64 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



Painting Exterior Woodwork. All wood is more or less porous, 

 and the natural result of applying a substance like paint to such a ma- 

 terial is that the liquid portion sinks into the wood and leaves a large 

 portion of the solid material on the surface. Also different parts of 

 the wood will differ in porosity, and there will tend to be different 

 amounts of naint left on different portions of the surface. In order 

 to do a good job of painting it is practically always necessary to apply 

 several coats to new wood. The first or priming coat is made thinner 

 than the others, the amount of thinning depending upon the porosity 

 of the wood. For ordinary pine, a paint of proper spreading consist- 

 ency, when mixed with an equal volume of raw linseed oil, furnishes 

 a good material for priming. With very porous wood, more oil may 

 be added. The priming coat should be applied with as much care 

 as any other and should be thoroughly brushed into the wood, the 

 brushing being carefully done so that the paint is evenly distributed, 

 with no tendency to run. The paint for priming should consist of 

 the pigment, linseed oil, and a minimum amount of drier, with no 

 turpentine or benzine ; and after applying it at least a week and pref- 

 erably longer should elapse before putting on the second coat. 



Three coats at least are generally necessary to make a good piece 

 of work. The effect of the priming coat, if properly applied, is to 

 fill the pores of the wood and furnish a foundation on which to 

 apply subsequent coats. Owing to the difference in porosity of dif- 

 ferent parts of the surface, it is almost impossible to completely fill 

 with one priming coat, and an attempt to get a good effect by apply- 

 ing the finishing coat immediately on top of the priming generally 

 results in failure. A second coat will not penetrate to any very 

 great extent into the wood. It should not, however, dry with a 

 gloss, because a glossy surface does not furnish a good foundation 

 for the next coat. In order to prevent the gloss, add turpentine to 

 the paint for the second coat ; the amount used, however, should be 

 small to each gallon of paint about a half pint of turpentine in 

 hot weather, or a pint in cold weather, is sufficient. The second coat, 

 which of course should have been evenly spread and well rubbed in 

 .with the brush, should be allowed to dry somewhat longer than the 

 priming coat. The third, or finishing coat, should be one which 

 will dry with a gloss, and for this purpose there should be no tur- 

 pentine or thinner added to the paint at all. 



Interior Painting. The main point in selecting a paint for this 

 work is to choose one which will cover well the article to be painted 

 and which contains colors that are permanent. The actual protec- 

 tive coating may be assumed to last as long as there is any necessity 

 for it. Very light tints or very brilliant colors are likely to fade, 

 and white paints containing a large amount of oil tend to turn yel- 

 low in dark rooms. The pigment lithopone, which is not suitable 

 for outside work, can be used with satisfaction for interior painting. 

 Calcimines, the so-called cold-water paints, in which no oil or ex- 

 pensive lead or zinc pigments are used, and which are, therefore, 

 very much cheaper than oil paints, last very well on the inside. 



