I

Use a cheap grade of rye or wheat flour, mix thoroughly with cold water to about the consistency of dough, or a little thinner, being careful to remove all lumps; stir in a tablespoonful of powdered alum to a quart of flour, then pour in boiling water, stirring rapidly until the flour is thoroughly cooked. Let this cool before using, and thin with cold water.

II

Venetian Paste.—

(a)    4 ounces white or fish glue 8 fluidounces cold water

(b)    2 fluidounces Venice turpentine

(c)     1 pound rye flour

16 fluidounces (1 pint) cold water

(d)  64 fluidounces (0.5 gallon) boiling

water Soak the 4 ounces of glue in the cold water for 4 hours; dissolve on a water bath (glue pot), and while hot stir in the Venice turpentine. Make up (c) into a batter free from lumps and pour into (d). Stir briskly, and finally add the glue solution. This makes a very strong paste, and it will adhere to a painted surface, owing to the Venice turpentine in its composition.

III

Strong Adhesive Paste.—

(a)  4 pounds rye flour

0.5 gallon cold water

(b)  1.5 gallons boiling water

(c)   2 ounces pulverized rosin

Make (a) into a batter free from lumps; then pour into (b). Boil if necessary, and while hot stir in the pulverized rosin a little at a time. This paste is exceedingly strong, and will stick heavy wall paper or thin leather. If the paste be too thick, thin with a little hot water; never thin paste with cold water.

IV

Flour Paste.—

(a)    2 pounds wheat flour

32 fluidounces (1 quart) cold water

(b)    1 ounce alum

4 fluidounces hot water

(c)   96 fluidounces (0.5 gallon) boiling

water Work the wheat flour into a batter free from lumps with the cold water. Dissolve the alum as designated in (6).

Now stir in (a) and (c) and, if necessary, continue boiling until the paste thickens into a semitransparent mucilage, after which stir in solution (b). The above makes a very fine paste for wall paper.

V

Elastic or Pliable Paste.—

(a)    4 ounces common starch

2  ounces white dextrine 10 fluidounces cold water

(b)    1 ounce borax

3  fluidounces glycerine

64 fluidounces (0.5 gallon) boiling water

Beat to a batter the ingredients of (a). Dissolve the borax in the boiling water; then add the glycerine, after which pour (a) into solution (b). Stir until it becomes translucent. This paste will not crack, and, being very pliable, is used for paper, cloth, leather, and other material where flexibility is required.

VI

A paste with which wall paper can be attached to wood or masonry, adhering to it firmly in spite of dampness, is prepared, as usual, of rye flour, to which, however, are added, after the boiling, 8 and 1/3 parts, by weight, of good linseed-oil varnish and 8 and 1/3 parts, by weight, of turpentine to every 500 parts, by weight.

VII

Paste for Wall Paper.—Soak 18 pounds of bolus (bole) in water, after it as been beaten into small fragments, and pour off the supernatant water. Boil 10 ounces of glue into glue water, mix it well with the softened bolus and 2 pounds plaster of Paris and strain through a sieve by means of a brush. Thin the mass with water to the consistency of a thin paste. The paste is now ready for use. It is not only much cheaper than other varieties, but has the advantage over them of adhering better to whitewashed walls, and especially such as have been repeatedly coated over the old coatings which were not thoroughly removed. For hanging fine wall paper this paste is less commendable, as it forms a white color, with which the paper might easily become soiled if great care is not exercised in applying it. If the fine wall paper is mounted on ground paper, however, it can be recommended for pasting the ground paper on the wall.