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THE QUESTION OF FLOORS BY JULIA W. WOLFE. •StS The ' time is almost her« when a carpet securely fastened around tb« edg«8 of a room will be a rarity. If you have floors which are stained and soiled with paint the first thing to be done is to apply caustic potash to the jtaint stains, and leave it on until they are dissolved. It may take a couple of days to do this if the paint is hard, and after- wards the floor should be well scour- ed and dried. If the boards do not fit perfectly, have the spaces filled with putty or with a mixture which has often been recommended, old newspapers soaked in a paste made of water and flour. The proportions of this are one pound of flour, three quarts of water, and one tablespoonful of powdered alum. The newspapers must be torn to bits, and the whole thoroughly boiled, and milled until of the consistency of put- ty. It may be colored with a little of the staining mixture, and should be forced into the cracks with a knife, when it will soon become hard and (firy likt papier mache. The lahor of staining a floor is not very fjreat, and, as no particular skill is required, the boys of the family might l)e allowed to use their super- fluous energy in this way. By sitting ^n a low stool and painting one board at ia time, lengthwise on the board, and using a large brush, a good-sized room may soon be covered. Allow it to dry well before putting on the sec- ond coat, and this in turn before shellacing, and let twenty-four hours elapse before using the room after the final coat. Perhaps it would be best for the novice to buy the stain already mixed, but a little experimenting will give excellent results, and the expense will, of course, be leas. If a soft yellow the color of pine ia desired, use raw sienna, diluted very thin with turpen- tine. This does not show dust or foot- ! marks like the darker stains, and is wry desirable in rooms which are mach used. Raw umber gn:«atly diluted ia a good color for a living-room, and thin Van- dyke brown on Geoxgia pine ia very pleasing. For a faiicy border you may use a contrasting shade. A good way is to experiment with the different stains on bits of wood of the same quality as the floor until the desired tint is obtained. The chief objection to a stained floor I proceeds, undoubtedly 'from the fact that the dust remains on the surface, instead of being absorbed as it is in a carpeted room. To get rid of this it is only necessary to tie a piece of soft flannel around a broom and go over the boards every day or two. This is really but the work of a few minutes, and the frequent polishing gives a fine gloss not to be gained in any ether way. Water should never be used on a stained or parquet floor, as it has the effect of making it dull at once, be- sides being quite unnecessary where the 9annel cloth is used as suggested. the bed. A still better proceeding ia to keep the house and sleeping rooms thoroughly screened and not allow mosquitoes in the house at all. Buy some good screen â€" galvanized, copper or brass â€" with fine mesh, say 16 or even 18 to the inch ; or linen mosquito- netting, which is strong and service- able and not affected by dampness, can be used. During the hot weather the farmer should eat his meals and drink his milk very slowly, for the hasty masti- cation of food is a potent cause of in- digestion. His wife must not enter- tain beyond her strength, which is lessened by the stress of summer work. She v/ill- never find time to rest if her roomy house is filled with guests. Let her bathe daily, save her steps, keep her temper even by the arrangement of plain meals and com- fortable clothes. Many parsons are afflicted with perspiration of a most unpleasant odor, which aff'SJcts mostly the feet and arm-pits. Bathing daily or often- er with good soap, or else a little borax in the water, is necessary, after which tha feet and arm-pits should be rub- bed with a powder composed of five grams cf salicylic acid and 100 grams each of pulverized alum and lyco- podium. The stockings must be chang- ed every day and the shoes should be thoroughly ventilated every night. A second pair of shoes should be kept to change with frequency, if one would not be unpleasant to one's associates. Apple Storage Troubles. As we store most of our commercial apple crop in our own underground cellai-s and sell them to grocers in oompetitioii with cold-storage apples, we have had more or lesm difficulty in putting a juicy, snappy appJe on the market in its proper season. Various causes contribute to this difficulty, one being insufficient mois- tare in our cellars, especially during the first thirty to fifty days of stor- age. We have helped this somewhat by ventHating during spells of wea- ther wh-en th3 air was very humid, and also by sprinkling the alleyways and even the containers. Picking before complete ripeness also contributes to keeping qucLity. In our efforts to delay evaporation of the fruits, as it amounts to