cotton rugs might
be so developed in the mountain regions of the South as to greatly
decrease the importation of Eastern ones of the same grade.

An endless variety might be made in these localities, the difference
of climate, material and habits of thought adding interest as well as
variety, and it is safe to say that the home market is waiting for
them. Housekeepers have learned by experience that a rug which can be
easily lifted and frequently shaken is not only far more cleanly, and
consequently safer, from a sanitary point of view, than a carpet, but
that it has other merits which are of economic as well as esthetic
importance.

A rug is more durable than a carpet of equal weight and texture
because it can be constantly shifted from points of wear to those
which are less exposed. It can be moved from room to room, or even
from house to house, without the trouble of shaping or fitting; and
last but not least, it brings a concentration of colour exactly where
it is needed for effect, and this is possible to no other piece of
house furnishing. In short, there seems to be no bar to its general
acceptance, excepting the bad floors of our immediate predecessors in
building.

It only needs that cost, quality and general effect of the home-woven
rugs should be shaped into perfect adaptation to our wants, to make
them as necessary a part of ordinary house-furnishing as chairs and
tables.

These three requirements are within the reach of any home-weaving
farmer's wife who will give to the work the same thought for
economical conditions, the same ambition for thorough work and the
same intelligent study which her husband bestows upon his successful
farming.

As there is already one American rug which fulfills most of these
conditions, it is well to consider it as a starting point for
progress. This is the heavy Indian rug known as the Navajo blanket.
Originally fashioned to withstand the cold and exposure of outdoor
life, it has combined thickness, durability and softness with
excellent colour and weaving and perfectly characteristic design.

In the best examples, where the wool is not bought from traders, but
carded, spun and dyed by the weaver, the Navajo blanket is a perfect
production of its kind, and I cannot help wondering that the
manufacture of these rug-like blankets--some of which are of great
intrinsic value--should have been so long confined to a primitive
race, living at our very doors. The whole proces