The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-05-05
CHEAP COUNTRY PAINT.
A Mixture whicI, Any Intelligent Farmer
Can Prepare.

Can Prepare.
A method of painting farm buildings
and country houses, while by no means
new, is yet so little known and so de-
serving of wider application as to war;
rant description. The paint has but
two parts. both cheap materials being
water-lime and hydraulic cement and
skimmcd-milk. The cement is placed
in bucket and the skim-milk, sweet,
is gradually added, stirring constantly.
until just about tho consistency Of good
cream. The stirring must be thsr-
oughly done to have an even flow. and
If too thin, the mixture will run on the
building and look streakcd. The pro-
portions can not be exactly stated. but
n gallon of milk requires full quart
of cement and sometimes little
more. This is convenient guam
tity to mix ut time. for ono
person to use. If too much is pre-
pared the cement will settle and hard
en- before all is used. A fiat paint
brush, about four inches wide. is tho
best implement to use with this mix.
ture. Lay it on exactly ms with oil
paint. it can be applied to woodwork,
old or new, and to brick and stone.
When dry, the color is n light, creamy
brown, or what some would call yell
lowish stone color. Neither express
sion describes it well, but it is very
good color for country building. A
pigment like ochrc may be added to
change the color, but it is very diff
cult to do the mixing so thoroughly ms
to give an even tint. If attempted, the
cement and coloring matter. in care.
fully weighed proportions. should be
first run through paint mill. This
skim-milk paint, we'll mixed. without
added color, has good body. gives q
smooth, satisfactory finish, on either
wood or stone, and wears admirably.
A friend of minc used this paint fol
a'set of farm buildings. which have since
passed through three winters and arr
now looking fresh and we'll. One build
ing was new and the covering bonrd
imperfectly scasoned; others had beer
whitcwashed, some repeatedly for more
than half n century. All appear equal
ly well. The older buildings werc pre-
pared by scraping off the loose ant
scaly whitewash, the scraper being
curry-comb; it was not much work to d'
this. The expense of this piece of paint
ing was surprisingly sleight. A labore
at 81. so y day did the work. and III
covered twe-story, twelve-room hous
in six working days. He laid on iron
three to four gallons u day the who!
quantity used on this building bein!
less than q bushel of cement, costin,
fifty cents. and twenty-five gallons O
skim-milk, worth less than dollar Of
the farm. The whole cost of satsfac
torily painting good-szed house, brus
included. was below S12.
This painting mixture. so easily an,
cheaply prepared. was described i
recipe books years ago, but u know
edge of it was revived by General l.
Due while he was U. S. COMMISSIONS
of Agriculture. He mentioned an in
stance of country house within hi
personal knowledge. the body of whic
was covered with skim milk and &C
ment, and the trimmings with lead an
oil paint, forty-live years before he dc
scribed it; during this period the trim
ming paint had been renewed severa
times, but the cheap body color re
mained we'll preserved. -America
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