Publicly accessible
URL: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/collections.html
Copyright 2009, by Victoria University of Wellington
All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
Some keywords in the header are a local Electronic Text Collection scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.
A magazine devoted to all who are interested in homes and gardens, architecture, decoration, furnishing and buildings. Edited and produced under the auspices of the New Zealand Institute of Architects.
Architectural Editors
H. D. S. McGowan, B.Arch., A.R.I.B.A., A.N.Z.I.A., A.N.Z.I.V.
Clifford Sanderson, B.Arch.(N.Z.), Dip.T.P.(Lond.), A.R.I.B.A., F.N.Z.I.A., A.M.T.P.I.(Lond.).
District Correspondents: South Auckland — A. R. I. Garry, A.N.Z.I.A., 4 Fowlers Avenue, Hamilton. Wellington—C. J. N. Fearnley, A.N.Z.I.A., Evening Post Building, Willis St. North Taranaki — R. W. Syme, A.N.Z.I.A., 89a Devon Street, New Plymouth. Wanganui—R. G. Tallboys, F.N.Z.I.A., Ridge-way Street. Palmerston North— W. Thorrold-Jaggard, A.N.Z.I.A., P.O. Box 380. Canterbury—P. J. Leonard, A.N.Z.I.A., 1 Chancery Lane, Christchurch. Otago — I. R. McAllum, A.N.Z.I.A., Savoy Bldg., Moray Place, Dunedin.
HOME & BUILDING is published monthly by THE MAGAZINE PRESS, Sute 20, Commercial Bank Buildings, 62 Queen Street, Auckland, Printed for the Proprietors, The Magazine Press, by Abel Dykes Ltd., Auckland, C.l.
Obtainable from your newsagent 1/6 per copy, or direct from the publishers 18/- per year in advance post free. Two years 30/-. Please address editorial and business correspondence to: The Magazine Press, P.O. Box 1365, Auckland. Advertising Rates obtainable from the Advertising Manager, Box 1365, Auckland, or from any accredited advertising agency.
"Should tables and lamps be modern, traditional, or what, to go with a three-piece sectional curved sofa in a dark green tweed?"— (Mrs.) L.H., Tauranga.
The tweed cover suggests types of tables and lamps that are not too formal, but they needn't be strictly modern. Fairly simple traditional styles or modern, either one, would look well if the shapes and sizes of the tables and lamps are harmonious with, and convenient to, the sofa.
Would it be possible to arrange your magazine so that all its subject-matter is contained on the inside pages and the advertisements are contained in the outer pages.
A bound volume would then be of moderate proportion and still contain all relevant subject matter.
Perhaps a compromise could be arranged whereby the more important reading is placed centrally and the reading of only temporary importance is interspersed with the advertisements. —D.L.D., Christchurch.
This is an old question, D.L.D., and not quite so simple as it sounds. All popular magazines consist of a large number of units—articles, illustrations and advertisements, and our problem each month is to combine all these units into one hundred or so equal-sized pages. It is really a very complex design prob-Irm. We endeavour to combine them in such a way as to achieive unity both of sense and of visual effect. We have also to achieve a physical unity; in other words, to make the jigsaw fit and to do all this in accordance with the mechanical requirements of printing and binding. The advertisements are an integral part of this whole, even if for no other reason than that the advertisers have paid for their insertion in order to achieve a specific result. Apart altogether from this, very many readers have told us that they find the advertisement of considerable value when they are seeking materials, appliances, etc.
From the visual viewpoint, we believe that 20-30 pages of solid advertisements back and front—many of which would conflict with each other in design-would not be nearly so satisfactory as our present policy of separating them with half-pages or so of even-toned type matter. The segregation of the editorial matter also would mean that frequently articles which conflicted in either design or interest would have to be placed side by side.
Despite the above, D.L.D., thank you for your interest and suggestion.
In your magazine "Home & Building" of September 1st, 1954, on page 84 there is an ad. for 'fine-line' windows (R. Savory Ltd. Wilkinson Rd., Ellerslie Ph. 20-180). I would like to obtain a ground plan of the cottage pictured there, so that I may build it here for myself, also the construction of 'fine-line' hopper windows.
I always have said N.Z. is miles ahead in design; hoping to hear from you. —M.O.M., Sydney.
Thank you for your letter; it is always a pleasure to hear from our Australian readers. We are sending you a copy of the March '53 issue in which the house you refer to is illustrated. As for the 'fine-line' windows, we suggest that you write direct to the makers for any information you require.
Could you possibly answer a question re concrete floors. The answer is wanted urgently as our builder is nearly ready to start. I would be quite prepared to pay a fee for the information.
Are concrete floors satisfactory?
Are they healthy?
Would the saving in cost be worthwhile as against an ordinary wooden floor?
What is the best surface treatment?
I believe I have seen an article in Home and Building which we have been getting for about five years, but at the moment they are nearly all packed away.
Your magazine has been most helpful to us in planning our home and we look forward to each issue. We do think that interiors on the whole, especially kitchens, are away above all English designs and really most attractive. —A.C.R., Whangarei.
Your questions regarding concrete floors are difficult to answer without our seeing your section and the plan of the house you propose building. However, we can give you a fairly general answer.
Concrete floors are very satisfactory, particularly on a flat section where the concrete can be laid as a slab and extended to form a terrace or courtyard at the same level as the house floor, thus eliminating the need for steps.
Concrete floors are very healthy provided they are correctly laid. The saving of cost is worthwhile compared with an ordinary wooden floor construction.
However, we very strongly recommend that you write to the N.Z. Portland Cement Association, G.P.O. Box 969, Wellington, for their bulletin ST. 7 entitled "Concrete Floors for domestic use". This Useful booklet will give you all the information you require.
Special issues of stamps these times are made for all manner of events and occasions and depict an equal variety of subjects.
And in the matter of architecture and housing, a worthy number of commemorative issues have been made from time to time.
Most have come from countries overseas, and served to honour national architects, while housing conferences have been suitably marked in new issues.
It should not be forgotten either that many stamps portray examples of world architectural landmarks as well, using such designs in general series.
In 1930 three stamps went on issue throughout Brazil for the holding of the 4th Pan-American Architectural Congress. These between them depicted a close-up view of a huge skyscraper, a rising sun emblem, and a night scene.
Six charity stamps were issued by Austria in 1934 in memory of Austrian architects. The designs portrayed A. Pilgrim, principally remembered for his Organ loft of the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna; also J. B. Fischer, of Earlach, with the Church of St. Charles, in Vienna.
Another stamp showed J. Prandtauer, while the likeness of A. Von Siggurdsburg and E. Van der Null were represented with the Vienna Opera House, as their masterpiece. Heinrich von Ferstal figured with the Votive Church, Vienna.
A picture of another architect, Otto
Wagner, with the bridgehead of the Nussdort Lock, in Vienna, concluded the series.
Six ordinary and five airmail stamps were included in the set of stamps issued in Mexico in 1936 in connection with the 16th International Town Planning and Housing Congress held at Mexico City.
The designs represented pictures of the Arch of the Revolution; an aerial view of the Cathedral and Constitution Square, Mexico City, with the National Theatre and Independence Column also displayed.
The ruins of Chicen Itza, in Yucatan and Acapulco Beach were also typified in the series.
The subject of an issue made in October, 1939, for the 1st Pan-American Housing Congress, at Beunos Aires, Brazil, was a family looking with satisfaction and joy at a newly-completed suburban-type home, replete with gardens and trees.
Columbia in 1950 produced an interesting series of three stamps to celebrate a Housing Campaign in that country. The common motif used comprised a neat farmhouse, flanked by palms and a contented cow.
The 1st Soviet Architectural Congress was similarly commemorated with stamps, issued in 1937. Eight values, these in fine style featured the Meyerhoid Theatre, the General Post Office, the Red Army Theatre, Hotel Moscow and the Palace of the Soviets.
Another issue for City Planning Day appeared in November, 1952, in Brazil, when displayed as the subject of the design was a view of modern buildings in San Paulo, linked by an immense compass.
In May, 1953, Brazil devoted a single stamp to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Aarao Reis, well-known national architect. A plan of Bello Horizonte with a portrait of Reis at the right appeared as subject.
One of the stamps in a German "workers" set in 1934 represented a typical architect at work, while included also were designs showing a clerk, a mason, miner, blacksmith, farmer, scientist, sculptor and judge.
… widely assorted items (from an orchid to a death-mask) borrowed from the world's markets, exhibition halls and homes.
