THE STABLE.   91

showing either the monogram or crest of the owner, looks quite well on a neatly sanded floor.

All these little niceties help to give a servant some pride in his work, and, if he is keen, one will see every now and then some trifling improvement which he has found time to make in his spare moments. Even the owner who takes no interest in his stable will feel a certain amount of satisfaction in realizing that it is kept up "shipshape and Bristol fashion."

When there is sufficient time, all the steel-tined forks should be kept clean and burnished, the shovels, rakes, etc., varnished or whitened, and the judicious use of a little paint on these articles sometimes adds to their appearance.

Everything for stable use should have its place and be kept there. This place must not be merely a dark shelf in some dusty, musty closet, but a rack, hook, or shelf suited to each article, in plain sight, and so placed as to improve rather than detract from the general appearance. The larger stable tools (forks, brooms, etc.) present a most slovenly appearance when either piled carelessly in a corner or distributed " all over the place," so to speak. These can be made to furnish coiisiderably by hanging them close together on some bit of exposed wall, making a panel of them, as it were. So it is with practically every article intended for use in the stable at large.