If moldings and wash-boards or wainscotings are wiped off with a damp
cloth, one fruitful source of dust will be avoided. For all intricate work
like the legs of pianos, carved backs of furniture, &c., a pair of small
bellows will be found most efficient. Brooms, dust-pan, and brushes long
and short, whisk-broom, feather and other dusters, should have one fixed
place, and be returned to it after every using. If oil-cloth is on halls
or passages, it should be washed weekly with warm milk and water, a quart
of skim-milk to a pail of water being sufficient. Never use soap or
scrubbing-brush, as they destroy both color and texture.

All brass or silver-plated work about fire-place, doorknobs, or bath-room
faucets, should be cleaned once a week and before sweeping. For silver,
rub first with powdered whiting moistened with a little alcohol or hot
water. Let it dry on, and then polish with a dry chamois-skin. If there is
any intricate work, use a small toothbrush. Whiting, silver-soap, cloths,
chamois, and brushes should all be kept in a box together. In another may
be the rotten-stone necessary for cleaning brass, a small bottle of oil,
and some woolen cloths. Old merino or flannel under-wear makes excellent
rubbing-cloths. Mix the rotten-stone with enough oil to make a paste; rub
on with one cloth, and polish with another. Thick gloves can be worn, and
all staining of the hands avoided.

The bedrooms and the necessary daily sweeping finished, a look into cellar
and store-rooms is next in order,--in the former, to see that no decaying
vegetable matter is allowed to accumulate; in the latter, that bread-jar
or boxes are dry and sweet, and all stores in good condition.

Where there are servants, it should be understood that the mistress makes
this daily progress. Fifteen minutes or half an hour will often cover the
time consumed; but it should be a fixed duty never omitted. A look into