THE CARE OF LIVERY. 627 



WHIPS. 



Whip thongs, or lashes as they are commonly called, 

 should be pipe-clayed each time they are used. The clay is 

 first moistened, then rubbed on the thong, and the whip 

 hung in the sun or a warm place to dry. The thong should 

 not be so heavily pipe-clayed that after the horse has been 

 struck a few times his coat is seen through a network of 

 white lines. The thong should be gone over lightly and 

 when dry shaken, not snapped, a few times to remove the 

 loose particles of clay before the whip is replaced on the 

 rack, the stick and leather parts sponged and the metal fer- 

 rules polished. Occasionally the black threads holding the 

 quill should be gone over with a little " compo," and the leather 

 handle rubbed down with some saddle soap and polished. 

 In order to preserve the thong it should be rubbed over with 

 a bullock's heart, mutton tallow, saddle soap, or a composi- 

 tion made of the following ingredients : beeswax one part, 

 hog's lard two parts, boil down and mould in the form of a 

 brick while cooling. The thong should be kept soft enough 

 to permit the bending of a loop between the fingers without 

 separating the plaits forming the lash. When new points 

 are required for the end of the thong, leather ones should be 

 preferably chosen, or if whipcord points are used the cord 

 should be white and not of any color. 



THE CARE OF LIVERY. 



In the use of livery a careful servant can 

 keep the various parts of his uniform in a pre- 

 sentable state for double or triple the time in 

 which a careless servant reduces his livery to 

 a state of ruin. Immediately upon the ser- 



