186 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Apbil, 
Screen for a Night Lamp. 
A screen for a small night lamp may be made by 
taking a piece of pasteboard twelve inches wide 
by twenty long, and covering it with material on 
which a neat pattern has been worked. Draw a line 
through the center so as to make two leaves, each 
ten by twelve inches, and, with a sharp penknife 
cut along this line, taking care to cut only about 
half way through the board, and the leaves will fold 
easily but still remain firmly together. Take a few 
.stitches with a needle and stout thread from one 
leaf to the other to strengthen them. The cover 
may be made of silk, embroidered, or of linen with 
a pattern on it in outline. Java canvass, worked 
with some simple pattern in cross-stitch, makes a 
■pretty cover. The cover and lining, which may be 
either of silk or linen, are basted smoothly on each 
side of the pasteboard, and the edges bound with 
marrow ribbon. The small brass holders, such as 
are employed for holding photographs, are used for 
supports. One of these on each leaf is all that is 
necessary for a small screen, but for a larger one, two 
on each leaf would be required. Instead of the brass 
holders, small blocks of wood, with a groove cut in 
the top to hold the screen, may be used. They may 
either be painted a color to harmonize with that 
of the screen, or stained a dark brown or black, 
and oiled or varnished. 
Farm-House Hat-Kacks. 
A farmer should be proud of his vocation, and 
when he indulges in anything like ornament, it 
may well relate to his occupation. This thought 
occurred to us when we recently saw a liat-rack 
intended for the hall or entry of a farm-house. It 
was imported, and essentially English in every de¬ 
tail. Those who are fond of making such things 
in the work-shop will be glad of this hiut, and im¬ 
prove upon and Americanize it. The basis of the 
liat-rack is a harrow about 2i or 3 feet square, 
made of horizontal bars, crossing one another at 
right angles, as in a common harrow. The harrow 
teeth serve as pins for hats and coats. In the center 
is a diamond-shaped mirror. At the bottom is a 
double-tree and two single-trees, which may 
be merely for ornament or use. Above, as 
emblematical of the farmer’s calling, are placed, 
crossing behind the harrow, the handles show¬ 
ing below, a scythe and a fork, both of pecu¬ 
liar European patterns, while between them is a 
sickle, an implement rarely used by us at present. 
This rack is intended to be hung against the wall; 
another is so constructed as to stand by itself. 
The handles of a rake, a fork, and a flail, are placed 
■±o form a tripod, and held together at the point of 
crossing by a stout metallic band. A sickle is added 
for ornament. There are pins in the central band 
upon which to hang garments, etc., while hooks 
for the same purpose are placed here and there on 
the handles and even upon the flail itself. The 
woodwork in these racks is ash, finished in oil or 
some very light varnish. The blades of scythes 
and sickles are apparently of silvered sheet copper. 
The finest kind*of tin plate, properly polished, 
would answer about as well. Forms made of 
stiff paste-board, or thin, light wood and neatly 
covered with the best tin foil (it may be put on 
with flour paste) might be better than tin. The 
stronger metal work, 6uch as harrow teeth, rings, 
hooksj etc., are of iron, nickel-plated. Those who 
have not the facilities for getting plating done will 
find that if the iron hook is covered with a good 
black varnish, it will look almost as well as if plated. 
Our young farmers, of a mechanical turn, may 
well Americanize these suggestions from “ the 
other 6ide,” and we hope they will send us sketches 
of their improved farmers’ liat-racks. 
Inexpensive Decorations. 
It is quite wonderful how common things and 
materials are being utilized for home-decoration, 
and art work of all kinds. This only shows the 
fertility of the human brain, in designing some¬ 
thing new and strange; and the hold which the 
so-called “aesthetic craze” has taken upon the 
community. Unbleached muslin, cheese-cloth, and 
cotton flannel have each had their day, and now 
woolen blankets are taking their turn. These, when 
dyed in rich colors, and embroidered in silk and 
crewel, certainly make most luxurious sofa-cover¬ 
ings, handsome enough for any drawing-room. 
