Illlllllilllllllllilillllllllllllllllll 
86 
House & Garden 
Now is the Time to Plan 
For Next Spring’s Display 
Beckert’s Tulips 
T)ECKERT’S TULIPS is more than a phrase — 
it implies a guarantee of quality; an expert 
knowledge of production, and a wide acquaint¬ 
ance with reputable growers—it means (( The 
Finest Tulips”. 
Few spring effects are so cheery and hearten¬ 
ing as a border of Tulips—or beds of Daffodils. 
Their warm colors radiate the spirit of sunshine 
and gladness as do no other flowers the whole 
year through. 
To ensure that highest measure of effect that 
comes with harmony of color, height and season 
of bloom, the bulbs you plant this fall must be 
carefully selected and uniformly well-grown. 
Our forty-odd years of experience and our close 
association with the Holland growers enable us 
to offer you the finest bulbs that Holland pro¬ 
duces—bulbs that are sure to live up to your 
expectations. 
BeckerCs 1921 Bulb Catalogue contains much 
of interest to every gardener and home owner. 
You’ll find in it not only descriptions and prices, 
but hints and suggestions that you’ll be glad to 
have. Write for a copy today. 
Beckert’s Seed Store | 
Importers and Growers of Quality Seeds and Bulbs 
101-103 Federal St., Dept. H 
Pittsburgh, Penna. 
I 
flllllMlIU 
The Home Fire Hazard 
(Continued from page 84) 
A good quality fire hose is a mighty 
good assistance in a large home, too, 
and is becoming very widely used. Of 
course, there are many fires that water 
not only will not quench, but will 
spread; on the other hand, there are 
many little conflagrations that water 
immediately will kill. 
Another good method, but not as 
efficient, for use in all conditions is the 
telescopic fire bucket set. Six pails are 
set in a container in the liquid and all 
one has to do in case of fire is to open 
the lid and each pail comes out filled. 
If the fire is not great and has just 
started and is within a few feet of you, 
this is all well and good, but one can 
hardly throw water from a pail as far 
as ten feet above your head, while with 
the extinguisher the stream is from 
twenty to forty feet in length. This pail 
system would not reach a roof, you see, 
while the extinguisher might. 
An intimate acquaintance with the 
wizardly asbestos will do a lot in the 
home to keep the hearth fires burning 
in their right places. The asbestos iron¬ 
ing pad on the ironing board is a good 
resilient thing. Although not in this 
case primarily meant as a fire preven¬ 
tive, it will stop the iron from causing 
a big fire, even if it should burn off the 
top sheeting, for when it reaches the 
asbestos the fire will go out. 
There are now some very convenient 
collapsible ladder escapes which are 
stored in a small box near the window, 
which makes the escape from a fire not 
dependent on ancestors who were tight¬ 
rope walkers. 
There are regular fireproof builders 
who do naught else but fireproof work, 
but in this article we are only concerned 
in the home after it is built. Yet we 
cannot refrain from saying that the 
right architect and the right builder at 
first will reduce your fire hazard; they 
will adhere not only to the Under¬ 
writers’ rulings but they will build a 
house so that its insulation (electric), 
air insulation and circulation and parti¬ 
tions will be done according to safe and 
wise arrangement. 
Don’t do foolhardy things and think 
you can get away with them. 
Have the telephone number of the 
nearest fire station on a special card at 
your telephone, or have fire depart¬ 
ments in your own home—extinguishers. 
Familiarize the family with the opera¬ 
tion of the nearest fire aiarm box. After 
operating a fire alarm, stay near it to 
direct the fireman to the fire. Every 
minute is significant. 
Don’t fail to notify the chief of the 
fire department of anything you may see 
that is dangerous or liable to cause fire. 
We could say today that in the home 
millions are spent for fires but hardly 
one cent for prevention of them. Should 
we not as enlightened human beings 
take thought and save the world some 
of its useless expenditure of life, limb 
and extravagance? 
