atters will be willingly
answered by the editor of this column, and we should be glad to
hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

It is a fortunate thing for the would-be amateur photographer that a
dark-room, used exclusively for photographic work, is not one of the
"must-haves" of photography. If it were, there would doubtless be very
few amateurs, especially among the young people.

To make the work of arranging a temporary dark-room simple and easy, the
materials should be kept all together and in as compact a form as
possible. For storing the chemicals and trays a wooden box eighteen
inches long, twelve inches wide, and eight or ten inches high will be
found a convenient size for holding all the material necessary to use
for developing.

A rack to hold the bottles should be made of a piece of half-inch board
half the size of the bottom of the box. In this board cut holes the size
of the bottles containing the solutions for developing. Fasten this
board securely to the inside of the box, about four inches from the
bottom. The bottles will fit in the holes, and there will be no danger
of breaking or spilling their contents when carrying it from one place
to another. Square bottles should be used for the hypo, and round
bottles for the developers. Five bottles will be enough for the
chemicals--one for the hypo, one for old and one for new developer, one
for the restrainer, and one for the accelerator. Have the labels on the
bottles large and distinct, and make the box on the outside "POISONS."

The trays can be placed one inside the other and put into the box by the
side of the bottles. The glass funnel should be turned over the top of
one of the bottles, and unless the lantern is an extra size, there will
be plenty of room to set it in the box. Nail a strip of leather across
the box for a handle. A piece of board an inch or two larger all round
than the top of the box will serve for a cover when the box is not in
use.

With one's materials in this convenient and portable form it is a simple
matter to get ready for developing, and when one has finished it is but
a moment's work to replace the materials and put them away. This plan of
storing materials not only saves a great deal of time and trouble, but
often prevents mistakes in developing.

In preparing for developing get everything ready before the plates are
taken into the dark-room. Always be particular to place the hypo tray