it, wind it firmly around
both gunwales and inside strip, passing it through small holes
punched in the paper just below the gunwale, until the inside and
outside strips are bound together into one strong gunwale. Then
put a piece of oil-cloth in the boat between the cross-boards,
tacking it to the bottom-board. This is done to protect the bottom
of the boat.

Now you may already have a canoe that is perfectly water-tight,
and steady in the water, if it has been properly constructed of
good material. If not, however, in a few days you may be
disappointed to find that it is becoming leaky. Then the best
remedy is to cover the whole boat with unbleached muslin, sewed at
the ends and tacked along the gunwales. Then tighten it by
shrinking and finally give it at least three coats of a mixture of
varnish and paint. This will doubtless stop the leaking entirely
and will add but little to either the weight or cost.

Rig the boat with wooden or iron row locks (B, B, Fig. 5),
preferably iron, and light oars. You may put in

[Illustration: Off for a Hunt]

several extra thwarts or cross-sticks, fore and aft, and make a
movable seat (A, Fig. 5.) With this you will doubtless find your
boat so satisfactory that you will make no more changes.

For carrying the boat it is convenient to make a sort of short
yoke (C, Fig. 5), which brings all the weight upon the shoulders;
and thus lightens the labor and makes it very handy to carry.

** To Hang Heavy Things on a Nail [323]

Boys will find many places around

[Illustration: Double Nails]

the house, where a hook to hang things on will be a great
convenience. Instead of buying hooks use wire nails, and if driven
as shown in the cut, they will support very heavy weights. Drive
the lower nail first.

** A Home-Made Elderberry Huller [324]

As we had only one day to pick elderberries, we wanted to get as
many of them as we could in that time. We could pick them faster
than they could

[Illustration: Details of the Elderberry Huller]

be hulled by hand so we made a huller to take along with us to
hull the berries as fast as they were picked. We procured a box
and made a frame, Fig. 1, to fit it easily, then made another
frame the same size and put a piece of wire mesh between them as
shown in Fig. 2, allowing a small portion of the mesh to stick out
of the frames. The top frame would keep the berries from rolling
or jumping off, and the bottom frame kept the wire