August, 1910 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
105 
INGENIOUS 
DEVICES 
Labor-saving Schemes and 
Short Cuts in the House 
and in the Garden 
M 
To Save Streaks on Walls 
T O clean or varnish the woodwork of 
a room without marring the walls, 
hold a strip of pasteboard Hat against the 
wall with one hand while working with 
the other, sliding the strip along as the 
work progresses. Even better than the 
pasteboard is a good flat dustpan, for its 
handle enables it to be more easily held in 
place and moved on. 
This is a simple device, yet for want of 
it I have made many an ugly streak on 
papered walls (especially when cleaning 
baseboards), in spite of my best efforts to 
keep the varnish brush, the dampened 
cloth or the oiled rag from touching them. 
By means of it I have just stained the 
molding around my room to match the 
new wall paper, doing it easily without 
making the slightest spot on the paper. 
L.McC. 
A Home-made Floor Wax 
TN about an ounce of common turpen- 
-*■ tine put a thimbleful of shaved bees¬ 
wax. Melt this over a very slow fire (the 
tiniest burner of the gas stove, turned 
low, will do it), taking care to keep it 
from catching fire. When melted, apply 
to the well cleaned floor with a soft cloth 
and rub in well. It takes on a splendid 
and lasting polish. 
This amount will answer for around 
a rug 9 x 12 in an ordinary size room, 
although the first time applied it takes 
more than it does afterward. It is very 
inexpensive and much more satisfactory 
than many that cost more and require 
more labor. L. McC. 
was made as it was when first written on. 
All you need is a lead pencil and sheet 
zinc. Common sheet zinc, even old stove 
board or other old zinc answers as well 
as new. An old pair of shears will answer 
for cutting it up, and with a wire nail a 
hole can be made in the end to take a bit 
of wire by which it is fastened in place. 
An inch wide and three inches long is a 
good size for single names. But in cut¬ 
ting up old scrap all sorts of sizes and 
shapes will be found convenient. Some¬ 
times one wishes to record dates and par¬ 
ticulars and then some space is desirable 
and larger pieces are useful. The tin¬ 
smith or stoveman will probably be glad to 
furnish pieces of scrap zinc cut to sizes for 
a small sum. 
Marks made upon zinc with a soft black 
lead pencil are indelible and are even 
clearer after a year’s exposure to the 
weather than when first made. The weath¬ 
ering of the zinc gives a matt surface up¬ 
on which the pencil marks stand out with 
beautiful distinctness. There is appar¬ 
ently some chemical reaction between the 
graphite and the zinc. Just how long the 
markings will remain distinct cannot be 
stated. The observed period covers sev¬ 
eral years. The probability is that they 
will last as long as the zinc. 
W. E. P. 
How to Root Cape Jasmines 
F ILL a bottle half full of sand, then fill 
up with water. Into this put a nice 
spray of jasmine, and place in the hot 
sun. No further care need be taken of it 
except to see that the bottle is filled up 
occasionally, emptying none of the water 
that is in it. When plenty of roots are 
growing, break the bottle, to save injur¬ 
ing these delicate fibres by drawing them 
through the neck, and plant in good, rich 
soil. 
In the Southern States we leave this 
beautiful plant outdoors all winter, giving 
it some protection; but in colder climates 
it needs a sunny place inside the house. 
Certainly no plant has more beautiful 
evergreen foliage, or waxier, more fra¬ 
grant blossoms. L. McC. 
Durable Garden Lables 
DURABLE label is very desirable in 
the garden for preserving the names 
and history of trees and plants. The one 
in common use, the little pine tag of the 
nursery people, does pretty well for the 
first season and then discolors and is hard 
to read and is never easily written on. 
Paper does not last through a single sea¬ 
son. The result is that people generally 
do not use tags or labels and forget when 
things are planted, the names, and many 
other useful particulars. 
But there is a better way, for we can 
have labels cheap, permanent, easy to read 
and easy to write upon with the common 
lead pencil. So permanent in fact that the 
record is as easilv read five vears after it 
A Better Way to Sun-dry Fruit 
E we cannot have the evaporator proper, 
trays and a scaffold may be made that 
will he a great improvement over spread¬ 
ing the fruit on the housetop. The best 
trays are made of eight pieces of lumber, 
an inch and a half thick and as wide, mak¬ 
ing the four sides double; the bottom of 
the tray is made of galvanized wire cloth 
of No. 2 to 3 mesh; that is the wires are 
half or a third of an inch apart. The wire 
cloth comes in different widths, probably 
the most convenient size for the trays be¬ 
ing thirty inches wide and three feet long, 
which will hold half a bushel or more. The 
wire cloth is nailed between the two sets 
of side and end pieces so that the tray may 
be used either side up, and the bottom well 
secured. To make the tray still more 
substantial put a piece of wood across at 
the center. The best scaffold for holding 
these trays is a high trestle so that it is 
out of reach of the poultry. This trestle 
is made like a carpenter’s “horse,” with a 
strip nailed from one leg to the other on 
each side for holding the trays. A per¬ 
manent scaffold may be made by setting 
four posts in the ground and nailing strips 
of lumber from one to the other for the 
trays to rest on. In either case the air 
passes up through the fruit as well as 
above, causing it to dry more uniformly 
and quicker. To protect the half-dried 
fruit from dew or rain, stack the trays 
one on top of another and cover with a 
piece of oilcloth; or the trays may be 
taken down and carried into the house 
without misplacing the fuit. 
H. F. Grin stead 
A Trolley Line for the Dog 
I T is. often necessary in a city or suburb 
to keep a dog chained, and the poor 
creature suffers intensely from his limited 
amount of exercise, the galling collar, 
and the wrapping of his ropes, or chains. 
This may be remedied by getting a six- 
foot rope for him, fastening it by a slip 
noose to the wire clothes-line, and attach¬ 
ing the other end to the dog’s collar. This 
allows him to race back and forth the full 
length of the wire, with detours of many 
feet. He cannot get tangled up in it. 
L. McC. 
A New Use for Old Umbrellas 
A N old umbrella frame, opened wide 
and suspended by the tip, is a good 
form for a vine to run on. A fine wire 
1 
1 
In England these umbrella forms, made of 
wood, are obtainable for climbing roses 
and vines. An old umbrella will serve, with 
its handle planted firmly in the ground 
should be run through the tip of each rib, 
and wound around each once, to hold the 
ribs an equal distance apart. When cov¬ 
ered with the green vines, the whole pre¬ 
sents a most attractive appearance. 
Another way is to push the umbrella 
frame into the ground by its handle, 
planting sweet peas or trailing nastur¬ 
tiums around the edge. They will run up 
the ribs, making pretty circular patches of 
bloom. G. C. R. 
