Wash and rinse your feathers thoroughly, and if required to remove
a surplus of any old color, pass through a bath of permanganate of
potash, as per recipe; after which prepare a bath of half a teaspoonful
of oxalic acid to one gallon of boiling water and about a teaspoonful
of turmeric; enter feathers and let them remain in bath about half
a minute, after which take them out and add to bath about half a
teaspoonful of rocceline; dissolve powder thoroughly, and return to
bath; let them remain in about one minute longer, then cool off a small
quantity of the bath and add a small handful of starch; pass your
feathers through, squeeze out and dry as usual.
If wanted a very dark shade, add a little more rocceline and let remain
longer in bath. If shade be a little on the orange, use more turmeric
and less rocceline; and if more on the cardinal, vice versa. Should
you, through carelessness, get your color too dark, to remove color
rinse off and wash thoroughly in a soap bath, and rinse off in boiling
water about twice, which will have the effect of reducing the color
several shades; mix a new bath as per recipe, and enter feathers, using
more care and judgment and proceed to starch and dry as called for in
recipe.