380 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JUNE 10, 183?. 



[From Transactions of tli3 Essex Agricultural Society^ for 1834 

 ON COI-Oa IKG. 



iCuiicIudt'ii from page 365.] 



GIIEEN. 



Green is a coinpoiinfl of blue and yellow, and 



we have incuicntally mentioned the method of 

 prodneiiigit, while treating of those colors. With 

 indigo and quercitron bark, every shade of green 

 may be given to suit the fancy, following the di- 

 rections ah-eady given. When greens are pro- 

 duced on blues dyed by our first method, the blue 

 part of the color will be most permanent. But 

 the reverse happens when the saxoii blue is used. 

 In dyeing silk green, it is thought best to apply 

 the yellow first. Employing a little logwood and 

 sulphate of iron (copperas) with the yellow and 

 blue coloring matters, will change it to a bottle 

 green. 



On Cotton. — Cotton must be |^lulned, &c., as 

 directed in coloring yellow. This may be done 

 after it has received the blue by method firsl. 

 Macerating in a strong decoction of sumach, 

 should not be omitted in the process. There are 

 many other compound colors, which may bo more 

 clieanly produced by a direct ajjplication of color- 

 ing matters by a single process. Of such we 

 shall now briefly treat. 



CINNAMON COLOR, ETC. 



A very lasting cinnamon color may be dyed on 

 wool, si!k, or cotton, with maple bark and alum. 



Hemlock bark, with alum, produces on wool a 

 lasting bright reddish brown, and on cotton a nan- 

 kin color, which is less durable. With copperas, 

 this bark produces drab and s)ate colors. 



Butternut bark dyes on wool, without .iny ad- 

 dition, a durable tobacco brown. With alum it 

 will be rendered brighter, and niay be fixed on 

 cotton. With copperas, or iron dissolved in vin- 

 egar, it comnninicates to wool, linen and cotton a 

 strong and lasting black ; with alum and copperas 

 various shades of brown and drab. The bark of 

 several species of walnut gives, with alum, chest- 

 nut I>rown ; with copperas, drabs, &c. 



Galls. These are excrescences produced upon 

 several species of oak by the gall fly. Those in 

 , common use are imported, but our farmers would 

 do well to try those foimd on their own oaks, 

 peradventure they may therein discover another 

 source of income, for unless their use should be 

 superseded by maple bark, galls will always find a 

 market. We have ah-eady spoken of their use in 

 dyeing black. It only remains to notice the light 

 cinnamon fawn color, which ga!ls, (like many 

 oilier vegetabli>s that jiroduce black with iron) af- 

 ford, particularly on cotton, with alum. G'allscom- 

 municate a durable nankin color to cotton, after 

 the latter has been macerated in milk, dried, 

 soaked in alum with one eighth its weight of lime, 

 afVerwards rinsed, dried and steeped in a decoction 

 of this vegetable. 



The bark of the cherry tree, and that of the 

 horse chestnut possess the property of producing 

 a greenish olive, with copperas. And chamomile 

 flowers are said to dye wool a durable green, widi 

 sulphate of copper (blue vitriol.) 



PREPARATION OF WOOL, ETC FOR COLORING. 



To jirepare wool for dyeing, it must bo niacer- 

 ated in warm water, mixed with one fourth of 

 stale urine, or in a tepid solution of soap, employ- 

 ing one pound, with a sufficient quantity of water, 

 to every twenty pounds of woo!. 



New silk is naturally covered with a kiud of 

 varnish, or gummy substance, and generally tinged 

 of a yellow color. This must be removed by 

 boi'ing it with soap and water for one hour and a 

 half. It is sometimes necessary to whiten it still 

 further by the fumes of sulphur, to fit it for lively 

 colors. The sulphur which adheres to it after 

 this operation, must be removed by soaking and 

 agitation in warm water. 



The art of applying a variety of colors to the 

 same cloth, cotton, linen or silk, topically, either 

 by the ]rinting block, types, or the pencil, may be 

 interesting to some of our fair friends who add to 

 their accomplishments in the mysteries of house- 

 wifery, skil in drawing, and a taste for those fine 

 arts which contribute to the embellishment of 

 their persons. We therefore subjoin a few di- 

 rections for 



CALICO PAINTING. 



Let your cloth be prepared by being well bleach- 

 ed, washed, dried, smoothed, and spread on a ta- 

 ble, or stretched on a frame, as may be most con- 

 venient. Then draw, with the following ))re|iara- 

 tion, the parts of the figure intended for yellow, 

 green, or red. Alum, powdered, one ounce, sugar 

 of lead half an ounce, warm water three ounces 

 — mix them in a phial, and shake them often for 

 three days ; afterwards add one scruple of potash, 

 and one scruple of powdered chalk, let it stand 

 and settle. Then pour off the clear liquor, and 

 thicken it with gum arable sufiiciently to prevent 

 its spreading when applied to the cloth with the 

 pencil ; add a little powdered charcoal, if you 

 please, to the mixture, to make the drawings more 

 visible. Let it then be thoroughly dried by a fire, 

 heating it as much as can be safely done without 

 scorching it. Then draw with the following, the 

 parts of the figure intended to be black. Take 

 iron filing, turnings, small nails, or iron otherwise 

 divided into Email pieces, and put them into vine- 

 gar, with maple bark or galls, sumach berries, and 

 a little logwood — let them digest till it forms a 

 very black ink. Mix with this, gum arable, till it 

 is sufliciently thickened, and apply it wherever 

 black is wanted, be it on the alnmed parts, or on 

 those before untouched by that mordant. Dry it 

 by the fire as before. Do you want blue or green .' 

