The reason many rugs are valued at so high a price in money is largely due to the skill of the artist or designer, just as a painting becomes valuable because the artist who painted it has succeeded in producing a remarkable result. The question of rarity also enters largely into the value of rugs. The great artist weavers of the past who worked for love of their art rather than for the money they might secure by disposing of their masterpieces, are dead, and they have had no successors. Then, also, the rug becomes valuable by reason of the amount of time and labor put into it. Many valuable rugs take years to produce, because the artist must do all his work by hand practically and tie his different colored yarns together just so, or the pattern will not come right. These knots may occur every inch or sometimes even less than an inch, and there will be thousands of hand knots in one rug. [Illustration: MAKING TURKISH RUGS.] [Illustration: THE OLDER THEY ARE THE MORE HIGHLY PRIZED The above is a typical Chinese rug, containing symbolical emblems. This is an antique and is of a class that sells sometimes as high as $5,000, its rarity of design, beauty in colors, and scarcity enhances its value.] [Illustration: This is an American machine-made interpretation of a Chinese rug. The ground is a rich gold coloring, the figures being in ecru, dark blue, terra cotta and light blue. It is a beautiful rug, and one of the finest examples of loom-tufted goods ever produced.] [Illustration: WHERE THE BEST PERSIAN RUGS ARE MADE This antique Persian was made in the district of Kurdistan, in Western Persia. The general effect is handsome, although the design is crude. The ground is of a deep rich red, and top colors of dark blue and ecru. The most valuable Persian rugs come from Kurdistan, Khurasan, Peraghan and Karman. The most highly prized come from Kurdistan. The pattern does not show a uniform ground of flowers or other objects, but looks more like a field of wild flowers in the spring, which is very appropriate as a design for anything that is to be walked upon. It is astonishing what wonderful artistic ability is displayed by some of the members of these wild nomadic Persian people. The carpets and rugs are woven on a simple frame on which the warp is stretched. The woof, or cross threads, consist of short threads woven into the warp with the fingers and without the use of a shuttle. Then a sort of comb is pressed against the loose row of cross threads to tighten it. The weaver sits with the back of the rug towards him, so that he depends entirely on his memory to produce a perfect pattern.] [Illustration: This rug is an American copy of a typical Kurdistan. It is marvellous how well the effect in colors and design are reproduced in this domestic rug.] [Illustration: HOW WE IMITATE POPULAR DESIGNS BY MACHINERY