80 HOW TO BUILD A CHIMNEY. 
ripen, thoroughly exhausted, and it should be in his 
power to help them. 
Thatching is good if it can be kept up, not other- 
wise. And I should rather advise, that all vegetable 
substances be made into compost and applied as re- 
commended above. 
Yours faithfully, P.M: 
HOW TO BUILD A CHIMNEY FOR A 
HILL BUNGALOW. 
[WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF CEYLON 
COFFEE PLANTERS, BY A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER. | 
What a comfort it is, on a wet night, up in the 
hills, to sit down and toast your shins, at a fine 
blazing fire; and how tormenting it is to find as one 
often does that, with the comfort of the fire, you 
must also put up with the discomfort of smoke. 
The number of ingenious dodges which the build- 
ers of chimneys on coffee estates have adopted for 
jadiciously mingling the bitter with the sweet in this 
matter is truly astonishing. A very common dodge 
is to make a narrow entrance with sharp shoulders, 
to catch a sufficiency of smoke as it enters the chim- 
ney, and bring it out into the room. Another is to 
contract the vent to the narrowest possible passage, 
say to a four-inch pipe, where one four times as large 
or eight inches is needed. Another is to make pigeon- 
holes at the top not more than half the size needed. 
Sometimes you find the fire away back at the far 
end of a long archway, and looking into the vista, 
the glare of flame is seen steaming up the vent far 
away, conveying a vague impression of warmth, while 
at the same time the wonderful arch is so constructed 
that the roof slopes downward toward the fire, and 
at the far end juts into the current of smoke, catch- 
ing the necessary quantum which eddies up the slope 
somewhat reluctantly into the room. A skilful com- 
bination of two or more of these is not uncommon. 
For the benefit of those who would prefer a cheer- 
ful fire without the ‘‘soor reek,” it may be good 
news to learn, that there is no more mystery about 
the requisites of a good chimney, than there is about 
the requirements of a water channel. <A vent is simply 
a conduit for smoke, and its requirements are very 
much the same asa conduit for any other fluid. To 
understand it aright, one common error about chim- 
neys must be got quit of, and that is ‘‘THE DRAFT.” 
Smoke, like other air, may be pushed, but can’t be 
drawn. You may draw a bucketful of water, but 
