July, 1912 
by placing various tender leaves near the stems of plants in 
the gardens infested, and as these will often attract them 
from their hiding places, a late night time gathering of this 
“bait” will, perhaps, produce a supply of slugs for riddance. 
WEEDS IN GRAVEL PATHS 
READER asks what can be done to prevent weeds from 
growing in gravel paths. There are various prepara- 
tions for ridding gravel paths of weeds, but a strong solution 
of salt and water used asa hot brine should ee efficacious. 
PAINTED FURNITURE 
( Continued TRG OS 238) 
wy oa an aay comical little woman presenting Hin 
with a nosegay occupy one end and a floral design the other. 
On the back a representation of the Sacred Heart is flanked 
on either side by bunches of flowers. The top of the lid is 
divided into panels and decorated with dainty sprays. On 
the base is the date 1705 and above it the letters J. V.C. A., 
presumably the initials of the contracting pair. The Bavar- 
ian boxes, of thin wood like our butter boxes, used for hold- 
ing rice, salt and such things in Bavarian kitchens, are origi- 
nals. One is dull green, another blue, a third lavender and 
the fourth yellow; the decorations of flowers are done in 
distemper. Before the small hanging cabinet assumed its 
present Bavarian guise it was nothing but an ugly little bath- 
room contrivance for holding medicine bottles. Its black 
ground, red decorative bands and basket of flowers certainly 
improve its appearance vastly. It would not be proper to 
class as furniture the gorgeously painted and gilt figures of 
the Madonna and Child, but they are so invariably found 
in the houses of the devout Bavarian peasants and add a 
note of such glowing color that they deserve mention. 
While speaking of the Bavarian work a word of recog- 
nition is due Biedermeyer for his labors in the field of furni- 
ture painting. He wrought in the early part of the Nine- 
teenth Century and his work, which is characterized by 
wreaths, festoons, urns, baskets and circlets of roses enclos- 
ing silhouettes, gave a strong impetus to his craft. About 
this same time the so-called “English Empire” style was 
popular in England and America and we have many painted 
pieces of it left, some good, some bad. The groundwork 
of the chair shown in the picture is a dull yellowish green, 
the stripe and acanthus ornaments are gilt and a touch of 
black is judiciously added in places. In other examples 
fruits and flowers in their natural colors are often elabor- 
ately executed. 
Last of all we come to a kind of furniture that seems 
never to have been dignified by any specific name—yjust or- 
dinary farmhouse wooden kitchen chairs and settees. If 
There is 
no feature of the country house more delightful than a 
AMERICAN HOMES 
broad terrace-porch from which one may 
ON 
Lo 
AND GARDENS 2 
aie German ReneS aber aie is gardens with infinite « care, often 
making little models one year of the gardens they hope to have the next 
one might be pardoned so undemocratic a term it could be 
called American ‘“‘peasant”’ furniture. We find it on every 
hand and in all conditions, but most of it made with a grace 
of line deserving of careful preservation. Of course, it 
must be treated according to its rank in the furniture world, 
but there are many places where its use is highly desirable— 
places that individual preferences will suggest. All these 
chairs and settees were painted and decorated, sometimes 
merely with black lines, sometimes with elaborate and gaily 
colored fruits, flowers and leaves. On some the rude 
designs are still fresh, from others generations of scrub- 
bing housewives have obliterated all trace of ornament. 
The chairs remain, however, and are just as fit for decora- 
tion as the day they were made. ‘The splat-back chair of 
the illustration was picked up in deplorable state in a New 
Hampshire blacksmith shop. A visit to the carpenter and 
the removal of old stain left it in shape for redecoration. 
After recaning and several coats of green, the design, some- 
what Russian in character, was applied. Conventional 
honeysuckles and rosettes fill the splat and on the top piece 
an urn of vari-colored flowers is guarded on either side by 
a fat little dwarf with a broad white collar and a big white 
neckcloth. Three other chairs of fine lines came also from 
this New Hampshire village. They are fully a hundred and 
fifty years old and coat after coat of yellow paint had ob- 
scured the original decoration of fruit and oak leaves, all in 
black, until revealed by the scraping process. In redecorat- 
ing one can advantageously use for groundwork greens, 
grays, certain shades of yellow, dark blues, brilliant reds 
and white. What has been said of painted furniture is 
enough to show how full of possibilities is that branch of 
industrial art. A broader realization of available resources 
will go far toward increasing the taste for colored decoration. 
look out over the home landscape 
