Enquire within upon everything

2513. Pastes of Calyx, Hearts, and Buds of Flowers. Take common white starch and mix it with gum water until it is the substance of thick treacle; colour it with the dyes used for the feathers, and keep it from the air. 2514. To make the Farina. Use common ground rice, mixed into a stiff paste with any dye; dry it before the fire, and when quite hard, pound it to a fine powder. The buds, berries, and hearts of some double flowers are made with cotton wool, wound around wire, moulded to the shape with thumb and finger. Smooth it over with gum water, and when dry, cover the buds, berries, or calyx with the proper coloured pastes; they will require one or two coats, and may be shaded with a little paint, and then gummed and left to dry. 2515. Flowers of Two or More Shades. Flowers of two or more shades are variegated with water colours, mixed with lemon juice, ultramarine and chrome for blue; and to produce other effects, gold may also be used in powder, mixed with lemon juice and gum water. 2516. To Dye Feathers Blue. Into two pennyworth of oil of vitriol mix two pennyworth of the best indigo in powder; let it stand a day or two; when wanted shake it well, and into a quart of boiling water put one tablespoonful of the liquid. Stir it well, put the feathers in, and let them simmer a few minutes. 2517. Yellow. Put a tablespoonful of the best turmeric into a quart of boiling water; when well mixed put in the feathers. More or less of the turmeric will give them different shades, and a very small quantity of soda will give them an orange hue.