118 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
The Best Whitewash we Know of. 
The arrival of the house-cleaning and house¬ 
repairing season, and several recent inquiries, re¬ 
mind us to again refer to that first-rate in-door 
white-wash we described last June. Nearly a 
year’s trial has confirmed all we said of it. Our 
house ceilings, and the walls where not papered, 
which received one coat last May, are now as 
white as after a usual fresh coat of lime, and we 
have not been in the least trouble with its “ rub¬ 
bing off.” The numerous published receipts, to 
the contrary notwithstanding, we believe no pre¬ 
paration of linre or other material will adhere 
well without the addition of glue, oil or varnish. 
The latter two articles are expensive, and caustic 
lime mixed with glue will soon change its color. 
White chalk is uncaustic lime, (carbonate of lime,) 
and this substance is the best substitute for lime, 
as a white-wash. A very fine and brilliant 
white, washed preparation of chalk is called “Paris 
White.” This we buy at the paint stores for 3 
cents a pound, retail. For each sixteen pounds 
of Paris White, we procure half a pound of the 
white transparent glue, costing twenty-five cents 
(fifty cents per pound). The sixteen pounds of 
Paris White is about as much as a person will 
use in a day. It is prepared as follows : 
The glue is covered with cold water at night, 
and in the morning is carefully heated, without 
scorching, until dissolved. The Paris White is 
stirred with hot water enough to give it the proper 
milky consistence for applying to the walls, and 
the dissolved glue is then added and thoroughly 
mixed. It is then applied with a brush like the 
common lime whitewash. Except on very dark 
and smoky walls and ceilings, a single coat is suf¬ 
ficient. It is nearly equal in brilliancy to “ zinc 
white,” a far more expensive article. Let the 
readers of the American Agriculturist , try this 
method the present Spring, on a room or two at 
least, and we think they will not use lime there¬ 
after. It is, of course, a little more expensive 
than common lime, but is cheaper in the end, on 
account of its better color, greater permanence, 
and firm adherence to the plastering. At least, 
such is our experience. 
House Cleaning- 
BY ANNA HOPE. 
“ The melancholy days are come, 
The saddest of the year,” 
To the lords of creation. House-cleaning is in 
season ; carpets must be taken up and shaken, 
walls must be brushed, perhaps washed, or pa¬ 
pered, or painted. Paint must form an intimate 
acquaintance with the scrubbing-brush, windows 
must be taken out and dashed with water, and 
chilling draughts and general discomfort must be 
produced, which will result in colds and coughs, 
exhaustion of body and vexation of spirit. 
These wonderful “ house-cleanings ” result in 
much more harm than good, notwithstanding 
“ cleanliness is next to godliness.” There is a 
more excellent way of neatness, a quiet, unob¬ 
trusive way, which occasions no great disturbance 
—no violent revolution—which does not bring in 
its train evil consequences to health and temper 
and family comfort. 
The attic may first be put in order—its trunks 
and boxes overlooked, and all things not needed 
there for the summer, removed. 
Then let the chambers be cleaned, disturbing no 
more rooms than can be completed in a day, un¬ 
less extra work, like painting and papering is re¬ 
quired. The furniture should be thoroughly 
dusted and removed to another room. Pictures 
should be taken from the wall; mattresses 
should be well beaten, and the bedstead, if not 
taken apart, should be covered to protect it from 
the dust. When taking up the carpet, fold the 
breadths as carefully as possible, so as not to raise 
much dust. The sweeping should be done slowly, 
and with short strokes of the broom or brush, for 
the same reason. After the dust has settled, the 
wood-work requires a nice dusting before wash¬ 
ing it; the walls may be dusted either by a long- 
handled feather duster, or by tying old muslin 
over a broom, and passing over the walls and 
ceiling with it—this removes the dust more ef¬ 
fectually than a broom or brush without it. It is 
well to wash the floor before the other wood¬ 
work, to save the clothes from becoming unneces¬ 
sarily soiled. 