just that, we have used tight standard barrels, paper-lined crates and boxes and various other containers with varying results. Those containers which were near- est air-tight gave us poorest results, for in these invariably developed scald with accompanying poor keeping qualities. We have learned by government ex- periments as weU as our own that in ordinary dry storage, as we usvtaHJy term it, apples must go through a sweat period for four to six weeks after picking rr.d must have oppor- tunity to evaporate some of the mois- ture which appears poison to their long-keeping ability, after which they may be kept in more or less air-tight containers. Practically all apples, except ruseet- skinned ones, contain a moisture- proofing all their own on the outside of their skin. At certain periods on certain varieties this gets very oily. Scraping the peeling of an appte with a knife blade will show this paraffin- appearing substance that retards evaporation and holds in the flavor. But for all this and ali these pre- cautions, we 'Still have a certain per cent, of tough, rubbery apples. So we set about to determine the cause of the evaporation, for such it is. We have found that any disease which interferes with this coating process gives us more or less tough wrinkly apples, though good specimens other- wise. We have found that apple scab gives wrinkled apples in proportion to the scab-infected area. We have found blotch causes tough apples* in propor- tion to the number of blotch cracks on the skin of those apples. We have found another injury not so nearly under our control which also causes tough wrinkled apples, and this is spring-frost injury during blossoming time or soon afterward. This causes russeting of the appfe in about the proportion to the frost- ing; it also makes misshapen apples, and we find that evaporation is un- usually rapid througrfi these russated areas. We hAv« • suspicion, in fact we are quite sure, that this evaporation also takes plsice on apples that are russet- ed by incorrect spraying. Therefore, to avoid th^se wrinkly apples, which mean loss, we have to us<> good care from the start of the crop until its normal keeping season is past â€" a much gT^ater period than we ever thought was necessary heretofore. EVOLUTION OF A FROG BY M. B. WALDRON. A Party for August. Th^j hot, listless days of .August, sometimes spoken of as "dog days," i made us wish for something interest-! I ing but not strenuous to do. So we I were glad when one hostess chose this I time for a most delightful nonsense I party. It was a "dog party," and never did we laugh so hard in all our lives. The name of the dog or the breed we were supposed to represent was written across our invitations. In the left hand corner was a picture of a dog's head cut from a magazine, and underneath this verse: Every dog has his day. Whether we stay or run away. Come to my kennel on Saturday at eight, i A thrilling dog story here to relate. | The story-tellers were introduced as Mr. Newfoundland, Miss Spitz or | Miss Chow, each impersonating by ; some diaracteristdc antic the dog given 1 him or her and telling the story in the ; first person. Prizes had been an- â-  nounced for the most thrilling story, •â-  the funniest, and the longest. The' prizes were dog collars. ' Those for the boys were made of crepe paper with a large bow and the girls' were clover chains with other blossoms woven in. The prize for the longest story went to the boy who would not finish but kept repeating, i "And I went to the next house in search of a bone, then on to the next , house in search of a bone." | Next came the "Laplander's" con- test. Ice cream cones were passed ' and collars promised those who first reduced the cream to the level of the ' cone's rim, lapping it with the tongue | and not using the teeth. A collar was also given to the one who made the 1 most noise in this contest â€" won, need-i less to say, by a young man. j Those who had not yet. won collars i were paired against one another in : deep growling, loud barking and graces i ful dog-trotting contests. \ For refreshments we had "Dog bis- 1 cuits. Scraps and Mud-puddle liquid." ' Under these names masqueraded , beaten biscuit, fruit salad and coffee. Talk is Too Cheap. Members of the Swedish Authors' Union are asking tor compensation from the radio service for the broad- costing of their works. TEACfilNC BY THE ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS ALL 1-K0.\I ONK ir-.