426 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
& §TO£ ? ©©ILUMMSo 
Spriicc-wood Work, 
In suggesting Inst month that you slionld lay in an 
abundance of stores with which to make little useful and 
fancy articles for presents or other purposes, we men¬ 
tioned spruce twigs as a material from which a variety of 
very pretty things might be made. For making little pic¬ 
ture frames, pen-racks, and such articles, small twigs are 
needed, but for the work we are about to describe, those 
from the size of a lead-pencil up to that of the finger 
will be better. We have seen very neat boxes made in 
imitation of a pile of logs that would not be very difficult 
for a boy who is careful in the use of tools. Figure 1 
shows how these boxes look when finished; you can un¬ 
derstand from the engraving how to manage all but the 
front and rear of the box. which represents the ends of 
the logs. To make this, some of the larger twigs are 
carefully split in halves and quarters, to be used with the 
whole ones and fit in among them. Here we may say, 
that if the leaves do not fall off of themselves, they may 
be readily removed by laying the twig upon a fiat board, 
and scraping them in the direction of the leaves—from 
below upward, with a strong knife. Having the twigs, 
lay several of them side by side, using care to select those 
that will lie flat and touch one another for their whole 
length ; then put strong glue on the parts where they 
touch and glue them together; when these are dry, pile a 
layer upon the first, gluing them to the twigs below, and 
to one another, letting the glue dry or “ set; ” add another 
layer, and so on until as many are put together as desired. 
If the gluing has been well done, you will have a solid 
block of twigs ; when all is dry and firm, with a fine saw 
cut slices across the end of the block, as thin as may be 
required ; these will need careful handling, but if they 
hold together until used, it is all that is needed. These 
are to be glued to the front and rear of the box, matching 
the sections to make a fit and if need be, putting in some 
bits sawed from single twigs to fill spaces. The engrav¬ 
ing shows the rest; the ends are covered with split twigs, 
Fig. 2. —MATCH SAFE. 
and the top with a layer of split twigs, over which is a 
row of whole ones ; a crooked piece may be put on for a 
handle, and if desired, an upright twig in the center of 
eacli end, to appear like a brace to hold up the log-pile. 
Where there is sufficient surface, glue is all that will be 
needed to fasten the twigs to the box or to one another, 
but in some cases, as the handle, or the top row of logs, 
it will be better to use, besides the glue, slender brads, 
or strong pins with their heads cut off. The box should 
be lined according to the purpose for which it is to be 
used, fancy paper or tin-foil may be put on with paste. 
This being the general manner of working, various other 
articles besides boxes, may be covered with the twigs; 
we give some engravings to serve as hints, and your own 
ingenuity will no doubt suggest others. In figure 2 is a 
match safe, made like an old fashioned tankard ; the body 
of this is a toy churn, to which the split twigs are glued, 
the lid is covered with the end pieces, with an acorn or a 
pine cone as a knob ; the bands or hoops, and handle, are 
made of grape vine; a piece of sand-paper should be 
glued on the underside of the lid. 
The flower vase, fig. 3, is made from 
a glass or china vase of the desired 
shape. In the first place, the whole 
outside of the vase should be cover¬ 
ed with muslin, put on with a thick 
paste of gum tragacanth ; when thor¬ 
oughly dry, the split twigs are glued 
to this; the handles are made by 
soaking the twigs in hot water until 
they bend easily, and bending them 
around pegs set in a board at proper 
distances, and tying them to hold 
them in position; when dry they 
will retain their shape; the edge of 
the vase in the engraving is finished 
with a row of the tips of spruce 
twigs where there will be found a 
bud at the very end, usually having 
two others undent. The napkin ring, 
fig. 4, may be made with a wooden 
napkin ring, or one may be made of 
very stiff paste-board, lined according to fancy, and then 
covered with split twigs, cut very even,and neatly matched 
at the edges. In fig. 5 we have a design which may be filled 
and covered for a pin-cushion; if lined with tin-foil it 
Fig. 4.— NAPKIN ring. 
will answer as an ash receiver, or if made large enough, 
and given a cover, will do for a puff box. All of these 
articles may bo ornamented, if desired, by gluing bits of 
lichen, spruce buds, acorn cups, and such things, here 
and there. Other wood besides spruce may be used, es¬ 
pecially that which has a pleasing bark ; it should be sea¬ 
soned by keeping it in a place where it will dry slowly. 
