Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-07-25
horticulture.
soMETHINo ABOUT LACE.

to that made by hand. II is not only true
that it is so, but that for obvious reasons, it
must always continue inferior. In laco-mak-
ing it is essential that the ends Of the threads
be loose Now, until machine has been
devised which will pick up these loose ends
as Devonshire lace-maker or Belgian nun
does, il is useless to expect from the automat-
ic machine the softness and elasticity, the
evenness Of thread or grace Of pattern, which
come from intelligent fingers. / do not de-
sire to snub the maohine-made gimps and
fringes that give a style TO English and
American ladies' dresses, which the traveller
misses SO much as he proceeds through Eu-
rope toward the East; but they are not lace.
There are four real classes oflacs, although
the specialities Of different countries are in
Vulnerable. Point, pillow, drawn and appli-
que are the generic kinds Of lace proper, and
the name Of each, to a woman's understand
ing, designates how it is made. Point-lace,
indeed, meaning lace made by the needles
point, is untrue to its Nance since it is part.
ly pillow-twisted but pillow lace, drawn lace
and applique lace are what their names in
dictate.
Ofdrawn lace and applique lace no de-
scription is needed. OF pillow lace the usual
method of work is thus Upon the pillow,
which is nearly globular, piece Of stiff
parchment is stretched, having number of
holes forming the pattern. Through these
holes pins are stuck, and threads wound upon
bobbins are woven around the pins and twist
in complex ways around each other. These
threads now form the skeleton. The meshes
are bound together. AT every two or three
turns of the thread it is twisted around its
own cord and then again around its neighbours
cords. The figure Of the meshes depends up
on the number of turns made before the twist
is changed from one cord 10 another. 1t is a
most tedious process. Attention cannot be
diverted. Thought must be on the work
Memory is severely taxed. The mistake of a
single twist becomes fatal to the whole piece
There are certain peculiar conditions nee.
essary to the production of perfect lace
These are, first the quality of thread; sec
end, the abundance of female labor and
third, the Roman Catholic religion. Belgi
um, better than all other European countries
possesses the three. Her thread has not anC
never had, a rival her peasant girls, red
checked pictures Of perfect health, are pro
verbally Industrious and her upper anC
lower classes are Catholic devotees. In thu
vestries of the old churches Of Flemish lane
there is wealth of lace upon saceradota
vestments that is beyond estimate. 1t hal
been collecting ever since lsabella's days
was wrought as labor of love by nuns anC
other holy ladies, and appears upon the gcr
geous apparel Of ecclesiastical dignitaries OIL
great days of the church But in all tn,
world there is no such collection of ever,
description Of lace as at the Vatican. From
France and England, from Spain, Portugal
Austria, and Italy, point d'Espagne anc
point Alencon, Valenciennes and Honiton
Brussels, Genoese, Argentan, and one know
not what, have been coming as gifts to tn
church these 500 years. There are II room
used exclusively as wardrobes for laces il
the papal palace.
Though great deal Of old lace has com
down in families and in ecclesiastical estab
lishments, and though lace, as an heirloom
is guarded as watchfully as diamonds, n
doubt much has been lost. 1t has been tn
fashion at times, in different parts of tn
world to bury the dead of distinguished fam
lilies in their lace. This was particular
the case at Corfu. To this day, there are to b
found in shops these specimens of antiqu
lace of elegant workmanship, conspicuous 70
darkness of color and sepuchral smell.
Honiton lace made only in DevonsbirC
England, has never been iavorite in tn
United States. Two handkerchiefs, contrib
uted by an American gentleman visiting i
London to the New York Sanitary fair i
1868, could hardly be disposed of at cost
About the middle Of the last century thi
lace was made in such perfection that it RI
vailed the Brussels. But the lace-makers il
troduced set of hideous patterns out G
their own heads" they said, patterns c
boars' heads and peacocks' tails Of kettle
and frying.pans of churches and castles
Leaves and flowers, graceful compositions Q
the old school, we're abandoned, and the en-
was an utter depression Of the trade. To re
vive the best days of Honiton once agar
Queen Victoria ordered her wedding-lac
composed Of sprigs, to be made in Devonshirt
and paid for X $1,000. The brdal-dress c
each of her married daughters has been mad
also of HonitOn point, the patterns being tn
national flowers. This encouragement Ia
gether with the new business of restoring oil
lace, has once again set DevOnshire industry
on its legs.
vi the value OF old laces 1t is impossible
to speak with accuracy. The bed.furniturt
made of point d'Alencon for the Empires
Marie Louise, cost Napoleon First 100000
francs. The hOunce which Eugene wore a
her wedding, which had taken 80 women
months to complete, cost $4,000 francs. Tn,
emperor gave her dress also, for which h
paid 10000 francs. In the exhibition O
1867 was dress of this lace which it ha
taken 40 women seven years to complete
and which was valued at $4,000 francs
There is Brussels lace stole, worn only b
the archbishop in the Malines cathedral, tina