The pretty and attractive appearance of the premises at Oak Hill was due to a considerable extent to the good work of the boys that learned to use the brush in painting and white washing. The following facts are noted as an aid to them and others.
All the school buildings were painted cream and white. The materials used were white lead and flaxseed oil, mixed in the proportion of 15 to 20 pounds of lead to a gallon of oil. A gallon of the mixture is expected to cover 225 square feet of surface with two coats. The cream tint, a warm color, was obtained by mixing a little chrome yellow (and burnt sienna) with a pint or more of oil and adding as much of this mixture as was needed to produce the desired tint.
The red paint, used on the farm buildings and large gates, consisted of Venetian red, a dry paint, and oil, five to eight pounds of paint to the gallon of oil. A white trimmer was used on the face boards of the roof, doors and windows.
The white wash used on the board and pale fences consisted of quick lime slacked under water and gently stirred during this process. It should be allowed to stand a day or two before it is used. A pound of salt to the gallon of quicklime, the salt being first dissolved in water, improves its wearing quality. A little boiled rice flour improves its adhesiveness for indoor use.
Skimmed sweet milk, used the day it is mixed, is an inexpensive substitute for oil in applying Venetian red to old gates. One coat will make them look right well for one or more seasons. Milk however should never be used except to brighten up some old work for one or two years, and each gallon should contain three pounds of Portland cement, frequently stirred.
SEED CORN IMPROVED
Large yields of corn are secured only by planting seed that has vitality sufficient to produce a good ear as well as a stock. Careful and successful farmers raise and endeavor to improve their seed from year to year. This may be done on a small scale as follows:
Select ten good sized, straight rowed, deep-grained ears. Remove the tips and butts. Shell each ear separately and plant in separate rows, marked and numbered from one to ten. As soon as the corn in these rows begins to tassel go through them every few days and remove the tassel from every stalk that is not forming an ear; so that the pollen or tassel dust of the barren stalk may not fall on the silks of the corn-bearing stalks.
At husking time husk and weigh the yield from each row or ear of seed separately. Missing hills and barren stocks indicate a low vitality in the seed-ear and also in the crop. Select the seed for the next year from the rows that yield the largest crop.
The yield of the cotton crop can be increased two fold by gathering the seed at picking time from only the best fruited stocks.
HEALTH HINTS. Health means a sound mind in a sound body.
"Know thyself", and remember, that "self-preservation is the first law of nature."
An open window, day and night, is better than an open grave.
"Warm sleeping rooms have killed more people, than ever froze to death."
"A good iron pump, over a well protected well, costs less than a case of typhoid."
"Wire screens in the windows may keep crape from the door."
"A fly in the milk often means a member of the family in the grave."
Work when you work and rest outstretched, when you rest.
PLANTING SWEET POTATOES
Carriers, Droppers, and Trowelers
READY FOR A PULL
