ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND FARMING. 187 



We add two recipes taken from an English work, for a 

 cheap paint for inside walls. 



" MILK PAINT. A paint has been used on the Continent 

 with success, made from milk and lime, that dries quicker 

 than oil paint, and has no smell. It is made in the follow- 

 ing manner : Take fresh curds and bruise the lumps on a 

 grinding-stone, or in an earthen pan, or mortar, with a spa- 

 tula or strong spoon. Then put them into a pot with an 

 equal quantity of lime, well slacked with water, to make it 

 just thick enough to be kneaded. Stir this mixture without 

 adding more water, and a white-colored fluid will soon be 

 obtained, which will serve as a paint. It may be laid on 

 with a brush with as much ease us varnish, and it dries 

 very speedily. It must, however, be used the same day it 

 is made, for if kept till next day it will be too thick : conse- 

 quently no more must be mixed up at one tune than can be 

 laid on in a day. If any color be required, any of the 

 ochres, as yellow ochre, or red ochre, or umber, may be 

 mixed with it in any proportion. Prussian blue would be 

 changed by the lime. Two coats of this paint will be suffi- 

 cient, and when quite dry it may be polished with a piece 

 of woollen cloth, or similar substance, and it will become as 

 bright as varnish. It will only do for inside work ; but it 

 will last longer if varnished over with white of egg after it 

 has been polished." 



" The following recipe for milk paint is given in 

 'Smith's Art of House Painting:' Take of skimmed 

 milk nearly two quarts; of fresh-slaked lime about six 

 ounces and a half; of linseed oil four ounces, and of whiting 

 three pounds; put the lime into a stone vessel, and pour 

 upon it a sufficient quantity of milk to form a mixture 

 resembling thin cream; then add the oil, a little at a time, 

 stirring it with a small spatula; the remaining milk is then 

 to be added, and lastly the whiting. The milk must on 

 no account be sour. Slake the lime by dipping the pieces 



