The size being ready to receive the gold, about a dozen leaves are put in a heap in the back part of the cushion, then the cushion is taken in the left band and the knife in the right.

The gold is taken from the hook by merely opening each leaf and gently blowing the gold out on the cushion. With the knife a leaf of gold is taken to the front of the cushion, laid squarely, and deftly blown out flat, cut to any size required by a sharp jerking, saw-like .movement of the knife not like ordinary cutting, the knife is then transferred to the left hand, and the tip to the right, the gold is thru taken up by the tip and laid upon the work. The whole process is extremely simple after practice. Breathing must be carried on gently through the nostrils, so as not to disarrange the gold. "When blowing a leaf flat, aim a smart jet of air right into the center of the leaf, sudden and short. "When cutting, lay the edge of the knife, which must not be keen, on the gold leaf firmly, give a little jerk, lift it up, and the gold will separate. Take care not to cut the leather of the cushion. The knife must not be sharp enough to do so. If the gold does not at once adhere to the tip, pass the same lightly over the hair or beard to slightly grease it; this also sets up a magnetic action which assists to hold the gold. It must not adhere too firmly to the tip, or the gold will tear in transferring itself to the gold size.

Always allow each leaf to lay 1/8 inch in laying, to secure a good joint. Use whole leaves wherever possible, and fault up every hole and crevice before dabbing down. Well press down all joints or there will be a slight gap apparent at the junction.

In gilding a plain surface, hammer well down with a firm touch and a good cotton wool pad before skewing off, and then skew with a soft new stencil tool, using a circular motion, and polish with a soft piece of cotton wool. Laying gold upon ordinary oil or Japan gold size is sometimes done by a process of transferring. This process is economical and useful for outside work, or for etched and partial gilt work. To accomplish the process, the gold must be what is known as transfer gold, gold leaf which has been put upon tissue paper. Sheets of thin tissue paper are cut into convenient sizes and slightly waxed with a tablet of white wax. When pressed against the gold leaf in the book, the leaf adheres to these waxed sheets and is from them in turn transferred to the work. The waxed sheets being slightly adhesive, only those portions of the leaf that are in contact with the gold size leave the tissue sheet, and so there is no waste. The tissue being somewhat transparent the operator can see exactly what gold is still left upon the tissue, and utilize every portion of it for the work in hand, he can also see when the gold size has not been covered with the gold.

Gold can be transferred to the tissue leaves without the necessity of waxing them, by merely interleaving the gold book with tissue and putting the book into a copying-press and well pressing.

The exceptions to these two methods of laying the gold are fanciful and individual, the most general being what is termed laying from the book. "When gilding a large flat surface, the gold leaf can be laid direct from the book and much time saved thereby, by the use of a long-haired tip which can take up a leaf at a time without the necessity of cutting. The odd spaces and small bits are afterwards filled from the cushion in the usual manner. Another method is to dispense with the tip, and by taking the book in the left hand, and opening it with the right to turn the leaves straight on to the work. This is a great saving of time for large letters out of doors or for large flat surfaces of oil size gilding, but it requires some dexterity to be sure and economical.

All gilding for interior decoration, and all out-door gilding that can be conveniently left long enough before gilding, should be done in oil gold size. The exceptions are, when time is an object of importance, or where the work is fine and intricate, as in small lettering.