Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book, 3rd ed. / A Useful Guide for Large or Small Families, Containing Directions for Cooking, Preserving, Pickling...

LAUNDRY-WORK, NEEDLE-WORK, ETC.

SODA SOAP.—Take six pounds of the best brown soap, and cut it into pieces. Put it into a large wash-kettle, and pour on seven gallons and a half of clear soft water. Next stir in six pounds of washing-soda, (sub-carbonate,) set it over the fire, and let it boil two hours after it has come to a boil. Then strain it into stone jars; cover it, and put it away. It must be used for white clothes only, as it will fade coloured things. Put the clothes in soak the night before, in tubs of cold water; having first rubbed the grease spots with wet fuller’s earth, (scraped fine,) and the stains with wet cream of tartar. Allow a pound of the soda soap to a bucket of water, and put it over the fire in a wash-kettle. When the water is warm, put in as many white clothes as convenient; seeing that there is water enough to cover them well. Boil them an hour; occasionally moving them up and down with the clothes-stick. Then take them out, and finish washing them in the usual way. The soda soap will whiten them very much; but if used in a larger quantity than the above proportion, it will injure them greatly. We do not recommend any soda preparation for washing, unless it can be used under the immediate inspection of a good housekeeper; most servants and washerwomen being very apt to employ it too freely, if left to themselves.

SOFT SOAP MADE WITH POTASH.—Put twelve pounds of potash into a barrel, and then pour in water till the barrel is half full. Stir the potash several times, while it is dissolving in the water. Have ready twelve pounds of good soap-fat, and melt it over the fire in a large kettle. Then stir it, gradually, into the barrel with the dissolved potash. After standing a quarter of an hour, fill up the barrel with cold water; and stir it hard. This process will form an excellent soft soap.

COLD STARCH FOR LINEN.—Take a quarter of a pint, or as much of the best raw starch as will half fill a common-sized tumbler. Fill it nearly up with very clear cold water. Mix it well with a spoon, pressing out all the lumps, till you get it thoroughly dissolved, and very smooth. Next add a tea-spoonful of salt to prevent its sticking. Then pour it into a broad earthen pan; add, gradually, a pint of clear cold water; and stir and mix it well. Do not boil it.

The shirts having been washed and dried, dip the collars and wristbands into this starch, and then squeeze them out. Between each dipping, stir it up from the bottom with a spoon. Then sprinkle the shirts, and fold or roll them up, with the collars and wristbands folded evenly inside. They will be ready to iron in an hour.

This quantity of cold starch is amply sufficient for the collars and wristbands of half a dozen shirts. Any article of cambric muslin may be done up with cold starch made as above.

Poland starch is better than any other. It is to be had at most grocery stores.

Cold starch will not do for thin muslin, or for any thing that is to be clapped and cleared. It is very convenient for linen, &c., in summer, as it requires no boiling over the fire. Also, it goes farther than boiled starch.

TO WASH WHITE SATIN RIBBON.—Make a strong lather of clear cold water and the best white soap. Squeeze and press the ribbon through this, till it looks quite clean; but do not rub it, as that will cause it to fray. Then make a fresh lather of white soap and cold water, and squeeze the ribbon through that. Do not rinse it, as the suds remaining in the ribbon will give it the proper stiffness. Pull and stretch it evenly; and then iron it on the wrong side while it is still damp. When quite dry, roll it on a ribbon-block; wrap it closely in coarse brown paper; and put it away till you want to use it. None but plain unfigured white satin ribbon of very good quality, can be washed to advantage. The day before washing it, rub some magnesia upon any grease that may be on the ribbon, and some cream of tartar on the stains.

In winding several pieces of ribbon on the same block, always put the end of each successive piece under that of the last, instead of over it; and wind the whole tight and smoothly. Secure the last end with two very small minikin pins; as large pins will make conspicuous holes all through, and probably leave a brassy or greenish stain. The ribbon-block should on no account be narrower than the ribbon.

A small white silk handkerchief may be washed as above, if thick and unfigured.

TO CLEAN SILK SHAWLS OR SCARFS.—Mix together a quarter of a pound of soft soap; a tea-spoonful of brandy; and a pint of whisky or gin; stirring them hard. Spread the shawl on a clean linen cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the mixture, go carefully over it on both sides. The shawl should be kept even, by placing weights along the edges. Dry it in the shade. Then wash (or rather squeeze it) in two or three cold waters without soap; stretch it, and hang it out again; and when almost dry, iron it.

TO CLEAN A SILK DRESS.—Rip the dress entirely apart. Take large raw potatoes, and allow a pint of cold water to each potatoe. Having pared the potatoes, grate them into the basin of water. Cover it; and let it stand three hours, or more. Then pour it carefully off, into a broad pan; leaving the sediment or coarse part of the grated potatoes at the bottom of the basin. Having spread a clean linen cloth on a large ironing table, and put some irons down to the fire, lay the silk (a breadth at a time) upon the cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the potatoe-water, go all over it, on the wrong side. Then hang that breadth out upon a line; stretch it evenly, and leave it to dry. Take another breadth; sponge it with the potatoe-water; hang it out; and proceed in the same manner till all the silk is done. By the time the whole has been sponged and hung out, the first breadths will in all probability be dry enough to iron. It must be ironed on the wrong side.

The sleeves must be taken out and ripped open, before sponging them. Each piece of the body must, of course, be done separately.

FRENCH METHOD OF WASHING COLOURED SILK CRAVATS, SCARFS, SHAWLS, &c.—Make a mixture of the following articles in a large flat dish. A large table-spoonful of soft soap, or of hard brown soap shaved fine, (white soap will not do,) a small tea-spoonful of strained honey, and a pint of spirits of wine. Have ready a large brush (for instance a clothes-brush) made perfectly clean. Lay the silk on a board or on an ironing-table; stretching the article evenly, and securing it in its place by weights set round upon its edges. Then dip the brush into the mixture, and with it go all over the silk, lengthways of the texture; beginning at that part of the silk which is least seen when worn; and trying a little at a time till you have ascertained the effect. If you find the colour of the silk changed by the liquid, weaken it by adding a little more spirits of wine. Brocaded silks cannot be washed this way.

Having gone carefully over the whole of the article, dip it, up and down, in a bucket of clean water, but do not squeeze or wring it. Repeat this through another clean water, and then through a third. Afterwards spread it on a line to dry, but without any squeezing or wringing. Let it dry slowly. While still damp, take it down; pull it, and stretch it even; then roll or fold it up; and let it rest a few minutes. Have irons ready, and iron the silk; taking care that the iron is not so hot as to change the colour.

The above quantity of the washing-mixture is sufficient for about half a dozen silk handkerchiefs; for a silk apron; or for one shawl; or for two scarfs, if not very long. If there is fringe on the scarfs it is best to take it off and replace it with new; or else to gather the ends of the scarfs, and finish them with a tassel or ball.

Gentlemen’s silk or chaly cravats may be made to look very well washed in this manner. Ribbons also, if thick and rich. Indeed whatever is washed by this process should be of excellent quality. A dress must be previously taken apart.

This is also a good method for washing a white blond veil or scarf; using a soft sponge instead of a brush, and making the mixture with rather less soap and honey. When dry, lay the blond in smooth even folds, within a large sheet of smooth nankeen paper. Press it for a few days in a large quarto or folio book. Do not iron it.

TO MAKE THREAD LACE LOOK ALWAYS NEW.—Thread lace should never be sewed fast, or washed upon the article of which it forms the trimming. It should be merely run on, or basted with short stitches; so as to draw out the thread easily, when the lace is taken off for washing. The trouble is nothing in comparison to the advantage. In the first place, thread lace, to look well and last long, should never be touched with starch. Starching thread lace injures the texture, (causing the threads to break,) and gives it a hard, stiff appearance. If sewed fast, and washed and done up with the muslin collar or pelerine, it shrinks and thickens up among the gathers, and partakes of the starch that has been used for the muslin; and, of course, can have no resemblance to new lace that has never been washed at all. Again, it will not last half so long, as if always taken off, and done up separately from the muslin.

Every lady should have at least two lace bottles, as it is not well to wind more than three or four yards of lace upon one bottle. They should be straight black bottles of the largest size, and it is well to buy them new for the purpose; otherwise something of their former contents may come out when boiling, and injure the lace. Also there may be remains of wax, rosin, or some other cement, lingering about the place where the cork was; and this will melt in the water, and cause the lace to look streaked. The bottles being perfectly clean, (inside and out,) cover them with thick, strong, new white linen, sewed on tightly and smoothly, with coarse thread. When not in use, keep them wrapped up in clean paper.

Having taken off the lace from the article on which it was basted, begin near the bottom of the bottle; tack one end of the lace with a needle and strong thread to the linen; and wind it smoothly round with the edge downward; and all the scollops smooth, so that none may be creased or curled inward. Wind the lace on the bottle in such a manner as to leave the scolloped or pattern-edge visible all round; and finish just below the neck of the bottle. Then tack down with the needle and thread the last or terminating end of the lace. Early in the evening put the bottle with the lace into a clean earthen or white-ware vessel, filled with clear cold water, and let it soak till bed-time. Then change the water, and let it soak all night.

In the morning, fill a clean porcelain kettle, or a deep earthen pipkin, with a strong suds of clear soft water and the best white soap. Into this, put the bottle with the lace on it; having tied a twine string round the neck of the bottle so as to make it fast to the handles or the rim of the vessel, that it may be kept as steady as possible while boiling. It must on no account be boiled in a tin or iron vessel, as the lace will then certainly be discoloured. Set the vessel over hot coals or in a stove; and keep it boiling regularly till the lace looks quite white. If very dirty, it will be necessary to change the water for a clean fresh suds. It may boil from an hour to an hour and a half; but take it out as soon as it looks clean and white. Then turn up the bottle to drain off the suds, and set it (without rinsing) in the sun. Keep it in the sun till the lace dries on the bottle. When quite dry, take it off; stretch or pull down each scollop separately with your thumb and finger; and then wind the lace evenly and smoothly on a ribbon-block of somewhat broader width. You can get ribbon-blocks at the stores where ribbons are sold, and you will find them very useful. Wrap the block with the lace on it in soft brown paper, and put it away till you want it for use. If you have no ribbon-block, fold or roll up a piece of smooth clean paper, and roll the lace round it. Never wrap any thing in printed paper.

The above method of cleaning thread lace, (without rubbing, squeezing, rinsing, starching, or ironing,) as it is the most simple and easy, is also the most certain of success. In fact we can confidently assert that there is no other so good; and we only ask a trial of its efficacy; well-assured that every lady who has once had her lace washed in this manner will continue it; as it makes it look always new. Of course, it should be done on a clear bright day, and the hotter the sun the better. If you have more than one lace bottle to boil, they may be put into a brass or bell-metal wash-kettle, (previously made very clean,) but remember that no tin or iron must be used for this purpose. If the coating or lining of an enamelled or porcelain kettle is the least cracked or scaled off, do not boil the lace in it, or it will be stained with iron mould.

Thread lace done exactly according to these directions, has the look, feel, transparency, and consistence of new lace that has never been washed at all; and may easily be mistaken for it. Drying in the soap-suds gives it just the right stiffness, and it will last much longer than if washed in the old manner with squeezing, rinsing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

Before your lace is sewed on the bottle, look over it, and see if it requires any mending. There is a lace-stitch done with very fine thread, that, when neatly executed, renders a mended place imperceptible. It may be learned in a few minutes by seeing it done, but cannot be described intelligibly. Those who have had no opportunity of learning this stitch may mend lace very neatly by darning it with the finest possible thread; taking care not to make the darn too thick, or close, but imitating as nearly as possible the open texture of the lace. In quilling or setting on the lace, endeavour to conceal the darns under the pleats.

Cotton lace cannot be cleaned in the foregoing manner, as it is too soft and fuzzy, and shrinks up too much. It requires squeezing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

WASHING BLACK LACE.—Every description of black silk lace (or of black Scotch blond) may be made to look extremely well by the following process; either veils, shawls, scarfs, capes, sleeves, or trimming-lace. A black lace dress, must be previously taken apart, and all the loose threads or stitches carefully picked out. We will suppose the article that requires washing to be a veil that has been worn long enough to look soiled and rusty. By exactly observing the following directions, it may be made to appear fresh, new, and of an excellent black; provided always that it was originally of good quality, with no mixture of cotton in it. All lace articles of that brownish black, falsely called jet, are now mixed with cotton; and frequently have no silk at all about them.

