Harness blacking is not made in the same way as boot blacking. The following 'are some of the methods of preparing the former kind :— 1. Glue or gelatine, 4 oz.; gum arabic, 3 oz.; water, pint. Dissolve by heat, and add of treacle, 7 oz.; finely powdered animal charcoal, 5 oz. ; and then gently evaporate until the compound is of the proper consistence when cold, stirring all the time. It must be kept corked.
2. Mutton suet, 2 oz.; beeswax, 6 oz.; melt them, and add sugar candy, 6 oz. ; soft soap, 2 oz. ; lamp-black, 2i oz. ; finely powdered indigo, oz. When thoroughly intermixed add oil of tur nentine. 1 Dint.
3. BeesWax, 1 lb. ; animal charcoal, lb.; Prussian blue, 1 oz., ground in linseed oil, 2 oz.; oil of turpentine, 3 oz.; copal varnish, 1 oz. Mix them well, and form the mass into cakes while it is still warm.
4. Add to No. 3, while still warm, soft soap, 4 oz.; oil of turpentine, 6 oz. ; put into pots or tins while warm.
5. Isinglass, oz.; finely powdered indigo, I oz. ; soft soap, 4 oz.; glue, 5 oz. ; logwood, 4 oz.; vinegar, 2 pints ; ground animal charcoal, oz. ; beeswax, 1 oz. infuse the logwood in the vinegar for some time with gentle heat, and when the colour is thoroughly extracted strain it, and add the other ingredients. Boil till the glue is dissolved, then store in stoneware or glass jars. Said to be very useful for army harness.
6. Melt 1 oz. mutton suet with 12 oz. *beeswax, 12 oz. sugar candy, 4 oz. soft soap dissolved in water, and 2 oz. finely powdered indigo. When melted and well mixed, add pint turpentine. Lay it on with a sponge, and polish with a brush. A good blacking for working harness, which should be cleaned and polished with it at least once a week.
7. Three sticks of black sealing wax dissolved in pint of alcohol, and applied with a sponge ; or lac dissolved in alcohol, and coloured with lamp black, answers the same purpose. This is intended for carriage harness ; it is quick drying, and bard and liable to crack the leather, so should be applied as seldom as possible.
8. A good blacking consists of:—Hog's lard, 4 oz. ; neat's-foot oil, 16 oz.; yellow wax, 4 oz.; animal charcoal, 20 oz. ; brown sugar, 16 az. ; water, 16 oz. Heat the whole to boiling, then stir it until it becomes cool enough for handling, and roll it into balls about 2 in. in diameter.
9. Soften 2 lb. of glue in 1 pint of water ; dissolve 2 lb. soap (Castile is the best, but dearest) in 1 pint of warm water : after the glue has become thoroughly soaked, cook it in a gluepot, and then turn it into a larger pot; place this over a strung fire, and pour in the soap water, slowly stirring till all is well mixed ; then add I) lb. of yellow wax cut into slices ; let the mass boil till the wax
melts, then add pint of neat's-foot oil and sufficient lamp black to impart a colour ; let it boil a few minutes and it will be fit for use.
10. When harness has become soiled it can be restored by the use of tbe following French blacking :—Stearine, 44 lb. ; turpentine, 6i lb.; animal charcoal 3 oz. The stearine is first beaten into thin sheets with a mallet, then mixed with the turpentine, and heated in a water bath, during which time it must be stirred continually. The colouring matter is added when the mass has become thoroughly heated. It is thrown into another pot, and stirred until cool and thick ; if not stirred it will crystallize, and the parts will separate. When used it will require warming; it should be rubbed on the leather with a cloth, using but very little at a time, and making a very thin coat. When partially dry it is rubbed with a silk cloth, and will then give a polish equal to that of newly varnished leather, without injuring it in any way.
Liquid blacking is usually filled into small bottles of very coarse stoneware, closed by corks. Paste blacking is formed into cakes, which are secured in waterproofed paper, generally prepared by steeping the paper first in boiled linseed oil, and pressing, then hanging up to dry for from eighteen hours to a week. The following is an improved way of making a waterproof paper of superior quality, thinner, but equally strong, and capable of drying in less than a minute. The paper is steeped in a melted or fluid composition, consisting of paraffin, wax, or hard tallow, in combination with crude or other turpentine, in the proportions of two to one. It is then imme diately pressed, and the surplus composition is removed by passing it betvveen rollers heated by steam. By using paper in endless sheets, the whole process might be made continuous, the paper being finished for use or storing by the time it leaves the rollers.
It is obvious that the manufacture of blacking requires neither skill nor capital. It may be conducted on almost any scale according to the demand. The chief trade is, at the present time, in the bands of one or two very large firms ; but smaller makers are scattered throughout the country. Though the consumption of tbe article is very considerable, its price is so low that it represents a small money value. It is neither exported nor imported iu any appreciable quantity.