March, 1923 
W 
The 
HOUSE ST GARDEN 
BULLETIN BOARD 
A CERTAIN woman of our acquaintance (a 
woman of parts) said recently that for the 
past five years she has read herself to sleep 
each night with the “Imitation of Christ” and a 
seed catalog. This is precisely the balanced read¬ 
ing diet one should have before sleeping—the 
pious ecstasies of St. Thomas a Kempis tem¬ 
pered by the dream-evoking phrases of Messrs. 
Henderson, Burpee and others. In fact, bed is 
the proper place in which to read a seed or 
nursery catalog. 
The desirable feature of any bedside book is 
that it consist of “short pieces”. The chapters 
should not be extensive nor the paragraphs long. 
Turn to your “Imitation of Christ.” It is a series 
of miniature chapters and Lilliputian paragraphs 
and the subject is constantly changing. Take up 
any seed or nursery catalog—it is the same. “I 
would rather feel compunction than know its 
definition.” Thus St. Thomas a Kempis.. .“The 
Campanula are easily grown, and make a wonder¬ 
ful show during the latter part of May and 
early June.” Thus Mr. Burpee. . . . “It were 
more just that thou shouldst accuse thyself and 
excuse thy brother.” So says St. Thomas. Hav¬ 
ing thought on this you learn, from the words 
of Mr. George Peterson that “ ‘Defiance’ is one 
of the most striking and most showy of the sin¬ 
gle peonies.” 
Just as St. Thomas is a book for certain moods, 
so is the seed catalog. One should not sit down 
and force oneself to read either. Each is a mental 
biscuit and is best enjoyed when nibbled. Read 
a line and think. Read a line and dream. 
In placing Mr. Henderson and his confreres on 
the same bedside table with St. Thomas, we mean 
no disrespect to that ancient divine; we have a 
notion that he would have been glad to have 
shared their company. 
T HE other day there was buried in London, 
with the pomp of a Church service, a 
choir and brass band procession, a long 
following of mourners and a crowd lining the 
curbs, a flower girl who had sold buttonhole 
bouquets on Ludgate Hill for forty years. She 
was what might be called the Dean of London s 
flower girls and four decades of men had bought 
from her and caught her cheery greeting. This 
thing probably can never happen in an American 
city. Our men aren’t flower wearers, and con¬ 
sequently we see but few flower peddlers along 
our streets. 
In summer, of course, you will meet an oc¬ 
casional commuter wearing his little knot of 
bachelor’s buttons or a daisy that he has snatched 
as he left his garden, but at other seasons of the 
year the custom is unmarked. In fact, the man 
who in winter bothers to drop into a florist s 
for his morning’s rose or carnation is looked upon 
as a dandy. 
For eight years, as we walked up Fifth Avenue 
to our office, we have invariably met one lone 
New Yorker wearing a boutonniere, Mr. Samuel 
Untermyer, the learned attorney and master of 
the beautiful gardens at Greystone-on-Hudson. 
Sometimes he not only wears a flower in his 
buttonhole but is carrying a bouquet of them 
for his office. We have always respected him for 
that. 
Other business and professional men might well 
follow his example. We have permitted a good 
custom to die out. 
*8 
N OW that the Senate, by refusing an appro¬ 
priation of $360,000 for free seed, has put 
an end to this silly and iniquitous “graft”, 
perhaps Government officials will turn their at¬ 
tention to some of the silly and futile phrases of 
Quarantine 37. Perhaps, also, it might do well 
for the Government to supply with each passport, 
a copy of the Plant Quarantine regulations. It 
would give American garden lovers traveling 
abroad a hint of what they are not permitted to 
bring into the country. There is an amazing 
ignorance of this quarantine. Americans go 
abroad, visit the beautiful nurseries of France, 
England, Holland and Germany, start to order 
a shipment of plant material to be sent to their 
gardens at home—and suddenly discover that 
this is forbidden. It is a rude awakening. When 
they return home and ask the reason why, they 
discover that, according to the Chairman of 
the Federal Horticultural Board, “the ordinary 
plant lover is not, as a rule, doing any public 
service.” 
T HE automobile filling station began its ex¬ 
istence as a purely utilitarian building, and 
like many utilitarian beginnings in this 
country, there was no attempt to make it at¬ 
tractive. There are still countless eye sores in 
towns and cities and along the roads. Although 
a decided effort to correct this is now evident, a 
great deal of work still lies ahead. Why is it not 
possible for our big oil and gasoline companies, in 
addition to building presentable architectural fill¬ 
ing stations themselves, to encourage, stimulate 
and even insist on other agents erecting stations 
that are pleasing in design? To one that is pre¬ 
sentable and attractive you pass half a hundred 
that are mere shacks. 