This talk on an important New Zealand publishing house was originally broadcast, from Y.C. stations, Radio N.Z. Short Wave, and later from Sydney for the New South Wales State Programme. The writer reminds us that changes have naturally taken place since the time of writing. Denis Glover who worked for a period with the Pegasus Press in Christchurch, is now on the staff of the Wingfield Press, Wellington. In the meantime the Caxton Press has issued many new volumes, notably poetry.
Victoria Street in Christchurch looks very much like any other street in a New Zealand city. A double row of tram tracks runs down the centre; and on either side of the moving traffic there are the usual number of gasoline stations, and shops crouching beneath wooden verandahs. But since the depression years something has been happening behind one of these shop-fronts that has proved to be of some significance in the growth of New Zealand literature. I refer to the publishing work carried out in a small printing shop known as the Caxton Press. From the time that the New Zealand poet Denis Glover founded this press, to the present day, a new texture and impetus has been given to New Zealand writing. Aided by the Caxton Press, a sizeable group of our writers has been lifted from relative obscurity, and placed before a national, and in some cases international audience. A good example of this is provided in the work of Frank Sargeson. Since the time that Caxton published his early stories he has had several volumes produced by the English publisher John Lehmann, as well as having his work translated into several languages. He is now considered one of the most important writers this country has produced since the time of Katherine Mansfield. I am not suggesting that Sargeson would not have succeeded without a champion. I merely wish to emphasise that he would not have gained the attention that he did, at the time that he did, if it had not been for the presence of the Caxton Press.
What is true of Sargeson is true of many others. Names such as A. R. D. Fairburn, James K. Baxter, Allan Curnow, and so on are common enough to reading New Zealanders. But it is doubtful if the position of these people would be as healthy as it is today, if they'd had to contend with the metallic soil of orthodox colonial magazines.
The Caxton Press has been in existence for twenty years now yet for the purpose of making a true assessment of its work, this rims is too short. But I am sure that any future assessment will concede these points. It has conducted New Zealand literature from what may be called its late infancy, to what may be called its late adolescence. And, it has helped to make us notice standards of typography and book production. There is no doubt that Caxton printing is held in high regard; at the time I was working there I can remember enquiries for samples of work coming in from printing institutions and typographic foundations in all parts of the world. Practical expressions of this interest have also been made. The English publisher John Lehmann has had work by Laurie Lee and Edith Sitwell printed there, and the Henry Regnery Co. of Chicago has had the sheets of a whole book produced there, and shipped to America. The New Zealand book collector, P. A. Lawlor, points out in a recent booklet that not only do buyers purchase out-of-print Caxton books for figures well above their published prices, but they also purchase nearly everything that comes from the press, including proof sheets and routine book catalogues.
All this had its birth in a basement at Canterbury College in April, 1932. Denis Glover, who was then an undergraduate there organised a printing club within the framework of the ordinary college societies. It was called (after the English printer William Caxton), the Caxton Club Press, and was concerned chiefly with experimental printing. All the equipment they had at this time was a small press and a handful of types, yet many proofsheets, pamphlets, and student manifestoes came out of this basement. It was these manifestoes that ultimately led to the true press being formed, for certain of the contents of Oriflamme and Sirroco (the two literary magazines that the club printed) led to a clash with the University authorities, and the press was moved. It set up again in an old barn-like building at 152 Peterborough St., this time as a private press well out of the University's jurisdiction.
Further equipment was gathered, Glover entered into partnership with John Drew, and the word 'Club' was dropped from the title. From this time onwards the press was an ordinary commercial enterprise, but—it was a commercial enterprise with a difference. Unlike most printing house proprietors at the time, Denis Glover was interested in literature. He was aware that much good writing never saw the light of day in this country because orthodox publishers considered it a bad risk. In the same way he knew that run-of-the-mill magazines were stuffily conservative in their attitude to modern poetry, and preferred to fill up their blank spaces with on excessively sentimental and dilapidated form of Georgian verse. He determined to provide some sort of outlet for this, and the method he used was extremely simple. All he did was
pause occasionally, stop printing dance tickets or mortgage forms, and bring out material by New Zealand writers. By the time that the press had again moved into a larger wooden building next to a plumber's warehouse in Victoria St., it had already published work by Allan Curnow, R. A. K. Mason and D'Arcy Cresswell, as well as printing for the first time in this country the work of Ursula Bethell. These new quarters at 129 Victoria St. remained the home of the press until it shifted again in 1950 into a brick building especially built for the purpose further down the street.
It was in the rickety building at 129, the most of Caxton's best work to date has been done. To give even a fleeting account of the material that came out during this period would be impossible, since the list ranges from Boccaccio to Holcroft, from Yeats to Rewi Alley. This period saw the appearance of two literary magazines and the launching of a regular series of poetry volumes. 'Book', the first literary magazine, was an excellent little miscellany which ran from 1941 to 1947, when it was superseded by Landfall. Its pages contained drawings by Caxton's gifted artist Leo Bensemann, as well as verse, stories, and exercises in typography. Attention to good typographical standards has been one of the chief concerns of the press — but I shall say more of this in a moment. 'Landfall', the literary magazine that was launched in 1947, is still with us, and I hope it will stay. Suffering a little at times from a sort of staid flatulence, it has nevertheless published much good material, retained high standards, and raised itself to a position of influence and respect. In 1948 a series of volumes of poetry was begun called the Caxton Poets. These poets differ in mood and depth, but most of their work is distinct and sincere. One of them, James K. Baxter, stands out from the rest. I have mentioned how good printing and typography has been the chief concern of the press and how its work has helped to raise a new sensibility to printing formats here in New Zealand. Lying behind this emphasis on clean craftsmanship is an outlook, in fact a credo. But as this credo is not native to this country, and as its ideas were not formulated in Canterbury in the 1930's I shall have to digress a moment.
The years 1830 to 1860, bracketted a decline in taste in England that was quite remarkable in its intensity. Hand-craftsmen were being rapidly replaced by machine mass production. If anything could be stamped, moulded, or weaved by machinery, it was. Fabrics, pottery, and furnishings became increasingly vulgar and tasteless, partly because they were produced hurriedly to meet the growing market, partly because the new wealth that the Industrial Revolution had given the merchant classes was used by them to make a show of it. One of the pleasures of being opulent is looking opulent. They chose to assert their new class by acting like gentlefolk, by building large houses, and by furnishing lavishly. As far as possible the lower classes copied them. The result was a wave of ugliness that almost defies description. Buildings became gross shams of masonry designed entirely for show, and not for comfort. Clothing became ornate and uncomfortable (you wore as much as you possibly could) — and ugliest of all were the interiors. While smoke belching factories raped the countryside the middle classes raped their own homes with
rubbish and bric-a-brac. Open a door and you would see a committee of antimacassars, pinnacles of pottery, and jungles of aspidistras. Just as the building outside had turrets and fretted canopies, so did the interior bulge with the over-ornamental, the complicated, and the counterfeit. This sickness, this decline, also showed in the printing of the period. Sensitive men revolted against the lack of beauty of their age and began various complicated aesthetic movements. Such a man was William Morris. His work touched many field's, but the one that concerns me here is printing. Morris was dis-qusted at the tawdry and expressionless books of his period, and set up a press to print better ones. It was called the Kelmscott Press, and in unison with others it engineered the English Renaissance of printing standards that was mirrored in our own country in the thirties. The work of the Caxton, the Pegasus, the Pelorous, and other craft presses here in New Zealand, has been a modified continuation of the revival of interest in printing that took place in England in the last century.
"I began printing books," said Morris, "with the hope of producing something which would have a definite claim to beauty, while at the same time they should be easy to read and should not dazzle the eye or trouble the intellect …"
'Typography," Glover says, "Is simply the printing of words in the way in which they can best be read and understood." Simple as this sounds, behind it lies Glover's skill as a typographer. Simple as these precepts are, in them lies part of the story of New Zealand's most important private press. 'Part of the story' because the rest is made up of human qualities, of the insight and unselfishness inherent in the men who turned a nest of clanking platens into a significant publishing house. As time passes it will become plain that the Caxton Press has indeed played the role of midwife to important colonial literature.
Mr. Sanderson holds the Diploma of Town Planning and Civic Design of the University of London, where he studied under Sir Patrick Abercrombie, creator of the Greater London Plan.
As an architect and consultant town planner, Mr. Sanderson believes that only the widespread recognition and adoption of accepted town-planning principles can save New Zealand's cities from the effects of chaotic development.
Mr. Clifford Sanderson discusses various points that should help us to understand what the establishment of a school of town and country planning can do for us.
