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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1922)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 10, 1932 11 if 1 BY A. GARDEN GROWER. KEEN interest is belnp mani fested in the contest for the best planned border 50 feet long and ten feet high which the Oregon Florists' club started last week through this department. The prizes, which consist of choice col lections of shrubs, perennials, an nuals and bulbs are probably the most extensive and valuable ever Offered in a similar contest. They are sufficiently large to afford a large planting in any garden. They will not be confined to the ordinary varieties of plants to be found in the average garden, but will con tain a number of novelties, and in the way of bulbs will represent highly prized varieties of iris, peon ies, gladioli and dahlias. Several designs have already been received and they indicate that the contest ants are giving study and thought in preparing their diagrams. In preparing a planting plan the things to be studied are continuity of bloom, scale, which means heighth, color combination, and that the plants included in the border are to be found in the catalogues of Portland nurserymen, florists and seed houses. As J. Horace McFarland in his article on borders in Bailey's Cyclo pedia of Horticulture points out, the hardy border, such as the contest contemplates, now forms the domi nant part of many gardens, and when properly designed is capable of giving the maximum of pleasure for a minimum of effort and ex pense. Mr. McFarland says: "Now that plants, especially American na V tive plants, are coming to be valued 1 for their intrinsic beauty and in terest rather than for their rarity and cost, the hardy border is a more personal and individual ex pression than some other form of garden effort. Such a border may change not only with the day, but almost between morning and after noon during the luxuriant June weeks.. It may follow the "Chromatic balance of the season from the brightness of spring hues through the cooler tones of summer until the rich tints of the autumn asters and goldenrods blend into the warmer colors of the aftermath that remains to enhance the effective ness of the winter's snow, making the border a continuous pleasure. "This informal planting can be handled with individuality and changed to suit knowledge, circum stance and surroundings without de stroying its charm. The formal hardy border has been exemplified in some notable New England gar dens. It is usually formed with masses of similar plants as a long strip of delphiniums, a great body of aquilegias, serried rows of phlox or lupines and at times is effec tieely combined with architectural adjuncts in the so-called Italian style, or with evergreen trees of formal or clipped outline. But the 'barbered formal border is passing. Even in the best American example of a formal hardy garden, made up of various borders, the edging of the daintily informal pachysandra gives a note of variation that is significant and pleasing. The hol lyhocks, foxgloves and similar treasures of all gardens are indis pensable in the formal border to carry line and give contour and mass. ' "In the hardy border the shrubby plants are used less freely than the herbaceous perennials and the bulbs still less freely as yet. The shrubs, a if selected properly as to character, 1 eventual height, color, time of bloom and effect of foliage, may well form t- framework in which to set off the higher colors of the com position supplied by the herbaceous plant the peonies, iris, gaillardias, veronicas and the like. Or it is practical to build the border entire-- ly without shrubs, depending only on the masses and forms available in the plants that die to the ground each winter. With the increase in variety of herbaceous plants now commercially available everywhere, a very delightful and continuous succession of bloom may be had. The bulbous plants should come to more importance in the hardy bor der. They give color, form, frag rance and effects unique to the class. The narcissus, for instance, in several largely grown forms, adapts itself to both the informal and the J former border plantings. Combined: with iris and lilies and using cer- tain of the late flowering tulips, : effects as permanent as they are pleasing are now produced, and at little expense. ! "While the nature of hardy gar den flowers, with the relief of varied green foliage, seems to make agreeable a heterogeneous color combination, yet more pleasing pic tures are painted in harmonizing or properly contrasting hues. The raw scarlet of the oriental poppy, or the kniphofia, for example, does not go' or compose agreeably with pink or magenta plflpx. It is well to keep tiger lilies and certain pink hibiscus colors from fighting each other. Indeed, a fascination of the hardy border is this opportunity to select and combine hues that shall match and succeed each other agreeably. A border is in mind that blended insensibly from deep crimson at one end through white to pink and pink to yellow, along to orange and scarlet at the other end. There was no clash. It must be said, however, that if the larger l-and more highly colored flowers are judiciously placed, the general miniature of blooming plants in a border is wholly agreeable, even as an oriental rug includes many hues in small masses is agreeable. Frag rance also is a quality to plan for in hardy borders here a bit of ber gamot in a half-shady corner, there the stateliness and the sweetness of many lilies. The wild rose is frag rant in foliage as well as flower. There is