80 
House & Garden 
Polychrome Mirror 
Gold ornamentation with Polychrome 
moulding in any shades requested. 
Irwin Post 
Interior Decorations 
12 W. 47th St. 
NEW YORK 
This charming piece of Queen Anne is 
painted in parchment color on solid 
mahogany and then hand decorated in 
an exquisitely dainty design—its dainti¬ 
ness emphasized by the touch of rich¬ 
ness in the quaint old fashioned flower 
medallion. 
< W == ' ' 
ifts from the 
ftZTrving forges, 
all truly hand forged 
from wrought iron, 
bring into the 0^3 
home of G dnodern 
days the atmo¬ 
sphere of the 
rooms^ of our ^3 
Colonial forbear^ 
vGsA folio of other 
fitments on request 
Purchases may he made hy 
mail or at the better shops 
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Zong /sland City 
New YortC 
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(Continued ft 
no matter how carefully you observe all 
the other rules. 
There is a little evergreen shrub from 
Japan that has lately come into great 
favor as a specimen, and also as a 
boundary planting, in certain places. 
This is Ilex crenata —Japanese holly, 
some call it, but without reason. Its 
leaves are suggestive of boxwood, and 
the entire plant, indeed, especially when 
closely sheared, is similar in appearance 
to box. It is, of course, not a relative 
at all, for boxwood belongs to a different 
order; but sometimes it is used as a 
substitute. 
This is unfortunate, for Ilex crenata 
is not reliably hardy. In sheltered places, 
it may winter safely; but then again, it 
may not. And there is always that 
sense of insecurity about it that detracts 
from the pleasure of having any plant, 
ft is, however, a charming specimen, and 
1 do not wonder that gardeners generally 
regard it with covetous eyes when they 
see it outside their own gardens. Be¬ 
ware of it, however, unless you are well 
below the latitude of New York—or 
tempered as to the winters by some 
natural configurations that are peculiar 
to certain places and circumstances. 
Holly-like Shrubs 
There is a shrub, not an ilex at all, 
that sometimes is sold as one, or as a 
holly, and that many have difficulty in 
believing is not actually a member of 
the family. This is Berberis aquifolium, 
sometimes called mahonia—a barberry 
from British Columbia and Oregon and 
up that way, with shining leaves very 
like the leaves of holly, but with blue 
berries which are not particularly deco¬ 
rative or persistent. This grows to per¬ 
haps 6' in height in favorable locations,. 
and is usually hardy in Massachusetts. 
And there is still another holly-like 
shrub belonging to still another family— 
the Osmanthus aquifolium —which is not 
infrequently offered by dealers who are 
not over-nice about such things, as a 
variety of holly. This is still less hardy, 
and it is not safe to plant it even as far 
down as Baltimore without giving it 
some protection in winter. 
The last named can be identified by 
a simple little observation connected 
with the leaves. The leaves of all ilexes 
are alternate; that is, they rise first one 
on one side, then the next on the other 
side, of the stem. They are also simple 
always; in other words, they rise directly 
and singly from the main stem and are 
not made up of leaflets rising from a 
secondary stem, as the leaves of clovers 
or peas or locusts or horse-chestnuts are. 
e Hollies 
om page 78) 
The leaves of barberries are alternate, 
but the leaves of the holly-leaved bar¬ 
berry just mentioned are also compound 
—each seeming leaf is actually one of a 
group of leaflets that rise, five or seven 
or nine of them, opposite each other 
from a secondary stem or leaf stalk. 
This entire group is a compound leaf; 
and the next compound leaf will be 
found to rise at a point further up or 
down the main stem, thus preserving 
the alternate leaved arrangement. 
The leaves of the osmanthus, substi¬ 
tuted as a holly sometimes, are opposite; 
and that is a sufficiently distinguishing 
characteristic to enable the least experi¬ 
enced to identify the plant beyond 
question. 
Species for the South 
The South possesses two or three 
species of ilex which cannot be grown 
in the North at all. One of these is 
the Dahoon, otherwise Ilex Cassine, na¬ 
tive to North Carolina and Florida and 
as far west as Louisiana; another is 
Ilex vomitoria, the Yaupon or Cassena 
of the South which is native to Virginia 
and Florida and west to Arkansas and 
Texas. Both of these are shrubby, or 
else small trees, reaching a height of 
perhaps 25', and their fruits are red, 
though those of the former are not vivid 
enough to be showy. Neither is of 
sufficient decorative value to be planted, 
especially as the European holly will 
grow perfectly in the sections where they 
might be used. 
Curiously enough, another species 
from Japan—and one of the loveliest 
of all the hollies—is not hardy here. 
This seems unaccountable when the 
climate of Japan is considered, and the 
fact that nearly everything from there 
thrives so perfectly in this part of the 
world. This is Ilex latifolia, a tree 
growing to be 60' in height with beauti¬ 
ful shining leaves, not armed with such 
needle-like points as the other hollies 
are, but nevertheless serrate and inter¬ 
esting, and with large red fruits grow¬ 
ing in clusters. 