-iXTliKN. The little one has a mode all her own, which is almost as varying as her little whims and fancies are changeable. Simplicity in design and cut, however, should always be the keynote of the mode of the juvenile. The illustration shows how three very attractive-looking frocks can be made from a single pattern, by using ma- terial of a different; design. The first •little frock, of all white, has tiny' tucks at the neck, on both the back and the front, and is trimmed with narrow laca and ribbon bows. A pbdner version, in printed material, hxa the tucks, but the neck and arm- ' holes are plainly bound. The wee one at the top wears dotted swiss and orchid color ribbon outlining the neck and armholes. Sizes 1, 2, 4 and 6 years. Size 2 years requires 1% yds. of 27-inch or 32-inch material. Price 20 cents. Our Fashion Book, illustrating the newest and most practical styles, will; be of interest to every home dress- maker. Price ot the book 10 cents the copy. Each copy includes one coupon good for five cents in the purchaa* of any pattern. i HOW TO ORDER PATTERNS., J Write your name and address plain* ly, giving number «nd kiro of such patterns as you want Knclose 20c in â- tamps or coin (coin preferred; wrap it carefully) for each number, and address your order to Pattern Dept., i Wilson Publishing Co., T3 West Ada- laide St., Toronto. Patterns sent by return mail i Some Summer Helps. Plantain leaves washed clean, then bruised by clapping them between the handr and -applied to an insect sting win immediately allay the burning' and throbbing, and if repeated several times the inflammation will soon sub-' aide. j Mosquitoes seem to be fastidious about smells. They don't like the odor of hickory leaves and will keep' away if you fasten sonie about you; this is worth knowing when you are: picking berries or working in the gar-' Md. An entomologist recommends i Hk» following to keep mosquitoes from! one "frhilc ftsle?p: Oil of citronetla,; one ounce, spirits of camphor, one «unce, oil of c-^ar, one-half ounce.' Mix and t./y a few drops on thoj piljovr or on c tcwsl near the bead of i Villian Kitchen Vassalage. "Generous" thinking is indeed worth while, but illiberal consideration often confines us within four walls and con- structs about us our own prison. During these times of high-priced food, when every home cook is plan- ning her meals on the closest margin possible for the greatest health of the family she ser\'«s, and continually searching in a cook's bag of tricks to make left-overs more appetizing, she may be led to grive illiberal considera- tion to the working equipment in her kitchen. With the thought constantly in mind of cutting the food bill, she neglects to add to her kitchen equip- ment as it becomes worn out, or new device.'' are placed on the market. Of course, one can overstock their kitchen with labor-saving devices, and it re- quires the wisdom of an experienced cook to select those which will aid her In doing her work most efficiently. Seldom is it a saving for the houss- wife to do with poor equipment in her workshop. More than half of her time is spent in the kitchen, but those hours are lengthened if she attempts to do efficient w^ork with inefficient equipment. Immediately she places herself into bondage of villian kitchen vassalage. The more time she spends in the kitchen, the more time she will need to spend, and to no satisfying result. Then, too, thi? home cook, en her daily bout of peeling potatoes, wash- ing dish?5. baking bread, .ind so on, is likely to live so much within h?r own kitchen that she cannot see opportun- ities to alter the arrangement of her own kitchen to save many weary steps. To-morrow morning just try this little trick. When you step into yoUr workshop to start the pot of breakfast coffee, survey it critically, just as though you were in your neighbor's kitchen. Try to see just how many flaws you can detect in the arrange- ment of its furnishing and wornout equipment. Then get bu.'jy and chanae them in order to free yourself from villian kitchen vassalage. BY GEORGE F. LUMB. At the time when my son was about three years old, I happened to read a book on Psychology which gave me a new interest in my boy's development. In the evening I would take him on my knee and tell him a story pur- posely designed to impart to. his child mind some facts that would interest and at the same time instruct him. For example I would start off like this: "Once upon a time there was a kind farm'9r. He had two little boys, Jackie and Tommie. One day the farmer took his little boys cut to the apple tree that grew near the barn and he said. 'Now you have both been good boys and I am going to give you the apples that are on this tree.' There were five apples on the tree and the| farmer picked them all. He gave three apples to Jackie and he gave â€" let me see, three and two are five â€" he gave the other two apples to TomiJiie." After a few weeks of telling often the same story, I would be more de- liberate in making my calculation, and the response would come from my i little boy. , I remember the thrill I felt one' evening when I was telling him aljout a farmer who had three mules and four horses â€" we had used the same' combination in a squirrel story. This farmer wanted to build a new stable. I said, "Now let me see. how munv ''A froggie would a-wooing go, Whether his mother would let him or no; So off he sat, in his opera hat; On the road he met with a rat!" Gaily sang Daisy, sitting on a rug on the porch, arranging the drapery of her doll's overskirt. A voice coming through the cur- tain:3 of the long window at her back interrupted her. ''What do you know about frogs, Daisy?" "What do I know about frogs, Nell? Oh, ever so many things! I know a frog begins with a pollywog and grows into a tadpole, and by and by 'nis tail drops off, and he's a frog. .