In a large clean earthen pan, or a small tub, make a strong lather of white soap and clear soft water, warm but not hot. Mix with the suds a large table-spoonful of ox-gall. No family should be without a bottle of ox-gall, which can always be obtained from the butcher at a very trifling cost. The gall as soon as brought home should be opened, its liquid poured through a funnel into a clean black bottle, and tightly corked. You may perfume it by putting in a grain of musk. It is useful in washing all sorts of coloured things, as it materially assists in preventing them from fading. Having stirred the gall well into the suds, put in the black lace veil, and work and squeeze it up and down through the lather for five minutes or more; taking care not to rub it. Then squeeze it out well, open it loose, and shake it a little. Next, transfer it to a second suds of clean warm water and white soap; adding a tea-spoonful of gall. Into this second lather infuse a large quantity of blue, pressed into the water from the indigo bag, and well stirred in. Having worked the veil up and down through this second suds for about ten minutes, alternately loosening it out, and squeezing it up, but not rubbing it. Squeeze it finally as dry as you can, and then open it out widely.

Have ready in another pan some glue-stiffening, made as follows: On a bit of glue about the size of a shilling pour two jills, or a half-pint, of boiling water, and let it dissolve. After the glue is entirely melted, add to it a quart of cold water; and then make it very blue by squeezing into it a large portion of indigo from the blue-bag. Stir it well, and then put in the veil, rinsing and squeezing it up and down through the stiffening water. Having done this sufficiently, squeeze out the veil as dry as you can get it; then open it, stretch it, and clap it all over. Next, fold it evenly; roll it up in a thick clean towel; and let it rest for a quarter of an hour or more.

Spread a large clean linen cloth on your clothes-line, and hang the veil (well spread out) upon the cloth. When nearly, but not quite dry, take down the veil, and clap and stretch it again. Have warm irons ready. Lay a clean linen cloth over your blanket, and press the veil smoothly on the wrong side; first trying the irons on an old piece of thin black silk, crape, or gauze; lest they should be too hot for the lace, and scorch or discolour it.

The foregoing process (followed exactly) will restore to any article of good black silk lace that has become brown and soft by wearing, the deep black colour and consistence it had when new.

Be careful not to have too much glue, and to put plenty of indigo-blue into the second suds and into the stiffening water.

Before washing the veil, rip open the casing at the top, and remove the string. Afterwards, make a new case, and draw it with a new ribbon.

TO WASH A WHITE LACE SCARF.—Fold up the scarf, and lay it in a thin cambric handkerchief, folded over so as to enclose the scarf, and secured by basting it slightly with a needle and thread. Dip it in cold water. Make a strong lather with white soap and warm water; put the scarf, &c., into it, and let it rest all day. In the evening, make a fresh lather, and leave the scarf in it all night, (having first squeezed it well.) Next morning, make some thin starch. Shave small a quarter of a cake of white wax, and put it into two quarts of soft water; adding six lumps of loaf-sugar, and a table-spoonful of thin-made starch. Put these articles into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain kettle, and set it over the fire. On no account use, for this purpose, a vessel of any sort of metal, as it will discolour the lace. When the mixture has come to a boil, put in the scarf, (still folded in the handkerchief,) and boil it ten minutes. Then take it out, open the handkerchief, and if you do not find it perfectly white, return it to the pipkin, and boil it longer. Afterwards, take it out of the handkerchief, and throw the scarf into cold water. Squeeze and press it, till it drips no longer. Then open it out; stretch it even; and hang it in the sun. When almost dry, take it in, and iron it carefully on a linen cloth.

A veil, a shawl, or a pelerine of white lace may be washed in this manner.

TO CLEAN GOLD OR SILVER EMBROIDERY.—Warm some spirits of wine, and apply it with a bit of clean sponge. Then dry it, by rubbing it with soft, new canton flannel. Gold or silver lace may be cleaned thus. Also, jewelry.

WASHING AMERICAN CHINTZES.—American chintzes, of good quality, (such as are sold at twelve or fourteen cents per yard,) can be washed so as to retain their colours, and look as bright as when quite new. The water must be quite clean, and merely warm, but by no means hot. Rub the soap into the water, so as to form a strong lather, before you put in the dress. Add to the lather a handful of fine salt. Wash the chintz through two warm waters, making a lather in the second also, and adding salt. The salt will keep the colours from running. Then rinse it through two cold waters; putting a table-spoonful of vinegar into each, before the dress goes in. This will brighten the colours. Immediately, wring out the dress, and hang it up to dry; but not in the sun. When nearly dry, (so as to be just damp enough to iron,) have irons ready heated; bring in the dress; stretch it well, and iron it on the wrong side. If allowed to become quite dry on the line, and then sprinkled and rolled up, and laid aside to be ironed next day, the colours may run from remaining damp all night.

An imported chintz, a gingham, or a mousseline de laine, may be washed in the above manner; which we know to be excellent; substituting, for the salt, a table-spoonful of ox-gall in each water. All sorts of coloured dresses should be washed and ironed as quickly as possible, when once begun. It is well to allot a day purposely to coloured dresses, rather than to do them with all the other things on the regular washing-day. If washed in half-dirty suds, and left soaking in the rinsing-water, the colours will most assuredly run and fade, and the dress look dingy all over.

Of course, nothing that has any colour about it should be either scalded, or boiled, or washed in hot water. Scalding, boiling, and hot-water washing are only for things entirely white.

PRESERVING THE COLOURS OF DRESSES.—Before washing a new dress, try a small piece of the material, and see if the colours are likely to stand of themselves. They are generally fast, if the article is so well printed that the wrong side is difficult to distinguish from the right. If you obtain from the store a small slip for testing the durability of the colours, give it a fair trial, by washing it through two warm waters with soap, and then rinsing it through two cold waters. No colours whatever will stand, if washed in hot water. Some colours, (very bright pinks and light greens particularly,) though they may bear washing perfectly well, will change as soon as a warm iron is applied to them; the pink turning purplish, and the green bluish.

The colours of merinoes, mousselines de laine, ginghams, chintzes, printed lawns, &c., may be preserved in washing by mixing a table-spoonful of ox-gall in the first and second waters, (which should not be more than lukewarm,) and making a lather of the soap and water before you put in the dress, instead of rubbing the soap on it afterwards. At the last, to brighten the colours, stir into the second rinsing-water a small tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, if the dress is that of a grown person; for a child’s dress, half a tea-spoonful will suffice. If washed at home, one of the ladies of the family should herself put in the vitriol, as, if left to the servants, they may injure the dress by carelessly putting in too much. Vitriol is excellent for preserving light or delicate colours.

The colours of a common calico or mousseline de laine may be set by putting into each of the two warm waters a large handful of salt, and into each rinsing water a tea-spoonful of vinegar.

No coloured articles should be allowed to remain in the water, as soaking will cause the colours to run in streaks. As soon as the dress is washed and rinsed, let it be immediately wrung out, hung in the shade, and, as soon as dry enough, taken in and ironed at once. Each dress should be washed separately. The washing of dresses should only be undertaken in fine weather.

PUTTING AWAY WOOLLENS.—The introduction of furnaces, for the purpose of warming houses, is supposed to be one cause of the great increase of moths, cockroaches, and other insects that now, more than ever, infest our dwellings. For moths, particularly, the usual remedies of camphor, tobacco, pepper, cedar-shavings, &c., seem no longer sufficiently powerful; perhaps because their odour so soon evaporates. Still it is well to try them when nothing better can be done; and they are sometimes successful. Camphor and tobacco-shreds will be found much more efficacious if (after interspersing them among the furs or woollens) each fur or woollen article is carefully and closely pinned up in newspapers; so closely as to leave no aperture or opening, however small. The printing-ink has a tendency to keep off moths and other small insects. The papers used for this purpose should be those that are printed with ink of a good quality, not liable to rub off, and soil the things enclosed. We highly recommend this mode of preserving furs and woollens.

But the following method of putting away all the woollen, worsted, and fur articles of the house, will be found an infallible preservative against moths; and the cost is trifling, in comparison with the security it affords of finding the things in good order when opened for use on the return of cold weather. Procure at a distiller’s, or elsewhere, a tight empty hogshead that has held whisky. Have it well cleaned, (without washing,) and see that it is quite dry. Let it be placed in some part of the house that is little used in the summer, where there is no damp, and where it can be shut up in entire darkness.

After the carpets have been taken up, and well shaken and beaten, and the grease spots all removed, let them be folded and packed closely down in the cask, which can be reached by means of a step-ladder. Put in, also, the blankets; having first washed all that were not clean; also the woollen table-covers. If you have worsted or cloth curtains and cushion-covers, pack them in likewise, after they have been thoroughly freed from dust. Also, flannels, merinos, cloaks, coats, furs, and, in short, every thing that is liable to be attacked by the moths. It is well to rip the cloaks from the collars, and the skirts of pelisses from the bodies, before packing, as they can be folded more smoothly, and so as to occupy less space. Fold and pack all the articles closely, and arrange them to advantage, so as to fit in well, and fill up all hollows and vacancies evenly. If well-packed, one hogshead will generally hold all the woollen and fur articles belonging to a house of moderate size, and to a moderate-sized family. But if one is not enough, it is easy to get another. When the cask is filled, nail the head on tightly, and let the whole remain undisturbed till the warm weather is over. If the house is shut up, and the family out of town in the summer, you may safely leave your woollens, &c., put away in this manner. Choose a clear, dry day for unpacking them in the autumn; and, when open, expose them all separately to the air, till the odour of the whisky is gone off. If they have been put away clean, and free from dust, it will be found that the whisky-atmosphere has brightened their colours. As soon as the things are all out of the cask, head it up again immediately, and keep it for the same use next summer. If more convenient, you may have the cask sawed in two before you pack it. In this case, you must get an extra head for one of the halves.

In putting away woollens for the season, always keep out a blanket for each bed, and some flannel for each member of the family, in case of occasional cold days, or easterly rains in the summer.

Have no hair trunks about the house; they always produce moths.

TO CLEAN WHITE FUR.—Take a sufficiency of dry starch, very finely powdered, and sift it, through a fine sieve, into a broad, clean, tin pan. Set the pan near enough the fire for the powdered starch to get warm, stirring it frequently. Then roll and tumble about the white fur among the powdered starch, till it is well saturated. Shut it up closely in a bandbox, and let it remain unopened for a fortnight. It will then look clean.

When you put away white fur in the spring, proceed as above, (using a very large quantity of the pulverized starch,) and put into the box some lumps of camphor tied up in thin white papers. Keep the box closely shut through the summer, and do not open it to look at the fur till you want it for cold weather. It will then be found a good clean white.

In joining pieces of fur or swans-down, lay the two edges together, and pass the needle and thread back and forward on the wrong side, (in the way that carpet-seams are sewed,) so as to unite the edges evenly and flat without making a ridge. Then line every seam by sewing or running strong tape along it, of course on the wrong side. Unless they are strengthened in this manner with tape, the stitches are liable, after a while, to give way, and the seams or joins to gape open, making rents inside that are very difficult to repair.

TO KEEP A MUFF. Always when returning a muff to its box, give it several hard twirls round. This will smooth the fur, and make all the hairs lie the same way. To prevent the wadding inside the muff from sinking downwards, and falling into clods, keep the muff-box always lying on the side, instead of standing it upright. When you put it away till next winter, place within it some lumps of camphor wrapped in papers, and sprinkle the outside of the fur with powdered camphor. Then enclose the muff, completely, in one or two large newspapers, sewing or pinning them entirely over it, sides and ends, so that nothing can possibly get in. Do the same with all your furs; and after putting them away with these precautions, open them no more till the return of cold weather. The printing ink on the papers will assist in keeping out moths.

TAKING CARE OF PICTURES.—An excellent way to preserve an oil-picture from the injuries of damp, mould, and mildew, is to take the precaution of covering the back of the canvas (before nailing it on the straining frame) with a coating of common white lead paint; and when that is dry, give it a second coat. If you buy a picture that has been framed without this precaution, do not neglect having the back of it coated as above, before you hang it up.