Glue for this and other fancy work should be strong, 
and put on hot; very little will be required, and there 
should never be enough to run. To mak; it, get the best 
cabinet maker’s glue, cover it with cold water, and leave 
itinacool place to soak; in a few hours it will be swelled 
up and soaked through, as will be known by its being 
soft and bending easily ; pour off'all the water, and place 
it on the stove, set in a sauce-pan or other vessel of 
water; as soon as melted and hot it will be ready for 
use. When cold it will become hard, but may be melted 
again by placing the vessel in hot water—it must never 
be put directly upon the stove, but always in a sauce-pan 
of water. A tin pepper or spice box will answer for the 
glue, and a fruit can will do to hold the water. Work of 
this kind looks better if finished with one or more coats of 
Shellac Varnish, which is better for this purpose 
than ordinary varnish ; it may be had at the paint stores, 
or you can make it yourself by putting shellac into a 
wide-mouth bottle, and adding alcohol enough to cover 
the shellac; set this in a quite warm place, or in a sauce- 
pan of cold water, putting in some sticks or wires to keep 
the bottle from touching the bottom of the pan ; place 
on the stove and heat gradually. The shellac will soon 
dissolve, and if too thick to apply smoothly, thin with 
more alcohol. Be careful not to work with this near a 
lamp, and remember that not only will alcohol burn, but 
that its vapor will take fire. 
Hoorali for Crandall !—We have long consid¬ 
ered Mr. C. M. Crandall as the greatest friend of the 
Little Folks in all this country, if not in any other 
country. Millions have been amused, delighted, and in¬ 
structed. too, by his building blocks and various other 
contrivances. Even the children of staid old London, in 
England, have sent over here for many tens of thous¬ 
ands of Crandall's blocks, etc., and they have come for 
Fig. 3. —FLOWER VASE. 
them from other parts of Europe, even from Germany, 
the land of toy-makers. Well, just now, Mr. Crandall 
has beaten himself agaiD, more completely than ever 
before, too. His new “Hajjpy Family,” which 
none of you have seen yet, beats not only himself, but 
even Barnum, also, because you can each have a “ happy 
family ” right at home. You get a box, looking like a 
wagon-box at first ; but it opens and opens, and b> fore 
you get through with it, you have a menagerie on wheels 
—a wagon big enough and strong enough almost for a 
small boy to ride on—a cage of 15 animals and their 
keeper, Lions, Tigers, Chimpanzee, Rhinocerous, Bear, 
Baboon, etc., behind bars, looking as natural as life, with 
movable legs, etc. They are so arranged that you can 
combine them a thousand ways. When tired of arrang¬ 
ing, training, and exhibiting the animals, you can set 
them aside and use the wagon. Everybody who has seen 
this, says it is the greatest thing in the way of amuse¬ 
ment for children that has yet been brought out. They 
have started the factory running night and day, so as to 
get as many sets made as they can this month, in order 
that as many children as possible may be supplied before 
the next holidays. Probably the advertising pages will 
tell you something about it. A gentleman took the first 
sample box to show to a friend in London, and as soon 
as he got there, the Ocean telegraph said: “Send the 
first 25 cases (300 sets) made, over here.” 
Fine Tilings for Itoys and Oirl§° 
Easily Obtained Free. 
In arranging their Presentation Articles, or Premiums, 
the Publishers have provided a large number of things 
Fig. 5.— ash receiver. 
that will specially delight their Younger Readers. They 
offer them on such terms, that almost any Boy or Girl of 
8 to 14 years, or any older young people of 15 and up¬ 
wards, can easily get free one or more very desirable ar¬ 
ticles. Any one can show this paper, and persuade two, 
or three, or more persons to subscribe for it, in return for 
which lhcy will get something that they just want. We 
like the young people to all take hold of this for two rea¬ 
sons. First: they will be pleased in receiving the premi- 
