fully as well, and I think cleaner, if the hearts are put in on the stippling without using a rag or sponge; do not stipple the work too heavily.

In matching Western ash a little blue sometimes helps to counteract the redness of the umber, and will be found to match the dull-gray shade often seen better than black, but ash is of so many varieties and colors as to allow the use of a wide range of colors.

In matching ash the filling of wood has to be taken into consideration. The filling used by the average painter is often anything but what it should be, and the beauty of many an ash door has been destroyed by the miserable attempts at filling often perpetrated by some ignorant painter. This is applicable also to other woods; but particularly to ash.