Try not to make a number of tiny cuts or stabs with your tools, but take as long a cut as the nature of your design will allow. The power given by being able to make long cuts can scarcely be over-rated; the work thus done having a smooth and flowing appearance, and no glass-paper being wanted in order to level its surface afterwards. For small details, where long cuts are impossible, the riffler, which has been already mentioned, is useful. A gouge with a somewhat flat edge is well fitted for forming the leaves and stalks; but beginners will probably find that at first they will be able to use the corner-chisel with greater ease. The centre veins, or midribs, of the leaves, should now be carved, and may be either incised or left raised. Use the parting or veining tool for this. For incision, cut double lines from the stem, and allow these to converge until they quite meet at the tips of the leaves (see illustration). Then cut the side veins in single lines, keeping them clear and sharp. None of your incisions should be deep. If you prefer to have the centre veins raised, instead of incised, take the macaroni, and with its aid remove the wood on each side of the vein, sloping the tool slightly towards the vein, but not so as to undercut your work to any appreciable extent.

Never use greater force than is absolutely necessary to detach the chips, else you will splinter or hurt the surrounding wood, which, it is well to bear in mind, is always strongest in the direction of its fibre. Remember, also, that it is far better to cut away too little wood than too much : the former defect is easily remedied, not so the latter. If your work is uneven, very fine glass-paper may be used for smoothing it. Either glue it on narrow strips of wood, and use it as a file, or rub the surface of your work with a loose piece of glass-paper. But it is far better not to have recourse to this process, if you can manage to get your carving sufficiently smooth without it. Anyhow, it should be done at the very last, when the cutting is quite finished, as tiny particles of the glass often remain on the wood, and these would entirely spoil the edges of any tools they come in contact with.

Try to avoid stiffness throughout your whole work, and to keep, as far as possible, a natural and therefore a graceful appearance. Do you require designs for your carving ? Nature is a vast storehouse; and the nearer and more exactly you copy her in her rounded forms and flowing curves, so much the more truly artistic will your work be. Foliage, flowers, birds, fruit, are within the reach of all, and will provide an endless variety of designs. But you must use judgment and observation in choosing nature's best specimens : it would be fully as unwise to make choice of deformed leaves, or twigs with unnatural bends, to copy from, as it would be for an artist to represent a deformed person or child as his ideal of beauty. Not many days ago I was at a school of art where two classes were employed in designing from nature, the pupils having each brought a flower or piece of foliage with them. Some half-dozen were engaged in drawing from sprays of horse-chestnut. In no less than three of these the leaves were deformed, and they were, therefore, as the lady teacher pointed out, worse than useless as models. In order to gain a good conception of the way in which your leaves, fruit, or stalks, will overlie each other, and also of the different amount of projection required in the several parts of your work, you would find it very useful to have a lump of modelling-wax at hand wherewith first to model your design.

Good photographs of carving or sculpture also are pleasant to work from, as they give a very fair idea of roundness and projection.

I have said nothing about the bow-saw and the buhl-saw, as neither is required for any ordinary carving. The former is used for shaping blocks of wood, and for outlining in very solid pieces of carving; while the latter is only necessary when the work done is a sort of combination of fretwork and carving.

The best light for carving, as for all sorts of painting and drawing, is a northern one. But all that you need really care about is to have a good light in front of you when you are working. This is a matter of some consequence, as carving that looks quite smooth and finished when seen in one light will look quite rough when held in another.

Finished carving is often varnished, oiled, stained, or pol ished; but these processes should only be resorted to when you believe that they will perfect your carving, either by bringing out the beauty of the grain, or the color of the material employed. Oak or walnut is generally merely oiled with linseed-oil, and, after the lapse of two or three days, brushed with a stiff bristle-brush, unless the carving is too delicate to admit of this operation. Too much oil must not be applied, else the work will assume a greasy or shiny appearance. Boxwood should be washed over with the strongest possible aquafortis, and in a few minutes' time (when its color is sufficiently dark) be plunged into cold water. When dry, brush it over with a stiff brush.

Bichromate of potash diluted with water for hard woods, and walnut stain made without oil and diluted with water for lime and other light woods, are in very general use. It is as well to try these stains on pieces of waste wood in order to test their strength. They should be applied with a small brush to the carvings, care being taken not to go over the same place twice.

Polishing is not a clean or pleasant occupation, but it certainly does add to the effect of some works. The flat surfaces in the carvings to be polished ought to be perfectly smooth, as every little scratch or unevenness will be distinctly visible after the polishing process. White or transparent polish is used for light or black; French polish, for brown woods. Soak some tow, cotton-wool, or wadding in the polish to be used : make it into a pad by putting it into a piece of soft linen, and drop a little linseed-oil on the pad; this will enable the pad to pass easily over the wood. The pad should only feel slightly "sticky;" but very little oil being used, as this has a tendency to deaden the polish. Use the pad with a circular motion, re-wetting it, when necessary, with the polish and oil. About three coats of polish are generally required, the carving being allowed to dry thoroughly between each.

To conclude: "Practice is better than precept" is very true of wood-carving: and though, perhaps, at first you may undertake it merely as a means of filling up your leisure hours, yet perseverance in it will bring in its train real enjoyment; partly from the better acquaintance you will have with Nature's handiwork, from which you have sought the originals of your designs; partly, also, in the pleasure it will enable you to give to others. Are not presents with "histories"attached to them far more valuable to our friends than things bought ready-made ? And is it too much to say, that a piece of wood-carving is our"petrified"or consolidated thought ? For is not our conception, and the fulfilment of that conception, written plainly in every leaf and flower ?