HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, 
1914 
209 
They say Clark had an unusual knowl¬ 
edge of the intricate joinery and dove¬ 
tailing practiced In those days, and a con¬ 
tempt for nails as a poor carpenter’s 
makeshift. I believe our stairs have no 
nails in their construction. Once, while 
finishing a staircase somewhere else, his 
patron suggested he nail a certain piece 
of timber to make it doubly secure. He 
drove the nails, turned, left the house 
without a word, and, deeply insulted, re¬ 
fused to come back. Surely, no new 
house can offer a worthy substitute for 
such old characters, who in imagination I 
see by the dickering firelight of winter 
evenings. 
Hotbed and Cold-Frame Gardening 
(Continued from page 184) 
cloth sashes will last for many years, and 
as five of them will cost little or more 
than one glass sash, you cannot afford to 
try to do without them. When not in 
use they are serviceable in the place of 
mats or shutters over the glass sash, thus 
serving a double purpose. 
It is frequently recommended that the 
seed be sown directly in the soil in the 
hotbed or cold-frame, but I have always 
found it much more satisfactory to use 
flats. Not only can the soil be prepared 
more finely and evenly, and the seed sown 
and covered more accurately, but fre¬ 
quently from various causes it is desir¬ 
able to move about one batch of seed¬ 
lings or another, and this cannot be 
done, of course, where they are growing 
in the beds. To make these “flats,” of 
which we use many hundreds each sea¬ 
son, I have found nothing more con¬ 
venient than the regular sized cracker- 
boxes, easily obtained at any grocery 
store. They are simply sawed up into 
two or three inch sections, making pro¬ 
vision for drainage when bottoming them. 
The soil, unless naturally very light and 
friable, should have leaf-mold or chip- 
dirt and sand mixed with it. When 
transplanting, a layer of good, well-rot¬ 
ted manure is put in the bottom of the 
box; or bone flour—several good hand¬ 
fuls mixed through a bushel of soil, if 
possible a week or so before using it—is 
employed in place of the manure. But 
the former is to be preferred, as it fur¬ 
nishes drainage, as well as plant-food. 
We water the seed-boxes copiously the 
day before planting, or just before put¬ 
ting on the top layer of soil, so that they 
will be thoroughly saturated without 
havin the surface sticky or muddy. A 
“flat”—about 19 x 13 inches—will give 
from 300 to 800 plants of cabbage, let¬ 
tuce, cauliower, celery or beets, and 
from 200 to 600 tomatoes, pepper's or 
eggplants. Unless you have all the con¬ 
ditions of soil, temperature, moisture, 
etc., under proper control it will probably 
be nearer the former figures than the lat¬ 
ter. So you can readily figure out how 
much of each of the various crops to 
sow. The first sowing should include 
cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, beets, onions 
The Country Home of Concrete 
is an artistic as well as an architectural success. It 
becomes a part of the landscape. In summer its cool gray 
tones are in perfect harmony;with the green of grass and 
shrubbery, and in winter it affords an effective contrast 
to the dark bare trees and the snowy landscape. 
UNIVERSAL 
PORTLAND 
CEMENT 
is the absolutely dependable cement for any kind of concrete construction. 
Its uniform quality, strength and fineness make for good results. The 
following two books contain much practical information for the 
home builder and farmer. 
Small Farm Buildings of Concrete - - Price 25 cents 
The Concrete House and Its Construction - Price $1.00 
UNIVERSAL PORTLAND CEMENT CO. 
CHICAGO : PITTSBURGH : MINNEAPOLIS 
Annual Output 12,000,000 Barrels u: Plants at Chicago and Pittsburgh 
Set your mind at rest about your trees. Expert 
examinations without charge. If your trees need no atten¬ 
tion, you want to know it; if they do, you ought to know it. 
Winter storms may have started serious trouble. Davey 
Tree Surgeons only are good enough for the U. S. 
Government. If you want real Tree Surgery it must be 
Davey Tree Surgery. Representatives carrying credentials 
available.everywhere. Write to-day for beautiful free book. 
Tlic uavey Tree Expert Co.,Inc. 
JOHN DAVEY 
|Father of Tree Surgery| 
324 Elm Street, Kent, Ohio 
Branches with telephone connections: 
New York Philadelphia Chicago 
Montreal San Francisco 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
