January, 1912 
TREATING INTERIOR WOODWORK 
By GEORGE E. WALSH 
| Cae necessity of using cheaper woods 
to-day in place of hard varieties for 
the interior finish of our houses has de- 
veloped the art of staining and varnishing 
so that beautiful effects in grain can be 
obtained with satisfying results. In the 
hands of the novice, these woods can be 
made to yield a durable and artistic finish 
that was quite beyond our forefathers. In 
order to obtain the best effects, however, 
the woods must be classified and be 
treated differently. Not all soft woods 
will take stains alike, or at least not the 
common kinds of stains. 
For instance, mahogany stain should 
not be used on such woods as oak, ash or 
chestnut. These woods have too pro- 
nounced a grain and characteristics to 
give good results with mahogany stain. 
But birch, cherry, pine or whitewood take 
the rich red-brown and lighter shades of 
mahogany with gratifying results. The 
surface can be polished to a semigloss 
finish or the dull natural finish, so that a 
good imitation of the mahogany wood is 
obtained. In the semigloss finish an ef- 
fect is obtained that resembles the waxed 
and hand-polished old mahogany of old 
days, and it can be wiped off with a damp 
cloth without injuring the gloss. Ma- 
hogany stain finish can be successfully 
used with hazel, spruce, gumwood, Wash- 
ington fir and California redwood. Hazel 
wood, which is quite inexpensive in some 
localities, can be stained a beautiful gray 
or moss-green color, and with a rich 
brown stain it greatly resembles Circas- 
sian walnut. 
Cypress is a common wood now for in- 
terior finish, but, like ash, chestnut and 
bass, it lends itself beautifully to weath- 
ered effects. Time and exposure tend to 
The Ideal Home Country 
lies in the wide territory traversed by the Southern Ry. System. 
From the high lands of the Appalachians, with their dry, healthy 
climate, to the Piedmont section, with its heavy yielding lands, 
on to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, where every crop thrives— 
somewhere in this broad territory you can find a place just 
suited to your needs and means, Land prices range from 
15 to $50 per acre. The first year’s crop often more 
an returns the purchase price. A\ll grasses, grains, fruits and 
vegetables known to the temperate zone thrive in the Southeast. 
Alfalfa grows nearly everywhere—4 to 6 tons per acre not un- 
common—$15 to $22 per ton paid locally. Apple orchards 
net $100 to $500 an acre. Truck gardening yields $200 to 
$400 per acre—everything else in proportion. The Southeast 
is the farmer’s paradise. We have booklets giving full in- 
formation of conditions in each Southeastern State. Address 
M. V. RICHARDS, Land and Industrial Agent, 
Southern Railway, Room 4, Washington, D. C. 
Do You Want To Sell 
A Building Lot 
A House 
A Farm or 
-An Estate? 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
a You can find that 
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o or Estate 
(Shore or Inland) 
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ez Every courtesy and all pains taken to 
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aurence Timmons 
Opposite R. R. Station 
Telephone 456 Greenwich, Conn. 
@ An Advertisement in “American Homes & 
Gardens“ new Advertising Section “The 
Real Estate Mart’’ 
produce a mild change in color effects. 
and, taking advantage of this, a little stain 
RE 
or plain varnish treatment will greatly 
improve its appearance. By using light 
shades of brown on such woods, varying 
tints which help to intensify the grain 
will harmonize beautifully. Cypress wood 
contains a great quantity of resin and 
methylene, and some good liquid filler is 
needed over the coat of stain to seal the 
grain. Otherwise the resin will exude 
at times and thus spoil the finish. The 
stain is applied first so that it will dye the 
wood, and then the filler seals the grain 
and prepares a smooth surface for the fin- 
ishing coats of stain or varnish. The use 
of fillers is sometimes of great value in 
treating woods. Some of the very open- 
grain woods are much better for a coat of 
filler first, and again the stain is used first 
to secure a dull or natural finish. 
Ash is a wood susceptible of many dif- 
ferent kinds of artistic treatment. A 
beautiful antique appearance with it can 
be produced by applying a dull brown 
stain and filling the grain with copper- 
green pigments. In imitation of old wood, 
weathered and saturated with salt water, 
ash is sometimes treated with a black 
stain and a gray filler. A coat of varnish | 
rubbed down to a dull finish follows. 
Maple is a wood that takes the soft 
green and silver-gray stains to perfection. 
This wood is susceptible to a high polish, 
and gives better effects in this way than 
with a dull finish. Bass or whitewood is 
used freely for interior home work of all 
kinds, and it shows well under mahogany 
or any of the dark stains; but it is a wood 
that shrinks and checks considerably in 
the drying, and unless well-seasoned tim- 
ber is used the results will be very disap- 
pointing. Beechwood is also a poor one 
Will Be Read by People Who Want 
TO BUY! 
PHOTOS OF PROPERTY REPRODUCED 
Rates of Advertising on Request 
Address: “The Real Estate Mart” 
oe AMERICAN HOMES & GARDENS 
361 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 
¢ 
| aa 3 E 
"THE most modern, and best illuminating and 
: cooking service for isolated homes and institutions, 
is furnished by the CLIMAX GAS MACHINE. 
Apparatus furnished on TRIAL under a guarantee 
to be satisfactory andin advance of all other methods. 
Cooks, heats water for bath and culinary purposes, 
heats individual rooms between seasons—drives pump- 
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MACHINE DOES NOT MEET YOUR EXPECTA- 
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Send for Catalogue and Proposition. 
Low Price 
Better than City Gas or Eleo- 
Liberal Terms 
tricity and at Less Cost. 
C. M. KEMP MFG. CO. 
405 to 413 E. Oliver Street, Baltimore, Md. 
An Unteaally Chamning 
Florida Home 
On shores of finest inland Jake in the 
orange belt, connected with the ocean. 
Forty acre place, 15 acres fine bear- 
ing orange and grapefruit grove, great 
variety original forest trees, with lawn 
and gardens on lake front. Large ten- 
room house, bath and attic, large barn, 
gardener’s lodge and packing house. 
Write owner—H. G. HUBBARD 
Crescent City 
ea 8 
Cheaper and more durable than wood; for Lawns, Churches, Cemeteries, 
Public Grounds. Ornamental Wire Fence, Farm and Poultry Fence. 
Catalog free. Ask for Special Gifer. 
THE WARD FENCE Co. Box 991, DECATUR, IND. 
Iron Works Co. 
PRISON, HOUSE 
& STABLE WORK 
OIST HANGERS 
AWN FURNITURE 
FENCING, ETC. 
CLEVELAND, OHIO 
he) le 