\nd sometimes frogs and toads get into the middle of great rocks and trees and live hundreds of years with- out anything to eat or drink." And Daisy returned to her doll- dressing with an air of wisdom. "Come wi'Ji me, Daisy, and I'M show you something." '. Daisy laid her doll carefully upon a cushion, and followed her sister. Presently Nell stopped beside a bench in the back yard, and said: "What do you see, Daisy?" "I see an old pail with some water, and grass and weeds in it." "Do you see nothing else?" | "Nothing except some scum floating around on the top of the water." "Well, look closely at the scum, as you call it. That is a grluey substance, and the black specks you see in it are frogs' eggs. I was out with Jack this morning, looking for beetles, and we brought this home. If you will watch those eggs every day, you will learn how frogs grow. Each female deposits about 1,200 eggs in the water; then' the sun shines on them and keeps them warm." , "Don't the mother frog have any more bother about them, Nell?" "No. You will see that each one of | these eggs will turn into a tiny lump i of jelly, and it will cUng to the grass by means 0.1 a small sucker ; then it will develop a tail, and it will breathe by means of a wonderful apparatus ; called gills, so that really a baby . frog is a fish." j "Oh, I know what a fish's gills are! They are made to draw oxygen from ', the water, so the fish can breathe. Dad said ; but I don't know what oxygen is," interrupted Daisy. \ Nell continued her lesson, well pleased that Di'isy was interested. I "After awhile you will discover a pair of hind legs forming, then a pair of front ones. The creature will soon cease to be a tadpole. You won't see the long tail drop off, but will observe it grow less and less as it is absorbed into the animal's system. The mouth ! will g:row wider, until it reaches the' size you see in a fully developed frog. ' "But, as you know, gills are an ap- 1 paratus for obtaining oxygen from â-  water, and as our frog intends to ' spend the greater part of his time ' upon land, he win need a pair of lungs. Accordingly, lungs aro iR'adu- aJiy formed, and then our froggie can 'a-wooing go,' if ha chooses." "How queer! I didn't know there were so many funny things about a frog," observed Daisy. "Yes, a frog is a wonderful littie fellow, and I like to study him. Come, and I will show you a splendid green croaker we captured this morning. I put him in this glass jar and supplied him with food, so I could watch him. I will ]at him out by and by." "Oh, Neil, he is choking! See how he opens his mouth and gasps!" "He is only swallowing air. See how firmly he shuts his mouth now. That ia to keep the air from escaping and force it into his lungs. He has no ribs, as we have, to keep his lungs distended, and so has to work very hard in keeping them filled with air. Should anything hold his mouth open very long, he would suffocate. "A frog absorbs some air through his skin, however, and he had the faculty of imbibing a quantity of water through his skin, equal in am- ount to his whole weight. Sometimes, if suddenly frightened, he will eject a large quantity of water from his body. It is clear and pure, though people used to think it poisonous." "I saw him catch an ant then, NelL He darted out his tongue quick as* a flash!" "Yes; his tongue is a wonderful in- strument. He sits perfectly quiet, and the poor ants never suspect anj-thing until they are struggling on the tip of his tongue. When he is through his meal, his tongue is doubled over so the tip is at the back. "You would never guess, Daisy, that a frog has teeth, but he has eighty of them ; but no one knows what they are for, as the frog does not chew his food, and the teeth are in an unde- veloped state. "You are mistaken Daisy, in think- ing that frogs and toads can live for a long period without food or air. It has been proven by very thorough ex- periments, that when all supplies were cut off they would die. "Toads and frogs also, have been found in very curious places, but there must have been some small way for air and moisture, and tiny insects to reach them, or they could not pos- sioly have existed for the length of time they are said to huive done. "Under favorable circumstances, f.-ogs have been known to reach the lon'ortable age of 50 years, wh'oh I think ia quite long enough for ;; frug to live. I must teli you what a funny thin;jr used to be done in some parts of Gre.