Hard woods, as walnut, ash, and oak, look quite well in oil-finish, which is always popular, and preserves the wood quite well. The wood should be well filled with a mixture of gilder's whiting, or corn-starch and boiled linseed oil to the consistency of cream, applied with a brush; after standing a little while, the work should be thoroughly wiped off with woolen rags.

After standing a week, or till well dried, the work should be well sand-papered with No. 1/2 sand-paper or haircloth, when another coat should be applied and rubbed off as before. When dry, the work is ready for the finishing or gloss coat, which consists of boiled oil, applied with a soft brush, and if a dead gloss is wanted, this coat should be rubbed with soft woolen rags. If high gloss is desired, omit the rubbing and repeat the coat. Coach varnish will give a high gloss, but it is liable to damage from scratches.

Plastered walls may be painted any desirable tint by observing the foregoing directions; it may be well to observe that plaster soaks up more paint than wood, and hence requires more coats after the first coat. It is well to give the work a light glue size before applying the next coat, as it will give a much more even gloss.