The intention of the Auckland University College Council to establish a chair of town planning in Auckland with the aid of a gift of £7200 from a member of the council, Mr. N. B. Spencer, has aroused interest in architectural and local government circles.
"The school to be established in Auckland will provide a focal point for town planning, a centre for the dissemination of information. As a people we are unfortunately not planning conscious, though town planning should be everybody's business. The school should help the public to learn something of this very important subject. And it could give valuable advice to Government departments, local authorities and planning organisations — independent advice.
It will also provide a centre for research into town planning, where problems peculiar to this country can be studied.
Although domiciled in Auckland it will be a national school for the benefit of the country as a whole, and while not appearing to be parochial about the matter, Auckland should also reap some benefit, as it undoubtedly has from its School of Architecture."
"We Must Plan"
"Many people," he says, "believe that what they call the 'planning mania' has been overdone, but if we consider the matter for a moment we must realise that to do anything at all properly we must plan in some shape or form.
The education of our children is planned, courses of study for careers must be planned, the farmer must plan his year's activities before putting them into operation, the business man must plan. In short, planning in its wider aspect is something of which we all have first-hand knowledge.
Why should we apply such measures to towns? Our forefathers seemed to get along very well without them, or so it may appear at first sight, but if we are curious enough about it we shall find that most, if not all, of our present-day city problems are the result of bad planning, or of no planning at all, in the past. Most of our difficulties of transport and traffic, wafer supply, drainage and electricity supply can be traced back to lack of adequate planning.
We are a country which is not 'planning conscious.' We have failed to plan boldly and to learn from the mistakes which the older countries of the world hove been endeavouring to rectify for the lost century.
The science of town planning is complex, and besides the designer, or master mind, co-operation is necessary from the economist, the geographer, and the sociologist. The first problem is to decide where the populated areas should go and how big a part of the country they should be allowed to occupy in relation to the open spaces.
The planner will lay down the types of roads for fast-moving, long-distance traffic between the centres, the size and location of the terminals within the centres and the widths of the roads linking the different sub-centres, down to the smaller access roads to the homes of the people. The location of aerodromes, railway terminals, etc., will be fixed and they will be linked with the network of the town roads.
It is the roads which determine the pattern of a town, the shapes of the sections, whether the town will be a monotonous grid of right-angled streets or one of curves and differing angles, says Mr. Sanderson. Where contours permit, most New Zealand towns have been set out on the right-angled or chessboard pattern. Modern planners have adopted a much more interesting street system by the introduction of curved roads which permit of differing views of buildings and vistas not possible with the rectangular system.
The use to which land is put is one of the most important aspects of planning. For example, in New Zealand our national economy is based largely on our farm lands and these must obviously be preserved if our present type of economy is to prevail.
Through lack of effective planning and control much of our farmland and land used for market gardening is being swallowed up by urban development — the so-called urban sprawl so familiar round Auckland. It has been calculated that if our present rate of growth continues in the same manner as in the past, namely, single-unit houses standing on their own plot of land, much of our farmland will be absorbed into residential areas and the country's production capacity reduced accordingly. It is obvious that some sort of plan is necessary and it is here that the experienced planner can help us.
The time is long overdue for the preparation of a detailed national plan, showing the use of all land throughout the country and into which all the local town-planning schemes may fit.
But in the areas already built up and which have not been adequately planned the planner's task is much more difficult. Some of the major problems are created by the enormous increase in the use of motor vehicles, traffic flow and car parking. Costly schemes have to be undertaken to facilitate the flow of traffic by redesigning bad intersections, widening roads and providing alternative routes, and we all help to pay for it.
It is the costly mistakes which the planner today seeks to eliminate by a
This house has been built for Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Grant and their family of four on one of the higher knolls of their farm from which position extensive panoramic views to the North and East may be enjoyed.
The design requirements included ample meal space in the Kitchen to suit early morning milking, etc., a sheltered area for drying wet clothes with direct access from there to the shower and toilet facilities.
A 7000 gallon concrete water storage tank has been built under the terrace and part of the house, and from there water is automatically pumped to a higher cistern to supply the usual modern appliances.
A large basement area provides space for table tennis and boat storage — it would appear that a boat forms part of the equipment on a number of farms these days.
Dressing tables and drawer units have been built-in in all bedrooms and in the Lounge a writing desk folds in behind the doors of a general purpose storage unit.
We are glad to publish this example of a well designed farm-house. Not only have we had numerous enquires for illustrations of farm-houses, but too often we see examples of houses built in the country to serve as farm houses that are extremely incongruous. Most farm-houses tend to look like suburban villas, uprooted and set up in the country and, too often, the planning is entirely unsuitable for farm life.—Ed.
Even with Wellington conditions in mind this could be considered a difficult site, but one not without advantages. The narrow road frontage with its sleep slope down to some fine trees and a flat area where the owner wanted a tennis court, the sun and pleasant view from the upper slope near the road — all these factors fixed the position of the house.
A four bedroom house with an open and flexible living area, with a study guest room, as much sun and view as possible from the living room, and a reasonable access to the tennis court. Some form of heating was required and the kitchen and laundry space were to be combined.
The living-dining area was placed on the upper floor to take advantage of the view and sun. The kitchen was provided with a servery with glass doors above bench level to increase the pleasant outlook from the working area. Shower, bath and W.C. are provided on the lower floor with a W.C. and basin on the main floor off the hall.
The owners' bedroom has outside access with steps down towards the tennis court, and Bedroom 2 is used during the day as the children's playroom. An automatic oil fired furnace has the grille in the floor of this room, but the thermostat is placed in the living room. From Bedroom 3 there is a door into the basement with convenient access to an outside door. Bedroom 4 has outside access close to the front door but this was planned for possible use by the owner's father who would thus have a place of retreat from the family when necessary.
All bedrooms have built-in wardrobes and an existing compactum was built into the main bedroom between the wardrobes. Built-in bunks in Bedroom 2 have behind them a softboard panel, painted "blackboard green," for pinning up pictures.
A built-in cupboard is provided in the Living room with bookshelves under the window sill and also in the study a bookcase is provided along one wall from floor to ceiling. Heat is supplied by a fully automatic oil fired furnace, installed in the basement with the flue carried up unconcealed through the Living room. The kitchen laundry equipment includes a washing machine with its dishwashing attachment stored under the tub, a 40-gallon hot water cylinder in the corner with an auxiliary chip heater placed under it. As previously mentioned the servery has glass sliding doors which also provide an appropriate decoration to the dining room as coloured pottery is kept on these shelves. The sink bench is steel, other bench surfaces in the kitchen being covered with lino. A sliding door is provided between kitchen and hall to save encroaching on space.
Basement walls are of concrete, left rough from the boxing and finished with cement paint. The main frame is standard construction with rough sawn oiled boarding on the exterior with white trim. The roof has a pitch of 18" in the width of the house, with a flat roof over Bedroom 4, the pitch of the roof forming the ceiling and giving more feeling of space in the living areas. The roof is covered with fabric and gutters are formed in the depth of the joists. Windows are either
Selected by the Editors of Architectural Record.
The following four pages show houses that have been selected from the book, not because they are the most striking ones, but because they are simple, well designed, and would look quite at home in New Zealand.
This book will be a joy and delight to those people who are contemplating building but perhaps a little depressing to anyone who has built a rather unimaginative house recently and is here shown how much better he could have spent his money.
As the editors say, these houses have been selected from those they have published during the last year or two because they are all outstanding designs full of delight and imagination. To those of us who have a large stack of 'Architectural Records' it is very useful to have this collection of houses in one volume.
When looking at a collection of houses made by the 'Architectural Forum', April, 1937, it is interesting to wonder if many of these houses will look out of date in two decades as a number of those do to us now. |n these contemporary houses it is the diversity of material that gives such freedom of design to the architect and the imaginative use of this material that is so refreshing. The current fashion of bringing the outdoors in — not in the form of mud on one's boots of course— is very evident in these houses. However, it is this freedom of design that gives to the layman a feeling of confusion, in that there is no easily recognizable contemporary style and it is rather expensive to interpret what may turn out to be a mere fashion in permanent material.
Looking through this book we feel that these American houses are designed very much more suitably for their sites than many New Zealand houses and that the architect has not merely been content to design a house for his client but has either called in a landscape gardener or planned the whole layout of garden and outbuildings himself to give an integrated whole.
