94 
House & Garden 
The first 
impression 
of your home 
F IRST impressions often rest 
on details. The hardware on 
your front door for instance, 
while not obtrusive, does not 
go unobserved. It should be a 
thing of beauty as well as se¬ 
curity, and it will be if you 
choose Sargent Hardware. 
There are Sargent designs 
to harmonize perfectly with 
your architectural and deco¬ 
rative standards, inside or out. 
Always beautiful and always 
secure. 
Select your hardware with 
care. Discuss it with your 
architect. Remember, that al¬ 
though a comparatively small 
item of total cost it is a big 
factor in final appearance. 
TheSargentBook of Designs 
will help you select the proper 
pattern. Send for a copy today. 
SARGENT & COMPANY 
Hardware Manufacturers 
31 Water St. New Haven, Conn. 
Sargent Door Closers 
Doors that stand ajar or doors that 
slam are equally objectionable. Sar¬ 
gent Door Closers keep doors closed 
surely but silently. There are closers 
for light inside use as well as the type 
for heavier doors. 
S A R G E NT 
LOCKS_A N D_H A R D W A R E 
The Culture and Care of Palms 
('Continued from page 45) 
placed in the room, they are very sensi¬ 
tive and delicate. Then they need the 
warmest (but not the driest) place in 
the house, as well as continual watering. 
Very seldom do full-grown hothouse 
palms become accustomed to the room 
in which they are placed without injury. 
They are best fitted to withstand hard¬ 
ships and recover from them more easily 
if they are brought into the house in the 
early stages of growth, when they have 
only developed two or three of their 
characteristic leaves. 
With proper care the fanlike leaves 
| last from four to five years before they 
begin to die. Should the tips of the 
leaves become yellow, the yellow parts 
should be carefully cut off with a sharp 
pair of shears. If the entire fan dies, it 
is removed, with the exception of part 
of the leaf stalk, which still serves the 
plant as a store room. The outer fans 
should only die of old age. If the inner 
leaves die prematurely, then the plant 
should be taken to a gardener in whose 
greenhouse they can be reinvigorated. 
They require expert care and treatment 
and, while in this state, should not be 
kept as a house plant. 
Fans should only unfold themselves 
when one leaf surface has completely 
lifted itself from the sheath of the last 
leaf. If they unfold prematurely they 
suffer from either lack of food or de¬ 
caying roots which have become sick 
because they have stood in a place un¬ 
suited for them. 
It is important to keep the leaves 
damp and free from dust. To do this 
well they are often sprayed and washed 
with a soft sponge. 
Since the fans give off much moisture 
the plants should be well supplied with 
tepid water. This must run quickly 
through the root balls. The surplus 
water must not remain standing in the 
saucer for, as has been said, no other 
plant root requires so much air as the 
palm root. Those palms which have 
the strongest armament of thorns and 
needles require the largest amount of 
moisture. Every week, during the time 
of the greatest growth, which begins 
with April and ends in August, all 
healthy palms are given some fertilizer 
dissolved in water. 
Young palms are transplanted every 
spring, and the older plants only when 
absolutely necessary. It often happens 
that the older plants die after they have 
been repotted. To avoid this mishap 
they should be taken to a gardener who 
will do the work. In transplanting, spe¬ 
cial care must be taken of the roots 
when removing the plant from the pot. 
The long, brittle, fleshy roots should 
never be cut back, since they have diffi¬ 
culty in replacing their root caps when 
injured. Only when it is absolutely 
necessary are the injured or decaying 
roots to be removed. Transplanting is 
materially aided if the root balls are 
somewhat dry. Then the roots are less 
brittle and they will also imbed them¬ 
selves quicker in the soil. If it becomes 
necessary to remove the soil between 
roots and rootlets it should be carefully 
pushed from them with a small, round 
piece of wood. 
The vent of an ordinary fire-baked 
porous flower pot receives a good foun¬ 
dation of broken potsherds before the 
soil is placed into it. This will aid in 
removing the surplus water from the 
pot. The soil for the older plants should 
consist of equal parts of humus and hot 
bed soil together with a little clay. 
After this has been brought into the pot 
the plant is watered until the soil has 
become soaked and the surplus water 
flows from the vent. With this arrange¬ 
ment, the soil will keep healthy. 
Taking Guesswork Out of Gas Cookery 
(Continued from page 57) 
and gas regulating devices and with 
each stove the method is explained to 
the purchaser. Remember that you 
want a blue flame, that the tip only 
should touch the utensil and that the 
yellow flame may mean too much gas 
and cause smoking or it may mean too 
little air. Keep your flame so that it 
is blue, with no yellow or white tip. 
Before lighting any burner, try all 
the gas valves to be sure that they are 
closed and that there is no gas in the 
range. If burners pop out close partly 
the air mixers. 
The simmering burner on the new 
stoves is a great convenience and econ¬ 
omy, if the burner is perfectly regu¬ 
lated. In most cases the air mixer must 
be nearly closed. 
Cakes bake unevenly perhaps if they 
are set too near the front of the oven. 
Be sure to put them at least in the 
center or better near the back. 
To prevent fish from burning while 
broiling or baking, grease the gridiron. 
In broiling steak, if it is thick, place it 
1" from the flame. If not thick, 2" or 
3". Keep the broiler door open while 
broiling. Heat the oven for ten or fif¬ 
teen minutes with the door shut before 
putting the meat or fish in to boil. 
Remember the tip of the blue flame 
is sufficient to cook; any other flame 
condition spells waste. 
When your burners do not light, they 
are probably grease clogged. Remove 
them and boil in a solution of washing 
soda. 
Turn down flame when the substance 
begins to boil. 
Unusual cooking capacity in a small 
space is really one of the great advan¬ 
tages of the new stoves. Know your 
space, your family needs and then buy 
your stove from one of the best makers 
or order it through your gas company. 
Manufacturers have tried to beautify 
their stoves, but when you buy see to 
it that you buy comfort first. 
A gas range should keep in first class 
condition for at least fifteen years— 
that is, if you buy the best and take 
reasonable care of it. 
All kinds of stove combinations can 
be had: gas and coal, gas, coal and elec¬ 
tricity, electricity and gas, oil and elec¬ 
tricity, etc. So every taste, every ne¬ 
cessity can be met in stoves today. There 
is but one rule—buy what you need 
and the best of its kind. 
