76 
House & Garden 
BUILD NOW 
“Yes, every 
detail is 
correct” 
And let Sargent Hard¬ 
ware add the final touch 
of beauty and security to 
your home. 
H OMES that people admire 
don’t “just happen.” You 
will usually find that every 
detail is the result of careful 
planning. 
Take hardware for example. 
Some folks consider “door¬ 
knobs” a mere incident in build¬ 
ing a house. Others realize 
that the hardware can also add 
a touch of genuine beauty— 
they choose Sargent. 
Sargent Hardware is made in 
designs to harmonize perfectly 
with the architectural and dec¬ 
orative scheme of your home. 
Sargent locks give the kind of 
security that is so certain that 
you cease to think about it. 
Write for the Sargent Book 
of Designs to discuss with your 
architect. 
SARGENT & COMPANY 
Hardware Manufacturers 
31 Water Street New Haven, Conn. 
Protect your home throughout 
Inside as well as outside doors 
should be equipped with Sargent 
Day and Night Latches. Linen 
closets, clothes closets, cellar, at¬ 
tic and other doors should be pro¬ 
tected to make the security of 
your home complete. 
The Sargent push- 
button stop is a con¬ 
venient and exclusive 
feature. 
SARGENT 
LOCKS AND HARDWARE 
Pottery birds are especially effective as 
mantel decorations. Here cream white 
parrots balance a bowl of trailing ivy 
The Decorative Quality of Pottery Birds 
(Continued from page 57) 
lence. They may be placed at either 
end; or one can be used as a focal 
point from which the other things are 
arranged symmetrically. Here the back¬ 
ground is as important as the object 
to be placed against it, not only as to 
color but in size. If the space is small, 
do not use a tall crane and a low pheas¬ 
ant with a spreading tail against a great 
wall expanse. 
In an old Southern house I saw a 
mantel that was easily the most in¬ 
teresting spot in the room. Over a 
black marble fireplace had been hung 
a rather elaborate gilt mirror. In the 
center of the shelf was a beautifully 
carved little statue of Buddha in ivory; 
on either side had been placed a bril¬ 
liant green porcelain bird a trifle smaller 
than the statue; at the ends were high 
Venetian decanters used as vases, filled 
with marigolds. This mantel group as 
to color and arrangement was exactly 
right. Another room had a white mar¬ 
ble fireplace, gray paneled walls and 
delicately colored chintz hangings. On 
the mantel in the middle was a low 
sea-green bowl filled with hydrangeas. 
At either end was a prim stork, slim, 
graceful and of a lovely shade of gray 
blue that harmonized with both walls 
and flowers. 
So a graceful pottery bird can be¬ 
come an important element in a room, 
making a delightful spot toward which 
we look and linger in quiet satisfaction. 
The appeal is something more than one 
of outward color and form, for it has 
the power to evoke memories and sug¬ 
gest dreams. 
Experiences With Dahlias 
(Continued from page 44) 
little short of that but are yet worthy 
associates, differing only as great ability 
differs from genius. These all have been 
growing only for their effect in my 
ornamental gardens side by side with 
the whole range of other effective 
flowers. 
I do not plant my dahlias in rows; 
I group them with other flowers and 
they lend themselves admirably to this 
decorative effect. Some of them are 
at their best early in the season; others 
are at the zenith of their perfection 
late in September, standing defiantly 
and boldly, flamboyant and dashing, re¬ 
plete with evidence of their fiery Span¬ 
ish ancestry, challenging with their 
might and beauty the expected season 
which will destroy them. 
My gardens are terraced; in certain 
parts there is a considerable slope and 
always a wash, and there my dahlias 
seem to display themselves in their 
greatest splendor, which would prove 
my contention that no artificial or 
chemical fertilizer is required to produce 
fine plants and flowers. I do not per¬ 
mit the use of any such fertilizer and 
my gardener does not use it. I prepare 
my gardens in late fall with natural 
stable manure, and that is all the feed¬ 
ing they get. 
There is nothing new about the plant¬ 
ing and culture of dahlias; I believe that 
they require only the same general care 
that every plant does, if the best re¬ 
sults are to be obtained. My gardener, 
John Harding, knew nothing about 
dahlias when he came to me. From 
close study and observation he and I 
have learned what we know about them 
today, and he now knows the growing 
of dahlias as very few gardeners in 
this country do. Any lover of beauty 
in flowers, able to define qualities of 
superiority, can succeed with them pro¬ 
vided he or she will give some study 
to their requirements and, of course, 
the cultivation, weeding and general 
care demanded by virtually all of the 
larger garden flowers. 
I plant my dahlias about May 20th. 
They will begin to bloom about the 
middle of August, but if August is hot 
many blooms are generally not very 
perfect, the later flowers being far su¬ 
perior. I will harbor no plant that does 
not grow freely, producing strong, 
straight stems; I immediately discard 
any variety showing the least sign of 
weakness. They must have beautiful 
colorings, must be fine of form and have 
distinct merit, or they do not long re¬ 
main in my garden. 
A dahlia of large size, provided it 
(Continued on page 78) 