The format and photography of the book are of course excellent and as to the individual houses as the editors say in their introduction, 'All are modern. All were considered good enough to publish in 'Architectural Record.' All are very recent selections. But all do not take their academic theory in the same doses. What's more to the point, all have ideas in them, and nowadays there is no dogma, intellectual or otherwise, against using whatever ideas appeal to you.'
Unlike the fussy restlessness that characterizes many houses, this design achieves both clarity of expression and a feeling of repose. The essential horizontality of the structure's disciplined envelope and its quiet colours contribute to its restfulness, as does the simplicity with which masonary and voids have been handled. Careful attention to detail, insistence on a high standard of craftsmanship, and the studied articulation of surfaces and materials are all factors in the effect of orderliness.
To achieve the necessary separation of living, sleeping and service areas in a manner maintaining privacy with a minimum cutting apart of these elements, they have been arranged in U shape about a landscaped patio which becomes the major focus of the design. Such a scheme yields some of the amenities of the attenuated "zoned" plan in a more compact form. A future bedroom wing to the east will complete the scheme.
The roof construction consists of wood joists framing into steel girders supported by masonry and the four interior steel H-columns. With the exception of a small area, the floor slab is built on grade and contains hot-water radiant heating coils.
The ceiling is white acoustical plaster; the walls pale gray glazed brick, white plaster or oak; the floor is black ceramic tile; all exposed metal is painted charcoal gray.
A client with a near-rural or rural site will sometimes demand a house flexible enough to entertain, feed and sleep a small army of guests or relatives from time to time, and yet be snug and efficient when just the family is present. A paragon somewhat along these lines has been achieved in this house for Mr. and Mrs. Millard Rudd on the outskirts of Austin. Both the living areas and children's room adapt to various arrangements.
This is a small factory at Kingsland, Auckland, for Wakefield Bros. N.Z. Ltd., who are the manufacturers of Glengyle Knitwear.
What is most striking about this building is its simple, unpretentious design that has been achieved by careful thought and bold proportions.
The factory is a steel framed structure giving a very light effect with concrete block walls, asbestos cement roof and wood floors. No linings have been used, the concrete blocks being painted on the inside. The canopy over the store entrance is sheet metal and glass has been used very effectively in the front elevation.
When we photographed the interiors there were stacks of partially made garments about in brilliant colours and huge bobbins of coloured wool on the machines and these with a background a pleasant pastel colours gave a bright and cheerful atmosphere.
The owners of the factory, comparing it with their old premises, find it a much more pleasant place to work—there is ample space to move about in, plenty of light and air, no parking problems and their staff are much more contented, also more efficient under such good working conditions; therefore the output has increased.
Here's a brand new piece of furniture that settles two questions — what to put behind the free-standing sofa—and where to put the server on wheels. This new server fits the back of the long sofa and looks as if it belonged there because it actually was designed particularly for that special place. It stands ready to serve a buffet supper or drinks and snacks at any time, and because of its extra length and shelf, with plenty of room to spare.
When a wall suddenly steps back a foot or two, apparently for no reason at all, outwit the trouble maker with a big, shining mirror. Without the mirror, the wall stops where it is and defines a pointless wall irregularity. But the mirror flashes a glimpse of another wall deep beyond and turns the disadvantage into an advantage — the whole room looks larger. Recessed area in the wall sketched is too shallow and too narrow for a desk or a loveseat, and makes itself useful by tucking up generous-sized shelves. Drawer or door cabinets might be built into the same space, and any one of the three provide extra storage without reaching forward into the room to interrupt the arrangement of other furniture. The mirror with shelves or a cabinet below topped by decorative objects adds up to decoration for the room where there might be plain wall.
Corner tables are vary popular, and they're just what the decorator ordered for compact arrangements of upholstered furniture. But there is a new idea now that the typical square corner table can be stretched out, to make the corner more comfortable. There's little room for knees at the corner when all the seating space is occupied. Two persons seated beside the sauare corner table, at right angles to each other, compete for foot room. If there's enough room for a longer table, the right-angled seats are separated — as this sketch shows — and persons seated on them are more comfortable. The rectangular table in this key position is one of the many fresh ideas for good looks and convenience shown in a favourite large grouping of light-scaled, smartly styled furniture
The 1955 exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts differs little from last year's showing in either quality or quantity; it does seem to be different in direction, the direction being towards 'modern' art as opposed to conservative and almost exclusively directly representational art, but I question here, as in so many similar exhibitions, whether this is a new direction or possibly only a newly fashionable one.
As its contribution to the Auckland Festival, the Auckland Public Library has arranged a small display called "Writing in Auckland: a selection over a century." It will be held in the Central Library, Wellesley Street East, and will illustrate in MS and printed form, work representative of 40 writers connected with Auckland city and province, who
"Hugh the Drover" is the most frequently performed and consequently the most well known of Vaughan Williams' five operas and has, in England, won the affections of a larger number of opera-goers. Although composed as far back as 1911 -1914 it was not performed until 1924 when it was produced at the Royal College of Music (the work is in
In answer to this I refer to the three paintings by Michael Kmit, this year, quest exhibitor with the Society and suggest that his three paintings are fashionably 'modern' rather than showing any new direction. I wonder whether they are not just academic paintings in a new guise or does Kmit's lack of feeling for his subjects show as a new direction in painting, and if it does, should we not question this direction and, questioning this, then look about us to discover where we are heading.
It is not enough to be 'modern'. To be modern is to take on a new coat and a new coat does not make us new men. Perhaps the answer is in being neither modern nor un-modern but, with courage, what one is at the time of painting. This honesty at.the time of painting is most apparent in two water-colours by T. A. McCormack, his 'Lilies' and his beautiful 'Portrait' and in K. Airini Vane's drawing 'Pohutukawa Swamp'.
But for the new direction I look for and for the single truly modern painting in the exhibition there is only one work to turn to — Gabrielle Hope's 'Lake Landscape'.
have gained recognition in the international field of letters.
Among the novelists will be Jane Mander, Robin Hyde, William Satchell, Frank Sargeson, John A. Lee, Eve Lang-ley and John Mulgan. The poets will include A. R. D. Fairburn, R. A. K. Mason, M. K. Joseph, Allan Curnow, Kendrick Smithyman and Keith Sinclair. There will be contributions from men as firmly established in our social and literary history as Sir George Grey, Sir John Logan Campbell, James Cowan, the historian, and F. E. Maning ("A Pakeha Maori"). Others who have a place are Alan Mulgan, E. H. McCormick, John Reid", O. E. Middleton, David Ballantyne, Murray Gittos and J. A. S. Coppard; and if only for their curiosity value we include New Zealand's first novel, "Taranaki; a tale of the War" (1861) by H. B. Stoney, and one of our earliest printed poems, "New Zealand" by R. C. Joplin (1843).
At the same time, elsewhere in the
library will be another display "New Zealand Book Design". This comprises 43 books and pamphlets produced in this country, and entered in the International Book Design Exhibition held in London in 1953; "a small but decidedly interesting selection" as one British critic put it. His praise was especially lavish as regards the Schools Publications Branch of Education Department productions.
fact dedicated to Sir Hugh Allan, for many years Principal of the College) and later added to the repertoire of the British National Opera Company. In more recent years it has become a stock piece at the Sadler's Wells theatre in London.
The composer calls the work "a romantic ballad opera"; the libretto by Harold Child deals with English country life in the time of the Napoleonic wars. The music is pervaded with the spirit of old English traditional melodies and though none is actually used complete, they give the work a distinctive freshness and gaiety.
The popular attraction of the opera is a very realistic prize fight in the course of the finale to the first act. Here as well as throughout the work there is a great deal of excellent music for the chorus. The two main solo parts are characterized by great beauty and nobility of line with some climaxes of sheer vocal splendour.
"Hugh the Drover" is a modern revival of the Eighteenth Century 'village opera', but without its affectations and artificialities; it has a good deal of humour but it is in the main a serious work, with a completely modern outlook on music—and sometimes on life as well.
Last month we went into the matter of getting yourself a piano. We didn't ask the reason why. Maybe you've been thinking the children ought to have the opportunities you were denied or that it would be a handy thing to have round the house when piano-playing visitors call for the evening. Or maybe, better still, you have a yen to play the piano yourself—now the children are off your hands and you have a bit of time to yourself. Well, why not?
"But I'm too old" you'll be saying. Well, that's the end of it. If you're too old, you're too old. But you said it. You are only as old as you think you are. Piano playing asks little more of your mind or your muscles than most other things about the place. You can sew, knit, perhaps type, mow the lawn or pull a cork. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that these were prerequisite for playing the piano or even indications that you might succeed in this skill, at least it seems you have a pair of hands and ten fingers, which is a reasonable enough basic requirement.