added delight in the odor ous quality of certain shrubs. An interesting feature of the border is the seasonal success of bloom. It may begin before spring is more than an atmospheric hint, with its hepaticas, certain violets and the t snowdrops and the crocuses. After that there need be no flowerless roment until a free not a mere fiost stops the glow of the chry santhemums aud finishes the dainty display of the monkshood. The garden may also continue to please through extended weeks by chang ing foliage and by bared twigs of bright colors, as well as by glowing fruit that hangs like the barberries, until the next spring signals re tirement." Just now two of the most attrac tive and cheerful house plants to "be foui in the florists' shops are the Celestrial pepper and the Jeru salem cherry. Both of them, with meir bright foliage and cheerful, brilliant fruit, add charm to the home and also interest. The Celes tial pepper is simply a dwarf or miniature form of the ordinary pepper of commerce, the pepper which Columbus discovered when I tie also discovered America, for it is "ff"i be recalled that probably the first recora or the use of pepper was made by Chauca, physician to the fleet of Columbus, who in 1494 alluded to it as a condiment. These little plants, about one foot tall and well covered with brilliant fruit, require very little attention and itnens offered in the flower shops. cmp Tnt Gardorv I " " ' 15 1 W vf W i;B Sim t IT WJ I f 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 lib i : m C"-'?l WFtfV SSL, " I h -vtHL JERBSAliEM CHERRY. A In fact, I recall no time when the plants eeem to be better fruited than they are this season. One grow er attributes it to the long, open fall we have had, so that a great amount of artificial heat was not required in developing the plants. -Kot only do these scrubby little plants make a nice house ornament, but after they have served their purpose they can be transferred to the garden, where they will form an will bring cheer to a room for sev eral weeks. The Jerusalem cherries have a strong appeal to me, and just now there are many fine spec interesting addition to your plant ing. Should you obtain either a plant of Celestial peppers or Jeru salem cherries, see they are kept In a room where the temperature Is not too high, and If you are careful to see they do not dry out you will enjoy them for a number of week. Do not use too much water, but exercise care and see the surface Is kept damp. There are possibly very few places in this country where we can enjoy variegation in plants as we do in Portland, for it seems thafc the nuprserymen who supply our needs have been careful to see that we can have such variegation, and I think it is one of the reasons why Portland gardens attract attention from visitors. Anyone who Is the fortunate possessor of a variegated holly knows how it excites the in terest of those viewing it, and if you happen to be the owner you know with what pride you exhibit it. I think the same holds good with any variegation thar we may be fortunate enough to posses, and ftr this reason I cannot agree with William Robinson, a widely-noted horticultural writer of England, who in a recent article In the Gar den magazine makes what I con sider unjust and uncalled criticisms of those who seek variegation in their gardens. In his article Mr. Robinson tries to lay the blame for the gTeat majority of variegations to overzealous nurserymen. In this I think he is wrong, for if a study of almost any encyclopedia of hor ticulture is made one will see that the great number of variegations in plant life have come about through some unknown force of nature and that' all theNnurserymen have done is to preserve for others these In teresting new forms by means of artificial propagation by cuttings, layering or grafting. If nature oc casionally produces on a plant va riegated foliage instead of green and the variegation is attractive that variegation should be pre served. ' Even if Mr. Robinson does not like some of the new types of plants and the variegation in foliage, but wants to stick to the original species he seems to have- gone to consider able effort to dictate what we should have in our gardens. Some of the most attractive plantings in Portland have been accomplished through the planting t various shrubs with variegated foliage, for when nsed by a skilled landscape architect they'will supply a want that cannot be obtained if just the ordinary green forms were used. Plants with-variegated foliage will frequently lighten up and change the character of a deep, heavy plant ing, but aside from this, one should consider the interest that such va riegation exercises over the owner and the pleasure he takes In his garden because it has something distinct and not found in other gar dens. An illustration as to how condi tions regarding plants have changed was noticed during the past week and shows that instead of the Pa cific northwest being dependent upon eastern nurseries for a stock of trees, that the eastern nurseries ae now looking to the Pacific northwest to supply them. About ten years ago when the Laurelhurst and Eastmoreland districts were platted and improved as residential sections it was decided that the streets should be lined with Norway maples, and the contract for fur nishing the trees was given to a Portland nursery. A survey of the field showed there were not enough trees of this type in all the nur series of this vicinity, or anywhere on the Pacific coast to supply those needed for these two districts. Therefore all the trees in these two sections were imported from Gene va, N. T., which is