A warm looking portiere, is made of a claret-red 
blanket, banded with plush of a deeper shade, and 
decorated with old-gold crewel work. Another 
blanket, dyed blue, bound with a darker blue vel¬ 
veteen, and handsomely outlined in sunflowers, 
forms a most elegant rug for the carriage. 
In some of the finest houses in England, the 
walls of dining-rooms are now covered with com¬ 
mon brown wrapping paper, such as is used 
for doing up parcels; and the effect is said to be 
very good, when combined with a highly decorative 
frieze. A good idea is to cover an old wooden 
mantel-piece, or screen, with this coarse paper, and 
paint in oil, with large and effective designs of red 
poppies, leaves, or cat-tails. One of the most 
popular styles now of amateur work, is pen-and- 
ink etching on linen. Until recently, black indel¬ 
ible ink was the only kind that could be procured; 
but it now comes in several brilliant and perma¬ 
nent colors—scarlet, blue, brown, violet, green, and 
crimson. These inks are accompanied by a mor¬ 
dant, or preparation for setting the dye, with which 
the cloth should first be saturated, then dried, and 
ironed smooth. Any dainty figure, initial, or 
monogram may be used, and this style of ornamen¬ 
tation is peculiarly suitable for napkins, towels, 
and doilys, and we have seen pillow shams dec¬ 
orated iu the same manner. 
If you have a correct eye, and can draw well, so 
much the better; but if not, select any small pic¬ 
ture with few lines, such as can be found in many 
children's books; ora Japanese bird or figure. 
Place a thin paper over it, trace the outline and 
prick the lines of your tracing carefully with a 
fine needle. Baste this pattern, rough side upper¬ 
most, on the linen, and rub a little charcoal pow¬ 
der over it, with a wad of soft' cotton-wool. Lift 
off the paper, and follow the dotted lines with a 
sharp pencil. Blow off the powder, and you will 
then have a stamped design to work on with pen 
and ink. Draw very lightly and delicately, and if 
a solid effect is desired, it may be gained by light 
crossings, or parallel lines. When the decoration is 
completed, allow it to dry for an hour, and then 
lay the article flat for a few moments in a bowl of 
hot water, to take out the mordant and superfluous 
ink; after which it must be rinsed, dried and ironed. 
This will be found very pretty and fascinating 
work, and is exceedingly durable, which is more 
than can be said of the outline work done in wash¬ 
ing-silks, in which we have been much disappoint¬ 
ed. A new fashion for marking handkerchiefs, is 
to write your autograph across the corner in pen¬ 
cil, and then work it over neatly in hem-stitch. 
An Improved Wash Bench, 
The attention of house-keepers is called to a wash 
bench with a very simple attachment that will hold 
the clothes wringer firm and steady, and save 
changing it from one tub to the other. It consists 
of a board as long as the bench is wide, and three 
inches higher than a common tub, attached to the 
center of the bench by curved cleats, e, e, as shown 
in the engraving. At the top near the center is 
driven a piece of wire projecting upward about two 
inches. A light board, b, is hung upon this wire. 
The wringer is attached to the upper side of the 
board, a, and upon either side of board b. It is 
seen that with the wringer in position, clothes may 
he run from the tub to either end of the bench. 
This arrangement is particularly adapted to those 
who use.a wash board, or a washing machine, 
placed within the tub. L. D. S. 
Home-made Frames for Pictures. 
- Pictures and engravings that one does not 
permanently frame may be temporarily placed 
upon the wall by the use of narrow strips of 
; wood covered with velvet. The strips should 
be long enough to extend an inch beyond the 
sides of the picture, and after they have been 
placed over the picture, as shown in the illus¬ 
tration, they are tacked to the wall by brass¬ 
headed tacks at each end. To cover the strips cut 
a piece of velvet a little longer and wider than the 
length and width of the strip, and draw it tightly 
over it by taking stitches from edge to edge of the 
velvet on the wrong side, being careful to make the 
I corners sharp and neat. The size of the strips de¬ 
pends on the size of the picture. For a small pic- 
STRIPS FOR HOLDING PICTURES. 
ture, about five by seven, or the size of a large photo¬ 
graph, they need not be more than half or a third 
of an inch wide, while for a picture four or five 
times that size, they should be an inch and a half 
or two inches wide. For small pictures pieces of 
