y cabinet-makers, was much more beautiful than is possible to get
to-day, for the logs were old and well seasoned wood, allowed to dry by
the true process of time, which leaves a wonderful depth of color quite
impossible to find in young kiln-dried wood. The best furniture makers
nowadays, those who have a high standard and pride in their work, have
by careful and artistic staining and beautiful finish, achieved very
fine results, but the factory article with its dreadful "mahogany"
stain, its coarse carving, and its brilliant finish, shows a sad
difference in ideal. The best reproductions are well worth buying, and,
as they are made with regard to the laws of construction, they stand a
very good chance of becoming valued heirlooms. There are certain
characteristics of all the eighteenth century cabinet-makers, both
English and French, which are picked out and overdone by ill-informed
manufacturers. The rococo of Chippendale is coarsened, his Chinese style
loses its fine, if eccentric, distinction, and the inlay of Hepplewhite
and Sheraton is another example of spoiling a beautiful thing.
Thickening a line here and there, or curving a curve a bit more or less,
or enlarging the amount of inlay, achieves a vulgarity of appearance
quite different from the beautiful proportions of the originals, and it
is this which one must guard against in buying reproductions. The lack
of knowledge of correct proportion is not confined to the cheaper
grades, where necessary simplicity is often a protection, but is apt to
be found in all. The best makers, as I have said, take a pride in their
work and one can rely on them for fine workmanship and being true to the
spirit of the originals.

There is one matter of great importance to be kept in mind and practiced
with the sternest self-control, and that is, to eliminate, eliminate,
eliminate. Walk into the center of a room and look about with seeing,
but impersonal eyes, and you will be astonished to find how many things
there are which are unnecessary, in fact, how much the room would be
improved without them. In every house the useless things which go under
the generic name of "trash" accumulate with alarming swiftness, and one
must be up with the lark to keep ahead of the supply. If something is
ugly and spoils a room, and there is no hope of bringing it into
harmony, discard it; turn your eyes aside if you must while the deed is
being done, but screw your courage to the sticking point, a