The bluebirds appreciate them immensely, 
and so do the house wrens. 
The picture shows the mother bird go¬ 
ing in with something to eat for her three 
hungry little ones. I stood for three-quar¬ 
ters of an hour without moving before 
Mother Bluebird decided that I must be a 
stone statue, placed there during her ab¬ 
sence, instead of a human being. Finally, 
after trying to frighten me away by mak¬ 
ing sudden darts at my head, she gave it 
up, and after a weary wait my patience 
was rewarded. J. G. S. 
T HE stoutest telephone line cannot 
stand against such a storm as that 
which swept the Middle Atlantic coast 
early in the year. Poles were broken 
off like wooden toothpicks, and wires 
were left useless in a tangled skein. 
It cost the telephone company over 
a million dollars to repair that 
damage, an item to be remembered 
when we talk about how cheaply 
telephone service may be given. 
More than half of the wire mileage 
of the Bell System is underground out 
of the way of storms. The expense of 
underground conduits and cables is 
warranted for the important trunk 
lines with numerous wires and for 
the lines in the congested districts 
which serve a large number of people. 
But for the suburban and rural 
lines reaching a scattered population 
and doing a small business in a large 
area, it is impracticable to dig trenches, 
build conduits and lay cables in order 
that each individual wire may be 
underground. 
More important is the problem of 
service. Overhead wires are neces¬ 
sary for talking a very long distance. 
It is impossible to talk more than a 
limited distance underground, al¬ 
though Bell engineers are making a 
world’s record for underground com¬ 
munication. 
Parallel to the underground there 
must also be overhead wires for the 
long haul, in order that the Bell System 
may give service universally between 
distant parts of the country. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
Illli 
Open or Close Your Shutters from the Inside 1 
without removing the screens and admitting flies and mos- g 
quitos. By the mere turn of a little crank, shutters are jj 
opened, closed or securely fastened at any angle from the ( 
inside. The a 
Mallory Strutter Worker 
is attractively finished to harmonize with the woodwork jj 
and can be easily installed in old or new frame or stone 1 
dwellings. At hardware dealers, or booklet sent upon re- jj 
quest to jj 
MALLORY] fMFG. CO., flIm/ngt'on! r r* e . V. 1 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
