that will not harbor dust. This is very noticeable in wardrobes, many to-day being made without any cornice whatever.

It is in bedroom suites that perhaps the most notable changes have taken place, the tendency running strongly toward brighter and more attractive pieces. It is the growth of this demand that has largely caused the present popularity of walnut, because of its beauty or variety of figure.

PRINCIPAL MANUFACTURING CENTERS

While London, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, and the Bath and Bristol districts of England, and Glasgow in Scotland, are the principal manufacturing centers in the British Isles, there are thousands of small factories scattered all over the country, the industry being by no means centralized in a few cities to the extent that it is in the United States.

The chair industry, however, is to some extent an exception, the town of High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, about 26 miles from London, being the principal manufacturing center, although many chairs are made in other cities where the furniture industry is prominent.

The chair-making industry in High Wycombe was originally brought about by ample supplies of beech and birch timber in the neighborhood and from early times it has been the chief chair-making center of the country.

DINING-ROOM FURNITURE

The furniture for an average British dining room to-day consists of a sideboard or buffet, 4 feet 6 inches wide, usually having two drawers and two cupboards, each with a shelf; a table (which may be one of a variety of shapes, depending upon the style of the set), which generally extends on the draw-leaf principle from 3 feet to 5 feet, although greater lengths can be obtained if required; and a set of five chairs, including one with arms, called a "carving" chair. The suite may be either purchased complete or each piece individually, according to the wishes of the purchaser.

Many dining rooms also contain other pieces in addition to those mentioned, such as a bookcase, writing desk, side table, tea wagon mounted on rubber-tired wheels, carving table, easy chairs, etc., made in the same style as the principal furniture.

Mahogany, walnut, and oak are practically the only woods used, except for cabinets or other decorative pieces of furniture, which are frequently made of the fancy hardwoods or inlaid with marquetry. Mahogany.-Mahogany is the favorite wood for the more expensive dining-room furniture, but its high cost limits the market for it. Where, however, price is a secondary factor, mahogany easily retains first place in the popular favor, but walnut is pushing it hard to-day. Adaptations of the styles made famous by the great furniture makers of the past, such as Chippendale, Sheraton, and Heppelwhite, modified to meet modern housing facilities, are particularly in demand. In such designs the beautiful figure and high polish obtainable in Central American mahogany make a particularly fine effect of charm and refinement.

The panelwork of these designs is always of finely figured wood, usually of veneer, applied in the case of the best grade of furniture

on a core of the same wood, or, in the less expensive grades, on a core of okoumé plywood and to a small extent yellow poplar.

Walnut. Since the war there has been a decided revival in the vogue for walnut furniture in Great Britain and it is being used to an increasing extent for high-grade work.

It is, however, in styles of the Queen Anne period, when walnut gained such prominence as a furniture wood, that it is chiefly used to-day, also for special pieces, such as bookcases, tables, china cabinets, bureaus, and writing tables, also chairs with their characteristic rounded backs, unpierced vase-shaped splat, and cabriole legs.

The French and English varieties are chiefly used, many beautiful panel effects being secured by utilizing burls and the various kinds of figures obtained by different veneering methods and especially by taking two adjacent pieces out of the same log and turning one over. The figure in both pieces is the same and matches when placed side by side; the pattern so obtained is called "matched figure."

Oak. While mahogany, and to a certain extent walnut, are the principal woods used for the manufacture of the more expensive dining-room furniture, oak is an easy first when it comes to filling the needs of the great masses of the British public.

For the best grades of oak furniture the varieties mostly in demand are the Slavonian, or Austrian, as it is called in the trade, imported from central Europe and the Volhynian, from the Province of that name, which lies partly in Poland and partly in Russia. Their mild texture, evenness of color, and fine figure make these varieties particularly well adapted for furniture making. A large portion of these imports are in the form of billets and logs cut through and through, which enables the furniture manufacturers, who attach great importance to this in high-grade furniture, to match the panels of the various pieces and also to secure wider widths than is possible in edged lumber. Japanese oak is also favored by the furniture industry but the quantity available is comparatively small.

However, only a small part of the total production of oak furniture in Great Britain is made from stock supplied by the above-named countries, by far the greater part of the industry's needs being filled by white oak, either plain or quarter-sawn, supplied by the United States, on which the British furniture manufacturers depend for the greater part of their oak requirements.

The Jacobean or "mission," as it is called in the United States, style is most favored for oak furniture, the dark finish being greatly admired, and by far the greater part of the oak furniture sold is of this design and finish. The idea of making inlaid panels, popular during the William and Mary period, is also being applied to oak by some manufacturers with good effect. Another finish that has come to the forefront during the past few years is the "weathered" oak shade, while still another style is fitted with antique iron hinges and handles and leather backs to the chairs to give an old-time effect.

BEDROOM FURNITURE

Many changes have taken place in the furniture for the bedroom. during the past few years, the most noticeable being the passing of the washstand with its marble slab top, basins, and water pitchers, long a familiar sight in British bedrooms, now replaced, at least in

many of the newer homes, by stationary washstands fitted with running water.

