153. _Oiling Old Leather._--A practice is common of wetting harness, &c., before it is to be oiled, under the idea that it soaks in the oil better for wetting. No two things are less capable of union than oil and water. The leather appears soft after the above practice, but a dry day will soon show how hard the leather becomes when the water it has imbibed has evaporated, and how rotten the heart of the leather is, although the outside appears yet oily. If leather be dry and then oiled, the quantity of oil consumed will tell whether the leather has absorbed the oil or not. If it have, it will last for years, if it be oiled thoroughly every spring. The most durable stuff to nail up garden trees, is leather soaked in oil, and then drained before use. Old shoes and harness will thus be of use when no longer of service to the body. 154. _General Washing._--Counterpanes, blankets, bed-hangings, &c., should be washed in summer, as they will then dry quickly, and be of good color. By putting linen and cotton stockings to soak the night before they are to be washed, much soap and labor will be saved. If clothes remain long dirty, they will not only require more soap and labor, but be much injured in washing. 155. _Washing Preparation._--Half a pound of soap; half a pound of soda; quarter of a pound of _quick_-lime. Cut up the soap and dissolve it in half a gallon of boiling water; pour half a gallon of boiling water over the soda; and enough boiling water over the quick-lime to cover it. The lime must be quick and fresh; if quick, it will bubble up when the hot water is poured over it. Prepare each of these in separate vessels. Put the dissolved lime and soda together, and boil them for twenty minutes. Then pour them into a jar to settle. Another method of making this preparation is--Instead of preparing each of the articles by themselves, dissolve over night half a pound of soda in one gallon of boiling water, pour it on the lime, and let it settle; cut up the soap, and pour the clear water from the lime and soda upon it. In the morning it will be a dissolved mass, fit for use. In this way the twenty minutes' boiling of the lime and soda is dispensed with. In either of these processes white or common yellow soap may be used. But the lime should be white and quick. If it does not bubble and hiss when the water is poured on it, it is unfit for use. This preparation contains nothing injurious to the linen. It has been proved by trial that if the directions are rightly followed, it is less destructive than the old method. 156. _How to proceed after having made the Preparation._--Set aside the flannels and colored things, as they _must not_ be washed in this way. They may be washed in the usual way while the others are boiling. The night before, the collars and wristbands of shirts, the feet of stockings, &c., should be rubbed well with soap and set to soak.