8. Floor or Oil Cloths.-Floor-cloths should be chosen that are painted on a fine cloth, which is well covered with the color, and the patterns on which do not rise much above the ground, as they wear out first. The durability of the cloth will depend much on these particulars, but more especially on the time it has been painted, and the goodness of the colors. If they have not been allowed sufficient time for becoming thoroughly hardened, a very little use will injure them; and, as they are very expensive articles, care in preserving them is necessary. It answers to keep them some time before they are used, either hung up in a dry barn where they will have air, or laid down in a spare room.

When taken up for the winter, they should be rolled round a carpet-roller, and observe not to crack the paint by turning the edges in too suddenly.

Old carpets answer extremely well, painted and seasoned some months before laid down. If for passages, the width must be directed when they are sent to the manufactory, as they are cut before painting.

9. To clean Floor cloths.-Sweep, then wipe them with a flan nel; and when all dust and spots are removed, rub with a waxed flannel, and then with a dry plain one; but use little wax, and rub only enough with the latter to give a little smoothness, or it may endanger falling.

Washing now and then with milk, after the above sweeping and dry-rubbing them, gives as beautiful a look, and they are less slippery.

10. Method of Cleaning Paper-hangings.-Cut into eight half quarters a large loaf, two days old; it must neither be newer nor staler. With one of these pieces, after having blown off all the dust from the paper to be cleaned, by means of a good pair of bellows, begin at the top of the room, holding the crust in the hand, and wiping lightly downward with the crumb, about half a yard at each stroke, till the upper part of the hangings is completely cleaned all round. Then go round again, with the like sweeping stroke downwards, always commencing each successive course a little higher than the upper stroke had extended, till the bottom be finished. This operation, if carefully performed, will frequently make very old paper look al. most equal to new.

Great caution must be used not by any means to rub the paper hard, nor to attempt cleaning it the cross, or horizontal way. The dirty part of the bread, too, must be each time cut away, and the pieces renewed as soon as it may become necessary.

11. To clean Paint.-Never use a cloth, but take off the dust with a little long-haired brush, after blowing off the loose parts with the bellows. With care, paint will look well for a long time, if guarded from the influence of the sun. When soiled, dip a sponge or a bit of flannel into soda and water, wash it off quickly, and dry immediately, or the soda will eat off the color. Some persons use strong soap and water, instead.

When the wainscot requires scouring, it should be done from the top downwards, and the water be prevented from running on the unclean parts as much as possible, or marks will be made which will appear after the whole is finished. One person should dry with old linen, as fast as the other has scoured off the dirt, and washed off the soap.

12. To give to Boards a beautiful appearance.-After washing them very nicely with soda and warm water and a brush, wash them with a very large sponge and clean water. Both times observe to leave no spot untouched; and clean straight up and down, not crossing from board to board; then dry with clean cloths, rubbed hard up and down in the same way.

The floors should not be often wetted, but very thoroughly when done; and once a-week dry-rubbed with hot sand and a heavy brush the right way of the boards.

The sides of stairs or passages on which are carpets or floorcloths, should be washed with sponge instead of linen or flannel, and the edges will not be soiled. Different sponges should be kept for the above two uses; and those and the brushes should be well washed when done with, and kept in dry places.

To extract Oil from Boards or Stone.--Make a strong ley of pearlashes and soft water, and add as much unslaked lime as it will take up; stir it together, and then let it settle a few minutes; bottle it, and stop close; have ready some water to lower it as used, and scour the part with it. If the liquor should lie long on the boards, it will draw out the color of them; therefore do it with care and expedition.

13. To scour Boards.-Mix together one part lime, three parts common sand, and two parts soft soap; lay a little of this on the scrubbing-brush, and rub the board thoroughly. Afterwards rinse with clean water, and dry with a clean coarse cloth. This will keep the boards a good color: it is also useful in keeping away vermin. For that object, early in the spring, beds should be taken down, and furniture in general removed and examined; bed-hangings and window-curtains, if not washed, should be shaken and brushed; and the joints of bedsteads, the backs of drawers, and indeed, every part of furniture, except polished mahogany, should be carefully cleaned with the above mixture, or with equal parts of lime and soft soap, without any sand. In old houses, where there are holes in the boards, which often abound with vermin, after scrubbing in, as far as the brush can reach, a thick plaster of the above should be spread over the holes, and covered with paper. When these things are timely attended to, and combined with general cleanliness, vermin may generally be kept away, even in crowded cities.

14. To wash Stone Stairs and Halls.-Wash them first with hot water and a clean flannel, and then wash them over with pipe-clay mixed in water. When dry, rub them with a coarse

flannel.