the center of the nursery business of the country. As a result of experimenting It was found that- In Portland could be propagated better Norway maples than the eastern growers could hope to grow, for due to some peculiar climatic or soil condition, the little trees here, all raised from seed, grow without what are called crooks or resettes, therefore being highly desirable. So superior is the Oregon tree that during the week J. B. PUkington shipped a carload of Norway maple trees from his nursery to Geneva, N. T., and has orders for three more carloads. In addition to this, he shipped east a j carload of mixed trees, including J many broad-leaved evergreens, and BRIGHT HOUSE PLANT. these went to an eastern firm, and no doubt many of them will event ually find their way to this section. The eastern firm which purchased them sends more catalogues into Oregon than any local concern a id in all probability Oregonians will buy these plants, thinking they tre getting something superior to what they could get at home, whereas, as a matter of fact, what they are getting is Oregon-grown and could be obtained right at home with the additional advantage of personal in spection before leaving the nursery. To those interested in growing tulips I want to suggest they get bulletin No. 10S2 of the United States department of agriculture which was issued during the past week. It Is written by Dr. David Griffith, the bulb expert of the department. and gives the result of the extensive experiments carried on at the gov ernment bulb farm at Bellingham, Wash. The object of these experi ments and the bulletin is to show that good tulip bulbs can be pro duced in America at a profit, and that this country need no longer be.: dependent upon Europe for its sup ply of bulbs. I regret that lack of space prevents me from giving a complete review of this interesting booklet, for I feel that it is of pe culiar value to Oregon in view of the start already made in the Wil lamette valley- toward bulb farm ing. Unless the review was ex haustive it would not be of value to those interested. Among the sub jects treated by Dr. Griffiths are soil preparation, planting, treatment of beds after pla.nting, age of flow ering bulbs, -blindness in bulbs, the relation of size of bulb to size of flower, removing the flowers, the time when tulips are ripe, care of bulbs, packing the bulbs, enemies of tulips and the performance record of how many tulips were produced to an acre. The bulletin is not for free dis tribution, but can be obtained by re mitting 25 cents to the superintend ent of documents, government print ing office, Washington, D. C. "A summary of points made by Dr. Griffith's- study and experiments is contained on the cover and is as fol lows: "Do not plant on lean soil. Use the most available source of fertility and utilize it to the utmost by a thick and exhaustive planting. Continually strive to plant back every year. Do not sell all the large bulbs, but plant back a .small num ber of the largest and' best, espe cially of the varieties which repro duce poorly. Do not plant on the same ground more often than once in two and preferably once in three years. Dig and replant every year. Practice clean culture. . Keep down weeds. Preserve the bulb coats. Do not let the bulbs mold. Handle them without bruising. Avoid hav ing broken tulips in close proximity to the breeders or self-colored stocks. Plant early. The best results are to be expected from planting made be fore the end of September." Henry Howard Barrows, to whom the horticultural world owes much, died recently at his home in Whit man. Muss. More to Mr. Barrows than anyone else does the world to day owe for the many wonderful ferns which grace homes through out tU3 ccurtry. About 25 years ago he determined on being a fern specialist and, discarding all other plants turned his attention to the then new Boston fern. . Fnm this he obtained a sprout which he named the Furrows fern. H;i also developed the Whitman! sprout, with its graceful, ostrich - plume foliage, and later gave to the world Magnifici and Gracilma. His busi ness in ferns was enormous, more than one and a half million plants being the year's output. Notes of the Garden, Samuel Ames of Silverton is mak ing a runiber of improvements to his garden and putting in new plantings of broad - leaved ever greens, including rhododeodrons, Mediterranean heather, pyracantha, escallonia, camelias, veronica tra- versi, lonicera nitida, abelia, Dar win barberry and spireas. Mrs. J. R. Dickson and Stephen C. M. Murphy have started plantings on the site of their future homes near the Waverley Country club. The former is inclosing the ground with a hedge of Oregon grape and Mr. Murphy is using as an inclosure a large number of English laurels. P. Jt. Mans of S69 Broadway has just finished putting in a large spring garden of assorted bulbs. Mrs. T. E. Proctor of 1775 Wil lamette boulevard will feature in her spring garden single hyacinths, a large collection of assorted Dar win tulips and freesias. Mrs. R. S. Bean of 1620 Front street, in the Fulton Park district, la awaiting spring with interest, as she has put in a large planting of narcissus, including many of the polyanthus type and also a large collection of tulips. The Masons of Goldendale have completed arrangements, for a fine garden surrounding their temple. The planting is under the direction of Z. O. Brooks, who. is improv ing the grounds with a number of specimen trees, including the Vir ginia red cedar and the Norway spruce. The entire grounds will be enclosed with a hedge of English privet. ( ' A. E. Breckof 1171 Riverview