64 
House & G a r den 
A ^> T,rST> 
611 —These big 30" 
guns are not of the 
smokeless variety. 
They are ready at any 
minute to help you 
with your cigarette. 
With two shell cigar 
rests and 30" high, 
this smoker’s stand 
is priced at $7.50. 
615 —A shining example 
of Ovington’s Ingenuities. 
Yes, it’s an electric 
boudoir lamp, of course, 
and exquisitely designed. 
Its 14 inches silvered 
standard is topped by a 
7 inches shade of old 
rose, blue or yellow—as 
you will. And its price 
is as you like —$5.00. 
T HIS Fall, more than ever, you find 
a real distinction in gift suggestions at 
Ovington’s. It is a distinction that is 
all the more amazing when you consider that 
it is carried into every single article of stocks 
that total hundreds. There are articles here 
for every useful purpose in entertaining and 
articles appropriate for every occasion which 
requires a present—and all of them are of 
the sort appreciated as quickly by your 
pocketbook as by your good taste. 
619— Parrot’s brilliant 
plumage offers an unusual 
opportunity to the rich 
color-attraction of Italian 
pottery. And the bowl is 
just us useful as it is 
beautiful. Made for fruit, 
it measures 8" in diameter 
—parrots 8Y 2 " high. Price 
$15.00. 
60 5 —Here is the kernel of the 
situation in a nut shell: A nut 
bold of mahogany and silver plated 
mountings, 9" dia., and a cracker 
and picks■—all in one. Price $6.00. 
617— Here’s a little 
jar that’s just as 
sweet as the honey 
which it was made 
to hold. Colored 
flowers twine about 
the rich black band: 
and the plate mea¬ 
sures 4" in diameter. 
Its price is only $3.50 
620 — This crystal 
sweetmeat jar, with 
a s i l v e r - enamelled 
knob in pink or blue, 
has 33 separate com¬ 
partments. 5%" high 
and 5" in diameter, 
it is priced at only 
$ 10 . 00 . 
600 —For fruit or for flowers, nothing 
could be more attractive than a 
generously proportioned bowl of yellow, 
iridescent glass — contrasting itiost 
effectively with the block of black 
glass supporting it. 10 in. in 
diameter. Price $3.50. 
May we send you the new Ovington Gift Booh ? 
OVINGTON’S 
312-314 FIFTH AVENUE - NEW YORK 
The Decorative Value of Wood 
( Continued, from page 62) 
The commonest effect is the so-called 
“landscape grain,” which fancifully re¬ 
sembles a contour map or a series of 
knolls and valleys in relief. Very wide 
panels in a single sheet are obtainable 
in this way but are not suitable for 
matching for design as the sawn veneers 
often are. Flush doors faced with a 
single sheet of rotary veneer with an in¬ 
laid border are often more attractive 
than paneled doors. Birch, red gum, 
brown ash and red oak are suited for 
this purpose. 
The normal direction of the fiber of a 
tree may be considered vertical, but 
many things occur to interfere with this 
arrangement and produce all sorts of 
local or general disturbances. As previ¬ 
ously mentioned, alternating spiral bands 
in which the fiber inclines in one direc¬ 
tion for a time and then gradually 
changes to another, are fairly common in 
some woods, especially those of the 
tropics. Sycamore provides a native 
example. One name applied to such 
figure is “roe” but here usage is not very 
definite. 
Oddities of Grain 
At the root flare of all trees, at the in¬ 
sertion of branches in the trunk and at 
the main forks or crotch of a tree there 
is always more or less crowding and 
distortion of the fiber, resulting in any¬ 
thing from wavy grain to intricate 
“curls.” Crotch mahogany is usually 
beautiful and a narrow crotch produces 
figures resembling flames, the spray of a 
fountain, or a cluster of plumes, giving 
rise to the name “feather curls.” The 
term “curls” is not the same as “curly- 
grained,” which applies to small regular 
waves or sometimes to any irregularity 
in the grain where waviness results. 
Crotch mahogany veneers make up into 
artistic long panels by butting and 
matching, but especial care is required 
in gluing them to get satisfactory results. 
