THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



277 



sun for six or seven successive days, shaking 

 them up well, and turning them over each day. 

 They should be covered over with a thick cloth 

 during the night ; if exposed to the night air, 

 they will become damp, and mildew. This 

 way of washing the bed ticking and feathers, 

 makes them fresh and light, and is much easier 

 than the old fashioned way of emptying the 

 beds and washing the feathers separately, while 



it answers quite as well. Care must be taken 

 to dry the bed perfectly before sleeping on it. — 

 Flair mattresses that have become hard and 

 dirty, can be made nearly as good as new by 

 ripping them, washing the ticking, and picking 

 the hair free from bunches, and keeping it in a 

 dry airy place several days. "Whenever the 

 ticking gets dry, fill it lightly with hair, and 

 tack it together. — American Housewife. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 APPARATUS FOR MEASURING HEIGHTS 



Mr. Editor, — As a ready mode of obtaining 

 the height of objects, seems to be attracting the 

 attention of some of your readers, I send you 

 a representation of an apparatus, which I think 

 is better adapted to effect that object than any 

 that has yet appeared in the Planter. 



Suppose the tree in the engraving to be the 

 object whose height is required. Construct a 

 right angled triangle, a, b, c; of which the side 

 a, b, shall be equal to the side b, c. This trian- 

 gle may be formed either by fastening together 

 three strips, three or four inches wide, or by 

 sawing a square piece of plank diagonally 



across. Attach this triangle to a staff, the length 

 of which shall be equal to the height of the eye, 

 and plant it at such a distance from the tree as 

 will bring the side a, c, in a line with the top of 

 the tree — then extend the line a, c, until it meets 

 the ground at 3. If particular accuracy be re- 

 quired, the plumb line may be used to obtain 

 the exact perpendicular of the staff. 



Now, as from a to b is the same distance as 

 from b to c, hence from 1, the top of the tree, to 

 b, the foot, will be the same as from 2 to 3. 

 Yours, very respectfully, 



E. D. 