boulevard, is adding much to his garden in the way of flowering shrubs, including the whits haw thorn, -the double flowering crab, daphne, jasimins officinalis, white lilacs and a number of other plants. G. H. Dunham of Rlverdale is adding to his extensive planting a number of plants, -fricluding Law son's cypress; English laurel, cy press alumi, or the blue Lawson cy press, Wilson barberry, pyracantha, Spanish broom, and also the white broom. Mrs. H. C. Beard of 1740 East Eleventh street will have as a fea ture of her Bpring garden large plantings of the Gloria Mundi and Luicfer narcissus and several var ieties of the polyanthus type. In addition to these she will hare four varieties of hyacinths and a number or tulips. Mrs. C. C. Perrins qf Yamhill, Or., has just put in a planting of prac tically all types of tulips, includ ing single. Darwins, parrot and cot tage. She will also feature a col lection of five or six varieties of Roman hyacinths. ' ' Dr. J. T. Allen of 316 West Twen ty-third street, ,Vansouver, Wash., Is a great admirer of the Southern Oregon native azalea and has just put a large planting of it In his fcarden. He is also increasing his rcse garden with a number of new varieties, including Paul's scarlet climber. , Answers to Querries. I write to see If you can tell me what Is the matter with my begonia. It was HALIBUT, KING, OF FLAT FISH, POPULAR WITH PORTLANDERS Whenever They Grow Tired of Salmon, People Turn to Savory Species of Flounder That Is Delicious. BY EVELENE SPENCER, Pish Cookery Expert, United States Bu reau of Fisheries and author of "Fish Cookery." THE Portland people do love their halibut, the fish dealers tell me. When they tire of salmon they turn naturally to hali but red fish one week and a white one the next, and that white one invariably halibut, no matter at what cost. They may price other white-meated fish, ask all -sorts of questions about them, but they buy the halibut" almost every time. I wonder If they know that In this preference they are following in the footsteps of their Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian ancestors? These peoples thought so highly of the halibut as to make it the holi day feast fish and named it accord- ! 1., TTali mMUfl hnlV and bUttS means flounder (plaice), so that the word literally means, noiy nuuiiuci, as the halibut is the largest of the j tmii-,r with the little UUUUUOl sanddab as the smallest, and the flatfish we know as tne iiouuuei and sole, coming in between. ' The halibut (Hippoglossus hippo is fmmfl in all the north- a ;n nnp of the most em seas "" , valued food fishes in the world. On the 'Pacific coast ranges from the Falones .to Bering strait. J-ne uui. world's supply of halibut comes from banks along the Alaska coast, but little is now taken from the Atlantic banks. . It is one of the largest of fishes, mi n toiroTi in 1906 in Alaska that weighed 365 "pounds, and one has Deen recumeu nu the Atlantic which weighed 721 pounds. The male halibut is al ways much smaller than the female and rarely weighs more than 50 pounds. But tne very large no" are not as highly esteemed as those of smaller size. The ones weigh ing from 30 .to 100 pounds bring the best price. Small halibut, known as "chicken halibut," rang ing from 10 to 20 pounds, are much sought by epicures, although not considered highly' from the utility point of view by the 3h dealer. "Chicken halibut? repeated a dealer, on my inquiry recently "No, ma'am, I steer clear of them. Yes, I will admit they are fine, but the point is-'"this: Everyone wants a middle cut. N&w, when you take a middle cut out of a small chicken halibut, who will buy the collar end or the tail end? You have to sell them at a reduction and waste your breath talking them up to sell them at all. The public doesn't know the difference; in fact, prefers the medium-sized and large fish, so why should I worry and burden myself with collars and tails just to sell middle cuts? Why should I, eh?" he repeated belligereiitly. I could see his viewpoint and proceded to soothe him by telling him so. These fish dealers have their trou bles and I usually agree with them when they give me their confidence. As halibut will keep in fresh con dition, in ice, much longer than any other species, the greater parj, of it is marketed in fresh condition, much of it being shipped to the eastern markets. When one reflects on these facts, it will be seen that the days of cheap halibut are gone forever. If we want to eat our hali but we have to pay the price in com petition with the markets of the -world. . Here in Oregon we fio not bring the flounder to market. There is no demand whatever for this flat fish, which makes the finest tender loin of - sole in the world, ' so the fishermen, when the flounder gets tangled up in his gear, mutters under his breath and proceeds to take his time to throw it all back into the sea. Then, when we want tenderloin of - sole, which we all do now and then, for it has such a well known and thoroughly estab lished name why the obliging fish dealer proceeds to cut us off the quantity of tenderloin of sole from halibut, skillfully cut on the bias, Instead of on the straight. In the markets of San Francisco the most popular dish in fish is the tender loin of sole, but they fillet their cheap flounders and larger sole to obtain it, consequently do not have to use the high-priced halibut, cut on the bias, to be cooked as ten derloin of sole. Fillets of sole a la meuniere (thin slices of bias halibut may be used) One pound fillets or tender loin of sole, four tablespoons butter, one tablespoon finely minced pars ley, lemon juice. Mix