"But" you say, "won't my muscles have stiffened up with years of non-piano playing?" Well, if you aspire to be a Myra Hess, a Colin Horsley a Shura Cherkassky or Julius Katchen, perhaps it would be less frustrating to stick to your knitting. Being a concert pianist is something like going to Eton. You have to put your name down for it early in life, and nine times out of ten you may ask yourself after you have been through it all: | "Was it worth while?".
If all you ask of the piano, however, is the pleasure of making music for yourself, of playing accompaniments—not too difficult—for your friends, or of even enjoying in private a little chamber music with the violinist (amateur) down the road, then, having two hands and ten fingers, there is only one additional basic need. You must want to do it, want to do it so much that you don't mind giving up the radio for thirty minutes or so each evening, being-prepared to leave the dishes over, or to cut one mowing of the lawn a month. And you must be prepared too, to stand up equably to the initial difficulties; or to stand up to them anyway. It will probably be your family who will need the equability.
No, that's not quite true. There's one thing about the piano. No matter how you attack it, it won't rebel by making exasperatingly unpleasant noises. But that doesn't mean that the piano is necessarily easy enough to get on with. You'll have your troubles. For a start, however, go away and make a few sounds on the piano — chopsticks or "Annie Laurie" with one finger. When you come back, I'll tell you about some of the things that will crop up. Now! Still like it?
The big first hurdle for the adult beginner on the piano is not muscular but mental. As there are about a thousand children dragooned into learning the piano for every adult who comes to it with joy and his own (or her own) freewill, most beginner's music is written to meet the market. So it comes about that having read Shakespeare, Karl Marx, T. S. Eliot and James Joyce, you may be faced at your first piano lesson with "Off to School" or "The Toddler's March". Having listened to every symphony from Haydn to Hindemith and been almost a life member of the chamber music society, you have to master music with your fingers that has as little interest as any other first reader.
Moreover, by this time of life you have probably given up study except in your own particular vocational line. It is not so much the muscles that may have seized up, but the mind. Certainly it will need a spring clean and some adjustment.
Considerable assistance in this direction, and comfort too, can be got by going to the right teacher. Not the teacher necessarily with a long list of examination successes to his name nor one whose reputation rests on turning out brilliant young artists. Tune in to the bush telegraph and find a teacher who is known to be sympathetic to the ideals and aspirations of the adult beginner.
If he is any good — as a teacher not, again, necessarily as a player — he will discover why you want to learn to play the piano and in what sort of spirit you approach the assignment. He will find you the right music too. Maybe, you are a serious thinker wishing to get right down to tin-tacks with some solid finger work. But not scales please. These are for the pianist who already knows a little about what makes the piano tick and music flow. Your teacher will point out that the first thing is to listen, to love beautiful piano sounds as sounds, then to feel them as music and, at the same time.discipline your fingers to become the servants of your ear and imagination.
Does this all sound very difficult? Does it sound too much like hard work? Believe me, it is. But this is always the payment for pleasure that is more than ephemeral. Piano playing is not a gift. But you can get it on the time payment of application and enthusiasm. After all, as I said, the main thing is that you want to do it. If that's the way you still feel about it, go to it. You'll get a lot of fun cut of it. And good luck to you.
Imaginative landscape planning can give an old house a completely new personality and Horace Wright, Dip. Hort. Sc. (M.A.C.), landscape architect of Hamilton, has done just this with the home of Mr. A. H. Croad of Oakley Ave.
The house occupies a commanding position with views to the Tauwhare Hills but the former steep approach is eliminated by introducing four levels and gradual and easy concrete steps with wide two foot treads, lead smoothly upwards. The iron balustrades of wrought iron to these stairs are designed to give a sense of rhythm and curves and graceful sweeps are introduced liberally in the garden, both in the miniature retaining walls of limestone, the free form lily pool and again in the terrace archways, each with its automatic light which comes on at dusk and shuts off at a pre-determined time.
To emphasise the Old English character of the house, which is built with gable roof and fillet windows, a large, heavily grained door of Roman arch shape with antique hinges and fastenings, has been added to the facade at ground level and this provides a focal point for the eye in the planned exterior view.
The old garden has mingled compatibly with the new as, in many instances, some of the old trees and pungas, as well as a handsome copper beach and purple plum, have been left in their original places.
Salvaged from the hum-drum, this home has acquired a new distinction through clever garden re-construction and should become one of Hamilton's show places.
It is hard to understand why some materials are so niggardly treated from the design point of view, when others are so carefully considered. Why are linoleum manufacturers apparently ignorant of the possibilities of design, when wallpaper manufacturers are so wide awake to them, why is there no attractive oil cloth or American cloth, and why are all the plastic curtains so poorly designed? Perhaps a certain improvement may be encouraged by the publication of a catalogue of P.V.C. plastic materials designed by Professor Arnold Bode of the College of Art at Kassel, Germany, which has reached us. The manufacturers, Goeppinger Kaliko Works, have produced this material in varying thicknesses and textures, for a large variety of purposes. They can be used as permanent and washable wall coverings, or as curtains, tablecloths, as furnishing materials and car seat covers, as book covers and for handbags. There are some as thick as elephant hide, and others as flimsy as tissue paper. A few illustrations will give an idea of the attractiveness and versatility of these new materials.
In this our third article on household heating let us suppose that you are quite determined not to abandon the charm and cheerfulness of your open fire. You say, and quite rightly that it forms a focal point in your living room in winter and that it is companionable and bright during the long winter evening. On these damp afternoons when the daylight disappears so soon, you put a match to your fire and the whole room brightens up. You say that when you have friends in for the evening
there certainly is something about an open fire that seems to stimulate conversation and gives a feeling of hospitality. In a large house, particularly the older type of house with high ceilings and large rooms some modern form of central heating is really necessary. This can give an even background wormth with an open fire for radiant heat and cheerfulness.
There is much more to this large subject than the purchase of boilers and radiators, it is absolutely essential to have the advice of a heating engineer. For the following information on central heating we are indebted to Mr. R. W. Talbot.
Central heating is the provision of a boiler or a warm air furnace in the basement or in a suitable room in a house or building and the distribution of the heat through pipes or ducts to the various rooms. The distribution with a system such as this has to be carefully designed by a Heating Engineer and the first step is to calculate the heat loss from each of the rooms. The plant is then designed so that the heating system will replace this heat loss in each of the rooms to maintain comfortable conditions. The types of central heating are numerous but we will refer briefly to each system as follows:
The low pressure system wtih cast iron radiators is the most commonly used central heating system for both domestic and commercial applications. The radiators are usually placed under the windows and the distribution piping system is concealed under the floor or in the ceilings and each radiator is fitted with a valve so that its heat input can be adjusted or so that it can be turned off.
Another system which is popular is the use of convectors and with these, a battery of tubes with closely spaced fins is used as the heating medium and this is controlled with valves as for the radiator. The unit is neatly covered in a sheet metal casing which can be built into the wall or stand slightly clear of the wall end the air from the room circulates through a slot at the bottom over the heater and out through the top grilles to warm the room. This is heating by convection as against heating by radiation as with cast iron radiators.
A revised form of" this convector heating is the skirting board heating which
is being installed in N.Z. In this case, the convector is a much shorter unit which tits at skirting board level.
Heating with steam is not normally used in homes in N.Z. today although it is still used quite extensively in industry. With steam, convectors are usually used for heating offices, etc., while unit heaters or projection heaters are used for heating large spaces such as workshops, factories, etc. The unit heater or the projection heater is a battery of finned coils encased in a sheet metal casing and fitted with a motor driven propellor fan which forces the circulation of air through the fins and distributes the air in the building.
With this system of heating, the warm air is distributed through the building with a sheet metal ducting system and the air is delivered into the room through neat grilles or diffusers. Usually a portion of this air is returned to the heating plant and is filtered and re-circulated Where air conditioning is called for the warm air system is usually incorporated and the air is cleaned by filtration, heated or cooled as required, and moisture is added so that a constant set of conditions is maintained in the building. This of course provides the best possible conditions for comfort and human respiration. Air conditioning is of course a very expensive installation as so much equipment is required to condition the air before it is distributed.
There are several methods of providing warm air heating for domestic pur* poses without putting in a very extensive plant as described above, but these only provide the heating side of the business. The automatically oil fired furnaces are available for mounting under the floor or basement with one outlet into the house and a number of installations of this type are being made in N.Z. today.
