Year: 1873

A farmers's daughter writes as fol-
lows: Rag carpets and their manu-
facture form an essential branch OF
domestic economy among farmers; for
being made principally from cast OF
clothing, the expense. aside from the
labor, need not be very great, and the
old garments are thus made to do
double duty. Furthermore, the car
pets are not toe fine for use; vet,
when well made, and the colors nice
ly blended, are really handsome, and
give an air of cheerfulness and SUBJ
stantial comfort to the din ing and
living room of the farm house, not
easily attained by shabby, thread
bare, ingram or three-ply.


| know many farmers whose cham
bers and sitting-rooms and, in fact,
every part of the house except, it
may be, the parlor, are carpeted with
this homemade tapestry; the sensi-
BILE "woman-folks" preferring plain
furniture to the privations attending
so many fine things, and the Difficult
ty of keeping up style to correspond
upon the not always immese income
of the working farmer If any of the
family can engage in any employment,
which will enable them to get carpets
for the parlor or chambers more easi-
ly than to make them at home, it
would, of course, be better, and Brus-
sells or ingram would give better sat
isfaction; yet for more common use,
for the sleeping rooms CT the family
and the dlning-roOm, which, in win
ter a: least, is often used as kitchen,
to-, to give US rag carpets.


Some people take great pains in
preparing their rags | do not wish
to reflect upon those ladies who made
them in so short time, for | know
nothing of their method But |
know there is 10 vast difference in
the quality of rag carpets. Some cut
the rags very fine, and instead of cut
ting around the corners of an angu-
lar piece of cloth, cut every strip off
and sew on the next one, in order to
avoid the uneven places and ragged
corners sticking up in the carpet. This
necessitateS an amount of sewing
which would look rather formidable
for two months work.


Again, instead of tearing any Of
the cotton rags they cut them all to
avoid the fringed and ravelled edges
Hence the alternative of cushioned
shears or blistered fingers. No doubt
all this seems to many useless labor,
Just for rag carpet But there is
perceptible differance in carpet made
in this way, and the shabby affairs
we sometimes see which were made
years ago. Besides, those of US who
depend upon rag carpets for our best
rooms naturally wish to carry their
manufacture to the highest possible
degree Of perfection.


As to "hip ship" or 'hit-and-miss'
carpets, they are very pretty while
new, and the colOrs are bright, but
with constant use and frequent sweep
ing even the fast colors will grow dim
long before the web begins to fail
Then they are no longer ehene. but
all of color, and their want of de-
sign or form makes them seem very
homely, while q stripe holds its own
far better OF course it need not be
glaring contrast or red and yellow,
or green and orange, but shaded
greens, little red and less yellow
almost none at all of the latter-rich
brown, maroon, etc Two or three
shades of color sre almost as neces-
sary to produce pleasing effect as
in embroidery and woIsteds.


A light aniline red shading into
maroon, or if you are partial to bright
er cOlors cochineal scarlet, madder-
ed, which usually has a yellowish
tinge, and orange. Blue was always
a perplexity to me. could not find
place for it anywhere in a stripe: il
would not harmonize with anything
| should have left it out entirely if
had had my own chice in the matter
But finally after looking at some green
and blue plaid dress goods, a bright
idea crossed my mind. / put thread
of black and thread of blue altern
ately until | had FIVE OF black and
four of blue, and on either side two
shades of green, the darkest next the
black and blue.


This proved to be the handsomest
stripe of all. and the blue did moi
look out of place or jar upon one:
nerves of vision. Black and white
thread and thread" makes very
lpretty centre for red stripe Many
of these colors, blue, yellow, orange
and two or three shades of green
may be colored upon cotton, and are
as durable as anything in a rag car
pet. Old calico dresses and apron:
dyed with cutch make good brown
and an old worsted dress either gray
or brown, if not too dark, dipped il
an aniline dye, will make a garnet o
maroon.