The simplest way of cleaning an oil-picture, is to mix some whisky and water very weak. If the mixture is too strong of the liquid, it may take off the paint, or otherwise injure it. Dip into the mixture a very soft and very clean sponge, which you must first ascertain to be perfectly free from sand, grit, or any extraneous object. A good way to soften and clean a sponge, is to boil it in several successive waters, till there is no longer any appearance of sand at the bottom of the vessel. Having carefully washed the picture with the sponge and whisky-water, dry it by going over it with a clean soft silk handkerchief. This is all that can be safely attempted by any one who is not a regular picture cleaner. Therefore, if the picture is smoked or much soiled, it is best to send it to a person who makes picture-cleaning his profession. Many a good picture has been destroyed by injudicious cleaning.

Till it has been made perfectly clean, no picture should be re-varnished; otherwise the fresh varnish will work up the dirt, and make it look worse than ever. As long as a picture is the least wet (either with paint or varnish) it should be carefully guarded from dust; the smallest particles of which by drying into the surface will injure it irreparably. No sweeping or dusting should be permitted where there is a picture not perfectly and thoroughly dry. If there is a fire in the room it should not be stirred, replenished, or touched in any way till the picture has been previously carried out, lest some of the flying ashes might stick to it.

When a picture is finished, it would always be well for the artist to inscribe on the back of the canvas the subject of the painting, the date of its completion, his own name and that of the person for whom it was painted. In short, a concise history of the picture, arranged somewhat like the title-page of a book. Had this excellent practice always prevailed, there would be no occasion for any doubts and controversies concerning the works of the old masters.

A PORTRAIT PAINTER’S TRAVELLING BOX.—The large wooden box for the easel and other things indispensable to a portrait painter, when travelling professionally, should be made broad, low, and square, so that it may be used as a platform on which to place the chair of the sitter. When unpacked of its contents, and appropriated to this purpose, the box must be turned bottom upwards, and concealed under a cover of carpeting or drugget brought along with it. The cover should fit smoothly and closely, and be so made that it can be lifted off, and folded up, whenever the platform is again to be used as a box.

TRAVELLING BOXES.—As bandboxes are no longer visible among the baggage-articles of ladies, the usual way of carrying bonnets, caps, muslins, &c., is in tall square wooden boxes, covered with black canvas or leather, edged with strips of iron and brass nails, and furnished with a tray for small things. They are usually lined with paper or calico pasted all over the inside. This lining, however, is apt to peel off in places where most rubbed; and is then very troublesome; catching the corners of the tray so as to prevent its being lifted out. To obviate this inconvenience, when you bespeak the box, direct that the inside, instead of being lined with pasted paper or calico, shall be planed smooth, and either stained of some colour, or left the natural tint of the wood. It is best that the tray should have a close bottom of strong linen. When there are only strips nailed across, (like open lattice-work,) the small articles laid upon them are always falling through.

A small bandbox can be easily carried inside of a trunk or box, keeping it steady by filling in heavy articles closely round it. The best way of securing a bandbox-lid, is to have a hole made in the rim or top of the lid, and a corresponding hole in the side of the bandbox, near its cover. Through each of these holes pass a string of ribbon or ferret; securing one end by a large knot inside, and leaving the other end outside; so that you can tie them together in a bow-knot. It is best to have two pair of these strings, one pair on each side of the bandbox.

Let your whole name (not merely the initials) be painted in white or yellow letters on each of your travelling trunks or boxes; and also the name of the town in which you live. Have also your name and residence painted in black on the leather part of your carpet-bag.

If you are clever at lettering, you can mark your trunks yourself with a small brush and a saucer of ready-mixed paint, which you may buy at a paint-shop for a few cents. The more conspicuously your baggage is lettered, the less liable you are to lose it. To make it still more easily distinguished, tie on the handles of each article a bit of ribbon; the same colour on every one—for instance, all blue or all red.

On returning home, let all the travelling cases, bags, straps, keys, &c., be kept together in one trunk; so that when preparing for your next journey you may know exactly where to find them.

A RIBBON SACK.—These bags are quite pretty, and very convenient for a short journey, or a visit of a day or two in the country. While on the journey, they are to be carried in the hand, and may contain whatever is necessary for a short absence from home; for instance, clean night-clothes, tightly rolled up; stockings; handkerchiefs; sewing materials; books, &c. To make a ribbon sack, take five or six pieces of very broad, very thick, strong ribbon; each piece at least three-quarters of a yard in length. Sew all these stripes closely together, with very strong sewing-silk. Then fold or double this piece of joined ribbons, leaving one end half a finger longer than the other. Sew up the two sides as you would a pillow-case, so as to form a square sack with a flap to turn over at the top. Round off, with your scissors, both corners of this flap, so as to make its edge semicircular. Then bind the top or mouth all round (flap and straight-sides) with thick velvet ribbon of a dark colour. Cover, with the same velvet ribbon, a very thick strong cotton cord about three quarters of a yard in length; and sew its two ends to the tops of the side-seams; so as to form an arched handle like that of a basket. Work an upright button-hole near the edge of the flap, and sew on a handsome button to meet it, a little below the straight edge of the bag’s mouth. If the ribbon is very thick and strong (broad belt-ribbon for instance) no lining will be necessary. Also, no lining is required if the sack is of stout old-fashioned brocade. No other sort of silk will be strong enough without a lining.

A LADY’S SHOE-BAG.—Take a piece of strong linen or ticking. Fold or double it so as to leave a flap to turn over at the top. Then, with very strong thread, stitch the bag into compartments—each division large enough to contain, easily, a pair of shoes. Next sew up the sides, and bind the flap with broad tape. Put strings or buttons to the flap so as to tie it down. The shoes, when put in, must be laid together with the heel of one to the toe of the other; and if they are slippers with strings, tie the strings closely round both. These shoe-bags are very convenient when you are travelling.

A BOOT-BAG.—Take a piece of very strong brown linen or Russia sheeting; about a yard in length, and three-quarters wide. Fold it in the form of a pillow-case, and sew up the sides; leaving it at the open or top-end about a finger’s length (or four inches) longer at the back than at the front, so as to turn over like a flap. Hem this flap. Take two pieces of strong twilled tape, each about a yard or more in length. Double each tape in the middle, so as to make a double string. Sew these strings on one edge of the turn-over or flap, about half a quarter of a yard apart. Having rolled up each boot, put them, side by side, into the bag. Pull down the flap over the opening or mouth; bring round the strings; and tie them tightly. The boots can thus be carried in a trunk or carpet-bag, without injuring other articles.

A TOWEL-CASE.—Travellers often complain much of the difficulty of procuring nice towels, in steamboats, at country inns, and at taverns in remote places. This inconvenience may easily be obviated by putting a few of your own towels into your trunk. In case of being obliged to proceed on your journey before your towels are dry, take with you, on leaving home, a square oil-cloth or oiled silk case or bag, made like a large pocket-book with a flap to fold over, and to fasten down with two or more buttons and loops. Having squeezed your wet towels as dry as you can, fold or roll them into as small a compass as possible; and put them into the case. Before you go to bed, take them out, and hang them about your room to dry.

In this towel-case there maybe separate compartments for tooth-brushes, soap, and a sponge.

CONVENIENT HAIR-BRUSHES.—We highly recommend to travellers those hair-brushes that have a looking-glass at the back, with a comb fixed on a pivot, and concealed beneath the mirror, so as to be drawn out when wanted. Those of black buffalo horn are the strongest. With one of these you may always have a comb and a small mirror at hand, all three occupying no more space than a simple hair-brush.

A TRAVELLING-CASE FOR COMBS AND BRUSHES.—Get about three-quarters of a yard of strong oiled silk of the best quality—double it—leaving one side, at the top, about half a quarter longer than the other, so as to fold over like a flap. Sew it strongly up, at the bottom and sides, with a felled seam. Then stitch it lengthways into compartments, like an old-fashioned thread-case—except that the divisions must differ in size; taking care to make each division rather large, that the articles may go in easily, and not rub against each other. Make one compartment large enough to contain a hair-brush; allot another to a comb; others to tooth-brushes; one to a nail-brush; one to a clasp-knife; one to a pair of scissors; one to a vial of lavender or camphor; one to a sponge; and another to a cake of soap; and a large one to hold a towel. In short, make the divisions according to the size and number of useful articles you require in travelling. Sew two pair of strings to the flap, and tie them fast when the articles are all in. Let your name be marked on the outside of the flap.

This bag may be made of strong linen, or ticking. But oiled silk is better, as you can then put into it tooth-brushes and sponges when quite wet. If of oiled silk, let there be one compartment large enough to hold a wet towel. It is well in travelling always to take with you some towels of your own; and if after using them there is no time for drying, you can roll them up and carry them away wet, if you have furnished yourself with an oiled silk bag.

TO CARRY INK WHEN TRAVELLING.—Have ready a small square bag of oiled silk, or thick buckskin, with a narrow tape string sewed on near the top. Buy a small six-cent vial of good ink. The vial must be broad and short with a flat bottom; so that it will stand alone, and answer the purpose of an ink-stand. If the seal on the cork has been cut away, get a longer and better cork, and wedge it in as tightly as possible. Cut off a finger-end from an old kid glove; put it over the cork, and draw it down closely till it covers both the top and the neck of the bottle, tying it on tightly with narrow tape. Then wrap the bottle in double blotting-paper, and put it into the little oil-cloth bag, securing the top well. To prevent all possibility of accidents, from ink stains, do not pack the ink-bottle in a trunk with your clothing, but keep it in your travelling-basket or reticule. We know that ink thus secured has been carried many hundred miles, with the convenience of being always at hand to write with, whenever wanted, in a steamboat or at a stopping-place. The best way of carrying quill-pens is in a pasteboard pen-case, to be had at the stationers for a trifle. Steel-pens may be wrapped in soft paper twisted at each end.

We highly recommend a neat and convenient article called a travelling escritoir. It occupies no more space than a cake of scented soap, and is so ingeniously contrived as to contain a small ink-bottle with a lid so close-fitting as to be perfectly safe; a pen-holder; a piece of sealing-wax; a wax taper; and some lucifer matches with sand-paper to ignite them on the bottom of the box. The whole apparatus can be safely carried in the pocket, or in a ladies reticule, or it may be put into a travelling-desk. It is to be purchased in Philadelphia, at Maurice Bywater’s stationery store, No. 151 Walnut street, near Fifth. We know nothing better for the purpose; and the cost is trifling.

BONNETS.—Before you send a straw bonnet to be whitened, it will be well to remove whatever stains or grease marks may be upon it. Do this yourself, as many professed bonnet-cleaners are either unacquainted with the best methods, or careless of taking the trouble; and will tell you, afterwards, that these blemishes would not come out. You can easily remove grease marks from a straw, leghorn, or Florence braid bonnet, by rubbing the place with a sponge dipped in fresh camphine oil; or by wetting it with warm water, and then plastering on some scraped Wilmington clay, or grease-ball; letting it rest half an hour, and then repeating the application till the grease has disappeared. Magnesia rubbed on dry will frequently remove grease spots, if not very bad. To take out stains, discoloured marks, or mildew, moisten slightly with warm water some stain powder composed of equal portions of salt of sorrel and cream of tartar, well mixed together. Rub on this mixture with your finger. Let it rest awhile; then brush it off, and rub on more of the powder. When the stain has disappeared, wash off the powder, immediately, and thoroughly, with warm water. By previously using these applications, no trace of grease or stain will remain on the bonnet, after it has undergone the process of whitening and pressing in the usual manner.

In cleaning straw bonnets it is best to give them as much gloss and stiffening as possible. The gloss will prevent dust from sticking to the surface, and the stiffness will render them less liable to get out of shape when worn in damp weather. For a similar reason, the wire round the inside of the edge should in all bonnets be very thick and stout. If the wire is too thin, even the wind will blow the brim out of shape.

An excellent way of cleaning and whitening straw or leghorn bonnets may be found in the House Book, page 67.

In lining bonnets, always fit the lining on the outside of the brim. It is not only the least troublesome way, but the most certain of success. Nothing is more disfiguring to a bonnet than an uneven puckered lining—left too loose in some places, and stretched too tight in others. If the lining is drawn more to one side than the other, the brim will always set crookedly round the face. The best way, is first to fit upon the outside of the bonnet-front, a piece of thin, soft, white paper, pinning it on smoothly and evenly, with numerous pins. Then cut it the proper shape; allowing it rather more than an inch all round larger than the brim. From this paper cut out the silk lining; allowing still more for turning in at the edges, on account of the silk ravelling. Then (having notched the edge of the lining all round) baste it on the inside of the brim, and try it on before the glass, previous to sewing it in permanently. See that it is perfectly smooth and even throughout. A white silk bonnet-lining should be of the most decided white, (a dead white, as it is called,) for if it has the least tinge of pearl, rose, blue or yellowish-white, it will be unbecoming to any face or complexion. Straw bonnets are frequently lined with white crape or tarletane.