It is possible and very satisfactory to use heating cable embedded in concrete floor slabs. This form of heating is very economical of electricity and can be used in walls and ceilings as well as in
floors. A relatively low temperature will maintain an even warmth. It is also possible to install pre-cast plaster panels containing heating cable and these can be set flush with the rest of the standard fibrous plaster ceiling.
If you want a very much simpler and less expensive form of background heating there are other types of heaters that can be used.
The new kerosene heaters are well worth looking at — a modern and much more efficient version of the old fashioned kerosene heater, slow burning and very reliable and quite fool proof.
As well as these there are all kinds of electric radiators. A type that heats oil circulating through pipes or through flat dimpled panels, are ideal for the nursery as they are so safe and can be used to dry the clothes. There are other electric heaters, some with fans, others are new versions of the old electric radiator but in every case look for a radiator that has the element well protected as safety is one of the most important factors in selecting your type of domestic heating.
Once the essentials of stove, sink, sufficient storage space and a refrigerator are satisfactorily dealt with, today's homemaker begins to dream of adding an electric mixer to her kitchen helpers.
The first question to be settled is whether this is to be a small portable model or a full-scale, multiple-purpose one. The size of the family and the size of the kitchen are the determining factors here.
The large mixer is seldom justified for a family of less than four, unless an unusually large amount of entertaining is done. The average portions for two or three would simply be swallowed up in
the workings, and the time spent cleaning the mixer would be more than enough to do the job with a manual piece of equipment. This is not true of the portable mixer, however, about which more anon.
But suppose your family of four or more does warrant a large mixer. Then you must consider where you are going to put it. A mixer is a large piece of equipment, and the jobs it does are seldom much heavier than that of lifting it from some low or high resting place. So to justify spending your money on it, you really must have a permanent counter position for your mixer, where it will be ready to use at a moment's notice. This of course also implies a power point very close at hand. The kitchen is the most dangerous place in the house as it it. There can be no real question about the desirability of trailing an electric cord either across a floor or over other equipment such as a stove. If your counter and power point are not at hand, their cost must be added to that of the mixer.
One partial solution is if the mixer can be kept on the same counter, but in a different position from that where it is actually used. A handy man can make a wooden platform mounted on small casters or ball bearings and the mixer can be kept on this and rolled quite easily into position.
Some kitchens, however, have already been expanded — through good use of the space at hand — until they will expand no more. If this is your situation, and you find no permanent convenient home for a large mixer, do buy a small one which will hang on the wall or fit into a drawer. You may have regrets, but they will not be the same ones you would have on looking at a seldom-used inaccessible beauty.
Having then decided which of the two types will suit your family and your kitchen, what should you look for in design and function?
The portable or hand mixers—to date —only mix and beat. They do this by means of two rotating beaters. These beaters come in several quite different designs, and your choice must depend on which you think will be easier to clean— always a very important question—and which will do the job most efficiently.
Then look at the manner in which the beaters are attached to the motor. Some drop out with the click of a switch; others require a bit of pushing and pulling.
The hand mixer has a great advantage over some of the larger machines in that it can be easily taken to the stove (one large one is detachable!) Potatoes, puddings and frostings can be whipped while cooking or keeping warm. But this means that the weight of the mixer is most important. Remember you will be holding it all the time it is in operation. It must not be too light to do a proper job on heavy mixtures, but it must be well balanced and light enough not to cause fatigue while in use.
What provisions are made for a short pause in operations while you add ingredients or answer the front door? Some mixers are constructed so that they can be placed on their side, or top, with the beaters dripping into the bowl.
If you are left-handed be sure to select a mixer with controls centred in the middle of the handle. Left-handed ones you won't find, but you'll be unable to operate the right-handed controls properly.
The range of speeds will naturally affect the price of a beater. Some have "high, medium and low"; others offer five to seven gradients. Some manage to print directly in the small handle space available instructions as to which speed should be used for which foods. This is helpful particularly in the beginning.
You may then spend some time comparing the finish and general appearance of the mixers in question. And particularly if you have two or more together and remember to consider solidity and durability rather than a "sparkling-while-it-is-still-unused" appearance, your judgment will probably be sound.
Unfortunately, in the absence of objective testing laboratories, there is no practical way to test one of the most
vital parts of the mixer, the motor. But here a reliable trade name will be your best friend, supplemented with a reasonable guarantee in writing. Any good mixer carries a motor guarantee, so there is no reason to be caught with an inferior product.
Be sure the hand mixer will either hang on the wall or fit conveniently into your drawer space.
Some of these tests are the same ones that you will want to apply to a standard mixer if such has been your choice. That is, the design of the beaters, the ease with which they can be removed, the general quality of the machine, etc.
But naturally the larger machine has other differences as well. You will have your choice as to whether the bowl rotates about the beater or beaters, or whether the beaters move about in a stationary bowl. Some machines have only one large bowl; others offer two or three sizes.
A larger range of speeds is more important on this machine because of the larger number of tasks it can perform. And if is also more important that the speeds and instructions be clearly marked and the controls easy to operate.
Most of the larger mixers now carry a full range of accessory equipment, some included in the purchase price, some as extras. If you are quite certain you won't use most of the equipment included in the
For the most part, the standard equipment is of the most helpful kind. It usually includes a juice-extractor or squeezer for oranges, lemons, etc., a grinder or mincer with a variety of discs for mincing meat, fish and raw vegetables; and a liquidiser which will grind coffee, chop nuts and blend mixtures for soups, appetizers, etc. The instructions for the use of these attachments are uniformly uninspired, but if you keep an open mind while cooking you will find the equipment becomes more and more valuable. You will learn new tricks, which provide new taste pleasures for your family and also are most economical in the use of left-overs.
Other attachments which are usually separately priced include a really efficient potato peeler, a colander and sieve very useful if you are bottling, a vitam-izer for extracting juices from vegetables, and a gadget for mixing drinks.
For those of you who regard cooking as a real "art", these attachments will open new and thrilling fields. And even the most hum-drum cook will appreciate the savings in time and energy which the commonly-used attachments provide. The principal use of the mixer used to be in creaming butter and sugar mixtures for baking, but the strides have been so great in the last five years that this is now only one of the very important tasks entrusted routinely to the mixer.
Consider well the needs of your own family and the space available in your kitchen, consider the type of mixer you buy, and consider the good name of the firm which issues the guarantee. When you are satisfied in all these respects, you may be sure that the mixer of your choice will give you joyful, efficient service for many years to come.
The amount of damage that is caused by rust is amazing. Although the householder sees only a merest fraction of this, the effects of rust and corrosion on the numerous metal articles used domestically today can very easily be expensive, The small domestic articles such as gardening tools and machinery are easily preserved with a regular application of grease to cutting edges and moving parts, or paint to metal frameworks.
Other, and perhaps more important items which are exposed to corrosion are such things as rainwater pipes, gutters, metal gates and railings, ventilating grids, window frames and the like. Sometimes too, there are corrugated metal outbuildings such as a shed or garage that must be considered.
The old saying that 'prevention is better than cure' is very true when applied to the corrosion of metal. Once corrosion starts on exterior metal, it becomes very difficult to stop it, and by putting an application of paint over rust, by no means prevents any further damage. Indeed, this practice more often than not accelerates the eating away of the metal, and in a very short time the paint can be seen flaking off in large lumps. It follows then, that before treatment at all is given, all signs of rust must be removed.
A slight film of rust on a metal object may be quite well removed with a coarse sandpaper and vigorous rubbing, but where rusting is considerable it will be necessary to use a wire brush for the job. Should the case arise where the condition has been so neglected that the corrosion is far advanced, then it may be necessary to use a hammer or a file to remove the scale.
Whatever the amount of rust present, it must be completely removed down to bare metal before any further treatment is attempted. Up to recent years, the method of painting metal was first to apply a priming coat of red lead. This possesses the quality of preventing rust perhaps more than any other material. Now, however, there are on the market a variety of bituminous base paints which obviate the necessity of using red lead. The paints are available in various colours and they are of a thin consistency and therefore economical to use. Such paint can be applied straight on to the metal in the normal way and two coats are usually sufficient to make a good job of any exterior metalwork.
In the painting of ironwork it is care rather than skill that is called for, and as already pointed out, thorough cleaning is of the utmost necessity if the desired result is to be obtained. If there is any grease present it must be removed or the paint will not dry and is easy done with the aid of a small amount of turpentine or paraffin. Furthermore, painting should always be done on a dry day for no paint will adhere properly to a moist surface.
study of all the known facts to produce a solution which will function efficiently.
