of any color. Use goose quill in writing. When you
wish the writing to become visible, hold it to a red-hot stove.

TO PRESERVE FLOWERS SO THAT THEIR
BEAUTY WILL LAST FOR YEARS.

Make a strong solution of gum arabic, two ounces of the gum to one
pint of boiling water; shake until dissolved; then take your flowers
and immerse in the solution, taking care that every part is well wet
with the solution. When dry, repeat the operation. Do this three
times. Flowers treated thus will last for years.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOME DECORATION.

The chief features to be observed in house furnishing are color, form,
and proportion. All stiffness of design in furniture should be
avoided. Do not attempt to match articles, but rather carry out the
same idea as to color and form in the whole. It is not _en regle_ to
have decorations in sets or pairs; the arrangements should all be done
with odd pieces. Every room in the house should be arranged for
occupancy, having nothing too good for use, and the judicious
housewife will follow a medium course and adopt no extreme of fashion.

The style and arrangement of the furniture should correspond with the
size of the room, with a due regard to the place a piece of furniture
or ornament will occupy. The order of arrangement in furnishing is
subject to individual taste, but the following suggestions may not be
inappropriate:--

In decorating a dining-room, deep, rich tones should be used; a
drawingroom or parlor should have bright, cheerful shades; in a
library use deep, rich colors, which give a sense of worth; a
sleeping-room should have light, pleasing tints, which give a feeling
of repose.

THE HALL.

The hall being the index to the whole house, due care should therefore
be given to its furnishing. Light colors and gilding should be
avoided. The wall and ceiling decorations now mostly used are in dark,
rich colors, shaded in maroons or deep reds. Plain tinted walls and
ceilings in fresco or wainscot are also frequently used. The latest
shades of wall paper come in wood colors, dark olive-greens, stone
color, and grays, in tile, arabesque and landscape designs, and with
these are used a corresponding dado and frieze.

A tile or inlaid floor is the most appropriate, but if circumstances
do not admit of one of these, a floor stained a deep wood-brown,