The lining of a silk or velvet bonnet should always be put in before the brim is sewed to the crown.

In trimming a bonnet, after the bows, bands, &c., have all been arranged with pins, sew them on with a needle and thread; and afterwards withdraw the pins. If pins are allowed to remain in, they leave a greenish speck wherever they have been; besides denting the straw, and probably tearing it. Also, sew on the flowers, after you have arranged them to your satisfaction.

Bonnet strings when somewhat soiled may be cleaned by rubbing them with scraped Wilmington clay, or grease-ball, or else magnesia. Roll them on a ribbon-block with the clay upon them; let them rest a few hours; then brush off that clay, and put on some fresh. Roll the ribbon again on the block, and leave it till next day. You will find it look much cleaner. It is well always to buy an extra yard, or yard and a half of ribbon, to replace with new ones the bonnet strings when soiled.

To keep the bows of a bonnet in shape when put away in the bandbox, fill out each bow by placing rolls of wadding inside of all the loops.

A piece of thin oiled silk introduced between the lining and the outside, partly beneath the upper part of the brim, and partly at the lower part of the crown, will prevent any injury to the bonnet from perspiration of the head, or oiliness of the hair.

In bespeaking a bonnet of a milliner, always request her to send you the frame to try on, before she covers it; that you may see if it fits.

When a bonnet is to be sent to a distant place in wooden box, (bandboxes should never visibly travel,) to keep the bonnet steady, and prevent its tumbling or knocking about, sew very securely to the brim and back, some bits of strong tape, and fasten the other end of each bit of tape to the floor of the box, with very small tack nails. Fill all the loops and bows with wadding as above mentioned. A bonnet thus secured may travel uninjured from Maine to Texas.

TO KEEP A BONNET WHITE.—If you have a white velvet or silk bonnet that looks well enough to wear a second season, lay beside it in the bandbox a cake of white wax, (such as you get at an apothecary’s for sixpence or a shilling,) cover the bandbox closely, and do not on any account open it till you are about to take the bonnet again into wear. You will then find the cake of wax much discoloured, but the bonnet as white as ever. Shawls of white silk or canton crape, or indeed any white articles, may be kept in the same manner by putting a cake of white wax in the box with them, and not opening it so as to admit the external air, till the season for wearing them has returned.

In bespeaking bandboxes, desire that they shall not be lined with white paper. A lining of the coarsest brown paper is far preferable for preserving either the colours or the whiteness of any articles that are kept in them. The chloride of lime used in manufacturing white paper is very injurious to the colours of silks, and frequently causes in them spots and stains. The very coarse thick brown paper made of old ropes is far better; as the tar remaining about it partakes somewhat of the qualities of turpentine, and is therefore a preservative to colours.

White ribbons, blonds, &c., should be kept wound on ribbon-blocks, and wrapped in the coarse brown iron-monger’s paper.

WHALEBONES AND HOOKS.—The whalebones for dresses should always be perfectly straight, for if crooked they draw the body crooked wherever they are, and give it a warped or puckered look. Let them be stout also; for if thin, they curve and break. In cutting them of the desired length, round off and smooth the edge of both ends; for if left rough, square, or sharp they will very soon pierce through the dress. If you case them in linen or twilled tape, make the covering double, for about an inch at each end; and sew them on to the body-lining with very strong thread or silk. Secure them firmly and steadily at both ends, so that they may not slip up and down, and rub through to the outside of the body. For fastening dresses never use those hooks that have a sort of bulb, or that spread out near the point. They catch very badly, and are troublesome both to fasten and unfasten. Do not put black hooks on dresses that are to be washed, as they cause iron-mould. When a dress comes home from the wash with any of the hooks flattened in ironing, raise or open them by inserting beneath the hook the points of your scissors.

See that not a particle of coloured lining is introduced anywhere about a dress that is to be washed. No coloured lining-muslin will wash at all; but its colour or dye will run and streak the outside of the dress so as to spoil it. However dark a washable dress may be, the lining should be entirely of white linen or brown holland; the smallest bit of coloured muslin will spoil it when washed.

On no consideration let even a dark or black chintz dress have any black cotton cord about it; as when it comes from the wash it will be ruined with black streaks, from the dye of the cord.

CUTTING OUT PATTERNS.—In taking the pattern or cutting out the shape of a cape, pelerine, mantilla, or any other article of dress, instead of using a newspaper for that purpose, (according to the general custom,) cut the pattern in coarse, low-priced muslin or calico. Then with a needle and thread sew or run all the different parts together, so that you can try it on and see if it fits, or if any alteration will be necessary in suiting it to your own figure. Cut out the whole of the pattern, and not merely the half; otherwise you will not be able to try it on conveniently. The stiffness of paper and its liability to tear, render it far less suitable for pattern-cutting than coarse muslin; which, if not already in the house, can be bought for a mere trifle.

TO HEM BOBBINET.—In making a collar, pelerine, cape, scarf, or any article of bobbinet, you may hem it so as to prevent the usual inconvenience and disfigurement of the edges stretching out of shape after being washed, starched, and ironed. After turning down the hem, lay a very small cotton cord into the upper or extreme edge of the hem, and with a fine needle and thread secure the cord by running it closely along with short stitches. Having done this, lay a second small cord into the other edge, or the edge that is to be hemmed down. It is well worth the trouble of thus going twice round with a cord at each edge of the hem; which in consequence will remain ever firm and straight after the article has been washed.

When any part of a bobbinet article is cut bias, or rounded in a semicircle, it will be best, instead of hemming, to face the edge with a bias slip of the same material, having a covered cording sewed in; as in binding or facing the edge of a cape or pelerine. Without this precaution, the bias or rounded edge will lose all shape in being ironed. If new bobbinet is very stiff and full of creases, let it be damped and ironed before it is cut out. As bobbinet shrinks much in washing, every thing made of it should be allowed full large. It may be shrunk before cutting out, by dipping it into a pan or tub of cold water. As soon as it is wet all through, take it out and squeeze it with your hands till it ceases entirely to drip. Then open, stretch, and pull it, till you get it all straight and even. Next, fold it up smoothly, and wrap it in a clean towel. It will be ready for ironing by the time an iron can be heated; first trying the iron on something very thin.

A bobbinet, or any clear muslin dress should have the hems and tucks drawn out before washing; renewing them after the dress is done up. The dress will never look well, if washed and clear-starched with the hem, &c., remaining in.

TO STRENGTHEN THE HEM OF A SILK DRESS.—In silk dresses the edge of the hem at the bottom of the skirt is apt to wear out (or cut as it is called) very soon, and look faggled or ravelled. To prevent this, get some broad strong silk braid of the same colour as the dress, or a little darker, (but on no account lighter,) and run it on to the edge, on both sides, like a binding; with strong silk, and short close stitches.

TO MAKE A COAT-DRESS OR GOWN SIT IN CLOSELY TO THE WAIST.—On finishing the dress, take about a yard and a half (more or less) of rather broad twilled tape. Sew the tape strongly in three places to the lower extremity of the inside of the back, exactly where the body joins the skirt; using sewing-silk the colour of the dress. The tape must be fastened precisely in the middle, and at each of the side seams of the back. When you put on the dress, bring the tape round (pulling it downwards as you do so) and tie it in front under the skirt, and just below the termination of the fore-body. By drawing the dress closely into the waist, it makes the back look hollow, and is a great improvement to the figure.

CORDING DRESSES.—A dress that is to be washed, should be corded with the same material. A merino or mousseline de laine, if corded with silk, will be disfigured, after washing, by the silk always fading and making the dress look old. But a balzorine or barege had best be corded with silk, as they rarely bear washing, and the material is so slight that, if used for cording, it will fray and wear off almost directly. The silk should be of the darkest colour in the dress. Satin should always be corded with silk, (and silk of the best quality,) as satin cording ravels and frays immediately. Velvet also should have silk cording.

DIRECTIONS FOR WORKING SLIPPERS.—Half a yard of canvas is a full pattern for a large pair of slippers. If the canvas is of extra width, three quarters of a yard will make two pair. It is well to get your shoemaker to cut out for you the size and form, in a piece of paper. They will look immensely large before they are made up, but will not be found so afterwards.

Coloured engravings of slipper patterns are for sale in all the worsted and trimming stores. In making your selections, it is best to avoid those patterns that have white in them; as the white crewel will look soiled very soon, and give a dirty appearance to the whole slipper. You may, however, contrive to substitute for the white stitches the palest possible tints of pink, blue, or yellow.

To work one pair of slippers, you will require from fifteen to twenty skeins of crewel. In selecting the crewel, place beside you the pattern, that you may match the tints with it; choosing them so as to correspond precisely with those in the coloured engraving. It is best to go exactly by the pattern. If varied according to your own fancy, they will rarely look as well as when done in precise conformity to the taste and judgment of the practised artist, who has designed the plate and its colouring. Generally speaking, you should have at least from four to six shades of each colour; the darkest to be nearly black, the lightest nearly white; otherwise the effect will be dull and indistinct. Strong lights and shades are always of importance to brightness and beauty; even in worked slippers.

Wind the crewels, separately, in balls; and have a sufficient number of needles, so as to appropriate a needle to every shade. The needles must be large and blunt-pointed. Keep beside you, while working, something in which to stick the needles you are not using at the moment. A very simple and convenient thing for this purpose, is an empty gallicup, with a blank piece of canvas stretched flat, and tied tightly over the top. Stick the needles into this canvas; it is better than a pin-cushion.

Slippers (like all other worsted work) should be done in a frame, the canvas stretched tightly; and tacked firmly in, with strong thread. Keep the pattern beside you all the time you are working; and follow every stitch precisely. Do the central part first; next the heel part; and then fill up with groundwork all the vacant space within the outline. The usual way is to work them in common cross-stitch; but if done in tent-stitch or queen-stitch, the slippers will be more elastic, much softer, and will take a smaller quantity of crewel. When you have finished working them, have the slippers made up by a very good shoemaker. They will last a long time.

Instead of canvas, you may work slippers on fine broad-cloth, such as is used for gentlemen’s coats. Cloth slippers require no filling up with groundwork; having only a cluster of flowers in the centre, and a small running-pattern round the heel. You must baste upon the cloth a bit of canvas, a little larger than the space to be occupied by the flowers. Work the flowers upon this; taking every stitch quite through both the canvas and the cloth beneath it. When done, pull out the threads of the canvas from under the stitches, (they can be drawn out very easily,) and the flowers will remain in their proper form upon the cloth. This method of working slippers saves time, trouble, and crewel; yet they will be found less durable than if worked entirely on canvas, and with the whole ground filled up by crewel-stitches; cloth wearing out much sooner than worked canvas.

When preparing to work slippers, do not have them previously cut out, as it will cause the canvas or cloth to stretch all round, and will spoil their shape; besides being very troublesome to keep straight and even while working. Having obtained from your shoemaker a paper or shape, (allowed extremely large,) lay it down on the canvas, and mark out the form and size by a pen or pencil outline.

Cloth slippers braided in a handsome pattern with coloured braid, look much better and are done far more expeditiously than when worked in crewel.

Bands or rims for velvet caps look very well when braided. The braid may be gold or silver.

TO WORK MERINO IN CROSS-STITCH.—If you determine to work merino in cross-stitch, in the common manner of worsted work, have ready a pattern accurately drawn and coloured, so as to represent the place and tint of every stitch; and keep it before you to look at. Having marked out, with a dot, the place for every sprig, baste over each place a bit of very fine canvas, leaving the raw edge. On this canvas work the sprigs; carefully taking up with every stitch the merino beneath, as well as the canvas above it. Avoid drawing your hand too tight. When done, pull out, thread by thread, the canvas from under the needle-work; so as to leave the sprig resting on the merino only. This you will find a much more easy process than it appears on description. Have a number of needles, one for every different shade, and thread them all in advance. A tumbler or gallicup with a piece of canvas stretched tightly, and tied down over the top, is a very convenient thing to have beside you to stick your threaded needles in, when working worsted.

