Happy hours may be passed in gathering and pressing ferns and autumn leaves, with which to adorn the house when winter has made desolate the fields without.

Never have too many of these in one apartment, for ornament should always be subordinate, and no room should be smothered with either growing plants, or pressed leaves and ferns.

In preparing these, the brilliant maple and other leaves should be, after drying and pressing, dipped into thin wax, or varnished. When once safely prepared they may be hung about the rooms in such manner as may seem most ornamental. They can be, if desired, sewn on paper in suitable patterns, and framed under glass as winter pictures of the flown summer.

To prepare the leaves, press them immediately after gathering between old newspapers, or, if you have it handy, large sheets of blotting-paper, on which lay a thin, smooth piece of board. Take care to change the newspaper every day until thoroughly dry. Then wax or varnish as above directed.