beginning may be made in adapting ornament to a useful
article, by carving the surface of a bread plate. These are usually made
of some hard wood, such as sycamore. They may be made of oak, but
sycamore has the advantage in its lighter color, which is more likely to
be kept clean. Two suggestions are given in Figs. 27 and 28 for carving
appropriate to this purpose. The essentials are, that there should be a
well-defined _pattern_ simple in construction, and as effective as
possible with little labor; that there should be little or no rounding
of surface, the design consisting of gouge cuts and incisions arranged
to express the pattern. The incisions may form a regular sunk ground,
but it should not be deep, or it will not be easily kept clean. Then, as
in cutting bread the knife comes in contact with the surface, no
delicate work is advisable; a large treatment with broad surfaces, and
some plain spaces left to protect the carved work, is likely to prove
satisfactory in every way. A piece of sycamore should be procured, ready
for carving; this may be got from a wood-turner, but it will be as well
to give him a drawing, on which is shown the section of edge and the
position of all turned lines required for confining the carving. If the
plate is to be of any shape other than circular, then it must be neatly
made by a joiner, unless you can shape it yourself.

[Illustration: FIG. 28.]

Many of you are, I have no doubt, handy joiners, and may with a little
help put together some slight pieces of furniture to serve at least as
an excuse for the introduction of your carving. Here are some
suggestions for corner cupboards, chosen as giving the largest area for
carved surface with the minimum of expense in construction. The material
should be oak--English if possible, or it may be Italian walnut. The
doors of Figs. 40 and 41 are in three narrow boards with shallow beads
at the joints, those of the others are each made of a single board, and
should be 1/2 in. to 5/8 in. thick, the doors may be about 2 ft. 6 ins.
high, each having two ledges about 3 ins. wide, screwed on behind top
and bottom to keep them from twisting. All moldings, beads, etc., are to
be carved by hand, no planes being used. Having traced the lines of your
design upon the board, you may begin, if there are moldings as in Fig.
32, by using a joiner's marking gage to groove out the deepest parts of
the parallel lines in the moldings along the edges, doing the sam