WOOD, To Preserve. — The following process is extensively made use of on the Continent. The quantities are given in kilogrammes, or about two and a quarter pounds avoirdupois: — Linseed oil, fifteen kilo- grammes ; rosin, fifteen ; tar, five ; zinc or white lead, twelve ; vermilion, red or yellow, ten ; colour (but not clay colours, as they thicken too much), four ; cement, six ; oxide of iron, eight ; gutta percha, glue, or gum, two ; hydrate of chalk, six ; lard, fifteen ; and litharge, two kilogrammes. Mix, and boil down to one-tenth the quantity. It may be applied warm ; or by mixing with it a little varnish or turpentine it may be used cold. WOODEN POSTS, To Preserve. — Bore with an inch and a quarter auger from the butt of the post to a distance that will be six inches above the ground when the post shall be set. Then char over a good fire for a quarter of an hour, so as to drive all moisture out of the heart of the butt through the hole bored ; fill the hole with boiling coal tar, and drive in a well-fitted plug, which will act as an hydraulic ram and force the tar into the hot pores of the wood, which will become thoroughly creosoted, and last sound for twenty years in place of four, as in ordinary cases. A four- inch post may have one hole in its centre ; six-inch, two, side by side ; eight-inch, three ; twelve-inch, four. Posts which are already in the ground may be bored diagonally, filled with hot tar (in the dry summer time), plugged up, and re-painted. Sleeper posts for floor joists should be treated in this manner, and then their bases surrounded with a cup of puddled clay, into which pour hot coal tar. Posts thus treated cannot decay. WOODS (CHERRY AND PEAR-TREE), To Colour.— Smear the surface with a strong solution of permanganate of potash ; let it remain on a longer or shorter time, according to the shade required— five minutes will generally suffice ; then carefully wash it off, dry the wood, and oil and polish in the ordinary way. A very beautiful and permanent colour may be thus obtained. WOODCOCKS AND SNIPES (ROAST).— These birds are good only when they are fat The most delicate parts are the legs and intestines ; the fillets of woodcocks are tough and lacking in savour. When roasting, a toast should be placed under them to receive the intestines, which generally drop out, unless paper is used to secure them. Take care to stop the spit when the back is towards the fire, because the legs are to be well done, and the fillets under-done. In addition to the above way of cooking, they may be dressed in any manner that young partridges are done. WOOLLENS, To Wash. — First make some good suds by boiling soap in soft water and adding a little washing crystal. Let them stand till they are cool enough for the hand to be borne in them, then put in the flannels ; sluice them up and down till they are clean. The articles should 28 210 on no account be rubbed either with soap or by the hand. Squeeze (not wring) out the suds ; throw into the rinse water, squeeze, and dry in the open air or in a warm room, but not too close to the fire. They must, however, be dried quickly, as the longer they remain wet the more likely they are to shrink. WOOL. To Dye it Blue. — Boil the wool in a decoction of logwood and sulphate or acetate of copper.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

WOOD, To Preserve. — The following process is extensively made use of on the Continent. The quantities are given in kilogrammes, or about two and a quarter pounds avoirdupois: — Linseed oil, fifteen kilogrammes ; rosin, fifteen ; tar, five ; zinc or white lead, twelve ; vermilion, red or yellow, ten ; colour (but not clay colours, as they thicken too much), four ; cement, six ; oxide of iron, eight ; gutta percha, glue, or gum, two ; hydrate of chalk, six ; lard, fifteen ; and litharge, two kilogrammes. Mix, and boil down to one-tenth the quantity. It may be applied warm ; or by mixing with it a little varnish or turpentine it may be used cold. WOODEN POSTS, To Preserve. — Bore with an inch and a quarter auger from the butt of the post to a distance that will be six inches above the ground when the post shall be set. Then char over a good fire for a quarter of an hour, so as to drive all moisture out of the heart of the butt through the hole bored ; fill the hole with boiling coal tar, and drive in a well-fitted plug, which will act as an hydraulic ram and force the tar into the hot pores of the wood, which will become thoroughly creosoted, and last sound for twenty years in place of four, as in ordinary cases. A fourinch post may have one hole in its centre ; six-inch, two, side by side ; eight-inch, three ; twelve-inch, four. Posts which are already in the ground may be bored diagonally, filled with hot tar (in the dry summer time), plugged up, and re-painted. Sleeper posts for floor joists should be treated in this manner, and then their bases surrounded with a cup of puddled clay, into which pour hot coal tar. Posts thus treated cannot decay. WOODS (CHERRY AND PEAR-TREE), To Colour.— Smear the surface with a strong solution of permanganate of potash ; let it remain on a longer or shorter time, according to the shade required— five minutes will generally suffice ; then carefully wash it off, dry the wood, and oil and polish in the ordinary way. A very beautiful and permanent colour may be thus obtained. WOODCOCKS AND SNIPES (ROAST).— These birds are good only when they are fat. The most delicate parts are the legs and intestines ; the fillets of woodcocks are tough and lacking in savour. When roasting, a toast should be placed under them to receive the intestines, which generally drop out, unless paper is used to secure them. Take care to stop the spit when the back is towards the fire, because the legs are to be well done, and the fillets under-done. In addition to the above way of cooking, they may be dressed in any manner that young partridges are done. WOOLLENS, To Wash. — First make some good suds by boiling soap in soft water and adding a little washing crystal. Let them stand till they are cool enough for the hand to be borne in them, then put in the flannels ; sluice them up and down till they are clean. The articles should on no account be rubbed either with soap or by the hand. Squeeze (not wring) out the suds ; throw into the rinse water, squeeze, and dry in the open air or in a warm room, but not too close to the fire. They must, however, be dried quickly, as the longer they remain wet the more likely they are to shrink. WOOL. To Dye it Blue. — Boil the wool in a decoction of logwood and sulphate or acetate of copper.

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