a litle salt with some flour and roll the pieces of fish in it Have the frying pan ready with som hot oil, put in the floured fish, turning it carefully with a pan a small plant from a Portland florin more than a year ago, and it is still very small. . As Boon as 1 the leaves coma out they wlthor as If they had been scorched with a hot Iron on abou half of their surface. It did fairly well for a little while, and then we kept it quite damp for a while, water standing in the Jar dlnere. Then we kept it rather dry. Then we moved and I thought it might have been crowded and bruised. I then transplanted it and gave it fine care, but the new leaves have died twice since then those that were on and others since, so I feel there must be something wrong. Can you tell me what sort of. sun, moisture ana sun exposure taey iiae best and I will appreciate anything you can tell me? MHS. U C. F.. Chinook, Wash. Answer It would be difficult to tell you just what is the matter with your begonia, excepting that it is suffering from unfavorable growing conditions. It is more than likely that you have changed your methods of culture too much, un doubtedly using too much moisture and then going to the other ex treme and allowing it to dry out. Begonias enjoy a light loose soil with considerable sand in it. I would advise that you keep the Jant in a window with a southern exposure during the winter. About March 1 you should replant it, shaking from the roots most of the old soil and repotting in fresh compost. Water sparingly after that until It commences to grow vigor ously, which will be in the late spring. During the summer time It will do best if placed in a window with a northern exposure. Will you please tell me through your articles in The Sunday Oregonian what I should do with my cyclamen? On one plant the leaves are turning yellow and the blooms seem to wilt. On the other one the foliage Is keeping very well, but the buds wilt and die before they come out. Being in the hospital I realize they are hard to keep, but believe there is something I should do for them. I cer tainly enjoy your articles and am saving them for future reference. MRS. Y., The Dalles. Answer Tou evidently have your cyclamen in a ,room that is too warm. These plants are native of the higher altitudes of Persia,- and resent too much heat They will do better' if kept in a room with a temperature of from 45 to 50 de grees than they will in one from 60 to 70 degrees. cake turner and browning it well on both sides. If-the frying pan will not hold the desired quantity and a second panful must be cooked, rinse out the pan with some boil ing water (the rinsing may be put In with some fish stock), dry it out and take some fresh oil for the sec ond pan. If fried in this manner, the results are good, but when more than one panful is fried in the same oil, the result is generally un satisfactory, as the flour burns and Sticks to the pan and the fish is cov ered with black specks, to say nothing of the difficulty of re moving the fish without breaking. Remove the fillets to a hot plat ter. Put the butter in a saucepan and (If liked) add the lemon juice, allow to boil up, then pour it over the fish and sprinkle with the parsley. ' Halibut steaks a la meuniere Purchase a ' steak about an inch thick. Roll in salted flour and fry in hot oil, browning on each side, then moderating the heat and al lowing time to cook through. Melt the butter, add lemon juice and parsley and pour over the cooked fish when ready to serve. This time of the year a family generally, and the children especial ly, are fond of a fish with dressing or stuffing suggestive of poultry. Such a dish is: Savory halibut with dressing on top. Purchase a steak piece or slice at least an inch thick. Trim off the skin and cut out the bones. Arrange pieces in an oiled glass bak ing dish or aluminum pan suitable for table service. Try to manage it i so that the pieces of fish oover in the bottom of the dish, solidly. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pep per, then cover it with the savory dressing from one to two inches in depth. Place in a hot oven and bake for 15 minutes, unless thicker slices of fish are used. For the first ten minutes invert another baking pan over the fish to keep the dressing from browning too rapid ly, then remove the pan the last five minutes. Dressing should be a fine golden-brown shade. Serve if possible, from the dish In which it was baked, or cut into square serving pieces and . remove to .- s hot platter with the aid of a pan cake turner. Serve with sauce tar tare, Savory dressing for baked fish. One quart of stale, soft bread crumbs, one-half cup colorlessly fried onions, one teaspoon mixed poultry spice, or thyme, marjoram, summer savory, oil to mix with crumbs, if not enough has been used in frying the onions. Mix the in gredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper, then cover over the top of the fish. To fry onions eoloriessly Peel three or four onions and then mince them finely. Place in a pan and cover with oil and a little salt, cook ing them in a slow oven or on the back of the stove; if cooking them on the stove, cover with a tight lid. Stir them occasionally - until they are cooked a straw color, which will take about 20 minutes. Do not al low them to brown or the flavor will not be so delicate. These are now ready for use in any fish dish, soup, chowder or dressing. Bacon fat may also be used. Nothing shows lack of skill in cooloery . more than underdone pieces of onions in a dish which has been prepared in a hurry. These cooked onions will keep in a cool place for some time and. once