PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 253 



times before, for the benefit of those who want line upon line, and precept 

 upon precept, before they can get and retain knowledge. I hope that a 

 few may be induced to use this cheap, durable paint, which is a better pre- 

 server of wood than oil paint, and has this advantage, that it can best be 

 used upon unplained boards. This is the formula : take one bushel of good 

 white-wash lime, and slake it, and mix it into a fine smooth white-wash. 

 It will take at least forty gallons of water. Then add the following in- 

 gredients : 20 pounds of Spanish whiting, IT pounds of rock salt, and 12 

 pounds of sugar. This mixture should be well stirred, and if mixed a day 

 or two before using, it is better. Indeed it may be kept as long as desira- 

 ble, and when needed for use, after thoroughly stirring, it is ready. It 

 should be put on like any other white-wash, in a thin condition, and rough 

 boards will require three coats to make a durable white color, which will 

 stand the weather three or four years. It is one of the very best applica- 

 tions for shingles. Its color can be modified to a drab, by Kosendale 

 cement, or to a yellowish shade by yellow ochre, and reddish by Venetian 

 red, or any other tint, by some cheap color. I have used ashes, and so I 

 have blue clay, to get a brownish tint. 



Mr. John G. Bergen. — I am very glad to have this useful information go 

 forth to the people, but I should like to hear why tlie ingredients added to 

 the lime-wash improve its value so much that it becomes a permanent 

 paint. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — The lime and salt are both antiseptic, and the 

 adding of the salt makes the wash more penetrating. The whiting is of 

 the nature of clay and forms a white* body on the surface, and the sugar 

 makes the whole so adhesive that a man may rub his black coat against a 

 wall painted with this compound, and it will not show a shade of white. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — I painted one barn roof with oil and lampblack, 

 and another with lime-wash and lampblack, and the last holds its color 

 much the best and was materially cheaper. Lime is an excellent preserver 

 of shingles. Witness the soundness of old roofs on the lower side of 

 chimneys. 



The Chairman recommended dissolving about a quarter of a pound of 

 tallow in a pailful of the hot lime as it is slaked for white-wash, which 

 will make it adhere much better and prevent it from setting off upon 

 everything that touches it, as is too often the case with white-wash. He 

 also said that he had tried the "India rubber paint," but does not intend 

 to try it again. It is not valuable. 



How Plants Grow in Primitive Earth op Rocks. 



Mr. Solon Robinson read the following extract from an English paper, 

 which was considered of sufficient importance to American farmers to be 

 made a part of the records of the Club : 



NOTICE OF A COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF QUALITIES OF VARIOUS PURE EARTHS FOR SUP- 

 PORTING VEGETATION, MADE IN THE NURSERY GROUNDS OF W. DRUMMOND AND 

 SONS, STIRLING. 



Garden pots eight inches in diameter were filled each with a pure earth, 