As in the dining room, oak is the principal wood used for the great bulk of bedroom furniture, while mahogany and walnut are reserved for the higher grades. However, walnut furniture is much more extensively used in the bedroom than in dining-room suites, and is now making a strong bid for first place in public favor in high-class suites, full advantage being taken of the beautiful panel effects obtainable by the use of matched figure veneer.

Occasionally suites are made of gray wood (dyed sycamore) with inlays of ebony, mother-of-pearl, ivorine, and colored woods; zebrawood, padouk, and other fancy hardwoods or lacquer, which is also coming to the forefront again after being out of favor for some years.

An average suite.-An average suite of bedroom furniture consists of a wardrobe, dressing table or dressing chest, chest of drawers, and one or two chairs, generally with a cane or rush seat.

Wardrobes are usually divided into two parts, one-third of the interior being fitted with shelves, the remainder with hanging accommodations. Sometimes they are fitted with one long or two short drawers beneath. The sizes of wardrobes vary from 4 to 6 feet in width and have from one to three doors. Generally in the larger sizes the center door either on the inside or outside is fitted with a full-length mirror. For small single bedroom suites the wardrobe is either 2 or 3 feet wide, without shelves, but fitted with hanging hooks, either with or without a mirror on the outside of the door. On account of changed housing conditions, however, about four to six single suites are sold to every double one.

Dressing tables, or dressing chests, vary in design according to the style reproduced and are 3 feet 3 inches, 3 feet 6 inches, 3 feet 9 inches, 4 feet, and 4 feet 6 inches wide, 3 feet 6 inches being the most popular.

Chests of drawers, used for storing clothes, have a varying number of drawers from two short at the top and one long underneath, to two short and three long, while in some cases all the drawers run the full width of the piece, which runs from 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 6 inches.

Additional pieces, such as toilet chest or cupboard, or tallboy chest, are sometimes included in a bedroom suite.

The chifforobe, or "fitted wardrobe," as it is called, is rapidly coming to the front in Great Britain. These are made in a variety of sizes and fitted for both men and women, ranging from 4 feet 4 inches high, 3 feet 9 inches wide, and 19 inches deep, to 6 feet high, 4 feet 3 inches wide, and 1 foot 8 inches deep. They are divided into two sections, one side being fitted with shelves, pigeon holes, trays, or drawers in various sizes; the other is provided with an extending rod to accommodate six suits or dresses, with a place for shoes below.

Bedsteads.-Bedsteads are not considered part of a bedroom suite but must be purchased separately and when of wood are of the same species as the rest of the furniture.

Although metal bedsteads are still called for, the demand has to a very large extent gone over to those made of wood.

The size of bedsteads is practically standardized to 2 feet 6 inches or 3 feet and 3 feet 6 inches for single; and 4 feet and 4 feet 6 inches for double, all 6 feet 6 inches long.

INEXPENSIVE FURNITURE

As in the better grades of furniture, oak is the most popular wood for the inexpensive kind such as is used in the homes of the wageearning classes, cheap hotels, boarding houses, and bedrooms occupied by domestic servants, more being made of this than all the others combined. Besides oak, various woods, such as American red gum (satin walnut), also European beech and Canadian birch stained with a mahogany or walnut finish, are used, while the cheapest kind of bedroom furniture is of north European pine painted in imitation of oak or some other variety. In the manufacture of imitation mahogany furniture, in order to simulate the Sheraton style, marquetry transfers are used to a large extent, which give an inlay effect of such excellence that it is difficult for the ordinary individual to tell them from genuine inlay work. In addition, there is a considerable demand for softwood nursery furniture enameled white or in pastel shades, many of these suites being decorated by means of transfers with pictures illustrating various nursery rhymes. The use of American red gum in the British furniture industry, however, is largely regulated by its price in relation to other woods, and as soon as the economic level is reached the demand falls off and other woods are used instead. While the average purchaser will buy "satin walnut" furniture when it is cheaper than oak, he prefers the latter wood and will always take it unless there is a money advantage. For this reason the enhanced value of gum during the past few years has had the effect of transferring the public demand. largely to oak, and to-day comparatively little is used by this industry as compared with pre-war years.

It is in this furniture that American sap gum enters principally for backing purposes while for drawer sides and backs mild textured ash or tupelo is used.

UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE

Upholstered or overstuffed armchairs and settees are very popular and are usually found in the library or dining room. Leather, velour, cretonne, damask, or other fabric is used as a covering material to meet the purchaser's wishes, while the frames are of Canadian birch or continental beech, chiefly the former.

ANTIQUE FURNITURE

A thriving business is done in the reproduction of antique furniture of all styles and periods. The principal items are Jacobean buffets, tables, chests, and armchairs of native oak, and Queen Anne style dressing tables, bureaus, and bookcases of walnut.

KITCHEN FURNITURE

Furniture for the kitchen, such as dressers and tables, is usually made in millwork factories out of north European pine and painted. In the event the top is to be left in a natural state for the convenience of washing, spruce, on account of its white color, is used.