the housewife has tried preparing them ahead, she will not want to be without them, preparing them in leisure time. Onions cooked in oil have a different seasoning value to a dish than minced raw onions. When used in stuffings, .dressings, etc., rubbed in with the stale, soft crumbs, there is usually enough oil to enrich the crumbs. Halibut, Spencer method. Pur chase a slice an inch to-an inch and a half thick. Trim off the skin and cut out the bone, then eut into servings, allowing three pieces to each pound of fish, cutting into nice thick chunky pieces, rather than thin slices. Dip each piece into a bowl containing some heavily salt ed milk, then toss into a pan of fine ly sifted bread crumbs, crumbing it on all sides. Place each piece in an oiled baking pan, sprinkle with a little oil from a pastry brush or swab, then bake in a very hot oven, around 600 Fahrenheit, for ten min utes. Remove to a platter, garnish with sprigs of parsley and eighths of lemon. (Cut lemon in two, then halfs, then cut into eighths.) Cooked in this way it will be pronounced the equal of any broiled and the superior to any fried halibut in flavor. Serve with sauce tartare. . SPIDERWEB COILS FOUND EXCELLENT FOR TUNING RECEIVERS; GREAT RESULTS WON Task Is Not Difficult, but Requires Much Time and Patience in Winding Wires Correctly, but Surpris- ing Success Is Obtained and Advantages Over Other Methods Are Shown. SPIDERWEB coils are beginning to find much favor among the I radio experimenters today. The persons who has only a limited amount of money to spend, but is willing to take a Mittle time and care in constructing a receiving set, will find that the spiderwebs are easily made and will give surpris ing results in long distance recep tion of broadcasts. The coils tune in a similar man ner as the "honeycombs," but they have several advantages over that type in that they are more easily tuned' to continuous waves. Since no shellac or other binder is needed to retain the wire of the spider webs, the distributed capacity is less so that the signals will be much greater, Contrary to usual practice, it has been found that there are advan tages in winding the spiderwebs with small wire; No. 25 single cot ton covered - magnet wire is the U8al size for winding them. For best results, the forms for the coils should be made of clear mica about .010 inch thick (pieces three inches by four Inches maye be purchased in any hardware store). However, they can be wound on bakelite or any other good insul ating material. Well dried card board will do very well in a pinch. Excellent results have been ob tained using forms having an out side diameter of three inches and 11 teeth three-quarters of an inch long. This makes the circle at the base of the teeth one and one-half inchs in diameter. For a standard regenerative re ceiver, three coils are made. In winding the coils the wire should be laced in and out of the tongues of the frame with an even tension throughout. The number of turns cannot be definitely determined in advance, the user of these coils should try different combinations of turns cn the coils until best results are ob tained As a rule, it will be found that the primary and the secondary coils should be wound with from 20 to 35 turns, depending on the aerial and the length of connections in the circuit. The "tickler" coil will re quire from 45 to 70 turns, depending on the size of the other coils and the rest of the circuit The turns'on the tickler should be varied until the circuit can be made to oscillate or cease to oscillate on any wave length covered by the set. The coils should be mounted so that the primary coil is on the left. tne secondary in the center, and the tickler coll on the right. The secondary coil should be fixed, and tne otner two coils placed so that they can be moved to and from the center coil. A good hook-up of a standard regenerative circuit suit able for these coils is shown in figure 2. For very fine tuning a .0005 mfd. variable condenser may be con nected across the phones and "B" battery and it will give a true ver nier adjustment. It is not, how ever, absolutely necessary. Both the primary and secondary con densers are of ,005 microfarad ca pacity. For broadcast reception the pri mary condenser may be left in one position. Then the coupling be tween . the secondary and tickler coils is decreased until the set be gins to oscillate. Then slowly vary the secondary condenser until the whistle of the carrier wave is heard. It will be found that there are really two whistles only one or two degrees apart on the condenser. The condenser should be set at a point midway between these two whistles and the filament rheostat turned up or down slowly until the To'ce or music is heard best. Either the standard type of "pea nut" vacuum tube can be uted with these coils. 