Where the figure gives the effect of 
being raised from the surface, the wood 
is said to be “mottled.” The kinds of 
mottle are unlimited and embrace some 
of the figures already described. One 
form found in maple and resembling a 
series of parallel ridges is called “fiddle- 
back mottle” because it was formerly 
much used in making violins. A certain 
peculiar mottle in mahogany resembles a 
lot of irregular wrinkles, and another, 
known as “plum mottle,” shows very 
dark, plum-shaped spots distributed ir¬ 
regularly over the surface. 
Burls are die source of the most 
intricate patterns in wood and usually 
bear little or no resemblance to normal 
growth. These arise as the result of at¬ 
tacks of insects or disease or some other, 
injury. A number of buds develop ab¬ 
normally and grow into an intricately 
tangled mass. Each bud when cut across 
shows the pith as a little spot or eye 
with layers of wood about it. When 
burls are cut into veneers and matched 
the figure is duplicated on eidier side of 
the line of union, and it requires little 
imagination to pick out faces and heads 
of all sorts of animals and grotesque 
objects. Walnut burls are very valuable, 
particularly the large turnip-shaped 
kinds at the base of die tree. Redwood, 
ash, birch and odiers occasionally pro¬ 
duce burls of value. Gnarly English oak 
makes good veneers if sound, and the 
dark patches which add to its appear¬ 
ance are said to be due to decay. 
“Bird’s-eye” maple is not a distinct 
species of tree but is the name given to 
maple wood showing the peculiar dotted 
markings. The inner bark of such trees 
is covered with spines which fit into de¬ 
pressions in die trunk and if a slab of 
the wood is split off it is found that these 
conical projections extend through it. 
When these are cut across, each appears 
as a number of tiny concentric circlets 
to which the name “bird’s-eye” is given. 
Similar structure is occasionally found 
in other woods. 
While figured woods are beautiful and 
ornamental when properly made up and 
finished, their place is in furniture, cabi¬ 
nets and panels rather than for interior 
trim. An entire room finished in curly 
pine or fir or quartered sycamore is not 
conducive to repose. Interior trim 
should be chosen to supply the setting 
or the background, the frame which ; 
should display the picture rather than 
itself. It may be of special color or 
kind to harmonize with the furnishings, i 
or neutral in tone to blend well with 
almost any setting. Appreciation of the 
decorative value of wood involves dis¬ 
crimination in utilizing it. 
A Test of Stucco Bases 
(Continued from page 37) 
a superficial examination was made to 
note the general appearance and condi¬ 
tion of the panels, then a careful and 
close examination, after the panels had 
been sprayed with water, to note cracks 
and other defects not easily observed in 
the dry panels. 
Reporting the Results 
As was to be expected, the panels 
having a base of brick or monolithic 
concrete showed up very satisfactorily in 
both inspections. However, these two 
constructions are not so extensively used 
as some of the others, primarily because 
of their high cost. In the case of new 
brick construction there is no imperative 
reason for using stucco but it is some¬ 
times used to “overcoat” the walls of 
old brick houses. 
The next type in point of excellence 
were the metal lath panels. Considering 
a rating of excellent as 100% perfect, 
these nineteen panels will average 84% 
for structural condition. Appearance is, 
of course, largely dependent on the color 
of the stucco and the care with which 
it is applied and has no direct bearing 
on the structural conditions. 
The group of metal lath panels in 
which the metal lath was applied di¬ 
rectly to the studs without the use of 
sheathing have the highest rating of all 
the metal lath panels. The only panel 
of the whole which had a perfect ap¬ 
pearance and was perfect structurally 
was one of this group. 
Following the metal lath panels, the 
next in point of excellence were the 
terra cotta panels. After these were the 
wood lath panels which show practically 
no difference between those lathed hori¬ 
zontally with one layer of wood lath 
and those counter-lathed. The average 
for structural condition of the wood 
panels was much below the terra cotta 
and metal lath panels. The plaster 
board panels and the panels of the 
stucco board which is made up of dove¬ 
tailed wooden lath on an asphalt covered 
fiber backing showed a lower rating. 
These findings the Government has 
included in a “progress” report which 
constitutes one of the most interesting 
of the Government publications. The 
experiments are being continued and not 
for some time can complete reports be 
made to the public. 
The results of the present tests indi¬ 
cate the high value of metal lath as a 
stucco base. Added to this is the fact 
that it is more economical in price 
than any of the constructions given a 
higher rating and some of those rated 
below metal lath. Added to the struc¬ 
tural efficiency of tnetal lath is its valu¬ 
able quality of fire resistance. 
