343 
AMERICAN AGRICULT URIST. 
cut of the right length, allowing enough to have 
about two inches to turn down around the sides 
of the room. Care was taken to cut these pieces 
so that they would match when put up. I he 
pieces were then all laid together upon a table, 
spread out one over the other, with the figured 
side down. The paste was made of flour and wa¬ 
ter with a piece of alum the size of a walnut to 
each pailful. After boiling, it was thin enough 
to spread very easily. Paste for this purpose is 
usually made too thick or stiff. A wide brush 
like a whitewash brush, but without a handle, was 
used for spreading the paste. About two thirds 
the length of the top piece was covered evenly 
with paste, and doubled together, except a few 
inches of the end. Then the other end was 
treated in the same manner. The paste that run 
over the edge came upon the back of the next 
piece, and thus no harm was done by it. The 
doubling was for convenience in handling without 
touching the pasted side, and the ends were left 
not turned down, to take hold of readily, when 
separating the pasted sides. The operator then 
supported the paper on the left hand, and with the 
right commenced laying the edge of the paper 
even with the edge of the ceiling, passing the hand 
lightly outward at the end, and then along the 
length of the piece. When one end was thus 
fastened, the other was opened, part at a time ; 
and put up in the same manner. A brush broom 
instead of a cloth was then passed over the 
whole to take out the wrinkles. Thus each piece 
was put up until the ceiling was finished. The 
long pieces for the sides were then cut, folded, 
and laid on, commencing at the top and working 
downward. The odd corners and pieces were 
put on last. Finally the border was added, and 
the job nicely completed. This is a simple opera¬ 
tion to describe, but from the particulars given, 
any one unacquainted practically with papering, 
may probably derive a hint or two. 
How to Do your Own Soldering. 
“ Bridget, get your things all ready to wash on Mon¬ 
day.”—" The boiler leaks, mum, there’s a hole in the 
side.”—“ Why didn’t you tell me before ?”— 1 “ I forgot it 
Well, we must put off washing until Tuesday. 
Husband, that boiler must be sent to town on Monday.” 
I can’t spare any one to go, wife, the men and boys 
must hurry up the haying: You must put a rag into 
the hole. Really I wish X had learned the tinner’s trade, 
there’s so many leaks coming into the boilers, the basins, 
the pails, the milk pans, etc., etc. Two minute’s work 
would stop that leak in the boiler, but I must send it 
half-a-dozen miles, and perhaps wait an hour or two, to 
have it fixed. I wish there was a good substitute for tin 
ware, it’s so much bother.”-What family has not had 
some such experience as the above? 
When a tin-worker is near at hand, it is usual¬ 
ly more convenient to employ him to execute the 
various items of soldering that occur in every 
family. But a large number of families live re¬ 
mote from a regular tin-worker. Especially is 
this the case with those in the newer sections of 
the Country Moreover, the great majority of 
farmers live from one to five or more miles from 
a tin-worker, and it is no small inconvenience to 
carry to the shop the toiler, the tea-kettle, the 
tin-pan, the wash-basin, the cups and platters, and 
other kitchen utensils, every time a leak occurs. 
The cost, of mending is usually of less account 
than the trouble of carrying an article, waiting 
for it, and bringing it home, to say nothing of the 
inconvenience, and the loss of its use until “it 
can be attended to.” And still further, many 
utensils are quickly spoiled, or thrown aside as 
useless, when a single drop of solder applied, 
would preserve them many weeks or months. 
But we need not dwell on this—every house¬ 
keeper knows the trouble experienced with tin¬ 
ware. The remedy we would offer, is to give a few 
plain simple directions which will enable any per¬ 
son to do up at home most of these little jobs 
without cost, and with a fifth part of the time and 
trouble required to carry an article to the tin¬ 
smith. We give the following suggestions partly 
from experience and partly from the opportune 
letter ot a correspondent who has furnished us 
with full details. (We have ourselves had not 
a little experience in soldering, while making 
galvanic batteries, electric machines, and other 
philosophical and chemical apparatus.] Common 
tin-ware is not really tin, but thin sheets of 
iron coated upon each side with a film of pure tin 
to protect the iron from rusting, and to give a 
bright clean surface. When the tin coat is worn 
off on either side, the iron soon rusts through, and 
the tin upon the opposite side is speedily broken, 
leaving a hole. The remedy is to melt on a bit 
of solder. So also where a joint occurs, or the 
original solder was imperfect, or has been melt¬ 
ed or worn off, new solder must he applied. 
In the absence of other convenience, it is usu¬ 
ally practicable to scrape the surrounding surface 
smooth or bright, drop on a little resin (“ rosum ” 
as it is commonly called), lay on a bit of solder, 
and melt it with a hot iron—the heated tongs, or 
even a lively bright coal A piece of “ pewter ” 
spoon, or old teapot, may be used for solder, and 
we have often “ stopped a leak ” by such simple 
process. But a neat job can not he made in this 
way, nor is it always successful. 
A simple copper soldering tool, (called a “ sold¬ 
ering iron,”) and a piece of good solder, are more 
convenient, and are worthy a place in every 
country family. A good soldering copper can be 
bought in almost any village for a few shillings. 
