Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/209

  10lbs. of umber, 10lbs. ochre, 1lb. Venetian red, 1/4lb. lampblack. Slake the lime, cut the lampblack (with vinegar), mix well together, add the cement and other ingredients, and half fill the barrel with water. Let it stand for twelve hours before using, and be sure to stir while putting it on. This is a light, strong colour, but it can be changed by adding more or less of the colours named or other colours. One great advantage in this wash, it covers well and seldom needs more than one coat, and it will last and look well for five or six years without renewing.

To Preserve Tools.—When tools are only used occasionally, and at long intervals a good plan is to cover them with the following mixture when laying them by: Melt 2oz.resin in 1/2 pint of linseed oil, while still hot stir into it 2 quarts kerosene oil. This can be kept handy and applied with a rag or brush. It is easily washed off when the tools are to be used.

To Preserve Wood.—All wood that is to be put into the ground, or to lie near it will require some preservative or preparation—one of the best is common salt. The post or sleeper is laid for a week in very strong brine or else a thick layer of salt put on it. In parts of   America the woodsmen wash all the woodwork of their houses with strong brine made hot. I have noticed that posts left lying in the sea water before putting in the ground are not so subject to white ants as others. I discovered it through an accident; but many valuable lessons are so learnt.

Preserving Posts and Pailings.—It used to be thought that charring the posts or piles preserved them; but any one who has seen them taken from the ground after years of service will understand that that opinion is exploded charring only dissipates the resin in the wood and cracks the surface so that the water and air reaches the inner surface and uncharred parts, and so destroys them. Lime wash and tar is more used now-a-days than anything. Best of all is creasote, or oil of tar—grease or oil of any kind makes an excellent preservative. Best of all is a coating of linseed oil and pulverised coal, about the consistency of paint. It will last 100 years.

To Preserve Piles and Posts for Fences.— Stir powdered coal into linseed oil till it is the consistency of paint. Paint the posts with this, giving a thick coating to each, and let it dry before putting into the ground.

ANY a lady in the far interior is at her wits' end (to use a common expression) to know how to beautify her bush dwelling. Possibly she has any quantity of material by her, only requiring a few hints and details to become quite an expert house decorator and carpenter. Most women have sufficient taste to make pretty things out of odds and ends for their personal adornment, and yet have no idea of setting about the same for their bare walls and empty rooms. There is an old saying that a good cook will make a dinner out of nothing; it might be very truly said of some housewives that they beautify their homes from the same mysterious source. I have really seen the most unpromising rooms and materials by a little cleverness