A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

more fustic, the brighter the olive; the more oak bark, the darker the shade. Set the light shade with a few drops of oil of vitriol, and the dark shade with copperas. CHAPTER XXIX. ON THE CARE OF PARLORS. In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should be had to correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains should be darker than the walls; and, if the walls and carpets be light, the chairs should be dark, and _vice versa_. Pictures always look best on light walls. In selecting carpets, for rooms much used, it is poor economy to buy cheap ones. _Ingrain_ carpets, of close texture, and the _three-ply_ carpets, are best for common use. _Brussels_ carpets do not wear so long as the three-ply ones, because they cannot be turned. _Wilton_ carpets wear badly, and _Venetians_ are good only for halls and stairs. In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any black threads; as they are always rotten. The most tasteful carpets, are those, which are made of various shades of the same color, or of all shades of only two colors; such as brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and green, or all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades should be brown or green, but not black. In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw under them, as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw matting, laid under carpets, makes them last much longer, as it is smooth and even, and the dust sifts through it. In buying carpets, always get a few yards over, to allow for waste in matching figures. In cutting carpets, make them three or four inches shorter than the room, to allow for stretching. Begin to cut _in the middle_ of a figure, and it will usually match better. Many carpets match in two different ways, and care must be taken to get the right one. Sew a carpet on the wrong side, with double waxed thread, and with the _ball-stitch_. This is done by taking a stitch on