146 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Makch 



boards, it would yield about three million feet, and 

 furnish enough three inch plank for thirty miles of 

 plank road. This will do for the product of one 

 little seed, less in size than a grain of wheat. 



By counting the annual rings, it appears that 

 some of the oldest specimens have attained the age 

 of three thousand years. If this computation is 

 correct, and we see no reason to doulit it, they must 

 have been as large as our best forest in New" York, 

 in the times of Homer and the prophet Elijah ; 

 and venerable and towering giants during the 

 Carthagenian wars. In other words, "The Roman 

 Empire has begun and ended" since they commenc- 

 ed growing. We hope the small plantation which 

 comprises their whole number, will not share the 

 fate of the world-renowned cedars of Lebanon on 

 their native mountains, now reduced to a dozen in 

 number, but that they will be protected and pre- 

 served, and only those that foil by old age be re- 

 moved for exhibition. It would of course be idle 

 to talk of transporting such a monster to this part 

 of the country, weighing as it does some five thou- 

 sand tons, and a portion of its shell only may be 

 secured as a fragment of such a specimen in natu- 

 ral history." 



For the New England Farmer. 



AIR-TIGHT STOVES. 



A recent article in the Fanner reminded me of 

 an idea in relation to Air-tight Stoves. The 

 true principle of an air-tight has almost been lost 

 sight of within a few years, by making them small, 

 under the mistaken notion that the smaller the stove, 

 the greater the saving of fuel. There is no better 

 method yet discovered of securing a soft balmy air 

 in a room at a cheap rate than from an air-tight of 

 large size. Mmutacturers make small stoves to 

 suit customers, but true economy will lead a man 

 to inquire whether a small stove is not really the 

 more expensive. It requires moreIa1)orto prepare 

 the fuel. The air-tight principle is almost entirely 

 lost. The high temperature of the stove speedily 

 burns it out, as well as changes every particle of 

 dust into carbonic acid, which will soon produce 

 headaches, while it requires almost constant atten- 

 tion. 



I have an air-tight made to order from the best 

 of Russia iron, which has been in constant use for 

 fourteen winters, and it is not worn out yet. It is 

 two feet six inches in length and of the same height, 

 and will warm any room, giving out a large vol- 

 ume of heat at a low temperature, which is the true 

 secret of a good air-tight. Among all the com- 

 forts of hfe in my possession, I have never yet found 

 one to equal the somewhat unfashionable looking 

 air-tight, 



I believe that a little attention would give us air- 

 tight stoves that would warm our churches, school- 

 rooms and private dwellings much cheaper and bet- 

 ter than the present clumsy and expensive mode of 

 brick furnaces. Any method by which a large ra- 

 diating surface is obtained (and no material yet dis- 

 covered will do it at a cheaper rate than sheet-iron) 

 and a corresponding volume of heat at a low tem- 

 perature, and the object will be accomplished. 



I have noticed another foct in the school-room. 

 The habit of putting water on a stove is in most 

 cases an injurious one. There is a large amount of 

 evaporation, and the moment a person who has not 

 been exercising, steps out of doors, he feels an un- 



usually chilly sensation, which is anything but 

 agreeable. Then if there is any vegetable matter 

 in the vessel, it will certainly generate carbonic acid, 

 and pupils will complain very soon of headache. 

 Water kept in an open vessel in any other part of 

 the room will su])ply all the moisture necessary, I 

 have not kept water on a stove for twenty years, 

 and find it much better than formerly for the com- 

 fort of i)U])i!s, But few persons distinguish between 

 vitiated air, and warm air. A room may be cold 

 but have impure air, or it may be warm and pure. 

 Hence the necessity of some ready means of venti- 

 lation. N. T. T. 

 Bethel, Me., Jan. 14, 1856. 



Remarks, — Capital, This article alone is worth 

 more than a year's subscription to any person who 

 desires to keeji his house warm at a cheap rate. 



A HORSE WITH THE HEAVES. 



How I Bought a Horse that had the Heaves, and how I 

 Treated that Disease. 



BY HENRY F. FRENCH. 



Mr. Editor : — Did you ever read the "Adven- 

 tures of a Gentleman in Search of a Horse ?" I 

 read it years ago, and have never been so fortunate 

 as to see it since. If I recollect aright, it gives the 

 experience of a man, Avho set out to purchase a per- 

 fect horse, and with about the same success that 

 King Solomon had in trying to find a jierfect wo- 

 man ; and tells how he, like all the rest of us, got 

 cheated again and again, in different ways, as the 

 best of -people will, and indeed are more likely to be 

 than anyljody else. Once he bought a fine animal 

 that was advertised, as sold for no fault only the 

 owner ivants to leave town, and the new projjrietor 

 was led to feel the full force of the language, the 

 first time he wanted to leave town, for his new 

 steed could not be induced by any suasion, moral 

 or 2)hysical, to budge a single rod from his stable 

 door. 



Perhaps it was not that gentleman, but another, 

 who having purchased a nag, which was re])resent- 

 ed A!^ free from all faults, andhimd him s^tone blind, 

 brought him back to the seller, and reminded him 

 of his statement, 



"I hope," replied the seller coolly, "you don't call 

 Ijlindness afaidt, when it is only the poor horse's 

 misfortune .'" 



Everybod)- knows that I have no great preten- 

 sions to much knowledge about horses, and in or- 

 der, therefore, to give my teaching due weight, you 

 must be informed how I came by my education in 

 this dei)artment of science. Be it known, then, 

 that about five years ago, I chanced to be the pro- 

 prietor of a mare, the veriest vixen that ever went 

 on four feet. Among her other "amiable weak- 

 nesses," was a strange propensity to kick. It was 

 her favorite amusement to kick at any other crea- 

 ture, quadruped or biped, that came within reach ; 

 and when tied alone, she would keep herself in 

 practice by kicking up her heels, as high as the 

 scaffold, about once in five minutes, accompany ing 

 the performance with a squeal, that could be heard 

 by all the neighbors. 



Such an animal was rather difficult to dispose 

 of, as you mav suppose. Mr. Pickwick and his 

 friend, after they had led that "dreadful horse" six 

 miles in the heat and dust of a summer's day, with- 