The landscaping of these stations is another de¬ 
sirable feature. Some attempt has been made to 
use evergreens, but we would suggest that, unless 
the station is on a paved and almost dustless 
street plant material be chosen for its ability to 
resist dust and gasoline fumes. In this list would 
come the sumachs, arborvitae and barberry. Color 
could be placed in flower beds, using some of the 
bedding plants in not too formal designs. 
T HIS country, famous for many libraries on 
specialized subjects to which scholars can 
go for authoritative and comprehensive 
work, is singularly lacking in one respect. We have 
excellent libraries of history books, quite adequate 
libraries on exploration and geography, on horti¬ 
culture, on law, on medicine, but we have no one 
group of books on furniture, decoration and ar¬ 
chitecture, decoration and furniture especially, 
comparable to the library of the Musee des Arts 
Decoratif in Paris. Our public libraries in New 
York, Boston and Chicago have sections devoted 
to these subjects, and many volumes are to be 
found in museum libraries, yet the subject of 
furniture and decoration still lacks an adequate 
collection. One of our generous millionaires 
might well consider this as an object for his 
munificence. He might follow the example of 
M. Doucet of Paris, who, ten years ago, sold his 
priceless collection of furniture and devoted the 
proceeds—14,000,000 francs—to the founding of 
just such a library, to which architects, artisans, 
artists, decorators and students of these arts 
might go for consultation. 
T HE other day a bookworm, searching in the 
shadowy corner of a second-hand shop, un¬ 
earthed some early 18th Century books on 
theology that he thought might prove amusing. 
But the price seemed a bit high. “Let me have the 
title pages,” said the proprietor “and I’ll cut the 
price in half.” “But what will you do with the 
title pages?” the bookworm asked. “They’re 
dated,” he was told. “I sell ’em to antique 
furniture makers. They paste ’em in ‘old’ bureau 
drawers and such. Proof positive that the piece 
is a ‘genuine antique.’ ” 
This we add to that body of legends regard¬ 
ing “antique” furniture, to the story of the 
worm-hole maker who died recently in Grand 
Rapids, to the legend of the machine that makes 
linen-fold paneling by the mile which dealers 
later sell by the precious foot. 
The literature of faking is very ancient and ex¬ 
tensive. One of the Roman authors complained 
of the fake antiques made in his day. John 
Evelyn, visiting Italy, in 1624 found imitation 
furniture factories going full blast. Before the 
war it was estimated that in Florence alone there 
were employed in making ancient Italian furni¬ 
ture no less than 10,000 hands. The art of faking 
even goes back to Egyptian times, for Egyptol¬ 
ogists have discovered that it was quite common 
to rob the royal tombs of their priceless furni¬ 
ture and jewels, supplanting them with cheap 
imitations. Thus Mrs. Ptolemy and the Colonel’s 
lady both suffer the same illusion! “As new as 
an antique” might be added to our synonyms. 
And what is that story in L. P. Jack’s “Among 
The Idolmakers”? Of the man who made such 
excellent reproductions of antiques that his re¬ 
productions brought higher prices than the orig¬ 
inals? 
J N. C. FORESTIER, who writes on the 
Roserie of L’Hay, is author of “Jardins”, a 
* book of garden design, and has to his credit, 
among other notable landscaping achievements, 
the present design of the Roserie in the Gardens 
of the Bagatelle in Paris. 
James L. Greenleaf, who designed the garden 
of W. H. Croft, is well known for his land¬ 
scape creations. Among them have been the gar¬ 
dens of George D. and Herbert L. Pratt, Glen 
Cove, L. I. and Ledyard Blair, Oyster Bay, L. I. 
C. Matlack Price, who is beginning a new 
series of architectural and building articles, is 
author of “The Practical Book of Architecture” 
and has been on the staffs of various architectural 
and decoration magazines. He is now in charge 
of the Architectural Department of House & Gar¬ 
den. 
Richard Le Gallienne, who contributes occa¬ 
sionally to House & Garden, is a poet and essayist 
of many interesting and delightful achievements. 
Ralph E. Griswold, who writes on the Villa 
Caprarola, is a fellow of the American Academy 
in Rome. His model of the villa is considered 
one of the finest models ever made and is indic¬ 
ative of the high standard of work being sus¬ 
tained by the American Academy in Rome. This 
excellent institution is supported through the 
generosity of Americans who appreciate the 
value of study in Italy to young architects, 
landscape architects, sculptors, painters and 
musicians. A movement is now on foot to 
increase its landscape endowment funds. 
A 
