3 88 



very useful book, for which a place should be found on the shelves 

 of all amateur artisans. Recipe (soft putty) : Mix 10 Ibs. of whiting 

 and i ft>. of white lead with the necessary quantity of boiled linseed 

 oil, adding it to half a gill of the best salad oil. The salad oil pre- 

 vents the white lead from hardening, and preserves the putty in a 

 state sufficiently soft to adhere at all times, not suffering the wet 

 to enter by getting hard and cracking off, as is often the case with 

 ordinary hard putty. The best way to preserve ordinary putty 

 from cracking is to paint it as soon after it is put on as possible ; 

 and when putty has dried and cracked to such an extent that it 

 allows the wet to enter, it is best to remove it and substitute fresh 

 putty, or to run a brush charged with priming over the putty, work- 

 ing the bristles well into the cracks, and then to rub soft putty into 

 the cracks to hll them up, after which the work should receive at 

 least two coats of paint. The following is an excellent way to 

 soften putty : " Take I ft>. of American pearlash and 3 tbs. of 

 quick-stone lime, slake the lime in water, then add the pearlash 

 and make the whole about the consistence of paint. Apply it to 

 both sides of the glass, and let it remain for twelve hours, when 

 the putty will be so softened that the glass may be taken out of the 

 frame with the greatest facility." General Building Art ami Practice. 



STOVE POLISH. Mix two parts of copperas (evidently sulphate 

 of copper or blue copperas), one of bone black, one of black lead, 

 with sufficient water to form a creamy paste. This will produce a 

 very enduring polish on a stove or other iron article, and after two 

 applications it will not require polishing again for a long time, 

 as the copperas will produce jet black enamel, and cause the black 

 lead to permanently adhere to the iron. Trade " Sccrcls." 



TANXIXG KANGAROO SKIXS. Collect some wattle bark and make 

 a strong decoction, either by boiling or steeping. If you have a 

 tannery near you it will be easier to buy a bushel of crushed bark. 

 Before you steep the skins, scrape off all the fleshy parts' A large 

 square watertight case is preferable to a hogshead, for it is best not 

 to double the skins up more than can be helped. Look at the skins 

 once a week, and not only scrape them over again, but change the 

 liquor. The same liquor will do if you boil and skin it. It will 

 take six weeks to tan huge skins. For 'possum skins a month will 

 be long enough. -Australasian farmers Guide. 



TAR I 'A VK. MI-. NT. Although making it 18 a very dirty and un- 

 pleasant piece of work, and best left to practical hands, it may be 

 easily laid by the amateur. The Mirface of the walk should be re- 

 moved to the depth of three or four inches, and well beaten. Some 

 thick coal tar should then be poured OVCT a he:ip of shingle or coarse 

 gravel, and the whole worked together with a spade, or crooked 

 fork, until the gravel is thoroughly impregnated with the tar. This 

 composition must be spread over the .surface of the walk, and rolled 

 down with a heavy roller. Another mixture must now be made of tar 

 and liner gravel, or sifted ashes from the dust-bin, and a thin layer 



