THE CRAFTS 
WOOD CARVING AND PYROGRAFHY. LEATHER AND METAL. BASKETRY, ETC. 
Under tlie management of Miss Emily Peacock, 6 Brevoort Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. All inquiries in regard to the various 
Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but will be ansivered in the magazine under this head. 
FURNITURE FOR CAMP AND COTTAGE 
Elisabeth Saugstad 
EACH 5"ear an increasing number of families of moderate 
means are realizing not only the desirability, but the 
possibilitjT^ of having a little summer home in some unspoiled 
spot by the sea or in the woods; because tastes are growing 
simpler, and because all the talk and visible evidences of handi- 
craft and manual training carrj:^ the conviction that the ele- 
mentary uses of saw and hammer, for instance, are quite within 
the capacity of a person of even very ordinary intelligence and 
while it might not be advisable for the beginner to attempt the 
problems of building the shelter, yet the interior furnishing and 
finishing offer an opportunity for greatly reducing expense 
while adding much to pleasure and interest. 
Of course such finish and furniture should be in harmohj^ 
with the "architecture/' whether it be a shack of "slab-sides," 
a log-cabin with rough stone chimney or a more finished cot- 
tage of shingle or stone. But even for the first instance I 
cannot commend the usual type of rustic furniture, shagg}!- 
barked, gnarled and knotted, with the structural members 
weak and no end of fussy and meaningless detail. It is neither 
comfortable nor practical. The rough bark is unpleasant to the 
touch, and eventually peals off — ^not altogether a disadvantage ! 
— and when the material is cedar, as it often is, it exudes what 
seems a particular^ sticky gum from cut ends and knots. 
Wood with smooth, close clinging bark, is, of course, quite 
a different nratter, and with the simple treatment which 
should be the keynote of the summer resting place, may be 
made most desirable and attractive. Where the beautiful 
white birch abounds there, are delightful possibilities, but a 
true woods lover will not cut carelessly or wantonly. The 
smooth, straight young trees are the ones to choose, and in 
illustrations I to IV I have suggested some ways of use. The 
diagram in 111. I shows the manner of construction in a and b. 
The legs are cut the desired height and the angle cut out to the 
depth of the frame, partly by the saw and the rest by the 
chisel; the frame may be nailed in with stout nails from the 
inside, or pegs may go all the way through and be glued, for 
though they may fit tight at first they may shrink and work 
loose. Dowel wood is best for pegs if it is possible to get it, for 
it is difficult and tiresome to make pegs true by hand; there is 
no gain, and much time lost. 
A table of any size may be made in the same way as the 
stool. For a large table for a living and dining room a good 
proportion is 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 30 inches high. The 
legs from 4 to 5 inches in diameter; the frame 5 inches deep and 
the top from I to i^ inches thick. This will seat six persons 
very comfortably, and eight without crowding. Cross-braces 
would add not only to the appearance but to the stability in so 
large a table, but would considerably increase the difficulties 
of construction. Saplings 2 to 3 inches in diameter should be 
used, with the ends cut into tongues to fit in mortises in the 
legs and pegs put through at right angles. C in the diagram 
in 111. I shows how the braces may overlap Avith a peg through 
the center. 
The frame of the small round table is set in in the same 
way as the square, the angles, of course, being different. The 
shelf is set in grooves in the legs and pegged through as in the 
diagram. The rods above the shelf are of small, straight 
branches, and may be omitted. 
The long bench in 111. Ill might be used on the porch, 