-.t Britain. "The people in those places had gieiit faith in the healing properties of ihe frog, and when a baby had a sore mouth, its mother would procure a live frog, and holding it by its hiiul legs, thrust it, struggling and sqiurm- ing, into the baby's mouth." stalls did he need to have for three mules and four horses?" and in a moment a little voice piped up, "Seven, Daddy." He had applied his knowl- edge! j So I proceeded from one story to another. I told him about the oceans, about th-s millions of yellow peop'^ who live in China, about Wellington, , Queen Elizabeth and Franklin and it was a delight and satisfaction to see the hungry little mind drink in the facts of life and of nature. UTlcon- ^ sciously he learned Arithmetic, His- tory and Geography. He is fourteen now, a senior in High School, has just been elected Class Historian and for two years past has not brought home a mark below 80. I I wish I could tell every young par- ent of the joy and satisfaction that come from this practice of which I have spoken. The daily confidential intercourse establishes a bond between parent and child which is invaluable, and the mind of the child is greatly enriched, making the school lessons easier to grasp because of the breadth of vision acquired. ', One of my son's teachers told me the oth?r day that she had never seen a pupil who could absorb knowledge so easily. I feel quite sure his pro- gress has been due to our stories and talks rathor than to any special na- tive' ability. The Picnic Bag. I know a party of young people who have a picnic supper every Saturday night throughout the summer. "What a lot of trouble that must be!" you think. Not at all, for these young folks have discovered the ad- vantages the picnic bag has over the old pie, cake and salad affairs and even over the expensive hampers with their limited capacity and the work of cleaning them afterward. This picnic group is composed of four girls, four boys, a young matron and her husband. Two cars carry them to the lake for a row or a swim, to the park or deep into the woods. Each girl provides a picnic bag containing the food for herself and partner, after the fashion of the box suppers of olden times. The heaviest paper bags are used, the tops are turned in a couple of inches and small rcpe handles are put through this fold. Sometimes the bags are decor- ated with pictures cut from maga- zines. But usually these young folks make the work of preparation just as easy as they can. Therefore only the plain- est of paper bags are usually selected. In the bottom of each bag is usually placed fruit for two, then hard-boiled eggs, since the men seam to prefer these to deviled eggs and th^y are Marktmanthip Supreme. The new night watchman at the ob- servatory WS9 watching someone using the btg telescope. Juft fhrn a star fell. "Gosh!" sotiloqulxed tha watchman, "but tlMit fellow's a crack shot." easier to prepare. Then come the cup cakes, each wrapped in oil paper, and above these the sandwiches â€" two meat or nut sandwiches, two with salad or lettuce filling and two sweet sand- wiches. These are als<> wrapped sep- arately. Sometimes olives or pickles are added. And, of oiurse. the ix>und metal or paper drinking cups and paper napkins finish off the top. Boiling a couple of eggs at break- fast-time and saving a bit of meat and salW from the Saturday dinner has become a habit, the girls declare. Things are taken from the bag as used. Nothing is spread out to attract flies and the bags as well as the refuso are burned. Very often they take balls, horse- shoes and other means of staging games and contests. Supper partners are chosen by lot. Once the matron secretly numbered the girls, including herself among them, and tossed a baU into the air. The man who caught the ball the first time had supper with the girl who was number one, and so on. At another time partners were chosen by matching strings of differ- ent lengrju!. Some were short, somo long, and the rest in between, but two lengths in each case matched. Try the picnic bag for small or large groups, for the club picnic or the Sundav school class party. â€" M. J. T. Protect Your Screen. Generally during the fruit preserv- ing and can!#ng ' ssason we are troubled mo&t with flies and at this 1 timo our scrten door at the rear of I the house (usually called tha kitchen ' door) rec.:?ives its hardest knocks. The ' busy housewife must pass in and out I quite frsquently and is nearly always ; carrying fomething through this door. I \t least it is that way at our home, â-  s".' we h?ve insia'.led In tha screen j door a scrr-in protector which ala> j aids in opening the door when one S3 oarryin-g a pa„ or pail or some other article. This little device is simply a piece of thr>e3-jighths inch board about thrr? inc'njs wiiJ? and fits upon the door fratnw at just the proper hv'ight wh,>re the arm naturally strikes the screen when pushing the door open. Of i-oars.^ you urdirstand that tAis d?\ic? wi! rot aid you whsn coming into tho house. It only helps as yott are pa^si:-..: out, â€" ?. H. Do you envy them? The open-air swiuuulug pool at Jasper Park Lodge, A-be:ia. Ioo!ia UulU:i^ on a warm Jay. j The Grand wattrfaU i« V^hrndo' is i 200 f«*t high.