The woodwork of farm buildings in this country is sometimes subjected to the following: Take two parts of _gas-tar_, one part of _pitch_, one part _half caustic lime_ and _half common resin_; mix and boil these well together, and put them on the wood quite hot. Apply two or three coats, and while the last coat is still warm, dash on it a quantity of well-washed sharp sand, previously prepared by being sifted through a sieve. The surface of the wood will then have a complete stone appearance, and may be durable. It is, of course, necessary, that the wood be perfectly dry, and one coat should be well hardened before the next is put on. It is necessary, by the use of lime and long boiling, to get quit of the ammonia of the tar, as it is considered to injure the wood. Mr. Abel, the eminent chemist to the War Department, recommends the application of _silicate of soda_ in solution, for giving to wood, when applied to it like paint, a hard coating, which is durable for several years, and is also a considerable protection against fire. The silicate of soda, which is prepared for use in the form of a thick syrup, is diluted in water in the proportion of 1 part by measure of the syrup to 4 parts of water, which is added slowly, until a perfect mixture is obtained by constant stirring. The wood is then washed over _two_ or _three_ times with this liquid by means of an ordinary whitewash brush, so as to absorb as much of it as possible. When this first coating is nearly dry, the wood is painted over with _another_ wash made by slaking good fat lime, diluted to the consistency of thick cream. Then, after the limewash has become moderately dry, _another_ solution of the silicate of soda, in the proportion of 1 of soda to 2 of water, is applied in the same manner as the first coating. The preparation of the wood is then complete; but if the lime coating has been applied too quickly, the surface of the wood may be found, when quite dry, after the last coating of the silicate, to give off a little lime when rubbed with the hand; in which case it should be _once more_ coated over with a solution of the silicate of the same strength as in the first operation. If Mr. Abel had been an architect or builder, he would never have invented this process. What would the cost be? and would not a special clerk of the works be necessary to carry out this method in practice?