176 The Farmstead 



the better. Yellow ochre should contain a large 

 per cent of iron ; when ochres are composed 

 largely of colored clay they are inferior. The 

 paint for the first coat should, in any case, be 

 thin, since the oil which it contains plays an im- 

 portant part. This first coat tends, or should 

 tend, to fill the wood with oil so that the oil in 

 the after coat will mostly remain with the paint, 

 and not leave it and pass into the wood, thereby 

 destroying its binding force. Too much stress 

 can hardly be laid on the necessity of rubbing 

 the first coat into the wood by vigorous use of 

 the brush. To realize the value of this principle 

 one has but to visit a first-class carriage manu- 

 factory and observe the methods which are in 

 use to prepare a carriage body for its final coat 

 of dark paint and varnish. In too many cases 

 the first coat of paint is mixed too thickly and 

 is not pressed into the pores of the wood as it 

 should be, ia which case the ]3aint may either 

 peel or rub off in a few years. The country boy 

 dressed in his best black suit often has a 

 reminder of this if he chances to lean against 

 the outside of the old country church while 

 "waiting for meeting to take up." 



All outside painting, with the exception of 

 the first coat, should be done, as far as possible, 

 in cool weather. Early spring and late fall, 

 when flies and dust are not present, are the 