4 A little more than a year ago many of the old established manu facturers of radio apparatus were wondering how they would dispose of their stock. Many dealers were just making a bare living at sell ing radio apparatus. Just about 300,000 radio amateurs scattered throughout the United States con stituted the field for sales of Tadio goods and apparatus. Since then a great change has taken place. Radio has come upon the country as a tide. OM appara tus, instruments manufactured un der patents 15 years old, ordinary double slide crystal detector sets were becoming immensely popular. It is said that there are almost 600 Incorporated manufacturers of radio apparatus in the United States today. It is impossible to estimate the number of dealers. There are some two or three million fans who have bought and installed radio re ceiving sets. - These sets receive music and other broadcast matter from some 600 or more broadcasting stations located In every state in the Union. Every state but one has one or more stations, and some states have as many as 20. With the establishment of more solid radio regulations, with the advent of fair competition and in telligent manufacture of radio ap paratus of good design the infant radio baby is growing lustily, i 4 good aerial connector which will stand all tests and be of good use is the one described below. It consists of a brass plate, triangular in shape, with a set of screws or binding posts for making the neces sary connections. The wire is con nected in the proper manner to each binding post and then made fast to the lead-in. This type is easy to make and very rugged in construc tion. A small piece of 9-16 or -inch brass about two inches square is cut diagonally so that two triangular pieces result. Along the long edge holes are center-punched and drilled for -crews or binding posts. There should be as many binding posts as there are wires in the aerial. All of the fittings should be of brass, which will not -rust or oxidize as readily as iron or steel. Another hole is made at the apex of the triangle and a binding post capable of taking a large size wire Is fastened to the plate at this point. Every screw is made as tight as possible, so that the danger of any thing becoming loose will be reduced to a minimum. If desired the whole connector may be given a heavy coating of shellac or other kind of preserving varnish. This' will retard the oxidation of the metal. One thousand signal corps vacuum tubes, type VT-ll, manufactured by the General Electric company, have been declared surplus and are of fered for sale to the public at a price of $5.50 each, not more than three to any one person, as is and where is, licensed only for amateur, experimental or entertainment use, at the Chicago intermediate depot, U S. army, 1819 West Pershing road. The tubes have never been used, are part of the current stock of the sig nal corps and have been released to fill an urgent demand of the ama teurs of the United States lor such tubes. The principal characteristics of the tubes are as follows: (a) Hard, require no adjustment j: r : wm Vl'W'I'I'I'l'I'l Splderweb colls are popular today for taming a resteneratlve receiver. Fig. 1. Form used for winding a antderweb eoll. Fig. 2. Standard regenerative receiver whica is most suitable for the spiderweb. of plate potential; (b) filament cur rent 11-10 amperes at 3 to 4 volts, two-cell lead storage hjattery con nected directly across the filament with no series resistance, no ad justment required; (c) plate impe dance, average 20,000 ohms; (d) plate voltage, 20 volts for detector, 40 volts for amplifier, adjustable plate voltage not needed for either use; (e) detector grid condenser, 100-200 micro-microfarad with two megohm leak connected to positive side of filament; (f) when used as amplifier grid' circuit connects to negative side of filament; (g) is effective ra dio and audio amplifier, detector, and will also oscillate freely in low output oscillator circuit; (h) avail able for use in most existing com mercial sets, care being taken to prevent using filament voltage greater than 4- volts; (1) substan tially similar to Radiotron and fits Radiotron receiving socket. Condenser Is Important Factor in Radio. Tuning in for Various Stations Neceasitatea Apparatus. ' AFTER he has listtned' in the "air" for a month or so the owner of a radio receiving set finds that the condenser Is a very im portant factor in the matter of tim ing in the various stations he hears. Yet if he la asked by a friend to ex plain the function of this unit, he Is at a total loss, as a rule, to give an intelligent explanation. Much has been written in these pages regarding this piece of ap paratus, but there are still many who fail to grasp it s use m raaio reception. This is evidenced by. many of the queries received by the radio editor either by phone or mail. A few paragrapihg about condens ers should enlighten many or our readers to the extent that they may further appreciate the Importance of the piece of apparatus chosen as our subject. Most of us are aware of the fact thatj. there are two typea of con densers in common use in radio re ceiving sets as we know them, namely, the fixed condenser and the variable condens-er, the former being the simpler and the latter the more efficient. Broadly speaking, the function of a condenser is to store up electrical energy and then to suddenly release it. Thus the current passing through the circuit is interrupted, varied or broken, and we gpeak of this action as increasing the oscillations in the set. - The fixed condenser is always of the same capacity unless one wishes to go to the trouble of tak ing it apart to add to or take away the conductive surfaces. There are, however, certain required capacities at one point or another in a receiv ing set, depending upon the nature of the hook-up. In such places,, fixed condensers are installed per manently. At other poirits in the same hook ups, variable condensers are placed in order to break or vary the cur rent and allow of fine tuning in the circuit. The type of variable generally in use is the rotary design, which con sists of a number of semi-circular plates of aluminum so arranged on a rod as to swing or rotate them past a series of fixed discs. In both of these forms of variable condens ers, the air spaces between the plates serve the same purpose as the waxed paper in the fixed condensers. This last described type