However, much of the prejudice that exists against concrete is due to its usual ugly appearance, which is no fault of the material but of the one who built with it. We see too much concrete that is dull, pasty, and gray, and marred on the surface with cobweb lines of cracks; but this need not be. Concrete surfaces can be made as brilliant as any other material by properly treating it. All that is needed to do this is to carefully study the methods of producing textures, and texture is nothing more than breaking up the surface into small patches of light and dark, so intermingled that they give interest. For example, after the forms have been removed, the outside of the concrete can be covered with cement mortar, thrown onto it with a whisk-broom, which will make the mortar stick to the surface in little lumps and hills. The light playing over such a surface will cast shadows in the hollows between the lumps and light up the tops of the lumps. This will give a texture of interest that is pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, the cement mortar may be plastered over the surface of the concrete and used as a sticking bed to hold small pebbles of different colors and shades thrown against it. These pebbles will be colorful, some dark and dull and some light or sparkling like glass. Thus a play of broken light will be thrown back from the surface to the eye, and the observer will be pleased. Then, too, the outer layer of the cement, which was next to the forms, may be composed of white cement and some aggregate like small chips of marble. When the forms are removed it will be found that this beautiful aggregate will not show, but the entire surface will partake of the monotonous white or gray of the cement. However, if this thin coating of cement is removed, then the variety and sparkle of the aggregate below will be revealed. This might be done by striking the surface all over with a stone-cutting tool which is used to surface stones, or it might be done by a scrubbing or rubbing with carborundum blocks. There are innumerable ways by which texture can be developed on anything made of concrete, and experimenting in this line is a most fascinating employment. For this reason, if properly handled, concrete is particularly adapted to the making of all kinds of house accessories, since it is also easily shaped in moulds. [Illustration: Finish made by the Pointer Finish made by the Bush Hammer]