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SPRUCE-WORK. 
Besides the beautiful ornamental value of the 
Norway spruce in the decoration of our yards and 
lawns, or the grand feeling of admiration with which 
our minds are filled at their impressive appearance 
in forest majesty, there are other ways in which they 
can, in their younger growth, be made to subserve 
admirable household ornaments, and add to indoor 
luxuries and comforts. A lady friend, equally in 
love with both phases of spruce beauty, says, in a 
pleasant little description of her achievements in 
household art: 
“ There are two ways of considering a Norway 
spruce: One way is to stand off and 
admire its noble outline, as it rears it¬ 
self, a pagoda of living green, against 
the sky, with its story upon story of 
fringed branches, its beautiful, long, 
pendent cones and its delicate hue 
seeming dark because of the rich masses 
of foliage. The other way is to approach 
with a knife in one hand, the corners of 
an upheld apron or the handle of a basket 
in the other, the head inclined a little on 
one side, and a resolute, pursed-up, Bin- 
going-to-cut expression on the face. 
Alice and I often regard our Norway 
spruces in this last practical fashion, 
and when we do so it is because, in our 
mind’s eye, we see something hanging 
there besides the beautiful long, brown 
cones. We see lovely easels and pic¬ 
ture-frames, and a host of pretty objects 
which will be just the thing for Christ¬ 
mas presents. So, as resolutely as the 
sculptor begins to chip from his marble 
the fragments that are hiding his im¬ 
prisoned statue, we plunge into the tree, 
intent upon freeing our brackets, easels, 
and what-nots from the concealing em¬ 
brace of its long, sweeping branches.” 
' Fortunately we have several speci¬ 
mens of this noblest of all the firs within 
a few yards of our door. Some rear 
their grand old heads (that’s a figure of 
speech, of course, for the top is always the newest 
part) to a height of one hundred aud twenty feet, 
and some are not much taller than ourselves. Our 
great care, at the outset, is to cut our wood in such 
a way as not to injure the tree, but rather to seive 
the purpose of judicious pruning. The pieces must 
be from three to twelve or eighteen inches long, and 
should be taken from the leaders of the branches or 
their latest growths. By doing this, we induce them 
to throw out more side-shoots, and so increase the 
richness of the tree. Of course we often manage to 
get a few little branches from the hidden recesses of 
the foliage, giving the preference, when prudence 
permits, to the shoots which have the finest clusters 
of wood-buds, for these will aid us very materially 
in beautifying our work. The wood obtained, we 
carry our bristling treasure to the house, and pro¬ 
ceed to free it of its leaves—not feathery now, or 
fringe-like, that was a “ general-effect” quality; 
but each branch a very fretful little porcupine in its 
own right. The best method is to heat the pieces 
quickly, a few at a time, so as to dry and loosen the 
leaves, and then to scrape them with a dull knife in 
the direction of the foliage, taking care not to destroy 
the wood-buds. The pretty, rough wood will soon 
appear with a sort of Chaldaic writing on its sur¬ 
face, which, being interpreted, saith: “ Use me at 
once, or I will grow rigid and unmanageable.” * 
Everything is ready. The glue-pot is on the fire. 
On a tray upon the bared table lie papers of pins 
(very small ones and others of medium size), a 
small, flat varnishing brush, a little coil of copper 
wire, a penknife, a tack-hannner, and scissors which 
do not shrink from the duty of pin-cutting. There 
or its strength will pull the older portion to pieces; 
for this reason it is better to use material which has 
been worn than that which is quite liew. Again, 
see that you make the patch large enough, that 
it covers all the thin part, and will be sewed on 
to that which is strong, otherwise there will soon 
be a rent by the side of the seam of the patch. 
Once more, be very particular that the patch is 
cut straight and sewed on straight. This should 
be done by the line of the thread. Nothing of¬ 
fends the eye more than a crooked patch or one 
crookedly set on ; and not only is it an ugly sight, 
but it fails to do all it was intended to do; for if the 
threads in the material are not allowed to run 
straight, but are pulled crooked, this way and that, 
they will break much sooner than they would were 
they arranged in the straight lines in which they are 
woven. First get the four corners even, 
and the spaces between will be more 
readily arranged. In sewing long seams 
it is best to work from each end to meet 
in the middle. In this way it does not 
happen that one end becomes shorter 
than the other, as is sometimes the case 
when we go on and on from one end to 
the other. Patches are always fixed on 
the right side, and seamed to the mate¬ 
rial. When this part is done, the old 
portion which the patch is to replace is 
cut away; but mind you leave an even 
piece all around, enough to turn under 
and sew down. 
DRINKING IMPURE WATER. 
Spruce Frame. 
are also flat, square pieces of soft pine board, on 
which we may arrange our work and pin it into 
shape, by gently driving the pin through as we 
would a tack; also pine bracket-frames, formed like 
a T, with a shelf-top, made of half a salt-box lid, 
which we can cover with spruce-sticks, adding a 
front and back of fanciful lattice-work, meeting in a 
cluster of wood-buds at the bottom of the T. 
THE SCIENCE OE PATCHING. 
The patch should not be of much stronger sub¬ 
stance than the cotton or linen on which it is laid, 
* It is practicable, however, to use spruce-wood that has been 
scraped and laid by. It should then be steamed slightly, so as to 
render it pliable. 
Set a pitcher of ice-water in a room 
inhabited, and in a few hours it will have 
absorbed from the room much of the re¬ 
spired and perspired gases of the room, 
the air of which will have become purer, 
but the water utterly filthy. This de¬ 
pends on the fact that the water has the 
faculty of condensing and thereby ab¬ 
sorbing all the gases, which it does with¬ 
out increasing its own bulk. The cold¬ 
er the water is, the greater its capacity 
to contain these gases. At ordinary 
temperature a pint of water will contain 
a pint of carbonic acid gas and several 
pints of ammonia. This capacity is nearly doubled 
by reducing the temperature to that of ice. Hence 
water kept in the room awhile is always unfit, for 
use, and should be often renewed whether it has be¬ 
come warm or not. And for the same reason the 
water in a pump-stock should all be pumped out in 
the morning before any is used. That which has 
stood in the pitcher over night is not fit for cooking 
purposes in the morning. Impure water is quite as 
injurious to the health as impure air, and every per¬ 
son should provide the means of obtaining fresh, pure 
water for all domestic uses.— Ex. 
Bouquets. —Put scarlet, crimson, and purple in 
bunches and use white to blend. Yellow should be 
used sparingly; ferns help in giving lightness and 
relief to a bouquet. 
