We all know how difficult it is sometimes for the farmer and even the resident of a village or city to get a small job of painting done properly at a reasonable cost.
He may be able and willing, for reasons of economy, to do the work himself, but lacks the knowledge requisite to mix the paint, or to purchase the proper materials for such work, and through fear that he will not succeed, or as former experience has taught him, that ” the paint won’t dry,” or ” is a poor, unsatisfactory color,” he abandons the idea of improvement by paint or varnish, and the consequence is, that his buildings, farming utensils, vehicles, and household furniture go to ruin quickly, and he sinks many hundreds of dollars, when a few hundred cents would have saved all, and have made his place to use an inelegant, but expressive phrase “as pretty as a red wagon.”
The ” women folks ” often have little jobs of painting to be done ; and many a one is capable of wielding the brush well enough if she ” only had the paint” There are the churn, tubs, pails, the pump, wood or brick- work around the stove, or shelf, and a hundred and one little things which constant use makes unsightly, and the cost of painting them would be trifling. But how to accomplish it with the limited knowledge they possess is a problem which it seems almost hopeless to attempt to solve, and so much of the sunshine of their home is shadowed by a desire to do, without the means at hand to carry out their wishes.
It is the purpose of this volume to supply, in plain language, divested of all technicalities, the information required to enable every man and woman who may feel so inclined, to do their own painting. The author brings to the work an extensive experience in the various branches of painting and varnishing, and f eols confident that those who follow his directions carefully will have nc cause to complain of the result.
