GENDARME BLUE.
Prepare feathers by washing thoroughly, and rinse about four times in hot water to remove any particle of soap that may adhere to the feathers. Prepare a bath of a teaspoonful of indigotine powder to one gallon of boiling water. Mix thoroughly and enter feathers, and let remain in about one minute, after which remove and add about one teaspoonful of oxalic acid or same quantity of sulphuric acid, and re-enter feathers, letting them remain in bath about five minutes longer; then remove from bath and cool off. Reserve a small portion of bath, and cool off with cold water, adding a drop of sulphuric acid and a small handful of starch; pass feathers through and dry in powdered starch by rubbing between the hands or by simply beating out on a clean board, used only for drying acid colors.
Should you find your color too dark, thoroughly rinse off all the starch and pass feathers through a bath of boiling water and let remain about half a minute; pass through starch bath and dry. If found too light, simply increase temperature of bath by adding boiling water and few drops more indigotine; re-enter feathers and let them remain in bath a couple of minutes longer.
OLIVE—page [36]. PLAIN, DRAB—page [78].
TERRA COTTA—page [42]. PLUM—page [35].
TRILEUL.
Wash and rinse feathers thoroughly in hot water and soap, and rinse thoroughly in about four hot waters; then pass through a bath of plain boiling water; next prepare a bath of one gallon of luke warm water, and add a handful of starch. Enter feathers and rub thoroughly between the hands; remove and add a teaspoonful of oxalic acid; enter feathers and let them remain in bath about two minutes; then remove and add to bath a few drops of diluted picric acid, and re-enter feathers; let remain in about one minute longer, take out and dry in the usual way by rubbing in powdered starch between the hands and beating out on a clean board until all the starch has been removed from the fibre. Should you find your color a shade too dark, mix a luke warm starch bath, and pass feathers through, keeping them under about half a minute, and dry as usual. Be careful that your picric acid is thoroughly dissolved, as otherwise it will be likely to spot your feathers, if the particles come in contact with the flues, and the spots are very hard to remove, as it would be necessary to put them through a bleaching process.