Fig. 1, is a very convenient form for general pur¬ 
poses. 
C, is a round piece of copper, weighing say, 1£ 
lbs., and H inches in diameter, with one end 
drawn out nearly to a point; i, is an iron rod ; h, 
a wooden handle. One of these is readily made. 
The larger the size, the longer will it retain heat 
for work. Purchase the copper bar, c, costing 30 
to 40 cents a pound. Have it pointed by a black- 
h i q 
Fig. 1. 
smith, warning him not to heat it beyond a dull 
red; i, is to be inserted by cutting a screw thread 
on the end, and fitting it into a screw socket 
made in the blunt end of the copper before point¬ 
ing it, and add the wooden handle by simply 
driving it on to the iron rod previously pointed, or 
by boring a gimlet hole in the wood and driving 
it on. The iron rod may be attached to the cop¬ 
per in various ways, one of which is shown in 
fig. 1. With no practical knowledge of black- 
smithing, we have made a very good soldering 
iron of this kind. For heavy work, a correct 
form is shown in fig. 3, where the end of the cop- 
Fig. 2. 
per is simply flattened out, leaving a wide edge. 
But the form shown by fig. 1, is sufficient for all 
common operations of the unexperienced. 
The next thing after buying, or making, the 
soldering iron, is to coat the beveled end with 
solder. To do this, file it smooth ; then heat it, 
not red, hut just so that it will melt a piece of 
solder; then file it bright quickly, and immediate¬ 
ly rub it upon a piece of solder laid on a hoard 
hollowed out a little, or better still, upon a piece 
of tin. Pounded resin must be placed with the 
solder to keep out the air which would otherwise 
rust the heated copper and prevent the free union 
of the solder. Until after a little practice, it may 
he necessary to heat the copper several times and 
file it bright where not coated, before a perfect 
coat will be obtained. When once coated, it will 
remain so, provided you never heat it to redness, 
which burns off the solder. If-this is done by 
accident, it must be again coated as at first. Our 
first essays were made without instruction, and 
it was some time before we learned that to coat 
the copper well, it must be kept at the lowest 
melting heat, and be filed bright, after heating; 
and that to preserve its coating, it must never be 
heated very hot. 
The soldering metal we have usually bought; hut 
we have made it by melting together block tin 
(pure tin metal) and lead, taking say about 8 
ounces of lead to 6 ounces of the block tin. There 
are many articles of pewter and brittania 
ware which are of about the right composition. 
This composition of tin and lead melts easily and 
flows readily. Neither tin nor lead alone answers 
to solder with. It is usually better for the un¬ 
skillful to buy a ready made soldering iron, and 
a pound or two of solder to keep on hand. The 
solder costs about 25 or 30 cents per lb., hut a 
pound or two will last several years for common 
family use. 
To mend or solder Tin Ware .—Scrape the sur¬ 
face to be covered or joined, clean and bright, and 
sprinkle on a little powdered resin. Heat the 
implement {not to redness ) so that it will readily 
melt off the end of the rod or piece of solder. 
Before using, draw each side of the copper brisk¬ 
ly over a wet cloth to wipe off ashes and any ox¬ 
ide (scum) on the surface of the tinned end. Then 
melt off some drops of solder, letting them fall 
upon the place to be soldered, and apply the im¬ 
plement, holding it on until the solder flows, and 
then draw it across the place to be mended, 
holding the vessel so that the melted metal will 
run in as thick a mass as may be desired at any 
point. Draw or lift the soldering iron off quietly, 
and the melted metal will flow evenly, and as it 
cools, leave a bright smooth surface, unless the 
copper has become so cool as to leave the solder 
not hot enough to flow readily. 
Keep always in mind not to get the copper too 
hot. The degree of heat will very soon be learn¬ 
ed by frequently removing the copper from the 
fire and holding it near the face. In heating a 
soldering iron, it is better to lay the shoulder or 
large end in the hottest part of the coals, letting 
the pointed or tinned end lie beyond the coals. 
When using a hard coal stove, we thrust the cop¬ 
per down through the coal, letting the pointed 
end stand in the grating below, where it is’ less 
apt to be burned. It must be watched or it will 
get red-hot in a coal fire, and spoil the tinning. 
To solder Copper or Iron Surfaces .—These may 
be joined or mended the same as tin, by filing 
them bright and using resin freely ; but inexperi¬ 
enced hands generally fail, and old tinmen find it 
better to apply, in addition to the resin, (and be¬ 
fore the latter is sprinkled on) either sal ammo¬ 
niac, or chloride of zinc. A lump of sal ammoniac 
obtained at any druggists for three or four cents, 
will answer every purpose and last for years. 
Wet this, and rub it upon the cleaned or bright¬ 
ened iron or copper, then sprinkle on the resin, 
and the soldering is then just as easy as if upon 
a tin surface. When a piece of tin ware is badly 
worn, as upon the bottom of a basin, the solder¬ 
ing is facilitated by rubbing on the sal ammoniac. 
Instead of sal ammoniac, we have usually used 
chloride of zinc. This we p epare by putting into 
a phial or bottle a handful ot bits of zinc—old 
