Seo. 21.] 



WINDMILLS AND THEIR USE. 



349 



pipe to fit closely. This stone was neatly set in tlie floor, formin"', as the 

 owner and the mason thought, a veiy safe way to conduct the stove-pipe, 

 which did not stand within a foot of any of the wood-work. It was for a 

 long time a great convenience, and very safe ; but one day the stove below 

 was heated pretty hot, and coninuinicated its lieat to the stone, and the 

 wooden beams it rested ujton, which had been long seasoning, i"nited, and 

 the house was within a very narrow cliance of destruction. Five minutes 

 more of absence from that room, and it would have been too late. 



We could name many instances like these which have come within our 

 own observation, but we hope these are sufficient to \mi all who read them 

 on their guard against similar dangerous practices in building. 



Stove-pipes may be safely passed through iloors ami wooden walls by in- 

 serting an earthen pipe, at least one inch in diameter larger than the stove- 

 pipe, which should not be allowed to touch the earthen pipe, but should bo 

 wedged off' from it by little jiioces of stone, brick, or broken eartiienware. 

 This allows a current of air continually to circulate, and renders it impossible 

 to become heated so much as to convey fire through the earthen jjipe to the 

 wood-work. If the stove-pipe fits tightly in the earthen one it will be liable 

 to become hot, like the stone mentioned, and set fire to the Louse. 



30!). Windniills and Iheir I'sc ia a Farmery.— There is one more building, 

 or an adjunct of some of the buildings of the farmery, that should be men- 

 tioned, before closing this chapter, more fully than it is in the commence- 

 ment of Sec. XVII. We allude to the windmill. Besides pumping water, 

 which, by-the-by, would be a great liclp in the way of protection against 

 fire, a windmill attached to a barn could be made serviceable for a great 

 many purposes, such as threshing, corn-shelling, cutting straw, grinding 

 feed, sawing wood, and turning the grindstone. 



Wind is undoubtedly the clu'ai)est power that a farmer can use, and, not- 

 withstanding its inconstancy, the improvement mentioned below oj)crates 

 well, and has been often ai>i)lied to many valuable uses. By wiudniills, 

 swamps may be drained and upland irrigated. What an advantage in a 

 drought in many jiarts of the country, besides the economy of using a great 

 amount of fertilizing matter in water at all times 1 



We have often suggested the idea of using wind-jtower to ])Uinp up water 

 into a reservoir, or wind up a weight, to hi iield as a reserved pov.-er, that 

 could bo used when the wind did not blow. 



There is no doubt in our miml that such a cheap power could bo econom- 

 ically established to do a great deal of work that reipiires a motor upon 

 almost every large farm. If the seat of the power is at the barn, it can be 

 carried to the house by a couple of wires, to do the churning. AVe have seen 

 jiower carried thus from a water-wheel, nearly half a mile from the dairy, 

 and it was used not only to drive the churn, but the washing machine, the 

 sausu^e-cutter, a small grindstone, ami the collee-mill. To obtain the power 

 from the wind-wheel, all that wuidd be necessary for the dairywoman to do 

 would be to pull a cord or wire at the house, which would throw into geai^ 



