again as tightly as possible, and rubbed lightly with a clean cloth; all this having been done, before the furniture is brought into the room, the carpet, having been beaten, should be put down perfectly straight, drawn as tight as possible, and slightly nailed; there is nothing looks worse in a room than to see a carpet all pulled awry, and the stripes and seams running across instead of straight up and down. The furniture should now be replaced, the bed-curtains put on, the bed made up for use,[1] and the blinds let down, so as to keep the room cool and preserve the carpet. All the bed-rooms having been thoroughly cleaned in the same manner, the drawing-room should be next attended to. If there are two drawing-rooms, the chairs and lighter furniture should be removed into the one while the other is being cleaned; if there is but one room, and there is not space on the landing-place, the chairs should be placed, one turned down upon another, in the most convenient corner of the room that can be found for them; the carpet and rug should be taken up to be beaten, and the window-curtains taken down to be well shaken in the court below, then spread upon a table and thoroughly brushed, and if winter curtains, folded up and laid aside, or, if summer muslin curtains, washed. In putting aside winter-curtains, coverlids, &c., when not in use, a sheet should be spread in the bottom of a drawer, the curtains folded to the size of the drawer, laid perfectly smooth, and the sheet brought over them, so that no dust can get in at the sides. Curtains or any other things, put into a drawer uncovered, get marked at the edges if they lie any length of time. Next, the pictures, if easily removed, should be taken down, and china and chimney ornaments, books, &c., &c., put into some closet or safe place, and dusting sheets thrown over the sofas, mirrors, &c., &c.: all this, if it can be managed, should be done at night, that the room may be ready for the sweeps in the morning. The chimneys of sitting-rooms, where there is constant fire, should be swept at least twice a year; a third time, in the middle of winter, may be necessary for some chimneys; in this case it will be necessary to pin up the curtains, and enclose them in bags similar to pillow-cases, and to cover the carpet and furniture completely with sheets, as, even with the most careful sweeps, a great deal of soot finds its way into the room. As soon as the soot has been removed the scouring of the grate should commence; if a bright polished steel grate, it should be rubbed with fine emery cloth, or with a paste of fine emery powder, No. 3, mixed with boiled soap; after rubbing well with a piece of woollen cloth and this paste, polish with glass-paper (not sand-paper), and finish off with soft dry chamois leather, rubbing quickly and lightly till quite bright. The marble chimney-piece should then be first dusted carefully and thoroughly with the small dusting-brush, and afterwards washed, rubbing