All these considerations should help us to understand what the establishment of a school of town and country planning can do for us, Mr. Sanderson continues. It will provide a centre for the training of the planners who are urgently required in this country. Most of our qualified town planners have attended schools overseas in order to qualify. More planners are needed if we are to make any serious bid to overcome our backwardness in town planning and reach a level approximating that of most overseas countries.
Even if dinner is just a family affair it is the little touches of imagination on your table and in your serving of the food that gives that light hearted atmosphere to the meal. Bring your latent artistic impulses to bear on what can too easily become just another chore.
The "white collar" gardener misses much of the fun of gardening. He is the fellow who likes the pleasant, pottering jobs but steers clear of the rough work. He misses the satisfaction of doing many a heavy job that is essential to a successful garden.
We rate the draining of a garden as one of those operations that too many gardeners shirk, but could do. They grumble about a wet corner or a soggy lawn, and yet do nothing about
Although drains may have been laid in your garden years ago, constant flooding of a section should be taken as a warning that something has gone wrong with them.
Most gardens should be drained by four-inch tiles at a depth varying from 18 inches to 2½ feet. These tiles should run into a main drain which, in turn, empties into a ditch, a stream or a large sump.
If you have no plans of your garden's drainage system, then you must dig until you find the drains. Should you have flooding you'll probably find that the tiles are broken, out of alignment or blocked by rubbish.
If you are sure there are no drains in your garden, you can do much of the work yourself. Make certain, before laying tiles, that there will be an outlet for the water. If there is no convenient stream or ditch, the best method is to make a large sump — a hole filled almost to the top with stones and rubble and situated at the lowest level of the garden. The main drain runs into the sump, carrying the water from the secondary drains.
Although not quite as effective as tile drains, rubble drains can be used. These consist of lines of stones, and are quite suitable for draining a lawn.
Dry-rot can do serious damage to a house in a very short time. It is difficult to detect until it has been present for a long time and difficult to eradicate once it has been detected.
Dry rot is a fungus and will flourish only in an atmosphere which is warm and moist. If your house seems likely to be a favourite hunting ground for the fungus be doubly careful in your checks. Even if you remove all the infected wood remember that the conditions which brought about the damage still remain — so see what you can do to improve ventilation and drainage.
First you must test for dry rot. Remember that infected wood, when you tap it, will give a dull sound, unlike the healthy ring given by good timber. If the wood is badly infected you will find cracking of the exterior and a dusting of dry wood underneath the infected portion.
To cure it you must cut away. Dry rot runs further on the inside of the wood than it does on the outside so you will have to cut away a portion of the healthy wood surrounding it. Cut the new portion of wood to fit the gap you have made and pin it into position. Your actual method of securing the new wood to the old will depend on the size of the job and the position of the work. Give the entire surroundings several coats of a strong creosote solution before putting the new wood into position and then keep up the treatment for several more weeks.
Sometimes you will find it impossible to cut away the infected wood. If this is so you will have to treat it by soaking with creosote, zinc chloride or corrosive sublimate solution. Remember that these last two chemicals are extremely poisonous and you must use great care when applying them.
To be really effective the solution must soak right into the centre of the wood. To achieve this one or two holes bored with a fine drill will facilitate entry into the wood by the solution.
Even though you take great care with the solutions you are putting on don't make the mistake of forgetting that the brushes will still hold an extremely poisonous quantity. They should be left to soak in frequent changes of water which should be put down the drain.
Continuation of article in May issue.
Bud Dropping:
Bud dropping occurs as follows: General: Some varieties have a tendency to drop their buds or have such a tendency in certain localities due to petal formation in flowers or to the fact that they bloom so late the new growth forces the buds to fall. Bud heading: The buds begin to open, moist rot sets in, and they fall. Natural: When a plant sets too many buds, nature sometimes steps in and thins them. Mass dropping: In a variety that usually does not drop its buds, there will sometimes occur a mass dropping.
It seems to be the consensus of present opinion that the forces of bud dropping, except in those varieties that are bud droppers by nature, are: (1) Faulty culture, such as improper watering, improper planting or soil, insufficient drainage or failure to use a balanced fertiliser either properly or at all; (2) A prolonged
weather condition, such as a long dry season or a long wet one; and (3) A sudden change of temperature.
There is a great need for intensive research in this field.
Flower Blight (Sclerotina Camelliae Hara) is a fungus disease. It is disclosed by brown or blackish spots appearing on the opening flower and spreading on the petals of the flower as it develops. The best control now known is to pick up all old flowers that fall around the plant and remove all affected flowers from the plant, being sure that each and every petal is removed. There has also been some experimentation with a fermate spray, which, however, is rather a difficult process. As to this spray, check with the Department of Agriculture.
Akaline Poisoning: This can be detected where the foliage turns yellow with its veins remaining green, the foliage taking on a mottled appearance. If this condition continues, the foliage becomes dead at the tips and along the edges and ultimately will cause the death of the plant. This condition can be checked by the application of soil sulphur or a liquid acid soil conditioner as directed.
Virus Disease: This disease can be detected by yellow mottled foliage on the plant. Experimentation has disclosed that this mottling is due to a genetic character which follows a uniform pattern in all leaves, or virus which is not as regular and varies from plant to plant or on the same plant. The yellow variegation is mostly of the virus type. Virus is a disease which can be transferred by grafting although not by handling plants, while in cases of the genetic character it can be transferred. In grafting, virus may cause the scion of a solid coloured variety to variegate, but many such variegations are due to a true genetic character. Such virus does not seem to affect the vigour of the plant. There is at present no known cure for the disease.
Improper Culture: Browning on upper surfaces of leaves or definitely dead brown areas on any part of leaf surfaces discloses sunburn and the plant should be given more protection.
General yellowing of the foliage discloses insufficient fertiliser, insufficient water or poor drainage.
Yellowing of foliage with veins remaining green discloses alkaline poisoning. Under no circumstances should a spray material containing D.D.T. be used on camellias as it is very harmful to some varieties, causing dropping of foliage, dying back of leaf buds and in some cases death of the plant.
In spraying, be sure that all parts of the plant are covered, especially the underneath portion of the foliage.
Leaf Scurf: This is characterised by raised, corky outgrowths generally on the under surface of the leaves. The corky spots may occur in small groups or cover large areas, and usually appear irregularly rather than in a particular pattern.
Research has not been able to determine the exact cause of this scurf, but has determined that it is probably due to a physiological disturbance brought about by improper growing conditions rather than by a parasitic disease. There are, however, other types of scabby lesions occurring in the South which are caused by fungus.
Pruning: There is a difference of opinion as to the necessity of and the time to prune camellias. However, camellias do need shaping, some more than others.
Branches having a tendency to grow irregularly should be straightened by pruning or staking. Wild growth should be pruned back and weak growth should be removed. Varieties with a spindly or loose habit of growth can be induced to bush by pruning. Branches lying on or too near to the ground should be removed to prevent insects from having an easy access to the plant.
In pruning, if possible, cut back no further than two eyes on the last cycle of growth by making a clean slanting cut with a sharp knife or pruners.
Pruning should be done just after the blooming season and just before the first cycle of growth as a majority of the flower buds form on this cycle; and pruning after the first cycle may remove most of the flowers. Pruning can also be done at the time of picking flowers, if desired.
Do not prune the upright stem of Chandleri Elegans or "Francine" until the growth has reached the desired height. The growth will be mostly lateral once the upright central stem is cut.
Disbudding: Varieties producing heavy bud crops should be disbudded to obtain better and larger fiowers. By mid-summer flower buds may usually be distinguished from leaf buds. Terminal buds should be thinned to one, or not more than two and those along the stem should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
If possible, leave buds at various stages of development so that the blossoms will not all mature within a short time of each other.
Mulching: In the hot summer and early autumn months it is beneficial to the plants to maintain a one inch mulch of peat moss or leaf mould to protect the surface roots. This practice will also save much watering.
Transplanting: Many of us enjoy moving plants either when we can find nothing further to do in the care of our camellias or when there is need for such removal.
The transplanting of camellias can be accomplished successfully even with large specimens during their dormant period from April to September. The plant should be moist before removal.
There is no necessity to ball in burlap unless the plant is to be moved some distance or is to remain out of the ground for a period of time. As large a root ball as possible should be taken with the plant.
Cut the surface of the soil around the plant of the approximate size of the root ball to be taken with a straight neck square blade shovel. Then sink the shovel as deep as possible around the plant in the cut first made so that when the soil is dug away it will not tear or break the roots. Then dig the soil from around the ball as cut. When this is done, slide the shovel under the ball and loosen the ball and remove to the new location.
