As soon as the priming is dry, all holes made by punching in the heads of nails, cracks, etc., must be stopped with putty.

It is useless to attempt to do this before the priming has been applied, because putty will not stick to wood unless painted. After this has been done the second coat may be applied; and for new work the second coat of color should be made up chiefly of oil, because oil is the most efficient in stopping the suction of the wood; then a third, and even a fourth coat, may be applied. In laying on the color, the brush should be passed backwards and forwards and in every direction, to spread the color evenly and work it well into the wood, in the earlier coats.

Finally, the brush should be drawn up and down, or backwards and forwards, as the case may be, in the direction of the grain of the wood, taking care to leave no marks of the hairs of the brush. In painting a door, or any piece of work in which part is sunk and part raised, the mouldings or any bead-work should be painted first with a sash tool, and then the panels, styles, and rails with a brush. No coat should be laid on a previous coat until that coat shall be perfectly dry and hard; and before beginning to paint any piece of work, whatever may be the number of the coat, every particle of dust that may have settled on it should be carefully removed with the dusting brush.

The composition of the paint that is applied to old work, and indeed to wood generally, must depend upon the style or manner in which the work is to be finished. The first coat after the priming in new work should be paint in which the oil predominates over the turpentine; but for the first coat for old work the turpentine should be in excess of the oil. Paint mixed with oil in excess will present a shining surface when dry, but paint mixed with turpentine in excess will present a flat, dead, dull appearance. Therefore, when a shining surface is required, it is necessary that the under coat should be paint mixed with turpentine, the final coat being mixed with oil; but when the finishing coat is to be " flatting," as it is technically called, it must be laid over an under coat or ground color mixed with oil.