give a general description of these, so that there will be no need of repeating them each time that the particular graining of different woods is presented. All that will be necessary will be to refer to the general directions given here.

27. The first operation for all kinds of graining is the painting of the grounds. In order that the superstructure should be lasting, the foundation must be good and appropriate to the character of the work being done or else trouble in the shape of cracking will be pretty sure to follow. If the woodwork is new and has not been painted before, it will be easy enough to lay this foundation rightly.

28. The wood should be well primed with raw linseed oil and white lead after the covering over with shellac varnish of all resinous and sappy parts in order to stop their coming through the paint coats. The second coat should be made from white lead colored up to something near the color of the finishing tint desired for the ground. This should be thinned with half raw linseed oil and half turpentine; it should be put on middling heavy after having first gone over the nail holes, cracks, loose joints, etc., with putty. The last coat should be put on stout, but well rubbed out and should be mixed from white lead tinted to the exact shade wanted for the graining ground. It should be thinned with one-fourth raw linseed oil and three-fourths turpentine. In cold weather or damp, non-drying weather it may be well to add just a trifle of drying japan, in order to insure the good drying of the several coats of paint, and it will be hardly needed to add that no coat of paint shall be placed upon the other until the former one has completed its drying. Three coats usually suffice to give a good, solid ground for graining.

29. As much of the graining done is over old painted work, there is always an element of uncertainty as to the results. If the woodwork has been painted only a few times, it will be easy enough to bring it to a good finish by the application of two good coats of ground color, where turpentine predominates, so that it will not be too glossy. If the woodwork has been painted a great number of times it will be useless to try to paint grounds over it, as then it will be apt to blister. It will be better to burn it off or get it off by using some of the paint removers, after which the painting of the ground may proceed as directed for new woodwork.

30. It also happens that graining is resorted to in order to hide the dark effect produced on cheap varnishes by age in the natural finish used over yellow pine, etc. It will be much safer to remove it with varnish remover, if many coats have been applied over it, which is usually the case. If it has only had three or four coats, the woodwork should be gone over thoroughly to remove as much of it as possible with steel wool, and afterward two good coats of ground color given it. The first one should be a trifle thinner than would be given over old painted work.

31. There is a rule for the proper tinting of ground which will always give good results if followed up carefully. It is this: No matter what wood one tries to imitate, either in its natural finish tone or in an imitation of one which has been stained to an unnatural color, always have the ground tint: as light as the lightest part of the wood which shows through. This will be the right tint for the graining of that wood.

32. It is refreshing sometimes to hear the discussions that take place among grainers as to the proper ground tints for various woods. No cut and dried rule can be given. The one given in paragraph 31 is as good or better than any. There is so much variation in the natural specimens themselves that no one nor two near-by tints would fill the bill. For this reason no ground tints will be shown in this manual. Under the several woods will be given the general tone of the ground by name only, as, for instance, the general ground tone for graining oak is a light buff, varying from a cream to a decided buff, according to the finished effect wanted.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON VI.

26. What is said of the general operations by which graining is done?

27. What preparations are necessary for the painting of grounds?

28. How is new wood to be grounded?

29. How is old painted work to be grounded?

30. How is old varnished work to be treated for grounding?

31. What is the general rule to be followed in preparing the ground work for any given wood?

32. What else is said regarding tinting the ground colors?

LESSON VII.

PREPARING OIL GRAINING COLORS.

33. Again here is another one of the many operations necessary for graining upon which grainers are very far from being unanimous as to the proper way that it should be done. It will be best to note what is expected of a graining color, and afterwards to prepare them according to these requirements, irrespective of any cut and dried formulas, as when these requirements are complied with it does not matter so very much about the material that is used in doing so. It will be well to say that these graining colors are best known to old time English grainers under the name of “megilp,” in order that there may be no misunderstanding as to the kind of graining color that is meant.

34. A good “megilp,” or graining color, should possess the following qualities:

1st. It should be clear toned without muddiness.

2d. It should be very transparent.

3d. It should be heavy enough to brush out well, so that it may be combed and its edges remain clean cut without running.

35. The first requisite of “clearness and richness” in the umbers, siennas, ivory blacks and Vandyke browns ground in oil, which are used to prepare the megilp, is not so very difficult to obtain when the goods of well-known color firms are employed, but the second requisite, while it belongs to a stronger or lesser degree to all the colors enumerated, is far short of that which is required in a graining color.

36. To obtain the proper degree of thinness required, all the above colors would have to be thinned with linseed oil and turpentine far beyond that consistency which it is required to carry in order that it may be wiped and combed with well defined edges which do not run or blur. Therefore some perfectly transparent material must be added to it in order to give it this consistency. The material used for this may be rotten stone or whiting, or both, or china clay, or better, silicate earths—any transparent earth with no coloring of its own. Some grainers use putty thinned down with oil, but that is not so good as whiting, as the putty may be made of anything and the oil used in preparing it may be injurious to the durability of the graining.

37. Some of the old-time grainers used to prepare what may be called “stock megilp,” a portion of which they added to the oil colors as needed. Wm. E. Wall says of it “that the formula is this: Take 8 ounces of sugar of lead and 8 ounces of rotten stone, grind them together as stiffly as possible in linseed oil; then take 16 ounces of white beeswax, melt it gradually in an earthen pitkin, and when it is fluid pour in 8 ounces of spirits of turpentine; mix this well with the wax, and then pour the contents of the pitkin on the grinding stone to get cold. When cold grind the rotten stone and sugar of lead with the wax and turpentine and it will form an excellent megilp, which if kept in a jar with a mouth wide enough to admit a palette knife and secured from dust will keep almost any length of time.”

This is well and good for professionals, but it will hardly appeal to the ordinary grainer. He can grind up a little whiting and rotten stone and melted beeswax in turpentine and add enough to his color to answer his