The art of making Feather Flowers, though a very easy and inexpensive accomplishment, and yielding pretty ornaments for the mantelpiece or the chiflioneer, is but little pursued. Many persons are under the impression that they can only be made from the feathers of exotic birds, and that these are expensive. But the following instructions will dispel this misconception, and remove the difficulty. There is a magnificent boquet of feather flowers in the Crystal Palace, west of the centre transept, made according to these directions:-

1909. Procure the best white geese or swans' feathers, have them plucked off the fowl with care not to break the web, free them from down, except a small quantity on the shaft of the feather.

1910. Having procured two good specimens of the flower you wish to imitate, carefully pull oft' the petals of one, and, with a piece of tissue paper per, cut out the shape of each size, taking care to leave the shaft the feather at least half an inch longer than the petal of the flower. Carefully bend the feather with the thumb and finger to the proper shape; mind not to break the web.

To Make The Stem And Heart of a flower - Take a piece of wire six inches long; across the top lay a small piece of cotton wool, turn the wire over it, and wind it round until it is the size of the heart or centre of the flower you are going to imitate. If a single flower, cover it with paste or velvet of the proper colour, and round it must be arranged the stamens; these are made of fine India silk, or feathers may be used for this purpose. After the petals have been attached, the silk or feather is dipped into gum, and then into the farina. Place the petals round, one at a time, and wind them on with Moravian cotton, No. 4; arrange them as nearly like the flower you have for a copy as possible. Cut the stems of the feathers even, and then make the calix of feathers, cut like the pattern or natural flower. For the small flowers the calix is made with paste.- Cove" the stems with paper or silk the same as the flowers; the paper must be cut in narrow strips, about a quarter of an inch wide.

1912. To Make The Pastes Of The Calix, Hearts, And Buds Of Flowers

Take common white starch and mix it with gum water until it is the substance of thick treacle; colour it with the dyes used for the feathers, and keep it from the air.

1913. To make the Farina - Use common ground rice, mixed into a stiff paste with any dye; dry it before the tire, and when quite hard, pound it to a fine powder. The buds, berries, and hearts of some double flowers are made with cotton wool, wound around wire, moulded to the shape with thumb and finger. Smooth it over with gum water, and when dry, cover the buds, berries, or calix with the proper coloured pastes; they will require one or two coats, and may be shaded with a little paint, and then gummed and left to dry.

1914. Flowers of two or more shades or colors are variegated with water-colours, mixed with lemon-juice, ultramarine and chrome for blue, and gold may also be used in powder, mixed with lemon-juice and gum water.

1915. The materials required are some good white goose or swan's feathers; a little fine wire, different sizes; a few skeins of fine floss silk, some good cotton wool or wadding, a reel of No, 4, Moravian cotton, a skein of India silk, the starch and gum for pastes, and a pair of small sharp scissors, a few sheets of coloured silk paper, and some water colours, with the following dyes; -