Good Irises That Are Little Known 
(Continued from page 33) 
Our iris garden pictures should be 
made of light colors with only occa¬ 
sional deep tones for contrast. Nothing 
can be more beautiful than great blue 
masses of Pallida Dalmatica set off with 
the white Mrs. Darwin or the yellow 
aurea, and with here and there the dark 
bronze Jacquesiana. These varieties are 
all well known, as are Mme. Chereau, 
Queen of May, Othello, Thorbeck and 
Victorine, and many other old kinds 
which have held their places in compe¬ 
tition with the hundreds of new varie¬ 
ties. While expensive novelties are often 
overrated, it is true that skilled Euro¬ 
pean and American breeders have in 
the past twenty years produced irises 
that surpass most of the older sorts. 
No better illustration of this progress 
could be noted than a comparison of 
five modern varieties with yellow stand¬ 
ards and brown or purplish falls—Fro, 
Gajus, Iris King, Loreley and Mithras 
—with such old varieties as Gracchus, 
Honorabile, Idion, Mexicana or any one 
of a hundred others of the same general 
coloring. The older sorts are so entirely 
outclassed that there is no longer room 
for them even in a large collection. 
Lovers of color contrast will enjoy 
Rhein Nixe, one of the finest of modern 
European varieties, with white standards 
and purple falls, a giant in size and 
height and magnificent for massing. 
Frosper Laugier is already popular, but 
its worthy contemporary, Parc de 
-Neuilly, a red-purple, is unfamiliar to 
most gardeners. It is a strong grower 
and particularly adapted to massed 
planting. The largest of the reddish 
varieties, Edouard Michel, on the other 
hand, is an iris to be used only in small 
quantities. Both La Neige, the most 
beautiful of all white varieties, and Iso- 
lene have been admired at the American 
iris Society s shows. These unfortu- 
nately are slow growers and sometimes 
shy bloomers. The vigorous Eldorado, 
being more easily obtainable, enjoys 
wider popularity; it reminds us of 
Quaker Lady, but the form is not so 
good. Ma Mie is one of the best of all 
the frilled white and blue varieties, being 
more delicate in marking than Mme. 
Chereau. Gardeners who want large 
flowers of rich coloring will appreciate 
the purple Souvenir de Mme. Gaudi- 
chau. Another giant is the lavender 
blue Lady Foster, which like its older 
sister Caterina, is a poor grower and is 
a flower for the enthusiast only. Cru¬ 
sader, the bluest of all irises, fortu¬ 
nately blooms more freely. A single 
spike of this glorious flower was one of 
the features of the Philadelphia Iris 
Show in 1920. Lord of June is one of 
the most magnificent of all irises, a 
splendid, sturdy, strong grower and free 
bloomer, with 3' to 4' stalks bearing 
large blue and purple flowers. There 
is a large stock of it in this country, 
but the tremendous demand keeps it at 
a high price. Almost equally good are 
Halo and Sarpedon; Ambassadeur is the 
largest deep colored variety, while Cor¬ 
rida gives promise of becoming our best 
light blue for massing. 
Among American seedlings, of course, 
those of Farr are the best known, not 
only because they were the first, but on 
account of their high standard of merit. 
Since 1909 when Quaker Lady, Juniata, 
Montezuma, Mount Penn and Wyomis- 
sing were sent out, which productions 
brought him instant fame, Mr. Farr has 
added Erich, Mary Garden, Minnehaha, 
Pocahontas, Shrewsbury, Swatara and 
many others. He was the pioneer among 
American breeders and to him more 
than anyone else is due the present 
popularity of the iris. The brilliant 
yellow beard which is becoming a char¬ 
acteristic of the Farr seedlings is es¬ 
pecially noticeable in his finest new va¬ 
riety, Seminole. 
The seedlings of Miss Sturtevant, Mr. 
Williamson and Mr. Fryer are much 
newer than Mr. Farr’s and have not had 
time to become so widely disseminated. 
Lent A Williamson has by many gar- 
c eners been proclaimed America’s great- 
est variety. Although different in color 
it is often called an improved Alcazar 
on account of its vigor and freedom of 
Dioom. Instead of starting at a high 
(Continued on page 88) 