TO BRAID MERINO DRESSES OR CLOAKS FOR CHILDREN.—Patterns for braiding should be as continuous as possible, so as to avoid frequent cutting off and fastening on of the braid. These patterns should have nothing in them that stops short; all the parts following and entwining, so as to connect with each other.

For braiding, the dress must be cut out first, and the breadths sewed together, so that the border may run smoothly and regularly along, without any breaks or ill-joined places. Wind your braid upon cards or corks, and reserve a sufficiency for raveling to sew on the rest with; which is far better than to sew it on with silk thread, as, of course, the raveling matches the colour so exactly as to render the stitches imperceptible. The braid reserved for raveling should be cut into the usual length of needle-fulls; then ravelled, and put into long thread-papers.

Having drawn the pattern on a strip of stiff white paper, prick it all along, according to its form or outline, with large, close pin-holes. Then lay or baste it on the merino. Take some pounce, (gum-sandarac finely powdered and sifted,) and with your finger rub it along the pricked outline of the paper-pattern. On removing the paper, you will find that the pounce-powder, going through the pin-holes, will have traced the pattern in small dots on the merino. This will be a guide in sewing on the braid, which should be run on, with short, close stitches. A double row of braid, the inner or right-hand row a much darker shade than the first, has a raised or relieved look, which is very pretty; particularly when the second row is of the same colour as the merino or ground, but of an infinitely darker shade.

If you cannot match the merino with a braid exactly similar, select, always, one of a darker rather than a lighter shade. A light-coloured merino looks very well with a braiding of the same colour, but of a shade considerably darker. Gray, fawn-colour, or scarlet merino appears to advantage braided with black; so, also, does light blue or pale lilac. Salmon-colour looks well with purple braiding; and dark brown braided with light blue or pink. The lining of a child’s cloak should be of the same colour as the braiding.

Braiding can be done with great ease and expedition. A child’s dress or cloak may be braided in two days, or less.

Cloth slippers look very well braided in shaded patterns, with the rows of braid so close as to touch each other.

Cloth covers for tabourets or stools can be braided so as to look infinitely handsomer and richer than those worked in worsted on canvas. They should have a border all round, with corner-pieces, and a central pattern in the middle; all which can be done beautifully in close braiding. The pattern must be defined on the cloth by first drawing it with a pen and ink on white paper; then pricking the outline with a large pin, and laying pounce-powder along the pricked outline, so that the powder may fall through the holes, and thus trace it on the cloth, in the manner before mentioned.

DIRECTIONS FOR EMBROIDERING MERINO.—Merino dresses are usually worked in small sprigs, representing a little flower or bud, with two or three green leaves. Blue, lilac, or purple flowers have generally a more tasteful effect for this purpose than red or yellow ones. They will be sufficiently brightened by a shaded yellow spot in the centre. A beautiful sprig may be formed entirely of leaves, some of them comprising different tints of green, and others of brown. Three green leaves, with two brown ones at the bottom of the sprig, look exceedingly well on a gray merino; also, on a scarlet, crimson, or cherry-coloured ground. Mourning-gray should have black sprigs only. Gold-coloured flowers, if properly shaded, look well on purple, dark brown, or dark slate-coloured merino; but blue or lilac will look better still. Blue and brown harmonize well; also very light blue and very dark purple. Pink flowers look best on a dark olive ground. Blue and red should never come together in a dress. The effect of all sprigs, spots, or stars will be greatly improved by working, on the right hand of each, a shadow of a colour similar to the merino, but of a much darker shade. This dark shade along the right-hand side will give the sprig a relieved or raised appearance; and, if well done, will make it look almost as if you could take it up with your fingers. Executed by a skilful embroidress, or by one who is a proficient in drawing, this mode of producing a shadow, that seems to come from behind the sprig, will be found extremely beautiful. We are surprised that is not more generally known and practised.

Previous to working a dress, it is well to have the breadths of the skirts measured, and cut apart. The remainder, of course, is to be reserved for the body, sleeves, and pelerine; but do not have these parts fitted and cut out before embroidering. Though by that means you may save the trouble of doing a few unnecessary sprigs, you will lose more than you will gain; for the pieces, if cut out, will stretch out of shape, and ravel at the edges, so that it will be very difficult to put them well together when wanted. Also, if previously cut out into their respective shapes, the pieces cannot well be worked in a frame, which is always the best way of doing embroidery.

You may work the dress with either soft-twisted silk, (not too fine,) or with Berlin wool or crewel. If worked with silk, it cannot possibly be washed to look well. Floss silk should never be used for this or any other embroidery, as, though it fills up well, and looks beautifully at first, it almost immediately wears rough and fuzzy. Embroidery-stitch is far more elegant than cross-stitch, having none of its stiffness, hardness, and ungracefulness; and being, besides, more easy, expeditious, and manageable; and capable of a far greater diversity of forms.

Prepare on a pasteboard drawing-card, an exact pattern of the sprig, drawn and coloured precisely as it is to be worked; and you may put a dark back-ground behind one side of the sprig, of exactly the same tint as the merino. Mark the distances of the sprigs by measuring their places on the merino with a pair of compasses, (often called dividers,) or by means of a piece of card. Designate the place of each sprig by a dot with a red or white chalk pencil; the dot being the centre of the sprig. Rub, on a saucer, some water-colour paint of any colour that will show plainly on the merino, (which should first be stretched in a frame.) If you cannot get a frame, or prefer working on your hand, baste, under the place occupied by each sprig, a small circular bit of stiff writing-paper; and be careful, while working, not to catch up the paper with the stitches of your needle. When done, remove the paper, and the sprigs will look smooth and even. If you attempt to work it merely on your hand, with no paper beneath, it is impossible to prevent its puckering and drawing up.

Fine embroidery must be worked with extremely close stitches in rows or ridges. Every other stitch should be short, and every other one long. In every row, the alternate long and short stitches should fit in, by extending a little beyond those of the neighbouring row, so as to blend well. If you have no knowledge of drawing, get your pattern-sprig done by some person that draws well, and that is familiar with the effect of lights and shades.

If your dress is to have a belt of the same, you may work a long strip of merino for that purpose; the pattern being so arranged that the flowers will form a close row or straight wreath. Allow this strip of merino full wide, so that there may be an ample sufficiency for turning in at the edges. Sleeve-bands, also, may be worked in this way.

A two-yard-square of merino, embroidered in coloured flowers, and trimmed with a deep fringe, makes a beautiful shawl. On a dark brown or purple merino, flowers entirely of shaded blue, with light brown leaves and stalks interspersed among the green ones, will have a beautiful effect; very superior to the common tasteless and gaudy calico-style of introducing flowers of all colours—red, blue, and yellow. An olive merino shawl may have pink flowers entirely; a slate, or dark gray, or a purple will look well with rich gold-coloured flowers. In all flower-borders, the introduction of brown leaves among the green will be a decided improvement. If the merino is light brown, or light gray, or pale olive, the flowers may be scarlet, cherry-colour, or crimson. For a black merino, the embroidery should be of shaded gray.

Keep beside you, while working, a number of needles threaded with all the different shades of silk, and stuck in a flat pin-cushion, or something similar, so as to be always ready for use.

EMBROIDERY ON BOTH SIDES.—For this purpose, the embroidery-frame must be placed in a perpendicular or upright position, and two persons employed together; both equally skilled in needle-work. Get a carpenter to make an upright stand, somewhat in the form of a towel-rail, and about the usual height of a work-table; having broad feet, that it may stand steadily, and a broad cross-bar just above them, and a shelf at the top, on which to lay the needle-cushions, silk balls, &c., with a raised ledge on each side of the shelf, to prevent their rolling off. At each end of this shelf there must be slits down, into which put the upright ends of the embroidery-frame, secured with wooden pegs.

We will suppose that the article to be embroidered the same on both sides, is a plain canton-crape shawl, or a square of merino intended for a shawl. Stretch the shawl tightly in the embroidery-frame, sewing it strongly to the linen; the pattern having been drawn on both sides with a camel’s-hair pencil dipped in water-colour paint, of a tint a little darker than the shawl. The two ladies who are to work it, must sit one on each side; and as one sticks in the needle, the other must draw it through, and stick it in for the next stitch; to be drawn through by her companion. The fastenings on and off must be neatly concealed under the stitches. By thus working together, (each alternately sticking in and drawing out the same needle,) both sides will, of course, be embroidered exactly alike, so that not the slightest difference can be perceptible. It is in this manner that canton-crape shawls are embroidered in China. The sewing-silk must be of the best quality, not too fine or slack-twisted. Floss-silk will not do at all.

EMBROIDERING STANDARDS.—Military standards have been successfully embroidered in the above manner. They should be made of very thick, strong India silk, satin not being the same on both sides. Instead of sewing-silk, standards had best be worked with chenille, such as comes on purpose for embroidering. Have a needle for every shade. An embroidered standard should always be copied from a painted model, executed by an artist; the model to stand in such a position that each of the two embroiderers may see it all the time. An outline of the model must be drawn on the silk. The most durable colour for a standard is deep blue. Part of the embroidery (stars, for instance) may be done in gold or silver thread.

FINE COLOURING FOR ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS.—For light blue and pink, buy, at a drug or paint store, what are called blue saucers and pink saucers. They contain the most beautiful tints of these colours. To use them, take a large clean camel’s-hair pencil, and dipping it into some water, liquefy a portion of the paint that is on the saucer, till you get the exact tint you desire. When you have enough, pour off the liquid into a teacup, and add a small drop of lemon-juice to each tea-spoonful of the colour. The lemon-juice (if used properly) will brighten and set the colour; and is indeed superior to any thing else for this purpose. But too much of this, or any other acid, will destroy the colour entirely. Therefore be very careful in employing it; though no colouring for artificial flowers will be bright and clear without the addition of some little acid. Put the book-muslin, jaconet, white silk, or whatever materials the flowers are to be made of, into the cup of liquid dye; and when the muslin has thoroughly imbibed the colour, take it out, stretch it evenly, and dry it in the shade. Then press it with an iron entirely cold. A mixture of colour from both the blue and pink saucers will make lilac.

For a yellow colour.—Get six cents’ worth of saffron; put it into a bowl, and pour on cold water, in quantity according to the deepness or vividness of the tint that you wish. When it has infused sufficiently, pour off the liquid; and, in proportion to its quantity, add to it, carefully, four, five, or six drops of lemon-juice.

For green.—Buy, at a druggist’s, one ounce of French berries. Put a tea-spoonful of them into a common-sized tea-cup of boiling water. Cover it, and let it infuse half an hour or more. Then (having poured it off) add to the liquid (according to its quantity) about five or six drops of lemon-juice. This infusion of French berries makes a bright grass-green. To render it lighter, add some saffron yellow. To make it darker, put to it some blue from the blue saucer.

For a brown dye.—Infuse, in cold water, some pieces of bark from the white or black walnut tree; exposing it for several days to the sun and air, while it is soaking.

Crimson.—You may make a beautiful crimson for shading artificial flowers with a camel’s-hair pencil, by taking some of the fresh petals of the piony, when the flower is in full bloom. Lay them on a plate, and mash and press them with the back of a silver spoon, till you have extracted as much of their red juice as you want. To about twelve drops of the piony-juice, add one small drop of lemon-juice; and use the colour for shading the flowers, not for dyeing them.

For a bright red shading.—Press out, in the above manner, the juice of full-blown bergamot flowers; adding, also, (as above,) a drop of lemon-juice to brighten and set the colour.

Blue shading.—A beautiful blue shading can be obtained by pressing and mashing on a plate, the flower-leaves of the common blue flag or iris; adding, always, a very little lemon-juice. With this, and a camel’s-hair pencil, you can put the shades and streaks into blue flowers, whose first tint has been dyed from the blue saucer.

A mixture of crimson piony-juice, and blue flag-juice, will make a fine purple for shading.

When a little touch of dark brown or black is required for flowers, dip into water the end of a cake of umber, bistre, or indian ink, from a colour-box; rub the paint on a plate, and apply it with a camel’s-hair pencil.

