To make dipped candles, cut the wicks of the right length, double them over rods, and twist them. They should first be dipped in lime-water or vinegar, and dried. Melt the tallow in a large kettle, filling it to the top with hot water, when the tallow is melted. Put in wax and powdered alum, to harden them. Keep the tallow hot over a portable furnace, and fill the kettle with hot water as fast as the tallow is used up. Lay two long strips of narrow board on which to hang the rods; and set flat pans under, on the floor, to catch the grease. Take several rods at once, and wet the wicks in the tallow; straighten and smooth them when cool. Then dip them as fast as they cool, until they become of the proper size. Plunge them obliquely and not perpendicularly; and when the bottoms are too large, hold them in the hot grease till a part melts off. Let them remain one night to cool; then cut off the bottoms, and keep them in a dry, cool place. Cheap lights are made by dipping rushes in tallow, the rushes being first stripped of nearly the whole of the hard outer covering, and the pith alone being retained with just enough of the tough bark to keep it stiff. CHAPTER XXI. ON THE CARE OF ROOMS. In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should be had to correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains should be darker than the walls; and, if the walls and carpets be light, the chairs should be dark, and _vicè versa_. Pictures always look best on light walls. In selecting carpets for rooms much used, it is poor economy to buy cheap ones. _Ingrain_ carpets, of close texture, and the _three-ply_ carpets, are best for common use. _Brussels_ carpets do not wear so long as the three-ply ones, because they can not be turned. _Wilton_ carpets wear badly, and _Venetians_ are good only for halls and stairs. In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any black threads; as they are usually rotten. The most tasteful carpets are those which are made of various shades of the same color, or of all shades of only two colors; such as brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and green, or all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades should be brown or green, but not black. In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw under them, as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw matting, laid under carpets, makes them last much longer, as it is smooth and even, and the dust sifts through it. In buying carpets, always get a few yards over, to allow for waste in matching figures.