_Oils, Dryers, and Colours._--In car-painting, both raw and boiled oils are used, and good work may be done with either, but I recommend oil that is but slightly boiled, in preference to either the raw or the boiled. After it is boiled, if it is done in the shop, let it stand 24 hours to settle, then strain off carefully; this takes out all the impurities and fatty matter from the oil, and it will dry much better, nor will it have that tack after drying that you find with common boiled oil. Use the proper quantity of dryer in mixing your paint, and a good reliable job will be the result. In car-painting, never use prepared colours which are ground in oil, as nine-tenths of such colours are ground in very inferior oil, and they may have been put up for a great length of time, in which case they become fatty, and will invariably crack. These canned colours do not improve with age, as lead and varnish do. Finishing colours should all be ground in the shop, unless special arrangements can be made with manufacturers to prepare them; and the colour should be fresh, not over 6 or 8 days old after being mixed, and open to the air. Enough may be prepared at a time to complete the coating on a job; but when colour stands over a week it is not fit to use on first-class work, as it becomes lifeless, and has lost that free working which we find in freshly-mixed colours. Such colour may, however, be used upon a cheap class of work, or on trucks, steps, &c., so that nothing need be wasted in the shop. _Varnishing._--Three coats of varnish over the colour are necessary on a first-class coach. The first coat should be a hard drying varnish put on the flat colour; the quick rubbing that some use I would not recommend, but one that will dry in five days (in good drying weather) sufficiently hard to rub, is the best for durability. After striping and ornamenting the car, and when thoroughly washed, give a coat of medium dry varnish. Let this stand 8 days; then rub lightly with curled hair or fine pumice, and apply the finishing coat, which is “wearing body;” this will dry hard in about 10 days, after which the car may be run out of the shop. It should then be washed with cold water and a soft brush, and is ready for the road. In varnishing, many will apply the varnish as heavy as they can possibly make it lie, when, as a consequence, it flows over and runs or sags down in ridges, and of course does not harden properly; this also leaves a substance for the weather to act on. It is better to get just enough on at a coat to make a good even coating which will flow out smooth, and this will dry hard, and will certainly wear better than the coat that is piled on heavily.