All these dyes and shading colours for artificial flowers will (as we know) be found beautiful on trial. An exact knowledge of the precise proportions of the colouring materials cannot, however, be correctly obtained without a little practice.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A TABOURET.—A tabouret is a square stool, tall enough for a grown person to sit on, and about the usual height of a chair. Get a carpenter to make a strong square box of well-seasoned wood, planed smooth both inside and out. Instead of having the lid or cover-piece exactly at the top, it should be placed below it, four or five inches down the inside, so as to leave a vacant space between itself and the upper edges of the box; to the sides of which it must be well secured, either with glue, or with small headless tack-nails. The wooden bottom of the box must be placed two or three inches up, so as to leave a space at each end of the lower corners for concealed castors, that will cause the tabouret to be moved easily on the carpet.

The carpenter’s part of the work being thus accomplished, the remainder of the tabouret can be easily completed by the ladies of the family, and at far less cost than if done by an upholsterer. We have seen beautiful tabourets made in this manner, and looking as if made entirely at a shop.

Get about seven or eight yards of strong, broad, very stout webbing, such as is used by saddlers or trunk-makers. You may either procure it of them, or at one of the large fringe stores. Nail the webbing to the upper edges of the box, across the vacant top, so as to interlace in small open squares. This is to give elasticity to the seat when finished. Make a square cushion of thick, strong brown linen; allowing it, each way, three or four inches larger than the top of the box; as the linen will take up that much, at least, in sewing and stuffing. Sew the linen strongly round three sides, and leave the fourth open, for putting in the stuffing. Then stuff it, hard and evenly, with curled horse-hair, which you may obtain at a cabinet-maker’s or an upholsterer’s. Afterwards, cover this cushion with damask, cloth, velvet, or some other handsome and durable article, and bind the edges all round. Next cover the four sides of the exterior of the box with the same material as the outside covering of the cushion; stretching it on very tightly and smoothly, and securing it to the wood with small tack-nails. While one person is driving in the nails, another must hold the box fast, and stretch and smooth the covering. When this has been neatly accomplished, nail on the cushion to the top edge of the box, above the webbing; hammering the tacks into the binding. Finish by tacking a handsome fringe all round the cushion, so as to conceal the binding. If you cannot get a fringe exactly the colour of the outside cover, choose one that is a good contrast,—either much darker or much lighter. A light blue tabouret may have purple, brown, black, or deep orange-coloured fringe. One of crimson or scarlet may have a fringe of black, dark green, or gold-colour. For a green tabouret, the fringe may be black, purple, or lilac. A brown or purple tabouret may have a light blue or gold-coloured fringe. A gray one may be fringed with dark brown, dark green, or purple. Light blue may be fringed with a very dark blue; light green with a very dark green; pink with crimson; light brown with a very dark brown; and bright scarlet with very deep crimson. You may suspend, all round, deep festoons of thick, rich cord, corresponding with the fringe; one festoon to hang at each of the four sides. The corners may be finished with long tassels.

In a similar manner, you can make an excellent and handsome footstool, employing a carpenter to construct the frame or box.

The footstool may be covered with rich carpeting, trimmed with worsted fringe.

THE SUMMER HEARTH.—Summer blowers, of handsomely ornamented iron, are now much used to conceal the empty coal-grates, during the season of warm weather. Like chimney-boards, they render the room very close, by entirely excluding the fresh air that may enter from the chimney. Certainly, in a bed-chamber, it is best that the fire-place should always be left entirely open. A frame made to fit in exactly, and having open slats, like a Venetian door, is a good screen for a summer-hearth. These screens are best when divided down the middle, like a pair of Venetian shutters; one or both of which may be left open at night, if in a sleeping room. To sleep in a room from whence all external air is entirely excluded, cannot be otherwise than prejudicial to health; and rarely fails, sooner or later, to undermine the constitution. Many people accustom themselves to sleep with the window-sash farthest from the bed a little open all the year round, (except when the rain or snow comes in that direction;) and in consequence of having acquired this salutary habit, these persons rarely take cold from any exposure to a draught of air. On this subject, the author can adduce the evidence of her personal experience.

Another good chimney-screen is a maple or walnut-wood frame, filled up with open wire-work, painted green like a wire fender, and fitting exactly into the fire-place. These frames should have two brass knobs near the top, for lifting them in and out. Chimney-boards, of course, can only be put into open fire-places, where wood is burnt in cold weather. On the hearth of a vacant Franklin stove it is usual to keep a large jar of flowers, which should be renewed every day or two.

Where there is no summer-blower, it is usual to decorate the empty grate with cut paper. This may be done in a very pretty manner by obtaining a sufficient quantity of coloured, glossy writing-paper, of such tints as will harmonize best with each other. For instance, green and lilac; green and light pink; light blue and dark brown; blue and buff, or cream-colour; purple and yellow; two shades of green—one very dark, the other very light; or two shades of blue—one much lighter than the other. Cut this paper, lengthways, into long, straight strips; in breadth, about three or four inches. Fold these slips lengthways, and evenly; and, while doubled, cut their edges with sharp scissors into a fringe. Then wreathe these double fringes thickly and closely round the bars of the grate, securing them with pins. On each bar there should be two wreaths, each of a different colour or shade. Twist or wrap these two wreaths together, so as to conceal the iron entirely; beginning the first twist or fringe from the left hand, and crossing or entwining it with one of another shade or colour commencing from the right. If well arranged, this mode of decorating an empty grate has an excellent effect. The bars should previously be well cleaned, and the back and whole interior of the grate completely blacked. Tissue-paper is too soft and thin for wreathing the bars of grates. Coloured writing-paper will be found much better; or, indeed, any nice paper that is thick and smooth, and of the same colour on both sides.

TISSUE-PAPER HEARTH CURTAINS.—There is an infinite variety of patterns for tissue-paper drapery to conceal empty coal-grates. The most simple is to take a sufficient number of long sheets of this paper; fold each sheet, lengthways, in four or six; and with scissors cut through the edges of the folds, so as to form scollops or points when opened out; leaving at the bottom of each sheet a space to be cut into a deep fringe. Having opened out the sheets, have ready part of the handle or stick of an old broom, cut to fit the length of the aperture or slit left open at the back of the grate for the draught. This stick must be covered with baize or cloth sewed on tightly. Sew to this covering the long streamers of cut tissue-paper, gathering them at the top so that they may hang down full and double. Then lay the stick nicely in the aperture at the top of the grate-back; fasten it securely, and let the drapery fall over the outside of the bars, so as to conceal them.

The following is a very handsome way of arranging hearth curtains. Have ready a sufficient number of long sheets of tissue-paper. Some of them may be white, others of a delicate pink. They are to be cut out in a handsome open-work pattern. You may take your pattern from muslin-work, flowered ribbon, furniture chintz, wall-paper, or table-covers. The more open it is the better. To render it accurate, first draw the outline on stiff paper, and then cut out that paper accordingly. Lay this cut out model upon a sheet of the pink tissue-paper spread out on a smooth common table, and kept down by weights at each corner. With a pencil, go round the model, and trace its outline upon the tissue-paper. Then with a sharp penknife or scissors, cut it out with great care and nicety. If you use a penknife, keep the tissue-paper stretched out smoothly upon the table, all the time you are doing it.

Next, take two more sheets of the pink paper, and cut the upper part of each sheet into the form of curtain-falls; festooned at the top, and descending long and low at the side. Ornament them with a handsome cut pattern, and scollop the edges.

The white tissue-paper is not to be cut or decorated with an open pattern or flowering. It is to form a lining for the pink, through the open work of which the white is to appear. The form or arrangement of this white paper is to fit or correspond with that of the pink, only that the white must be allowed two or three inches deeper at the edge, that it may project out beyond the pink. These projecting white edges are to be cut into a fringe. Additional fringe must be made of white tissue-paper, and twisted together so as to represent cords; the cords to be finished with tassels made of rolls of white paper fringe, fastened to the cords very neatly by sewing them on with a needle and thread. Observe that none of the white paper is to be cut out in flower patterns, or any sort of open work. It is only to furnish lining, fringe, cords, and tassels for the pink. Observe, also, that the fringed edge of this white lining is to appear beyond the scolloped edge of the pink outside.

When all is ready, arrange it handsomely in the fire-place, so as entirely to conceal the whole of the grate. It must be fixed at the top by sewing it to a covered piece of broom-handle, made to fit the draught aperture. The two long straight pieces of pink paper, with their white lining underneath, are to go on first. Then put up the festoons with their falls, having their white lining beneath, with its fringe appearing beyond the pink scollops. Then put on, at proper distances, the white cords and tassels. The effect, when complete, will represent at the back, closed pink curtains, with their white lining appearing through the cut-out flower pattern; over them, two festoons and falls of pink lined with white, opening in front with their white fringe, and white cords and tassels. In these festoons and falls, the cut-out flowers of the pink paper outside, show the white paper lining beneath. If well executed, these hearth curtains will (as we have seen) have a most beautiful effect. The pattern or flowering of the cut work is displayed to great advantage by the white lining. In one parlour you may have hearth curtains of pink and white; in the other of green and white, or blue and white.

Hearth curtains of tissue-paper may be fixed to the front ledge or slab that goes along the top of the grate, provided this ledge is wide enough. Leave, uncut, at the top of the sheets of paper, a plain piece to fit the ledge. To keep down this paper upon the ledge, prepare three heavy weights (for instance smooth stones) covered with thick silk or satin, and decorated with large bows of ribbon of the same colour. In this way, by keeping it down with weights on the top, we have seen a very handsome drapery of cut out tissue-paper entirely concealing a Franklin stove.

MARKING THE KEYS OF A PIANO.—Beginners on the piano (children especially) sometimes find much difficulty in learning the affinity between the keys and the notes. After acquiring the gamut theoretically, it is frequently a long time before they can apply it practically to the keys of the instrument, so as at once to find the right key on looking at the corresponding note. The process may be much accelerated (and indeed made perfectly easy) by some grown person marking on the keys the letters that designate the notes. By the following simple method this can be done without any injury or defacement of the ivory. Take a sheet of thick smooth writing-paper, and cut out of it as many little square pieces as there are white keys on the piano. Paste these papers on the ivory; and when perfectly dry, mark on each with common blue ink the letter belonging to that key. It will be best to do this in Roman capitals. If the natural keys are thus distinctly designated, the learner will find little difficulty from the flats and sharps, or black keys, being left unmarked.

The learner will thus in a very short time become familiar with the correspondence of the keys of the piano and the notes in the music book; and will soon be at no loss in finding them. It is well, however, not to remove the marks in less than a month or two. Then loosen the papers by wetting them with a little water; take them off, and wipe the keys first with a wet and then with a dry cloth. Blue ink of the common sort will leave no trace upon the ivory; but good black ink might probably leave a slight stain, unless the paper was very thick. Therefore do not use it.

The learner having thus become thoroughly acquainted with the keys while they were lettered, will not find the least difficulty in remembering them after the marks are taken off.

TO USE A PAPER-KNIFE.—In using a paper-knife to cut open the leaves of a new book, keep your left hand firmly pressed down upon the open page, while you hold the knife in your right. This will prevent the edges of the leaves from cutting rough and jagged. Cut open the tops of the leaves before you run the knife up the side-edges, and cut with a short, quick, hard stroke. The most serviceable paper-knives are of ivory, and without a handle; the handles being very apt to break.

The best way of writing your name in a book is on the inside of the cover; but if the paper that lines it seems likely to cause the ink to run or spread, cut out a handsome slip of fine smooth paper, write your name upon that, and paste it on nicely. If you put your name on one of the fly-leaves, it may be torn out; and if written on the corner of the title-page, that corner may be snipped off, should the book fall into the hands of a dishonest person.

HOUSEHOLD TOOLS.—Much inconvenience and considerable expense would be saved, if it was the universal custom to keep in every house a few tools, for the purpose of performing at home what are called small jobs; instead of being always obliged to send for a mechanic, and pay him for executing little things that might be very well done by a man or boy belonging to the family; provided that the proper instruments were at hand. The cost of these articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them always in the house (particularly in the country) are beyond all price. In a small private family it may not be necessary to keep more than a few of these things; but that few are almost indispensable to comfort. For instance, there should be an axe, a saw, a claw-hammer, a mallet, a screw-driver, a bed-screw, a gimlet, one or two jack-knives, a pair of large scissors or shears, and a trowel. If there were two gimlets, and two screw-drivers, (large and small,) it would be better still. Likewise, an assortment of hooks, and of nails of different sizes, from large spikes down to small tacks; not forgetting a supply of brass-headed nails, some large and some small. Screws, also, will be found very convenient. The nails and screws should be kept in a wooden box, with divisions or partitions to separate the various sorts; for it is very troublesome to select them when all mixed together.

