Patsy Ann Bernal, age 13, of Glendale, Ariz., for her question:

WHO INVENTED THE CARPET?

Carpets in the home today provide much comfort for pleasant living. It is an item of furnishing that we couldn't very well get along without. Whether the carpeting extends from wall to wall or is in the form of rugs placed over wooden or tile floors, the covering provides a warmth and comfort that is important to us all.

Carpeting probably started when a caveman put a fur pelt on the floor of his cave to provide comfort. The first carpets came from Persia where for centuries they were handwoven. India, China and Turkey also developed the art of hand weaving carpets very early in history.

First to produce carpets on a large scale was France. This was early in the 17th century. Many of the French carpet craftsmen emigrated to England, Holland and Flanders in the mid 1600s, and the carpet industry grew in these countries.

In 1791 the first carpet factory in America was established by W. P. Sprague in Philadelphia.

Two types of carpets are loomed today: ordinary woven fabrics and pile fabrics.

Ordinary woven carpets have flat surfaces and are reversible. The relation of colors on one side is opposite to that on the other, so if there is a green design on a brown background on one side, there is a brown design on a green background on the other.

The first power loom designed for weaving this type of carpet was invented in Scotland in 1830.

Pile fabrics come in three types: chenille piles; wired piles known as tapestry, Brussels, Wilton or velvet carpets; tuft woven piles.

Chenille carpeting is thick, loose and fluffy. Wired pile carpets consist of loose loops of worsted thread formed over wires and held down at their bases by a firm fabric of linen threads. Tuft woiven carpets feature the warp and weft in a series of tufts sufficiently long to form a pile.

Fine oriental rugs, including the Persian, are still produced on a handcrafted basis and are extremely expensive. The handmade examples are collectors' items with many of the very finest now being displayed in museums.

Oriental and Persian rugs have been closely studied and carefully copied by many manufacturers. Carpets of this type have been accepted widely because the prices are very moderate compared with the prices for the originals.

Carpets today are woven in wool or synthetic fibers, including nylon. Cotton rugs are also in great demand, as are floor coverings of grass material.