CARE OF THE LEATHER. 517 



14. The leather dashers and aprons should be washed 

 with warm, not hot, water and soap, rinsed off and occasion- 

 ally gone over witli a sponge dampened in linseed oil. 



15. Never, under any circumstances, put a carriage away 

 unless thoroughly dried. If allowed to remain wet panels 

 and joints warp, springs and rivets rust, and stains are left 

 by the beads of water which in time evaporate. Absolutely 

 no excuse can be given for such neglect. 



CARE OF THE LEATHER. 



The leather work comprises the tops, or heads as they 

 are technically termed, the aprons ; these parts are usually 

 made of enamelled leather. The dashboard, wings, etc., are 

 in most instances made of patent leather. The heads should 

 never be left folded down for any length of time, and it is 

 better to avoid fully extending the iron framework ; if each 

 section is about three-quarters open, there will be no chance 

 of the folds adhering nor becoming bagged. From time to 

 time the patent and enamelled leather parts should be 

 washed with tepid, not hot, water and soap ; after being thor- 

 oughly dried a little linseed oil on some cotton waste may 

 be applied ; the latter will remove spots and keep the life 

 in the leather. A little patent leather cream used on the 

 smaller pieces of leather will keep them fresher than the 

 foregoing. Oil leather when new should only be washed 

 in the ordinary way, but as it ages a little neat's-foot oil may 

 be applied, and any surplus that is not absorbed should be 

 removed. The leather breeching-strap loops and safety 

 straps, which attach the pole or shaft to the axle, and the 

 whiffle-tree loops should be " compoed " and polished. 



