Pot-pourri from a Surrey garden

covered with white oil- cloth, nailed down ; though I prefer a thick white dimity cloth, which can be washed as often as necessary. For a luxurious washing-table, plain coloured square tiles, sunk into a bed of cement and held firm by a metal band, make a delightful surface. A great addition both to comfort and tidiness in all bed-rooms is to have a small or large cupboard, or curtained shelves (for bottles, &c.) above the washing-stand. A couple of shelves at the head of the bed is the best place for a bookshelf in a bed-room. It is such a pleasure, morning or night, to be able to reach, without having to get out of bed, the book that suits one's mood. Modern London builders have a most irritating way of repeating, in house after house, the most obvious defects. One of the worst of these is the bath : a large tin surface indifferently painted, which is quickly injured by the hot water, surrounded by a mahogany rim, the varnish of which is spotted and marked by every accessory necessary to the bath. One can hardly imagine anything more inappropriate. Doulton has invented a glazed earthen- ware bath which obviates all these objections, and would be more luxurious if the floor of the bath-room were raised nearly to the height of its rim ; the steps to reach this raised floor could be outside the room, or inside, according to the hanging of the door. One of the minor luxuries of life, often not found in the largest houses, is to have really hot water when you expect it. I have found that large cosies — the shape of tea-cosies — to go over the hot-water cans (one for the little can and one for the big), easily bring this luxury within the reach of everybody. They are made of chintz, or of any stuff that comes handy and suits the room, lined with sateen to tone with or contrast with the outside, and thickly wadded. If the water is put in really hot, and the cosies are thick and large enough to cover the can entirely, the 286 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN water will keep hot till the morning. This, of course, is doubly useful when there are no fires. With all my recommendations about buying second- hand furniture, of course I do not mean to include bedding. I am old-fashioned enough to think that mattresses had always better come, though more expensive, from the best shops. If my general advice is to furnish simply, this applies doubly to nurseries and bed-rooms. In fact, these rooms should be of such a kind that if the surgeon or nurse entered them with a view to an operation, they would wish nothing altered — distempered walls, white or coloured, grave or gay, as suits the taste ; no carpets going into the corners, but broad margins of painted wood, white is the best. ' Oh, it shows the dirt so ! ' says the upholsterer or builder. ' So much the better,' should the owner of the house answer ; ' the dirt shown on white is harmless and clean compared to the dirt hidden by dark colours.' The curtains should be of the smallest and simplest kind, hung on a brass or iron rod, merely to keep out light or to make warmth ; they should never reach to the ground, unless the window does.