How To Test The Soundness Of Timber

Apply the ear to the middle of one of the ends, while another person strikes upon the opposite extremity. If the wood is sound and of good quality, the blow is very distinctly heard, however long the beam may be. If the wood is disaggregated by decay or otherwise, the sound will be for the most part destroyed.

How To Make A Tight Trough

Joint up the plank, and then, with a wide punch, set down a groove about 1/16 in. deep the whole length; then take off two or three shavings more, and put the trough together. When the wet gets into that joint the groove swells out again just the thickness it was at first, and of course two or three shavings thicker than the plank, and so closes all up tight. Wood can also be ornamented by punching down carefully in patterns, planing off a little, and then wetting; the parts punched down show in relief above the planed surface, and make quite a puzzle.

Whitewash For Outside Work

Take quicklime, 1/2 bushel; slake, and add common salt, 1 pound: sulphate of zinc, 1/2 pound; sweet milk, 1 gallon. Dissolve salt and zinc before adding, and mix the whole to proper consistence with water.

How To Frame Wooden Buildings

Particular attention should be paid to binding the top of the walls well together. This is accomplished by framing the wall-plate all around the house, and spiking the ceiling joists down on the same; then herring-bone, bridging these joists in as many rows as are necessary to make a thoroughly stiff brace for the whole. The roof (no matter whether Gothic or Mansard) can not exercise any bad influence in pushing out the walls, when this system is adopted.

How To Season And Prevent Warping Wood

Strip off bark, and bury about one foot deep in the spring, leaving in the ground for six months, and you will find no difficulty. This was the only way by which the sapadillo or mountain mahogany in the Sierra Nevada could be seasoned, it being one of the hardest and most brittle kinds of wood known.

Cream-Gauge

In a can 20 in. deep and 8 in. in diameter, cut a slot a few inches long. In this slot, insert a strip of glass, in grooves, and cement with white lead. Graduate the tin next to the glass. Set the milk in the can, and allow the cream to rise. The percentage may be seen on the glass and noted by the scale.

White Specks In Cream

These are caused by too much acid in the cream. Cream should never stand in a room where the milk is set, but should be put into a cool place if you would avoid specks.

Ventilation Of Cow-Stables

Lay the floor of the stable upon a solid bed of earth and gravel, with a fall of 6 in. in 12 ft. from the stanchions, with the same ratio of descent, to a point for outlet of liquids. Make a platform raised 6 in. for the cows to stand or lie upon. The floor and platform plank should be bedded in water-lime mortar, so that there shall be no soaking down nor hiding-place for stale urine to deposit and generate venomous odors.