 Take indigo one ounce, potash one ounce and a 

 half, quick lime half an ounce, brown sugar three 

 ounces, and boil them in three gills of water, till 

 the mixture loses its blue color and becomes green 

 or yellow, with a copper colored or blue scum. 

 Keep it in a well stopped bottle, and when want- 

 ed for use, pour out a little in a tea cup or wine 

 glass, and drop slowly into it muriatic acid till it 

 cease to eflervescc. Then, if it be not sufficient- 

 ly thickened by the sugar, add gum arable, and 

 iijiply it to the parts of the alnmed figure which 

 you intend for green, and to j)arts not alnmed, in- 

 tended to be made blue. Dry again as before. 

 If a dark olive be jireferred to a black, or desired 

 as additional color, dissolve half an ounce of cop- 

 peras in three ounces of water, and thicken it with 

 gum arable, and let it be applied to such parts as 

 you wish'slionld assume this color. Sulphate of 

 copper, (bine vitriol) used in the same manner, 

 will give an olive inclining to yellow. In like 

 manner other mordants may be applied, and a 

 great variety of colors proilueed, by subsequently 

 immersing it in a decoction of one or more dye- 

 stuffs, as directed below. The cloth must now be 



soaked in warm water, in which a little ox gall 

 has been infused, and rinsed out, without rubbing, 

 till the gum and loose particles of matter applied 

 by the pencil, are washed out. Let it now be im- 

 mersed in a decoction of quercitron bark, as di- 

 rected for a yellow dye, and afterward dipped in 

 a mixture of warm water and powdered chalk, or 

 weak lime water, and it will be found that the 

 parts alumed have become a bright yellow, the 

 alnmed parts to which the indigo was applied 

 have become green, the indigo on other parts re- 

 maining blue, the black unchanged, other colors 

 produced on those parts upon which other mor- 

 dants have been applied, and the remainder of the 

 cloth slightly stained with the bark, which, how- 

 ever, will be readily removed by washing with 

 cold or warm water, or by boiling it with 

 water mixed with bran, and then slightly bleach- 

 ing it in the sun and air on the grass. If you wish 

 an addition of red, it may be now applied to the 

 white or yellow parts in the following manner. 

 Take alum two scruples, sugar of lead one scru- 

 ple, nitro-muriate or murio-sulphate of tin one 

 scruple, cochineal two scruples, water three oun- 

 ces — boil them together, thicken with gum arable, 

 and apply it with a pencil as suits your fancy : on 

 the yellow it will produce a scarlet, and on the 

 white, crimson. Jf instead of using the quer- 

 citron bark, you dye the cloth with madder, or 

 Nicaragua wood, the alumed parts will become 

 red, the indigoed purple, &c. 



'I he preceding essay has been carefully though 

 hastily conipiled from Bancroft's Philosophy of 

 permanent colors, and several other treatises on 

 coloring, of good authority. Many of the meth- 

 ods directed we liave proved correct, by experi- 

 ments of our own, and we confidently recom- 

 mend them to all interested. If the directions 

 given be carefully followed, we doubt not any of 

 the above colors will be obtained in a good de- 

 gree of perfection. Good dyestuffs, of the kinds 

 mentioned, will lie indispensable to success. To 

 distinguish the true quercitron from the bark of 

 other oaks which nearly resemble it, you will do 

 well to soak a small jiiece of it either in your 

 mouth or in warm water, and dip it in the murio- 

 sulphate or other solution of tin. If it bo the 

 right kind, it will instantly show the brilliant yel- 

 low which it gives to cloths. 



WOOIi. 



Col. Shepherd, of Worcester, (formerly of North- 

 ampton) was present at the late wool-growers' 

 meeting in Shelburne, and made some statements 

 in regard to the present state and prospect of the 

 market, which will probably be generally inter- 

 esting. 



He estimated the amount of wool raised last 

 year in the United States, at 75,000,000 pounds. 

 Ihere were imported during the same year three 

 millions and a half of coarse wool, under eight 

 cents per jionnd, and thirtyfour thousand pounds 

 of fine wool. In the same period, about 3.50,000 

 pounds of American were exported, leaving about 

 78,000,000 manufactured in this country. In ad- 

 dition to, the above, wool was imported in the 

 shape of manufactured cloth, to the amount of 

 about 6,000,000 pounds. The whole amount of 

 wool consumed then was 84,000,000. 



He expressed it as his opinion, that the next clip 

 would bring as high prices as the last, for the fol- 

 lowing reasons : He had taken pains to ascertain 

 the amount of cloth and of wool which were now 



