As soon as the carpets are taken up, have them nicely shaken, swept, and brushed on both sides. Every spot should be carefully washed and wiped dry. The carpets should then be rolled up smoothly, with tobacco sprinkled between the folds, sewed up in coarse linen cloths, and put away till autumn. A cedar closet is an excellent place to keep carpets as well as other woollens. If you have no cedar closet, however, a cedar chest will serve to protect your woollen clothes against moths, and it is better to preserve them in this way than to sprinkle them with tobacco, which imparts an unpleasant scent to them.
Whitewash for Outdoor Use.
Take good quick-lime in lumps. Slack it with hot water, and while slacking add to what will make a pailful one pound tallow or other grease, free from dirt. It may be rancid, smoked, or otherwise unfit for kitchen use.
When the violent slacking is over, stir thoroughly. All the water should be added before the slacking ceases, and the mixing together should be thorough. Do not dilute with cold water. If well made, it will be very smooth and but little affected by rain.—Mrs. E.
Indoor Whitewashing.
We have recently seen recommended in a journal a fine and brilliant whitewash preparation of chalk, called "Paris White," and said to be admirable for whitewashing walls. It sells in paint stores at three cents per pound, retail. For every sixteen pounds Paris White, get half a pound white transparent glue. Cover the glue with cold water at night, and in the morning heat it, without scorching, till dissolved. Stir in the Paris White with hot water to give it a milky consistency. Then add and mix well the glue. Apply with a common lime whitewash brush. A single coating will do, except on very dingy walls. Almost as brilliant as "Zinc White."—Mrs. S. T.
To Oil Floors.
To one gallon boiled linseed oil add half a pound burnt sienna. The druggist who sells these articles will mix them. If economy is necessary, instead of employing a painter to put it on, dip a large woollen rag into the mixture, and with this wipe over the floor.—Mrs. S. T.
To Dye Floors a Pretty Color.
Make a strong decoction of the inside bark of red oak. Set it a dark color with copperas.