the country, is now growing in daily favor for the interior of houses and other buildings, its susceptibility of high finish making it desirable as well as handsome, and probably when well grained it presents more attractiveness than any of the other woods.

Grainers, therefore, should become skilled as far as possible in the imitation of this brilliant and durable wood, and it seems our duty to call especial attention to our illustrations of this wood while endeavoring to impress upon the minds of our readers its adaptability for the purposes herein cited. The ground-work of ash is produced by using a little chrome or Rochelle yellow, together with the least possible tint of red, to which add a trifle of Vandyke brown. But little of this must be used or the ground-work will be too gray. The color when mixed must compare with the lightest shade found in the wood itself. The ground-work must be left with the egg-shell gloss, spoken of in our former chapters. Ash being a very porous wood, the pores, therefore, must, in no case, be left out in the graining, otherwise the work will be incomplete, and for the purpose of producing those take one-half raw umber, one-fourth raw sienna, and one-eighth Vandyke brown; grind all in ale, etc., and apply the same, using it very thin, and whipping it thoroughly, as instructed in directions pertaining to rosewood, etc.

For the second coat, or oil-graining, use the same colors in about the same quantities, ground in oil, turpentine, wax, etc., as mentioned in graining other woods. The same rules as to graining black walnut—darkening the centre a little, and having the grains lose themselves at the sides or ends—are applicable in the graining of ash, and the same tools should also be used in the graining of this wood as are used in that of black walnut; the hand should run the same as in graining walnut, and the grains should run with equal regularity. In shading, the same colors may be used, adding a little more Vandyke brown, and grainers, particularly in shading, should study to imitate nature itself in each particular. Of course the colors should be so mixed and strained as to avoid the possibility of their containing harsh or lumpy substances, so that the work will prove to be clean, smooth, and free from any cloudy or impure appearance.

It can be finished in varnish, or in oil, the same as other woods heretofore named.

CHESTNUT.

Illustrations of CHESTNUT include Plates 39-42.

Is largely used, and, like ash, is a particularly beautiful wood. Becoming so well and favorably known for the various purposes to which it can be applied, grainers should study well its beauties, and in their imitation thereof strive to hold the mirror up to nature. The ground-work of chestnut is produced with the same class of colors as that of ash is, only a little more Vandyke brown should be employed, to produce a more grayish tint than is found in ash.

Though chrome is used in the ground-work of chestnut, we deem it inferior to Rochelle yellow, inasmuch as the latter has a more subdued shade, in nearer conformity to chestnut, than that produced by chrome, the latter giving the work a more sprightly hue than is observable in the wood itself. Chestnut is very porous, or rather it shows a more porous condition than ash itself, and to produce this there should be used a little raw umber, raw Sienna, burnt umber, and Vandyke brown, in nearly equal parts, ground in ale, giving the work a very thin coat, and whipping coarsely, so that when done the pores will show very plainly. For the second, or oil-graining, use the same colors, in the same quantities, ground in oil, turpentine, wax, etc., as before instructed. Grain on much the same principle as in ash, only