THE YOUNG 
Mtid each of the former securely and 
strongly nailed to it. The boat is now 
beginning to take shape (c, Fig. 4j. Next 
a board, 2' X 1' (h, Fig. 6), must be nailed 
across the top at the stern, being secured 
both to the sides and the ends. The 
boat being now turned over, the bottom 
can be proceeded with. This is accom- 
plished by nailing pieces of grooved and 
tongued inch board from side to side. It 
is not necessary to cut these to size first, 
because as the sides are safely braced to- 
gether by the pieces to which they are 
nailed, it is not likely the application of 
the bottom will cause them to deviate. 
The bottom boards, therefore, of inch 
stuff, and any convenient width, may be 
Qrmly nailed on, and any surplus project- 
ing ends can be sawn off. 
When this has been accomplished, the 
joints require to be caulked. Oakum and 
pitch are the materials required ; also a 
mallet and caulking iron. The orthodox 
form of these articles is shown at Fig. 5, 
where a is a ship-builder's caulking ham- 
mer and B the iron, or a piece of hard oak 
may dressed up to this shape, l)ut the 
edge left broader, so that a greater length 
may be caulked at each stroke ; but an 
ordinary light carpenter's mallet will do 
for the amateur for the former, and a 
fine-edged " cold " chisel, of about 6" in 
length for the latter, c (Fig. 5). The oakum 
consists of fibres of old ropes torn asun- 
der. The pitch must be melted in a pip- 
kin over the fire, a little tallow having 
been added to it. Care must be taken 
that it does not catch fire, and to expedite 
the melting the pitch must be kept well 
stirred. When quite melted, a twig must 
be dipped in, and when drawn out with 
some of the pitch adhering, be plunged 
in cold water. Judge by the state of the 
small bead of pitch which clings to the 
end of the piece of twig. If it is brittle 
and easily broken, tallow must be added 
to the contents of the pipkin, and well 
stirred in. If, on the contrary, the drop 
is very soft and sticky, there is too great 
a proportion of tallow, and more pitch 
must be added to the mixture. By re- 
peating the experiment the proper con- 
sistency will be obtained. The oakum 
must now be twisted up with the hands 
SCIENTIST. 301 
into a kind of loose coil, of the size the 
amateur judges he can force into the 
seams or joints to be caulked. This 
twisted oakum is then immersed in the 
hot pitch, and saturated therewith, and 
rapidly, neatly, and soundly driven well 
home in the crevices by the edge of the 
chisel, aided by smart, sharp blows of the 
hammer. The process requires a good 
deal of knack to do in a workmanlike 
way. When the pitched oakum seems 
inclined to adhere to the chisel, the edge 
of the latter must be dipped in some oil. 
In large seams it is sometimes necessary 
to go over with a second or even third 
paying of the pitched oakum. A thin 
coat of pitch may be brushed along the 
inside of the joints for farther security. 
The seats are next to be adjusted. Two 
will be sufficient, one of which may be 
fixed about 3' from the stern, and the 
other rather more than 4' from the bow. 
The ends of the seats will require to be 
cut to the curvature of the side at the 
point selected for their positions. The 
seats are shown at d d (Fig. 6). They may 
be about 9" wide, and 1" stuff. For sup- 
porting the ends of the seats, two pieces 
of board, f f (Fig. 1), 1' long, are screwed 
vertically to each side of the boat, with 
their ends resting on the bottom. On 
the upper extremities of these the ends of 
the seats rest, and are secured in that 
position by strong screws, g g (.Fig. 1), 
which pass through the side planks of 
the boat and into the ends of the seats. 
Small pieces of stuff, about 1" by i", 
should be nailed across the boat under 
the seat, and beneath the seat across the 
bottom of the boat. 
The stretcher or brace-piece originally 
nailed across the boat at d e (Figs. 1 and 
2) may now be knocked off, and the craft 
is complete. 
If rowlocks are required, they may 
either consist of cleats of hard wood 
firmly screwed on the inside of the boat, 
as at Fig. 6, or cut out of a couple of 
pieces of ash or other hard tough wood, 
to the ordinary shape of rowlocks and 
screwed on the side. another plan 
is to screw a piece of strong wood, per- 
forated with a couple of holes on the in- 
side top edge of each side. Into these 