In washing windows or paint there is no need 
of a deluge of water, which, unless speedily 
wiped up, will run through the floor and stain the 
ceiling below. The cloth for cleaning should not 
be dripping with water ; it is only an untidy tidi¬ 
ness to have pools of soap-suds lying about the 
floor ; it is well to have a dry cloth with which 
to wipe paint after washing it. Soap should not 
be rubbed on the scrubbing cloth when it can be 
avoided, as it softens and removes the paint— 
there are, however, obstinate cases in which se¬ 
vere remedies must be used. Window’s should 
first be wiped with a damp cloth ; use a brush for 
the corners—an old shaving brush answers well 
for this purpose ; if the dust resists the brush, 
put a bit of whalebone or a splinter in the cloth, 
and you will not fail to succeed ; nothing looks 
worse than black corners. Dry the window with 
a dry cloth which is not linty, or with paper. 
Floors should always be washed after taking up 
carpets, before putting them down again, as a 
protection against moths. If moths are found in 
the carpet, I know no better way than to dampen 
a cloth, place it over the carpet and iron it with 
a hot iron, so that the steam may destroy the life 
of the mischievous little workers. This is parti¬ 
cularly important in parts of the carpet where fur¬ 
niture is not often removed—as under book-cases 
and tables. In putting down a carpet do not 
drive the tacks as if they were never to be taken 
out again, but leave them so that with the claw 
of a tack-hammer they may easily be drawn out. 
Tacks w'ith leather upon them are best, as there 
is less danger of carelessly pulling them through 
the carpet. 
When the chambers are in order for summer, 
the rooms on the lower floor can take their turn. 
The cellar must not be neglected—the remains 
of vegetables must be removed, and a good coat 
of whitewash applied. The health of families of¬ 
ten suffers from neglect in this respect; it is im¬ 
possible to thrive in impure air. 
While you are using whitewash do not suffer 
yourself to yield to the temptation, if it should be 
presented, to whitewash the fences, and above all 
the trees. I think the color the Creator gave the 
trees is the best for them, and when we- dress 
them in shrouds, we mar their beauty. Fences 
are necessary evils; they injure the unity of a 
landscape by creating a resemblance to a chess¬ 
board. Fences should never be made conspicu¬ 
ous ; they are best when concealed by shrubbery. 
We are told that these uncultivated spots har¬ 
bor weeds, and so fences must stand up straight 
and bare, a mere thing of use, unclothed with the 
garment of beauty which Nature is ever weaving 
to hide ugliness. If fences are painted, let it be 
of some quiet color, as nearly resembling that of 
the soil as possible. 
It is not difficult to paint and paper a room if 
one chooses to attempt it. To paint requires no 
more strength than to use a scrubbing-brush, and 
it certainly repays one for some hours of labor to 
see a room look fresh and nice. Directions suf¬ 
ficient for the purpose would be given by any 
painter, unless, perchance, the fear that his craft 
was in danger might seal his lips. 
It is more laborious to paper than to paint, be¬ 
cause there is so much reaching, but with a proper 
step-ladder it will not be very wearisome for a 
person in good health. Care must be taken to 
match the figures correctly and to have the differ¬ 
ent widths hang perpendicularly. Begin to paper 
by a door or window where any defect in match¬ 
ing will be the least observed. A little aluin dis¬ 
solved in the paste causes it to adhere better. 
When the paper has been laid against the wall 
it can be smoothed on, by patting it with a towel, 
from the middle of the paper to the edge; too 
much paste must not be put on the paper as it 
may stain it. 
Putting away woolens and furs comes in con¬ 
nection with spring cleaning ; nothing is better 
for their preservation from moths than camphor 
—turpentine and tobacco are also good. Furs 
and woolens should be put away early in the sea¬ 
son, if possible before the moths appear. 
Filtering Cisterns.—An Improvement- 
The above cut we gave in January (page G), 
to show a general form of constructing double 
or filtering cisterns. Wm. R. Hazard, of Ca¬ 
yuga Co., N. Y., has since called upon us and 
described his own cistern, which is essentially 
like the above, but with an improvement which 
we have attempted to illustrate in fig. 2. The 
improvement consists in so arranging the filter¬ 
ing materials, that the water shall rise through 
them in passing from the receiving cistern, R, 
to the main cistern, C. The advantage of this 
is, that while the sediment would settle upon, 
and clog up the upper layer of sand in fig. 1, 
but in fig. 2 it would, fall down and leave the 
filter always clean. There is a little error in 
engraving fig. 2, which we did not observe un¬ 
til too late to correct it. The lower layer of 
sand s, should be supported by a perforated board 
or sheet of copper, with a woollen cloth upon 