When balling in burlap is necessary, small and medium size plants can be dug as above described and set out on a square of burlap which should then be tied securely around the root ball and at the stem of the plant. With larger plants, it is generally better to ball in burlap in the hole. This can be done as follows: Tunnel under the plant; slip the burlap through the tunnel so that part is exposed at each end; cut one side of ball and draw burlap up on that side; cut other side of ball and draw burlap up on that side; tie burlap securely around ball and remove from hole.
The same planting procedure should be followed as set forth except it is generally advised to place only sufficient soil around the plant to hold it in position and then fill hole with water containing B-1 solution, allowing the solution to soak into roots before back filling the hole. It is not necessary to remove the burlap, just cut string from around stem of plants and fold back.
It is best not to transplant on a hot doy, but if such a day occurs on or immediately subsequent to the transplanting, a protecting of cheese cloth or burlap should be placed over the plant for a few days. No fertiliser should be used for a period of at least six months.
1. Cuttings: Facilities: A cold frame is usually the most practical way to root cuttings, and consists of an airtight frame of the following dimensions Six feet wide and length desired; 18 to 24 inches high at the back, sloping to 12 to 18 inches at the front. The top is covered with a glass sash. The frame can be placed on the ground and the bottom should be covered with two inches of gravel to aid drainage and topped with 2 inches of sand to hold moisture and build up humidity. On top of the sand 1 by 1-inch garden stakes should be criss-crossed so that the flats will sit above the sand for better drainage and circulation of air. The frame should face south and be placed under lath or trees where filtered sunlight is available, as the protective care required when they are in the full sun, is excessive. If desired a heating device can be placed in the frame with a regulated temperature of 65 degrees to 70 degrees. Also, if available, cuttings, can be made on a bench in a glass house.
Bedding plant flats make the best containers for planting. Wash the flats and fill all cracks with sphagnum moss. Then fill the flat with thoroughly washed sand, and pack tight. Peat moss is sometimes mixed with the sand to be placed
in the flat in the ratio of about 1/3 peat moss and 2/3 sand.
Time to Make: Cuttings can be made after each of the two cycles of growth has sufficiently hardened, that is, in the winter from about June and in the summer from about November to December.
Selection of Cuttings: Tip cuttings from the Jast cycle of growth with two or three eyes of leaf buds and at least 2 to 3 inches long are generally the best. However, inside cuttings with only 1 leaf bud can be used. In taking cuttings, use a sharp knife or pruners and cut on a slant, leaving at least one and preferably two leaf buds on the last cycle of growth.
Preparation of Cuttings: Where space is limited, strip all but the top leaf from the cutting, and cut this leaf in half. If space is not limited, a cutting with two or three leaves and leaf buds can be used. However it is generally best to cut all leaves in half, although full leaf cuttings can be made. Just before planting make a clean slanting cut at the bottom with a sharp knife, preferably just below a leaf bud, although this is not necessary.
Planting: Before using the prepared flats be sure the sand is wet; for the cuttings can be more firmly seated than in dry sand. Starting at one end of the
flat, cut a narrow trench in the sand with a thin metal blade and place the cuttings in the trench so that all leaves and leaf buds at the base of the leaves are above the surface of the sand, and the leaves of the cuttings do not touch. When the row is filled, place a narrow board in front, and pack until firm. Then continue until the flat is filled, and label.
If more than one variety is placed in the flat, each variety can be labelled and separated with pot labels placed in the sand. Rooting media are sometimes used, but in tests no particular benefit has been noted.
When the flat is filled, place on the stakes in the cold frame with air space between each flat, and water in with a fine spray until the sand is smooth.
Care: The sand in the bottom of the frame should be kept moist at all times to aid in building up humidity.
The cuttings should not be allowed to dry out but should only be watered when
a need is disclosed. This can be determined by pressing a portion of the sand in the flat between the fingers. If the sand is moist, no water is needed, if not, water lightly with a fine spray.
It is recommended that the frames be aired once a week on a cool day, or early in the morning, for approximately one to two hours to prevent any danger of fungus. However, never open a frame on a very hot day with low humidity.
When the temperature reaches 75 degrees a covering of cheese cloth should be placed over the frame, and on a very hot day of 90 degrees or more a double covering may be advisable. Where the frames are in the full sun, a heavy covering such as burlap should be used.
Removal from Frame: In summer, cuttings will root in approximately four months, and in winter in approximately six months in an unheated frame. However, some varieties such as Alba Plena will take much longer.
To determine whether the cuttings are ready to remove and pot, loosen an occasional cutting throughout the flat. If the average root formation is 2/3 or better, remove and transfer to a 2 to 21 inch pot, with a soil mixture of ¼ sandy loam and ¾ peat moss. If the average root formation is less than 2/3 leave the cuttings in the frame. Cuttings taken from the flat with a good white callus, but no roots, can be replaced in a flat and returned to the frame. However, if the callus or the tip of the cutting is black, throw it away. The newly potted cuttings should be thoroughly watered with a solution of B-1 and protected from the hot sun for a few days, after which they can be exposed to the sun under lath or trees.
2. Grafting:
Reason for Grafting: This method of propagation is used to produce plants which attain an earlier maturity and bloom with more vigorous growth than would be possible in plants on their own roots. In fact the time is at least cut in half.
Time of Grafting: Camellias are gene-ally grafted from about June to October 1st. However, summer grafting is possible as soon as the first cycle of growth hardens, and before the second cycle of growth begins, from about December to January.
Type of Graft: There are many types of grafts, but the ones generally used are the cleft graft in the winter and the bark graft in the summer. A cleft graft is generally preferred, although a bark graft is generally used in the summer due to the fact that during the summer growing period, when the bark is loose, a cleft graft will generally result in the misplacement of the bark or understock. A bark graft also allows the scion to have full and complete contact with a solid cambium layer on the understock, while in a cleft graft the cambium layers are matched only on one side. A bark graft cannot be used in the winter dormant season as the bark is not loose.
Tools and Materials: The tools and materials needed are a sharp knife, pruners, fine tooth saw and string or heat treated rubber bands.
Selection of Understock: The factors to look for in selecting understock are vigorous growth, soft wood, width of canbium layer, and ability to heal or callus rapidly. The best results can be obtained from vigorous seedlings and such named varieties as Sarah Frost, Ake-Bono, Purity, Pink Perfection, etc., with a preference for Sarah Frost. Understock which has been transplanted or fertilised just prior to grafting is not recommended.
Preparation of Understock: Cut the understock on a slant (so water accumulating will drain away from the scion) as low as practical (about 3 inches above the surface of the soil) with a pair of pruners on small understock aged 5 years or less, or with a saw on larger understock. Smooth the cut surface with a knife.
4' 0" x 3' 0" top hung casements or horizontally sliding on a patent track. The top hung windows are very suitable for Wellington's climate allowing ventilation in wet weather, and the 4ft. sliding sashes allow large uninterrupted views and provide good ventilation in summer. In every case where sliding windows are used there are alternative openings so that if the sliding windows face a prevailing wind adequate ventilation can be obtained.
Wooden floors in kitchen, bathroom, etc. lino covered, cork tiles in Bedroom 2, Hong Kong matting in Living room. Fibrous plaster to walls and ceilings is covered mostly with wallpaper on walls with ceilings painted. Where the right colour was not available in wallpaper, paint was used. In the hall and staircase a yellow and white Regency striped paper was hung vertically, the owner and Architect defeating by one vote a motion by Mrs. Stace to hang it horizontally. In the Living room plain areas of light colours with one wall a grey paper striped with white contrasted with the strongly patterned curtain between Living and Dining rooms. The heater flue 10" diameter passes through the Living room and is painted Venetian Red. Doors to the upper floor were bleached and clear lacquered, other woodwork being painted. Pelmets were dispensed with, aluminium curtain track being screwed to the wall above the architraves of all windows.
In addition to being a hard site to plan for and build on, it was almost impossible for the photographer, but the one exterior shot shows the large window openings to the North elevation and also shows the top hung windows open for ventilation on the West side. The interior views show the Living Dining area and indicate the spacious effect that can be gained. Incidentally, there is no feeling that the room lacks a "focal point" through not having a fireplace; with the whole room at an even temperature is is much easier for groups to sit and argue round a low table or to split up into smaller groups each riding their own particular hobby horse or to circulate easily without feeling that the early arrivals had usurped the ringside seats round the fire.