336 



TOE FARMERY. 



[Chap. III. 



"Everybody knows -wliat :i ilifficult thinic it is to nail roof-boards and 

 weatlier-hoards bo that lliey will hold tor a yood length of time. There are 

 many other places in which it is nearly ini[iossible to make nails do the 

 office for which they are intended. A remedy — and the only one I ever 

 saw — I discovered a few years ago ; it is very simple and never fails. Take 

 tenpenny, malleable nails, and place the head in a vice, and with a pair of 

 pincers grip the nail near the point, and twist it half-way ronnd, minding to 

 make the twist Somewhat elongated. In driving, the nail becomes a screw, 

 and neither sun nor hammer can withdraw it." 



359. To make Mortar Ininervious to ^\'t{, — " Provide a square wooden 

 trough, say S by 4 feet, and i' feet deep; put in a quantity of fresh lump 

 lime, and add water quickly. When the lime is well boiled, having assisted 

 that operation by frequent stirring, add tar (the heat of boiling lime melts 

 the tar), stir it well, taking care that every part of the lime is intimately 

 mixed with the tar; then add sharp sand or crushed clinker, and stir it v.ell 

 as before; after which, in about twenty hours, it will be fit for use." 



300. Cheap Paints for Farm Buildiugs. — Tar and lime may be used, in 

 order to make cither wood or mason-work watci-proof. The best way to 

 prepare gas or coal tar for coating wood-work with, is to get some of the 

 best stone lime, avoiding chalk lime, and slake it to a fine powder; boil the 

 tar for about half an hour, and then add about one pint of hot lime-powder 

 to a gallon of tar, and boil it about half an hour longer, stirring it continu- 

 ally, and using it hot. . 



We give the above as we find it, but prefer the following : Take the com- 

 mon "Itosendalc cement" (water lime), sift it, and mix the fine powder with 

 coal-tar, or any kind of oil, and it will make an excellent paint, of a drab or 

 brown-stone color. 



361. Permanent Whitewash Painti — Another excellent paint is made of 

 the Ibllowing ingredients: that is, one bushel of well-burnt white lime 

 unslaked, 20 lbs. Spanish whiting, 17 lbs. rock-salt, 12 lbs. brown sugar. 

 Slake the lime, and sift out any lumps or stones, and mix it into a good 

 whitewash, say with 40 gallons of water, and then add the other ingredients, 

 and stir all well together, and put on two or three thin coats with a common 

 whitewash bruslt. Five dollars' worth of this cheap white paint will give 

 the farmery such an improved appearance that it would sell readily for $100 

 more than it would in its old wood-colored coat and neglected-looking con- 

 dition. This mixture makes a paint that is very cheap, and makes a coat 

 tliat docs not wash off or rub oft", and looks well — that is, makes the rough 

 boards of a barn, shed, outbuilding, or fence look much better than in their 

 natural wood-colored condition; and it will, by its antiseptic qualities, tend 

 beneficially toward the preservation of the wood. It can be tinted by any 

 of the articles mentioned in 3G2. This is intended for the outside of build- 

 ings, or where it is exposed to the weather. In order to give a good color, 

 three coats are necessary on brick and two on wood. 



Another cheap and good paint may be made of any pure clay ; such as 



