IMITATION BLACK WALNUT

Poplar or white wood treated as follows will assume the appearance of the finest black walnut : The wood must be dry and warm, and then coated once or twice with a strong aqueous solution of extract of wal- nut peel. When half dried, the wood is brushed with a solution com- pounded of one part, by weight, of bichromate of potassa in five parts of boiling water, and after drying thoroughly is rubbed and polished. The stain penetrates to the depth of from one-twelfth to one-sixth of an inch-

PAINTED OR STAINED FLOORS,

Do not choose a dark color that will show dust and footprints. A color not far from that of yellow pine, ash or butternut, is better, being more serviceable.

A painted floor or a stained floor may each have a stenciled, painted or stained border. The simpler the border the more suitable. A painted border can be stenciled on in a darker shade of brown ; a stained border on a stained floor, in red browns and olives, and outlined neatly

366 WOODS.

with black paint. These borders must, of course, be put on before the waxing, and left till the black paint is perfectly dry.

The staining of floors and wood-finish is a new departure. The stain is very satisfactory where a tone of color is wished, and yet a paint is not desired. The stain preserves the grain of the wood, and can adapt itself to any other decoration in the room. A dark black-walnut stain shows footprints and dust ; therefore the most serviceable is the natural shade of the pine, only a few shades darker than the pine would be with the oil alone. The color of the Southern pine is a good useful tone for a floor. You may have an olive stain, or the color of the California red- wood, or mahogany color — anything you like. To make the stain, have ready a tin box of prepared paint, and obtain also from the painter a can of oils prepared for floors. This is boiled linseed oil, a little tur- pentine and dryer. Mix this oil with your color till you obtain the desired shade or color. Use more or less oil as you wish the color lighter or darker. Try it on a bit of wood till you get the color you wish. Use raw sienna for the color of southern pine, burnt umber for black walnut, and permanent green and raw umber, or ochre and black. for olives.

When you have your stain the satisfactory shade, rub it into the floor well with a woolen cloth, and afterward rub off the superfluous color carefully with another woolen cloth. You use for these stains the colors in tin pound boxes, prepared with oil, costing about twenty-five cents a box. If you have a hard pine floor you need simply the oil, no stain. If the floor is either oiled or stained, it is best to leave it a few days before the waxing. Do not use the room before the waxing; but if dust or footprints are on the floor, wipe it over with a cloth wrung out of warm water, but use no soap. Have ready, as soon as the floor is dry, two quarts of turpentine to a half pound of bees wax. If you warm the turpentine slightly the wax will dissolve in a short time with- out delay or the labor of shaving the wax. Do not put your pail of tur- pentine in the middle of a hot stove or range, and go off and forget it till a small explosion and a dense smoke remind you that turpentine is at least inflammable. When the wax is dissolved rub it upon the floor with a woolen cloth till the whole floor is covered. Wait from five to ten minutes till the wax hardens a little ; then rub with a coarse woolen cloth or brush, with the grain of the wood, not across it. After a few times waxing, your floors will have a good polish, and the wax need be applied but seldom. The rooms most in use, as a dining room or hall, require more frequent polishing. A bed-room will keep in good condi- tion with much less care. Waxing twice or four times a year will keep a bed-room in tidy condition, while a dining-room would generally be better for a weekly waxing. Waxed floors need only to be wiped up with

PAINTING AND GRAINING. 367

Stain for Stairs — Put some burnt sienna, bought in a can (mixed oil paint, twenty-five cents), with linseed oil, in an old vegetable can, so that there will be a thick mixture at the bottom, while at the top the mixture will flow freely. Have two brushes, such as house painters use ; add turpentine to make this work easily; with your largest brush stain your stair. Dip your small brush in the thickest part of the mixture occasionally and follow the grain ; work the brush back and forwards ; the large brush is to soak the stain into the wood, the small one is to suggest graining. Paint every other stair, so as to reserve a place to step until dry. Three days are necessary for this. When dry complete your work by painting the untouched stairs. This harmonizes well with the dark wood of the banisters. Too much caution cannot be used regarding the oily rags ; burn them at once or they will burn you.