is probably more costly and more trouble to build than the operation is worth and it is advisable that it be pur chased. . Several sheets of asbestos roofing were procured from a roofing com pany and these used in building up the panel. The sheets were not very thick and It took six of them stuck together wjth shellac to make the thickness desired. The pieces were cut 20 inches long and 10 inches wide. After thoroughly coating them with the shellac they were stuck together and placed under a heavy weight. When this became thoroughly dry I coated the outside several times with black shellac. Never use paint, as it contains lead. Make such a panel large enough so that it will need trimming. This can be done by placing the prepared panel between two boards and saw it and the boards as if sawing a single piece With 673 private broadcasting sta tions offering daily programmes, the radio public is apt to lose sight of the fact that the United States is also broadcasting information on many subjects. Six departments are scheduled for dally or semi weekly programmes ands 42 naval radio stations are carrying news of one sort or another. Requests for permission to broad cast have become so numerous that the co-ordination of all government broadcasting has become necessary. A committee of 12 officials, repre senting as many branches 'of the government at Washington, is en deavoring to supervise matter sub mitted for public broadcasting over radio-telephone circuits furnished through the courtesy of the navy department. In order that the lis-teners-in may receive the maximum service with a minimum of inter ference and without duplication this committee was appointed last spring at the suggestion of Herbert R. Hoover, secretary of commerce. It Is known as the inter-departmental advistory committee on radio broad- , casting. Experiments in which radio waves transmitted energy enough to ring ' a bell away were recently conducted by Wallace F. Vail, president of the' United States Radio corporation of San Francisco, with the aid of other radio engineers. Their results have interested government officials in a further effort to find a means of sending power over long distances. An accident caused the discovery that radio might be useful in the ' transmission of power. This hap pened when engineers noticed an electric lamp light up for no appar ent reason while they were broad casting messages. They Immediately started a series of tests with the electric lamp in connection with the radio transmission apparatus until . they learned what actually caused . It to light up. "Later," explains Vail, "an electric bell was rung in the city of Berke ley, eight miles away, by means of the same Idea. The engineers were able also to light an electric lamp at a distance of 1000 feet entirely by the transmitted power." The value of this secret of sending power by radio cannot be estimated, says Vail. It would be especially valuable to nations at war, with the., lives of soldiers saved as its redeem ing feature. . With the Increase of exact science, as well as art, in radiophoning it becomes evident that there are voices and personalities which are better suited to radio than others. Broadcasting companies go in search of the ideal "radio voice." Men and " women who have gained reputations ; on stage and platform because of personal magnetism and voice have failed utterly in radio; there is a "radio voice" and none knows that better than the fans who follow different stations and different pro grammes. The manager of a broadcasting studio must be tactful in the han dling of temperamental artists, many of whom become more tem peramental in the face of the un usual experience of singing or play- ing to an unseen and apparently unresponsive audience. He must be familiar with music and stand be tween the listener and the very mediocre performer, whose work, if coarse or poorly executed, would torment the discriminating critic. The studio manager and announcer must know the proper pronunciation of musical numbers and composers, for among the listeners are thou sands who know Spanish or French or German and their ears must not be offended. Face Disfigured. Itched and Burned. Never Slept. " Eczema started on my cheek and forehead and began working up in to my nair. it broke out in a rash and as I scratched and Irritated it, It became blisters and spread rapid ly. It disfigured my face badlv and iteherf nrl burned until I was nearly wild. I never slept at night. "I was advised to try Cuticura Soap and Ointment. The first treat ment relieved mc and after using one cake of Cuticura Soap and one box of Cuticura Ointment I was healed." (Signed) Mr. Freeman P. Griggs, Box 61, Greer, Idaho. Use Cuticura for all toilet purposes. east, auk Im r Kaa. Utai: "0uii MsriM, Bast. I, Ittl.nl.lUn." Sold arr- wcre. aop a. Ohitraacrt Snlilt. Tale era Sc. t-ottora So. mtm without mmm. Bookkeeper Falls Heir to Fortune J,Upor the death of an uncle I in herited $50,000. I gave up my posi tion and intended enjoying myself when I was stricken with a severe case of stomach trouble and colic attacks. Two of these attacks made me lose consciousness. After treat ing with our best doctors with little benefit I decided to try Mayr's Won derful Remedy, and It helped me at once. I have been entirely well for past year." It is a simple, harmless preparation that removes the ca tarrhal mucus from the intestinal tract and allays the inflammation which causes practically all stom ach, liver and intestinal ailments, including appendicitis. One dose will convince or money refunded. For sale at all druggists. Adv. ZMA m CUTICURA HEALS 1