1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



489 



labks' ficpitrlincnt. 



OUR CHILDBBW IN" HEAVEN, 



BY ADELAIDE PROCTOR, 



Our God in Heaven from that holy place, 

 To ea h of u-i an Anael guide lias given; 



Bit moth. Tr* i { de itl children havf more crace — 

 For they give angels lo their Uod anj Heaven. 



How can shf? sin ? Our hearts may be nnh.eding, 

 Our Uod forgot our holy i aints delied, 



But c.in a m .itier hear her dea i child pleading, 

 And thrust thi.SB liule angelhjnds aside? 



Those little hands stretched down lo diaw her ever 

 Near«r to God bv mother love; — we all 



A'e bind and weak, y.,t Kurely she can never, 

 With sui-h a stake in Heaven, tail or fall. 



She knows that when the mighty angels raise 

 Chorus 111 U< aven, one Utile silvtr tjue 



Is hers fon ver. tha' une litte praihC 

 One litue happy voice, is all her own. 



We may not see her sar^red crown of honor. 



But all the a g ■ s flitting to and fro 

 Pause smiliiig a^ the y pues — they loi k upon her 



As mother ot an au^el whom they know. 



******* 

 Ah, saints in Heavf^n mny pray with earnest will 



And pity for their weas and erring drotheis ; 

 Yet thi re is prayer iu Heaveo more tender still — 



The little children pleading for iheir mothers. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY; 



OR, 



HOW TO MAKE HOME PLEASANT. 



BY ANNE G. HALE. 



[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 

 1866, by K. P. Eaton & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the 

 District Court for the District of Massachusetts.] 



CHAPTER XVII. 



A CHAT ABOUT CARPETS. 

 Now that house-cleaning is accomplishecl, our 

 thoughts turn naturally towards furniture — floor- 

 coveiings, carpets, rtigs and mats first claiming at- 

 tention. For, be!?iiies contriituting to the adorn- 

 ment of a hou^e and saving much labor of sweep- 

 ing and scrubbing, they are great protections 

 against cold and dampness, — and thus promote 

 comfort and health. Hence "a bare floor," has 

 become almost a synonym for discomfoit and un- 

 tidiness ; and the laudable ambition to (urni&h her 

 domicile with floor coverings, — beautiful, if po.ssi- 

 ble, as well as useful, — leads m^ny a housekeeper 

 to wonderful efforts in their mauutacture, — as it 

 did the mother of the younger Beechers. Who 

 has not nad with interest the account of her 

 weaving cotfon cloth, designing a pattern, procur- 

 ing paint, and then painting it— thus making that 

 famous carpet which for many years adorned her 

 prim parlor, receiving the admiration and exciting 

 the envy of her husband's paiishioners ? Possibly 

 the ingenious work of this woman gave a hint 



towards the manufacture of canvass carpeting, now 

 so widely used for floors where much walking is 

 expected, or where there is great liability to damp- 

 ness or dust. 



An unpainted floor, without rugs or mats of 

 some kind, is always a great trial to a housekeeper's 

 patience. It is almost impossible, with the most 

 faithful scrubbing, to remove the traces of muddy 

 tracks or slops from its blank surface (that sets even 

 the .shadow of a mark in the boldest relief;) ami the 

 most abject scouring is needed to keep the pitiless 

 boards clearly clean. It is to be hoped that the 

 righteous souls of few housewives, at the present 

 day, are vex< d with the care of such a floor, when 

 the toil to make it clean and the anx'ety to keepit 

 clean can be prevented by covering it with a coat 

 of cheap paint which she herself can apply. 



A bright orange is the most durable paint for a 

 kitchen floor. Make this of yellow ochre, or 

 Brandon yellow, boiled linseed oil, and a little 

 spirits of turpentine, according to the directions 

 for mixing paints given in Chap XVI. Give the 

 floor three paintings ; wait two days between them, 

 so that the paint shall get well hardened. Then 

 varnish it, and let this also become very dry before 

 stepping upon it. If this floor is always washed 

 with a cloth, by hand, out of clean suds, — dirty 

 suds sullies the color — and a thin coat of varnish 

 is applied every spring, it will retain its good looks 

 a great many years. In the fall lay thick carpet 

 paper upon it, or two or more layers of newspa- 

 pers, and upon that strew oat or wheat straw, or 

 dried grass of any kind to the depth of an inch, 

 and then spread and tack down a honi«-made 

 woolen carpet — directions for muking which will 

 be given further on in the present chapter. 



Dining-rooms, stair-cases, and entries look cool 

 fur summer and are easily keptcl'an, wh' n painted 

 in imitation of marble. Give the floor a coat of 

 white paint and let it dry thoroughly ; then, while 

 applying the second coat, trace upon it with a 

 feather dipped in black paint (made by mixing 

 lamp-black and oil) the veins and spots seen upon 

 marble, and blend and shade the two colors with a 

 dry brush. A person of very little ingenuity, who 

 has ever seen marble can easily imitate it, and thus 

 make a handsome floor-covering that does not show 

 dust and is very durable. Remember that carpets 

 should never be tacked over a painted floor with- 

 out something beneath them to receive the dust, 

 that sifts through them and grinds and cuts the 

 paint if not intercepted. 



Painted carpeting, by the multiplicity of its col- 

 ors and designs, hides dust and stains, while ri- 

 valling in brightness and beauty the productions 

 of the proudest looms, a'-d is, therefore, desirable 

 for chambers, dining rooms and halls — apartments 

 where there is much stepping, but not constant oc- 

 cupation. If, however, canvass carpets are used 

 for apartments that are constantly occupied, as 

 they are deficient in warmth, they should have laid 

 upon them rugs and mats, in plenty, — especially 



