=(c) Finishing.=—When the desired shade has been reached, the feather is taken from the bath and rinsed thoroughly in warm water, to get rid of the loose color. Then it must be “starched.” This is the technical name for the drying process, and is very different from the laundryman’s idea of “starching,” although the two processes have occasionally been confused, with most disastrous results, as far as the feathers were concerned. _Dry-starching._—After the dyed feathers have been thoroughly rinsed, they should be partially dried, by wiping with a soft piece of cloth, like a handkerchief or piece of cheesecloth, and then laid flat on a piece of stiff paper and covered with a heaping tablespoonful or so of dry, finely powdered starch (on a small scale the quality known as “Electric Starch” is eminently satisfactory). The starch is thoroughly rubbed into the feather with the fingers, and then the feather, full of starch, is beaten and dusted against the edge of the table or the back of the hand until the starch has all been shaken out. After one or two repetitions of this process, the feather will be found not only dry but with the barbules properly filled out. Sometimes the feather, thus treated, has a woolly look, the starching process having gone too far. In this case it should be dampened in cold water, and restarched. Under no circumstances should any starch paste be allowed to touch or form on the flues. The starching must be done in the cold and with the unbroken starch grains. _Wet-starching._—Some dyers prefer wet-starching to the dry process just described. In this process, the feathers, after dyeing and rinsing, are worked for a minute or two in a thick milk (not paste) made by stirring one or two large tablespoonfuls of dry starch in half a pint or so of cold water, till all the lumps have been broken up. After this milk has been thoroughly rubbed into every part of the feather, the latter is taken out, dried roughly by wiping with cheesecloth, and then by wrapping between blotting paper or folded cheesecloth and running carefully through a not too tight wringer. The feather is then taken out and thoroughly dried, either by laying it on the table in the sunlight or in a warm room for some time, or, if very great care is taken, by holding and moving it over a hot-air register, or high over the stove or gas flame. Of course, if this is done carelessly and too great heat is applied, some of the starch grains will be converted into paste, and the feather probably ruined. When thoroughly dry, “bone dry,” as the dyers call it, the feather is beaten against the back of the hand, or edge of the table until all the starch is shaken out.