If the hand-polishing method be preferred, it may be pursued by rubbing briskly and thoroughly with the following finishing polish:
| Alcohol | 8 ounces |
| Shellac | 2 drachms |
| Gum benzoin | 2 drachms |
| Best poppy oil | 2 drachms |
Dissolve the shellac and gum in the alcohol in a warm place, with frequent agitation, and, when cold, add the poppy oil. This may be applied on the end of a cylindrical rubber made by tightly rolling a piece of flannel, which has been torn, not cut, into strips 4 to 6 inches wide. It should be borne in mind that the surface of the cabinet work of a piano is generally veneered, and this being so, necessitates the exercise of much skill and caution in polishing.
II.—Prepare a paste from fine starch flour and a thick solution of brown shellac, with the spatula upon a grinding stone, and rub the wooden object with this. After the drying, rub off with sandpaper and polish lightly with a rag moistened with a thin shellac solution and a few drops of oil. The ground thus prepared varnish once or twice and a fine luster will be obtained. This method is well adapted for any wood with large pores, such as oak.
Removal Of Heat Stains From Polished Wood.
Preservation Of Wood.
I.—An excellent way of preserving wood is to cut it between August and October. The branches are removed, leaving only the leaves at the top. The trunks, carefully cut or sawn (so that their pores remain open), are immediately placed upright, with the lower part immersed in tanks three-quarters filled with water, into which 3 or 4 kilograms of powdered cupric sulphate per hectoliter have been introduced. The mass of {777} leaves left at the extremity of each trunk is sufficient to cause the ascent of the liquid by means of the capillary force and a reserve of energy in the sap.
II.—Wood which can be well preserved may be obtained by making a circular incision in the bark of the trees a certain time before cutting them down. The woodcutters employed in the immense teak forests of Siam have adopted in an empirical way a similar process, which has been productive of good results. The tree is bled, making around the trunk, at the height of 4 feet above ground, a circular incision 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep, at the time when it is in bloom and the sap rising. Sometimes the tree is left standing for 3 years after this operation. Frequently, also, a deep incision reaching the heart is made on two opposite sides, and then it takes sometimes only 6 months to extract the sap.
It is probable that it is partly in consequence of this method that the teakwood acquires its exceptional resistance to various destructive agents.
III.—A good preservation of piles, stakes, and palisades is obtained by leaving the wood in a bath of cupric sulphate of 4° of the ordinary acidimeter for a time which may vary from 8 to 15 days, according to greater or less dryness of the wood and its size. After they are half dried they are immersed in a bath of lime water; this forms with the sulphate an insoluble compound, preventing the rain from dissolving the sulphate which has penetrated the wood. This process is particularly useful for vine props and the wood of white poplars.