7).

Immediately after using a rubber, it should be kept in an air-tight tin
canister, where it will always remain fresh and fit for use.

=The Polishing Shop.=--A few words as to the polishing shop may be
acceptable to those who possess ample room and desire the best results.

First in order is the location and arrangement of the finishing rooms.
Preference is to be given to the upper rooms of a building for several
reasons, among which may be named the securing of better light, greater
freedom from dust, and superior ventilation.

A good light in this, as in many other arts, is a very important matter,
and by a good light we mean all the light that can be obtained without
the glare of the direct rays of the sun. Light from side windows is
preferable to that from skylights for three reasons: (1) Skylights are
very liable to leakage; (2) they are frequently, for greater or less
periods, covered with snow in winter; (3) the rays of the sun
transmitted by them in summer are frequently so powerful as to blister
shellac or varnish.

Good ventilation is at all times of importance, and especially so in
summer, both as tending to dry the varnish or shellac more evenly and
rapidly, and as contributing to the comfort of the workmen. The latter
consideration is of importance even as a matter of economy, as men in a
room the atmosphere of which is pleasant and wholesome will feel better
and accomplish more than they could do in the close and forbidding
apartments in which they sometimes work.

Any suggestion in reference to freedom from dust, as a matter to be
considered in locating rooms for this business, would seem to be
entirely superfluous, as it is clear that there is hardly any
department of mechanical work which is so susceptible to injury from
dust as the finishing of furniture, including varnishing and polishing.

Finishing rooms may be arranged in three departments. The first should
include the room devoted to sand-papering and filling. These processes,
much more than any other part of furniture polishing, produce dirt and
dust, and it is plain that the room devoted to them should be so far
isolated from the varnishing room as not to introduce into it these
injurious elements.

Another room should be appropriated to the bodying-in, smoothing and
rubbing-down processes. The third room is for spiriting and varnishing,
or the application of the final coats of varnish, which is the most
important of all the proce