15. To take Oil and Grease out of Floors and Stone Halls.Make a strong infusion of potash with boiling water; add to it as much quick-lime as will make it of the consistence of thick cream; let it stand a night, then pour off the clear part, which is to be bottled for use. When wanted, warm a little of it; pour it upon the spots, and after it has been on them for a few minutes, scour it off with warm water and soap, as it is apt to discolor the boards when left too long on them. When put upon stone, it is best to let it remain all night; and if the stain be a bad one, a little powdered hot lime may be put upon it before the infusion is poured on.

16. To clean Marble.-Muriatic acid, either diluted or pure, as occasion may require, proves efficacious. If too strong, it will deprive the marble of its polish, which may be easily re stored by the use of a piece of felt, with some powder of putty or tripoli, with either, making use of water.

17. To clean Marble. Another way.-Mix lb. of soft soap with the same of pounded whiting, 1 oz. of soda, and a piece of stone-blue the size of a walnut; boil these together for of an hour; whilst hot, rub it over the marble with a piece of flannel, and leave it on for 24 hours; then wash it off with clean water, and polish the marble with a piece of coarse flannel, or what is better, a piece of an old hat.

18. To take Stains out of Marble.-Mix unslaked lime in finest powder with stringent soap-ley, pretty thick, and instantly with a painter's brush lay it on the whole of the marble. In two months' time wash it off perfectly clean; then have ready a fine thick lather of soft soap, boiled in soft water; dip a brush in it, and scour the marble. This will, with very good rubbing, give a beautiful polish.

19. To take Iron-stains out of Marble.—An equal quantity of fresh spirit of vitriol and lemon-juice being mixed in a bottle, shake it well; wet the spots, and in a few minutes rub with soft linen till they disappear.

20. Mixture for cleaning Stone Stairs, Hall Pavements, &c.— Boil together half a pint each of size and stone-blue water, with two table-spoonfuls of whiting, and two cakes of pipemakers' clay, in about two quarts of water. Wash the stones over with a flannel slightly wetted in this mixture; and when dry, rub them with flannel and a brush. Some persons recommend beer, but water is much better for the purpose.

21. To Color or Paper the Walls of Rooms.—If a ceiling or wall is to be whitewashed or colored, the first thing to be done is, to wash off the dirt and stains with a brush and clean water, being careful to move the brush in one direction, up and down, and not all sorts of ways, or the work will look smeary afterwards. When dry, the ceiling is ready for whitewash, which is to be made by mixing whiting and water together, till quite smooth, and as thick as cream. Dissolve half-an-ounce of glue in a teacupful of water, stir it into the whitewash. This size, as it is called, prevents the white or color rubbing off the wall, and a -teacupful is enough for a gallon of wash. Stone color is made by mixing a little yellow ochre and blue black with the size, and then stirring it into the whitewash; yellow or red ochre are also

good colors, and, with vermilion or indigo, any shade may be prepared, according to taste.

If paper is to be used, the wall must be washed with clean water, as above explained; and while wet, the old color must be scraped off with a knife, or a smooth-edged steel scraper of any sort. It will be best to wet a yard or two at a time, and then scrape. Next, wash the wall all over with size, made with an ounce of glue to a gallon of water; and when this is dry, the wall is ready for the paper. This must be cut into lengths according to the different parts of the room; one edge of the plain strip must be cut off close to the pattern, and the other left half an inch wide. If the paper is thick, it should lie a minute or two after it is pasted; but if thin, the sooner it is on the wall, the better. Begin by placing the close-cut edge of the paper at one side of the window, stick it securely to meet the ceiling, let it hang straight, and then press it down lightly and regularly with a clean cloth. The close-cut edge of the next length will cover the half-inch left on the first one, and so make a neat join; and in this way you may go all round the room, and finish at the other side of the window.

22. Damp Walls.-Damp may be prevented from exuding from walls by first drying them thoroughly, and then covering them with the following mixture: In a quart of linseed oil, boil three ounces of litharge, and four ounces of resin. Apply this in successive coats, and it will form a hard varnish on the wall after the fifth coating.

23. To clear. Moreen Curtains.-Having removed the dust and clinging dirt as much as possible with a brush, lay the curtain on a large table, sprinkle on it a little bran, and rub it round with a piece of clean flannel; when the bran and flannel become soiled, use fresh, and continue rubbing till the moreen looks bright, which it will do in a short time.

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24. To clean Calico Furniture.-Shake off the loose dust then lightly brush with a small, long-haired furniture-brush; after which wipe it closely with clean flannels, and rub it with dry bread.

If properly done, the curtains will look nearly as well as at first; and, if the color be not light, they will not require washing for years.