CHAPTER XXI 



PAINTS AND WHITEWASHES 



165. Paints. Few farmers realize fully the economic 

 value of paint on farm buildings and farm machines; its 

 use is sometimes regarded as a luxury that may readily be 

 dispensed with. Paint not only improves the appearance of 

 the various objects to which it is applied, but it has a greater 

 value in preventing or delaying the rusting or decaying of 

 both machinery and buildings, thereby increasing their 

 length of service. One does not have to be a skilled painter 

 to do the ordinary painting on the farm. With the aid of 

 a few inexpensive utensils, paint may readily be applied. 



Paint consists of a pigment or of several pigments held 

 in suspension by a liquid, or vehicle, as it is called. If the 

 paint is to be used for outside work it must be insoluble in 

 water and possess a high resistance to the chemical action of 

 atmospheric elements. Pigments are stable organic bodies 

 or mineral compounds which are used to impart either a 

 protective covering or a color or both, by mechanical ad- 

 hesion or by admixture with the substance to be painted. 

 The color of a pigment is dependent upon the amount and 

 kind of light that it reflects. It should be opaque if it is 

 desired to conceal the surface to which it is applied. The 

 vehicle is the liquid portion of the paint and is usually 

 a drying oil; sometimes water with gum or size is used 

 for inside work. Linseed oil seems to be the best oaint 

 vehicle. 



166. Drying Oils. The so-called drying oils are named 

 for their peculiar property of hardening. When linseed 

 oil, and any one of a number of other oils having somewhat 

 similar properties, is spread in a thin layer over a surface, 



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