Vol. LXXVII. 
Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
„ ^ tftn VTAttxan ■ as Second-Class Matter. .Tune 2G, 1879. at the Post 
NEW YORK, NOVE> tUfl t New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
No. 4508. 
Practical Substitutes for Oil Paints 
Varieties of the “Government Whitewash” 
OT ALWAYS PRACTICAL.—With the cheapest 
varieties of oil paint selling for upwards of 
^2.50 a gallon, the average farmer whose buildings 
are in a state of neglect so far as painting uplicep is 
concerned, is inclined to 
neglect the sightl.v, at¬ 
tractive and even eco¬ 
nomic maintenance of 
this portion of his farm 
investment. As a conse¬ 
quence of the unprece¬ 
dentedly high lu'ices of 
linseed oil, unusual in¬ 
terest is being displayed 
in the most practical 
varieties of cold-water 
imints and whitewash. 
It is not advisable for 
the average farmer, 
whose faimistead build¬ 
ings are noiv painted, to 
attempt the substitution 
of Avhitewash on these 
structures as a tempo¬ 
rary proposition. For 
best results, it is essen¬ 
tial to remove all the 
oil paint from the build¬ 
ings in preparing them 
for their coating of 
whitewash. This can be 
accomplished hy the use 
of paint-remover and 
the scraping off of the 
remnant paint with steel 
brushes or sandpaper. 
Of necessity, this is a 
rather slow and costly 
process and should only 
be instituted where the 
intention is to use white¬ 
wash or cold-water paint 
to the exclusion of oil 
paints. If the buildings 
are not in too bad con¬ 
dition, it is better to 
wait another year in the 
hope that oil i)aints will 
decrease in pidce rather 
than to make a change 
to cold-Avater paints. If 
the buildings are in 
such bad condition that 
they require immediate 
attention, even in view 
of the excessively high 
price of oil paints, it is 
better management to 
use these costly ma¬ 
terials than to make 
the change temporarily 
to paint substitutes. A 
change from oil paint to 
whitewash not only in¬ 
volves the removal of 
the old paint from the 
buildings in preparing 
them for the whitewash, 
but it means also that 
after the price of oil has 
declined so that it is 
practical to use this material again, it will be neces¬ 
sary to remove the white^vash to make the surface 
suitable once more for the oil paint. 
HOW IT IS APPLIED.—Cold-water paints are 
comparatively inexpensive and serviceable where 
they are properly applied, and where their applica¬ 
tion is to be continued year after year without 
shifting to the use of oil paints. As a general rule, 
whitewash sticks better where it is applied with a 
brush rather than where a spray pump is used. 
Farmers experienced in the use of whitew'a.sh, who 
are careful in mixing and applying the material, say 
that often it will last for two years where it is 
applied in dry weather in the proper manner. .\c- 
cording to the recom¬ 
mendations of the T’. S. 
Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, Avhitewash is the 
cheapest of all paints, 
and for certain purpo.ses 
is the best. I.ime. the 
basis of whitewash, 
makes a very sanitary 
coating, and probably is 
to bo preferred for cel¬ 
lars and the interior of 
st:il>les and other out¬ 
buildings. The formula 
for whitewash as recom- 
meuded bj’ the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture con¬ 
sists in slaking 12 
pounds of quicklime 
with two gallons of 
water, the lime being 
placed in a pail and the 
water poured over it, 
after which the pail 
should be covered with 
an old piece of carpet 
or cloth and allowed to 
stand for about an hour. 
When an insufficient 
amount of water is u.sed, 
the lime is “scorched” 
and not all converted 
into hydrate. On the 
other hand, an excessive 
amount of water retards 
the .slaking by lowering 
the heat. “Kcorched” 
lime is generally lumpy 
and transparent, and 
hence the use of a prop¬ 
er amount of water for 
slaking and the addition 
of water to bring it to 
a brush consistency is 
necessary. 
FACTORY WHITE¬ 
WASH.— The formula 
for factory whitewash is 
as follows: Interior 
whitewash for walls, 
ceilings, and posts — 
First, slake 02 pounds 
(one bu.shel) quicklime 
with 15 gallons of water; 
keep the barrel covered 
until the steam ceases 
to rise; stir occasion¬ 
ally to prevent scorch¬ 
ing. Second, beat up 
and thoroughly mix 2 Y 2 
pounds of rye flour in 
gallon of cold water, 
then add two gallon.s 
boiling water to this 
mixture. Third, dis¬ 
solve 2 V 2 pounds com¬ 
mon rock salt in 2^4 
The Coming Dairy Cow at the Front. Fig. 608 
