Given the proper desk, the furnishing of it is most important.  The blotting-pad should be heavy enough to keep its place, and the blotting-paper should be constantly renewed.  I know of nothing more offensive than dusty, ink-splotched blotting-paper.  There are very good sets to be had, now, made of brass, bronze, carved wood, porcelain, silver or crystal, and there are leather boxes for holding stationery and leather portfolios to be had in all colors.  I always add to these furnishings a good pair of scissors, stationery marked with the house address or the monogram of the person to whom the desk especially belongs, an almanac, and a pincushion! My pincushions are as much a part of the equipment of a desk as the writing things, and they aren’t frilly, ugly things.  They are covered with brocade or damask or some stuff used elsewhere in the room and I assure you they are most useful.  I find that pins are almost as necessary as pens in my correspondence; they are much more expedient than pigeon-holes.

In country houses I think it shows forethought and adds greatly to the comfort of the guests to have a small framed card showing the arrival and departure of trains and of mails, especially if the house is a great distance from the railway-station.  This saves much inquiry and time.  In the paper rack there should be not only stamped paper bearing the address of the house, telephone number, and so forth, but also telegraph blanks, post cards, stamps, and so forth.  Very often people who have beautiful places have post cards made showing various views of the house and garden.

Test the efficiency of your writing-tables occasionally by using them yourself.  This is the only way to be sure of the success of anything in your house—­try it yourself.

STOOLS AND BENCHES.

I often wonder, when I grope my way through drawing-rooms crowded and jammed with chairs and sofas, why more women do not realize the advantages of stools and benches.  A well-made stool is doubly useful:  it may be used to sit upon or it may be used to hold a tray, or whatever you please.  It is really preferable to a small table because it is not always full of a nondescript collection of ornaments, which seems to be the fate of all small tables.  It has also the advantage of being low enough to push under a large table, when need be, and it occupies much less space than a chair apparently (not actually) because it has no back.  I have stools, or benches, or both in all my rooms, because I find them convenient and easily moved about, but I have noticed an amusing thing:  Whenever a fat man comes to see me, he always sits on the smallest stool in the room.  I have many fat friends, and many stools, but invariably the fattest man gravitates to the smallest stool.