Beautiful though it may be, however, 
it cannot have the associations for us 
which I must always contend are as 
valuable as the holly plant itself; and 
so, though it would be an acquisition to 
the landscape, I feel pretty well content 
to do without it. For so often it hap¬ 
pens that we turn from a priceless herit¬ 
age such as this, to a novelty that has 
nothing to offer except its novelty! 
Really, it is subject for congratulation, 
I think, that sometimes the things from 
other lands cannot be imported. 
First Aid for 
(Continued, f, 
little battening as possible; it merely 
covers the joints of the board, and is 
painted to match. The most ingenious 
and elaborate decorations may be 
stenciled, although most rooms look best 
with plain ceilings; and for beam con¬ 
struction, even when the surface is 
curved or covea, or the space between 
the beams not the width of standard 
wallboard, it can be bent and cut easily, 
and nailed to furrings which any car¬ 
penter will arrange. If the ceiling pre¬ 
sents special problems or irregularities, 
it absolutely demands the more expensive 
makes of wallboard, which do not swell 
or warp with change in seasons or 
weather, and repeat the unattractive 
bulges of the sagging plaster. 
If a ceiling is badly cracked, but does 
not sag, fill the cracks with plaster of 
Paris; then wash with hot water to re¬ 
move the blisters, and shellac the dis¬ 
colored or conspicuously new spots. A 
coat of paint, calcimine or moresco 
finishes the ceiling, unless the cracks are 
very bad, and need two coats. 
S i ck Ceilings 
row page 56) 
On a ceiling with smutty spots, a damp 
cloth and ivory soap will sometimes work 
wonders. Calcimined or morescoed 
plaster cannot be washed, so that a ceil¬ 
ing so treated must be scraped (this 
means nothing more difficult than wash¬ 
ing it) and have a fresh coat. Paint, 
however, can always be freshened by 
washing, and the first time that a ceiling 
needs attention, if it is not a painted 
ceiling, the prudent housekeeper will in¬ 
sist on a coat of paint, even though the 
in itial expense is a little more. Then 
it can be wiped every month or so with 
a damp cloth, and needs a coat of paint 
only once in several years. 
A soiled ceiling is like a single soiled 
article of dress. It destroys all appear¬ 
ance of freshness and charm. The 
modern idea in ceilings is that they must 
not darken a room, and that is why we 
color them all white or cream; but a 
film of soot or dust defeats the whole 
purpose of the coloring, and dims the 
room as effectually as though the ceiling 
were painted gray. 
.4 quaint Knitting Stand with revolving 
needle box. Buy it in the Venetian color¬ 
ings. You cannot imagine what fun it is 
to wind yarn on the old-time swift. 
Danersk Furniture 
The Rift of a bedroom set in lovely old 
Venetian colorings can bring more per¬ 
manent happiness and good cheer than 
anything else we know. 
Remember— you can choose as many or 
as few pieces, from our complete list, as 
you need and we will finish them as a 
unified set.—in soft parchment and gold 
panels with Venetian blue frames, or any 
one of many schemes. A desk and chair 
done in his way is beautiful in any setting. 
Order now. — We will finish and hold 
until you want it. We pay a handsome 
fum each month to maintain 10-day ser¬ 
vice for our customers. 
Send for valuable catalog “.4-12” 
or call at exhibition rooms 
ERSKINE - DANFORTH CORPORATION 
2 West 47th Street NEW YORK 
First Door West of Fifth Avenue. 4th Floor 
Indian Baskets 
SEND FOR CATALOGUE of 
Baskets that I buy direct from Indians 
F. M. GILHAM 
Highland Springs Lake County, California 
Wholesale & Retail 
Decorative Metal 
Grilles 
Will skilfully and harmoniously enclose 
your radiators, decreasing their obtrusive 
objectionableness. 
Send for Catalog 66-A. 
TUTTLE & BAILEY MFG. CO. 
52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York City 
Importers of oriental objects of art and utility, 
for the house and garden, personal use and 
presentation purposes. 
VCrite for catalog No 700. 
A. A. VANTINE & Co., Inc. 
Fifth Avenue & 39th St., New York 
FURNI$fliNG & DECORATING 
CONVENTIONAL or ORIGINAL STYIE 
Write y Call or Telephone 
BOWDOIN & MANLEY 
18 WEST 45th ST., NEW YORK CITY 
WHY NOT OWN A PAINTING 
OF YOUR HOME? 
An interesting ornament for the office or study 
—-the dear home in living colors—a picture 
that will become an heirloom. 
OFR METHOD enables anyone to own a genu¬ 
ine painting of one's home. 
Send for circular now. 
OAK GROVE STUDIO, Brattleboro, Vt. 
OLD PORTRAITS 
By John Vanderlyn 
Early American 
and 
Other Schools 
Art Salon 
416 Madison Ave. NEW YORK 
Phone Murray Hill 1480 