No house should be without glue, chalk, putty, paint, cord, twine, and wrapping-paper of different sorts. And care should be taken that the supply is not suffered to run out, lest the deficiency might cause delay and inconvenience at a time when most wanted.

It is well to have, in the lower part of the house, a deep closet appropriated entirely to tools and things of equal utility, for performing at once such little repairs as convenience may require, without the delay or expense of sending for an artisan. This closet may have one large, broad shelf; and that not more than three feet above the floor. Beneath the shelf may be a deep drawer, divided in two. This drawer may contain cakes of glue; pieces of chalk; hanks of manilla-grass cord; and balls of twine, of different size and thickness. At the sides of the closet may be small shelves for glue-pots, paste-pots, and brushes; pots for black, white, green, and red paint; cans of painting-oil, &c. On the wall above the large shelf, let the tools be suspended, or laid across nails or hooks of proper size to support them. This is much better than to keep them all in a box, where they may be injured by rubbing against each other, and the hand may be hurt by feeling among them to find the one that is wanted. When hung up against the closet-wall, each tool may be seen at a glance. We have been shown an excellent and simple contrivance for designating the exact places of these things. On the wall, directly under the nails that support the tools, is drawn, with a small brush dipped in black paint or ink, an outline representation of the tool or instrument appropriated to that particular place. For instance, under each saw is sketched the outline of the saw; under each gimlet is a sketch of the gimlet; under the screw-drivers are slight drawings of the screw-drivers. So that when any tool is brought back after being taken away for use, the exact spot to which it belongs may be seen in a moment by its representation on the wall; and all confusion in putting them up, or finding them again, is thus prevented. We highly recommend this plan.

Wrapping-paper may be piled on the floor beneath the large shelf. It can be bought very low, by the ream, at the wholesale paper stores; and every house should be supplied with it in several varieties. For instance, coarse brown paper for common things. That denominated ironmongers’ paper, being strong, thick, and in large sheets, is useful for enclosing heavy articles. Nankeen-paper is best for putting up nice parcels, such as books, or things of fine quality that are to be sent to a distance. What is called shoe-paper (each ream generally containing a variety of colours, red, blue, buff, &c.) is also very useful for wrapping small articles, as, though soft, it is not brittle. This paper is very cheap, the usual price seldom exceeding 56 cents per ream, (twenty quires.)

Old waste newspapers are unfit for wrapping any articles that can be soiled by the printing-ink rubbing off upon them. But they may be used for packing china, glass, brass, tin, &c. Also for lighting fires, singeing poultry, and cleaning mirrors or windows. Waste written-paper is of little use, except for allumettes or lamp-lighters. It is well to keep a large jar or bag to receive scraps of waste paper, as it sells for a cent a pound, and these cents may be given to poor children.

We have seen persons, when preparing for a journey, or putting up things to send away, “at their wits’ end” for want of a sheet of good wrapping-paper; a string of twine; a few nails; or a little paint to mark a box. We have seen a door standing ajar during a whole week, (and in cold weather too,) for want of a screw-driver to fix a disordered lock, the locksmith not coming when he was sent for.

It seems scarcely credible that any respectable house should be without a hammer; yet we have known genteel families, whose sole dependence for that indispensable article was on borrowing it of their neighbours. And when the hammer was obtained, there were, perhaps, no nails in the house; at least none of the requisite size.

The attention of boys should be early directed to the use of common tools. And if there were tools at hand, there are few American boys that would not take pleasure in learning to use them. By seeing carpenters, locksmiths, bell-hangers, &c., at work, they may soon learn to be passably expert in those arts; and a smart and observant boy will soon acquire considerable amateur proficiency in them. Many useful jobs can be done by servant-men, if there are proper tools in the house.

LETTERS.—For letter-writing, always use good paper; it should be fine, smooth, white, and sufficiently thick not to let the writing show through on the other side. Very good letter-paper can seldom be purchased at less than twenty-five cents per quire. That which is lower in price is inferior in quality. If you cannot trust yourself to write straightly without some guide, have printed ruled lines to slip beneath the page; for a letter does not look well if written on paper that is already ruled with pale blue ink. If you write a small hand, your lines should be closer together than if your writing is large. It is well to have several sorts of ruled lines; they are to be bought at any stationer’s for a few cents a page.

If you are writing to a relative, or to an intimate friend, and have much to say, and expect to fill the sheet, begin near the top of the first page. But if your letter is to be a short one, commence lower down, several inches from the top. If a very short letter, of only a few lines, begin but a little above the middle of the page.

Write the date near the right-hand side, and place it about a line higher than the two or three words of greeting or accosting with which letters usually commence. Begin the first sentence a little below these words, and farther towards the right than the lines that are to follow it. It is well, in dating every letter, to give always your exact residence,—not only the town, but the street also, and the number of your house. If your correspondent has had but one notification of your present place of abode, the number, and even the street may have been forgotten; the letter containing it may not be at hand as a reference; and the reply may, in consequence, be misdirected; or directed in so vague a manner that it may never reach you. We have known much trouble, inconvenience, and indeed loss, ensue from not specifying, in the date of each letter, the exact dwelling-place of the writer. But if it is always designated at the top of every one, a reference to any of your letters will furnish the proper address. It is customary to date letters at the top, and notes at the bottom. If your letter is so long as to fill more than one sheet, number the pages.

As important words are frequently lost by being torn off with the seal in opening a letter, leave always, in the third or last page, two blank spaces where the seal is to come. These spaces should be left rather too large than too small. You can write in short lines between them. If you cannot otherwise ascertain where the sealing is likely to be, fold your sheet into the form of a letter before you begin to write it; and then, with the point of a pin, (or something similar,) trace, as faintly as possible, two circles, one on the turn-over, the other on the corresponding part of the paper that comes beneath it. These faint circles, when you are writing the last page, will show you where the seal is to go, and what space you are to leave for it. In opening a letter, it is best to cut round the seal; rather than to break it, and tear the letter open.

In folding a letter let the breadth (from right to left) far exceed the height. A letter the least verging towards squareness looks very awkward. It is well to use a folding-stick (or ivory paper-knife) to press along the edges of the folds, and make them smooth and even. Take care in folding a letter to make all the creases exactly straight and even. If one is looser than another, or if there is the slightest widening out or narrowing in towards the edge of the turn-over, the letter will have a crooked, unsightly appearance. You may direct it before sealing; slipping your ruled paper under the back of the letter, that you may run no risk of writing the direction crooked. Begin the address rather nearer to the bottom than the top of the folded letter. Write the name of the person to whom you send it about the middle, and very clearly and distinctly. Then give the number and street on the next line a little nearer to the right. Then the town in large letters, and extending almost close to the extreme right. Just under the town, add the abbreviation of the name of the state—as, Pa. for Pennsylvania, N. Y. for New York. But if the letter is to go to New York city, put the words New York in full, written large. Much confusion is caused by this state and its metropolis having both the same name. It has been well suggested that the name of the state might be changed to Ontario—a beautiful change.

If the letter is to go to a provincial town, put the name of the county in which that town is situated, immediately over the designation of the state. We believe that throughout the union there are more than fifty towns called Washington. If your letter is for the city of Washington, direct for Washington, D. C.—these initials implying the District of Columbia.

Another reason for the propriety of designating the state is, that many of our towns are called after places in Europe: and it has chanced (though not very often) that letters not explicitly and fully directed, have found their way into the mail-bags of packet vessels, and been carried across the Atlantic. We know an instance of a gentleman who directed an important letter simply to Boston, without any indication of the state of Massachusetts; and the letter went from Philadelphia to the small town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. In writing from Europe, it is well always to finish the direction with the words United States of North America.

If you send the letter by a private opportunity, it will be sufficient to introduce close to the lower edge of the left-hand corner on the back, simply the name of the gentleman who takes it, written small. It is now considered old fashioned to insert on the back of such a letter, “Politeness of Mr. Smith,” “Favoured by Mr. Jones,” “Honoured by Mr. Brown.” If to cross the sea, write the name of the vessel on the left hand corner of the outside.

If you make a mistake in a word, it will be better to draw your pen through the error, so as to render it entirely illegible, and then interline the correction, rather than attempt scratching out the mistake with a penknife, and afterwards trying to write another word in the identical place; a thing that is rarely, if ever, done well.

At the end of the letter, nearly on a line with your signature, (which should be close to the right side,) it is usual to put, near the extremity of the left side of the page, the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed. Write your signature rather larger than your usual hand; and put a dot or period after your name.

In writing a ceremonious and very respectful note, or in addressing a person with whom you are not very intimate, enclose it in an envelope, and put the direction on the cover only. It is now customary always to enclose in envelopes invitations to parties; visiting cards sent to strangers; cards left previous to a marriage; and farewell cards on leaving the place. On the latter it is usual to put the initials t. t. l. (to take leave,) or p. p. c. (pour prendre congÉ, which has the same signification.) We have also seen p. d. a. (pour dire adieu, to bid adieu.) For a note, always use a very small seal. There are varieties of beautiful little wafers for notes; also of beautiful note-paper. It is not necessary in addressing an intimate friend to follow, particularly, any of these conventional observances.

For sealing letters no light is so convenient as a wax taper. A lamp or candle may smoke and blacken the wax. To seal well, your wax should be of the finest quality. Good red wax is generally the best, and its colour should be of a brilliant scarlet. Inferior red wax consumes very fast; and always, when melted, looks purplish or brownish. When going to melt sealing-wax, rest your elbow on the table to keep your hand steady. Take the stick of wax between your thumb and finger, and hold it a little above the light, so that it barely touches the point of the flame. Then insert a little of the melted wax under the turn-over part of the letter, just where the seal is to come. This will make it more secure than if the sole dependence was on the outside seal. Or instead of this little touch of wax, you may slip under the turn-over a small wafer, either white or of the same colour as the wax. Take the stick of wax, hold it over the flame just so as to touch the tip; next turn it round till the end of the stick is equally softened on every side. Then apply it to your letter, beginning on the outer edge of the place you intend for the seal; and moving the wax round in a circle, which must gradually diminish till it terminates in the centre. Put the seal exactly into the middle of the soft wax, and press it down hard, but do not screw it round. Then withdraw it suddenly. Do not use motto seals unless writing to a member of your own family, or to an intimate friend. For common use, (and particularly for letters of business, or in addressing strangers,) a plain seal with the initials of your name will be best.

We subjoin the usual abbreviations of the states, &c.:—

Maine, Me. New Hampshire, N. H. Vermont, Vt. Massachusetts, Mass. Rhode Island, R. I. Connecticut, Ct. New York, N. Y. New Jersey, N. J. Pennsylvania, Pa. Delaware, Del. Maryland, Md. Virginia, Va. North Carolina, N. C. South Carolina, S. C. Georgia, Geo. or Ga. Alabama, Ala. Mississippi, Mi. Louisiana, La. Tennessee, Ten. Kentucky, Ky. Ohio, O. Indiana, Ind. Illinois, Ill. Missouri, Mo. District of Columbia, D. C. Michigan, Mich. Arkansas, Ark. Florida, Fl. Wisconsin, Wis. Iowa, Io. Texas, Tex. Oregon, Or.

To these may be added the abbreviations of the British possessions in North America. Upper Canada, U. C. Lower Canada, L. C. Nova Scotia, N. S. New Brunswick, N. B. New Providence, N. P.

The name of the town to which the letter is to go, should always be superscribed in full. If a country town or village, it will be necessary to designate the county in which it is situated, as there are so many provincial towns of the same name. Finish with the designation of the state under the whole, close to the right-hand corner.

In directing to a clergyman, put Rev. (Reverend) before his name. To an officer, immediately after his name, and on the same line with it, put U. S. A. for United States Army; U. S. N. for United States Navy. To a member of Congress, precede his name with Hon. (Honourable.)

In putting up packets to send away, either tie them round and across with red tape (sealing them also) or seal them without tying. Twine or cord may cut through the paper, and is better omitted. Never put up any thing in newspaper. Beside the danger of soiling the articles inside, it looks mean and disrespectful. Keep yourself provided with different sorts of wrapping-paper. A large parcel should have more than one seal, and the seal may be rather larger than for a letter.

CROSSING THE SEA.—The most usual voyage made by American ladies is across the Atlantic; and the time chosen for that voyage is generally in the spring or autumn. A winter passage is seldom attempted by ladies; and few that have tried it once are willing to undertake it a second time. To those who are preparing to traverse the ocean that separates us from Europe, we hope the following hints may not be unacceptable.

We earnestly recommend that every lady who can afford to pay the additional price, should engage, at an early period, a state-room exclusively to herself; unless, indeed, she can share it with a near relation. She will find the money well spent in securing the privacy and comfort of an apartment into which no one has a right to intrude; besides the additional space she will thus obtain for such articles as she would like to have with her in her room. No one who has not been at sea can imagine the perpetual and mutual annoyance of being confined to the small limits of a state-room with a stranger; each incommoding the other all the time, and each feeling herself under the continual surveillance of her companion; both expected to make incessant sacrifices to the convenience of each other, and perhaps only one of them having a disposition to submit to these sacrifices; in which case she that is the most amiable is always the sufferer. We believe it to be the rule in packet-ships that the first applicant for a passage is allowed the privilege of being the last to have a stranger put into her apartment. And if the passengers are not numerous, the fortunate first applicant may in this manner have a whole state-room without the extra charge. But by offering this additional price on taking her passage, she can always secure the exclusive possession of an entire state-room.

If you have an apartment exclusively to yourself, the place of the second bed can be filled with boxes, books, &c., for which you would not otherwise have room. But as no ship state-room is large enough to contain much baggage, you should make your arrangements to wear during the voyage such articles of outside dress as will least require washing. Therefore, let all light-coloured or white dresses be packed away in the trunks that are to remain below, and not to be opened till the close of the voyage.

As ladies can have no washing done at sea, it will be well to begin with such dresses as can be worn all the passage. French silks are not good sea dresses, (even when black,) for the salt-air shrivels, spots, and turns them rusty. Dark-coloured india silks, or dark mousselines de laine, or merinoes, are much better. Dark chintzes, with no white in the figure, are convenient for common wear, at sea as well as on shore.

Muslin or bobbinet collars, to be worn in the ever-damp sea-air, should have no other trimming than an edging sewed on plain; as quilled or pleated frills lose their stiffening immediately. Silk neck-kerchiefs, or little shawls for the neck, will be found very convenient as substitutes for collars; and, if of white silk, they are extremely becoming. Or you may wear a broad, thick white ribbon, shaped with three diminishing pleats, to fit in closely the back of the neck, and crossed in front. Quilled or fluted cap-borders soon become limp and formless with the damp; so also do gauze or glacÉ ribbons. Sea-caps should have borders either simply gathered or laid on plain; and their ribbons should be mantua, lutestring, or soft satin. A cap lined all through with silk of a pretty colour, will be very convenient at sea, as it not only assists in keeping the damp air from the head, but conceals the hair effectually; and there are rough days when the motion of the ship renders it impossible to arrange the hair nicely. A silk or madras handkerchief, pinned up into a sort of small turban, is sometimes worn at sea, instead of caps. They are very convenient, but only becoming to pretty ladies.

It is colder at sea than on shore; and even in summer, the atmosphere of the Atlantic is liable to be chilled for several days by the vicinity of floating icebergs,—even when these icebergs are not seen. Therefore, be careful at any season, to have in your state-room a sufficiency of warm clothing. A spring-passage is generally colder than an autumn one; and even in May it is sometimes found necessary, when on the open ocean, to dress as if it were winter. Flannel, of course, is indispensable; so, also, is a large thick woollen shawl, and a second shawl of lighter texture for mild weather. A very convenient outside sea-dress is the garment or coat that is sometimes called a mandarine. It should be made of very dark India silk, which is soft, strong, and not liable to stain or spot like the silks of Europe. This dress should be very long and wide; wadded and lined all through; and made with large, loose sleeves, large sleeve-holes, and a wrapper-body, confined at the waist by a broad ribbon run into a casing, and tied in front. A mandarine can be put on over another dress without rumpling it; and is far better than a cloak, as it is warmer and more compact, sits closer, and is not so liable to be blown about by the wind. At sea, there are always days when a mandarine will be found very comfortable to wear, even in the cabin.

No dress intended to be worn on a voyage should fasten behind, as it is not always that a lady can procure the assistance of another person to do this for her. Gowns, (or coat-dresses, as they are frequently called,) such as fasten in front, are the best habits for sea; and there is now a well-known way of making wrappers that is both handsome and convenient, and universally becoming. Fortunately, corsets are now exploded; and as they are no longer worn on shore, of course no one would be so absurd as to endure them at sea. Jackets of flannel, lined silk, thick cotton, or jean, made without whalebones, and to fasten in front, are best suited to a voyage. A flannel gown and a dark double-wrapper are indispensable in case of sickness. Your upper petticoat should be of dark linen, worsted, or silk. If you have no mandarine, take with you, by all means, a wadded silk petticoat, and a pair of slightly-wadded silk inside-sleeves, to be tied in beneath your gown-sleeves in chilly weather. For this purpose, have four tapes sewed to the top of each sleeve, at equal distances, and four corresponding tapes sewed to the inside of each arm-hole of your gowns.

The best sea-stockings are those of substantial, unbleached cotton. No others are so comfortable. Dark satin-ribbed cotton stockings are also good; so are the black raw silk, such as are shaggy inside. Take with you some very thick gray yarn stockings, to put on when your feet are cold in bed, and to draw on, occasionally, over your shoes and other stockings. Gaiter-boots, and boots lined with fur, are very comfortable when once on; but at sea, there is often some trouble in lacing or buttoning them. Shoes worn on ship-board should be thin-soled and roomy, so that you may walk the deck easier, and keep your feet better when the vessel rolls. Shoes of wadded silk are very pleasant at sea; so are Indian moccasins, or carpet moccasins lined with wool. Take with you two or three pairs of woolly sheep-skin soles, such as are coated on the under side with india-rubber varnish. They are warm, dry, and water-proof; can be slipped into your shoes or taken out, as occasion may require; and either for sea or shore, are far superior to the cork soles also in use.

A sea-bonnet should have a deep, close front, and a cape or ruffle at the back of the neck. The complexion is always liable to be injured by the salt air, the glare of the sun, and the bleak wind. A quilted close bonnet of dark silk or satin, lined with pink, blue, or lemon-colour, may be made to look very pretty. Cane or whalebone being very apt to break in the wind, it is best to run wired-satin piping-cord into the cases of a sea-bonnet, and round the edge. This will stiffen it sufficiently; and being very elastic, will keep it in shape without danger of breaking. These bonnets should, by all means, have a large wadded cape attached to them. At sea, it is important to keep the back of the neck always covered, for its exposure to the air may produce rheumatic pains in the head, shoulders, and face. Even in the cabin, and at all times when on ship-board, (except in decidedly warm weather,) it is prudent to wear a handkerchief of silk, cashmere, or velvet, tied or pinned round the neck, with a corner covering it closely behind.

Provide yourself, also, with a pair or two of warm gloves. On days when fire is most needed, it is most difficult to have it in the cabin of a ship. If the wind is strong, it impedes the draught of the stove, and fills the cabin with the smoke that is beaten down the chimney. And if the vessel rolls much, (as she always will in rough weather,) there is danger of the fire falling about the floor; and to prevent accidents from this cause, it is deemed safest to extinguish it entirely, or else not to kindle it at all. The passengers must depend chiefly on their clothing for warmth enough to make them tolerably comfortable,—particularly if they cross the ocean early in the spring or late in the autumn. But, as we before observed, a spring-passage is always the coldest. In the autumn, there is no danger of meeting with icebergs. Also, the ocean-water still retains a portion of the warmth communicated to it by the summer sun; while, in the spring, it remains a long while chilled from the cold of the preceding winter.

As dressing on ship-board is always more or less troublesome and inconvenient, on account of the motion of the vessel, and must generally be done in a sitting posture, it is well to make one dressing suffice for the day.

When packing to go on board, select such articles as are indispensable for use during the voyage, and put them all into one trunk, which must not be too large to keep in your state-room. You will find drawers there, in which you can place your caps, collars, handkerchiefs, and other light articles. Have a strong linen clothes-bag, with a drawing-string at the top, to hang up on one of the pegs or hooks in your apartment. The remainder of your baggage must be put below, in the place appropriated to stowing away the trunks of the passengers, with the understanding that they are to remain there all the voyage.

However pleasant you may find it to stay on deck, it is best, as soon as you get on board, to go to your state-room, and make your arrangements there, lest you should be rendered incapable of doing so by the approach of sea-sickness; an event that may usually be expected within an hour after the vessel gets under-way, if she sails from New York or Boston, or any port in the vicinity of the ocean. Take out of your trunk your night-clothes, your easiest slippers, and whatever articles you may require for immediate use; and place them where they can be directly accessible.

Some few ladies, as well as gentlemen, cross the ocean without being in the least troubled with sea-sickness; and very many only suffer from it during the first two or three days, and are then perfectly well during the remainder of the passage, however stormy it may be. If you should incline to be sick, it will be nearly useless to struggle against it the first day or two. You may try as a preventive, or as an early remedy when the first symptoms come upon you, a lump of loaf-sugar placed in the bottom of a wine-glass, with just as much brandy poured on as will be sufficient to dissolve it, so that it can be eaten with a tea-spoon. If taken in time, this frequently succeeds; and it rarely fails in the short sickness that is sometimes felt in excursions down in the bay of New York; or in Boston harbour, when the water is rough; or in going round Point Judith; or in a trip by sea to any of the coast bathing-places.

If you find your sickness increasing, give up to it for a day or two; and you will afterwards feel much the better for it. For the first two days you need take no nourishment but chicken-water. Avoid lemonade, oranges, all other acids, and every sort of warm drink. Be careful, while you are sick, not to taste any thing that you may like to eat afterwards, as it will give you a disgust to it during the remainder of the voyage. For the same reason, it is well not to use cologne-water, or any very fine perfume during your sickness. Liquid camphor, sprinkled over the bed and floor, will be found more refreshing and purifying to the atmosphere than any thing else that you can take with you.

The third day (if not before) you ought to make every possible exertion to go on deck, as you will be losing strength by remaining in bed; and as long as you keep your head in a recumbent posture, you will not become accustomed to the motion of the vessel. Also, on the third day, endeavour to eat a small portion of solid, relishing food—such as a piece of broiled ham, or the lean of salt beef, with a slice of dry toast. We have known what is called the tone of the stomach restored after sea-sickness by a little of the sailors’ salt beef and biscuit. Something of this sort is always more effective than light or delicate food.

It will be well before you embark, to provide yourself with a box of that excellent medicine known as Lady Webster’s (or Lady Crespigny’s) pills. They are called by both names; probably because both these ladies patronized them in England. You may take one every night immediately after supper. In Philadelphia they are made according to the best recipe by J. C. Turnpenny, druggist, corner of Spruce and Tenth streets.

You may find a clay-ball for the removal of grease spots very useful to keep in your room; as, when the ship is rolling, greasy substances are frequently spilt on dresses.

Take with you and keep always in your apartment, a life-preserver, in case of being wrecked in sight of land; and it may really save your life by buoying you up, and floating you to the shore. It is said that a man’s hat, laid brim downwards, and tied up in a shawl or pocket-handkerchief, and then fastened round the waist, will keep a person above water long enough to prevent drowning, if not far from the beach. The ladies of New York and Boston, and of other cities on the sea-board, have it in their power to learn, without danger or difficulty, the art of swimming; by subscribing to the salt-water baths, and visiting them daily during the summer.

Nothing will make a sea-voyage seem shorter or less monotonous, than to be well provided with occupation—such as amusing and interesting books, and a due portion of needle-work or knitting. By all means take with you one or more blank-books for the purpose of noting down whatever you may wish to remember. If you can keep a regular journal, so much the better. Also, the first day that you are able to write after getting to sea, commence on a large sheet of paper, a letter to one of your relations or friends, having previously folded and directed it. Write but a few lines at first; and every day add a little more to it, giving the fresh dates. It will always be ready (requiring only a wafer to seal it) in case you should have an opportunity of sending it by any vessel you may chance to meet, on her way to the land you have left. If no such chance offers during the voyage, this diary-letter will at least be ready to transmit with those you write home directly after arriving at your destined post. And your friends will be glad to have this concise transcript of your sea-life.

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