1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
441 
Xhc Koys ana Oirls nre Oetting; 
Itlany Preiiiitinis tills Year. 
During September, October, and November, wc have 
received a great many more premium clubs than in any 
former year, and the young people are sliaring in lliem. 
These are very acceptable, for asti-!e from llieir pecuniary 
value to us, we like to see these business habits cultiva- 
ted by the young. For many years to come our boys, 
and girls too. w ill be writing with the excellent gold Pens 
they are now receiving from our Othce rs premiums. 
Some will be constantly galiiering information fnnn their 
Cyclopedias and Great Diclionai ies ol>tained in the same 
way. Others will aUxays be " up to time."' because Ihey 
carry our premium Watclies. Others will be busy mak- 
ing something new and useful with their chests of Tools. 
Blany gardens will be planted next spring willi our pre- 
mium vegetable and flower seeds. Quite a number of 
aged people will be happy over the presents received 
from our premium list through the exertion of nue or 
more of the liUle folks. A good deal has already been 
done in tliis way, mainly in getting new subscribers. The 
work can now begin in earnest, us tliere are more than a 
hundred thousand subsciiptions to be renewed, whicli, 
with the multitude of new subscribeis that can be fuuud, 
will afford a large field for getting up premium lists of 
subscribers. Let every boy and girl go to work and try 
it this year. Some may get only two or three subscribers, 
perhaps, yet that will give them experience, and next 
year they wiil be much more successful. But let eveiy 
one go to work determined to succeed this year. You 
have all the month of December, and if needed Jannary 
and February too, to make up a premium club. Luck 
over the list on another page. 
A Boy Cuts a Cor<l of '%Voo<l. 
"That's not much, I've cut dozens of cords," responds 
one of our fifteen-year old lads. But " II.," of Riply 
County, Ind., who was an officer in llie war we believe, 
informs us that his boy of only eleven years old wanted 
to earn the Agriculturist himself Imt year, and he \'blun- 
teered to cut a coid(»f wood to get it, and he did it! 
(Give us his name JMaj. II., and~give him a shake of our 
hand by proxy.) We like llie Sfiirit manifested. Boys 
who like to do something useful for themselves and 
others are the ones who will succeed wlien they are men. 
All such incidents are to us pleasant episodes, bright 
.«ipots, in the laborious routine of our business life, 
Ho-vr Rain Falls. 
Where does the rain come from ? You answer, " From 
the clouds.'' But where do the clouds cume from ? You 
may think the wind blows tiiem over you. But if it 
blows clouds ovei* you from somewiieie else, it also blows 
them /rojn over you to other places. The fact is, the 
water of the clouds is just as mucli over you on a clear 
day as on a cloudy or rainy day. On a fair day when no 
clouds are seen, the water is divided up into such small 
particles, that it does not obstruct the sun's light, and so 
you see no clouds or water. A change of tempeiature in 
the atmosphere, as when a warmer and colder current 
of air meet, causes the small particles of water to unite 
in pairs, and the pairs unite, and lliese quadruple drops 
unite, and so on until hundreds or thousands of the small 
invisible particles unite in one, and even then that one 
may be many Itundred times smaller than a pin's head. 
A mass of these combined drops which are still small 
enough to float in the :ur, reflects, refracts, or bends 
out of their course so many of the sun's rays that 
they stop and often darken its light. It is thus that clouds 
gather in a clear sky. When enougli drops unite to make 
one too heavy to float in the air, it begins to fall. It 
meets and unites with many others in falling, and often 
so many unite that great rain drops are formed by the 
time they get to the ground. Each large drop is made 
up of thousands, perhaps millions of the small drops 
that float in the unseen air in a clear sky, 
Oreat Amount oV Rain. — Problems. 
Did you ever tlunk how much water there is in the 
air, floating unseen ? It always amounts to nearly 3 
gallons above each foot of the earth's surface, and often 
much more. As new vapor Is always rising, the amount 
of rain that falls during a year is very large. At one 
place as many as 300 inches deep falls in J2 raontlis — or 
enough if it all fell at once to cover the land with water 25 
feet deep. In this latitude 35 to 45 inches deep fdl annu- 
ally. If this fell altogetlier, it would cover the earth 
deep enough to drown all the little boys and girls under 
12 years old. If we covered our garden or fields with 
empty barrels, they would all be more than filled with 
falling rain in less than a year — A pint of water weighs 
just a pound. A gallon contains 231 cubic or solid inch- 
es. A barrel holds 31H gallons. If we call llie annual 
fail of rain 40 inches, (1) How many barrels of water 
falls on a house, 25 by 40 feet ?— (2) How many pounds 
of water fall on it?— (3) How many barrels of water 
falls on your roof? — (4) How many pounds falls on your 
roof? — (5) How many barrels, and how ninny potmds of 
water falls on a garden 25 by 100 feet ?— (6) How many 
barrels, and how many pounds fall on a ten-acre lot. 
(There are 43.560 square feet in an acre.)— (7) How many 
tons of water fall upon the surface of the eartli in a 
year, if the average depth that falls be 40 inches ? 
XUe Game of CliecU ers or Draughts. 
POSITION N'o. 10. — Black to play and win. 
PI ark . 
Wlule. 
Game no. U 
.—Fife opening. (*) 
nine 
I. 
Wlule 
Black 
White. 
I— 11 
lo 15 
23 to 
1(1 
17—18 lo 
23(i) 
26 to 19 
■J— 9 
■■ 14 
22 ■• 
IT 
18-15 •' 
24 
17 •• 14 
3— 5 
" 9 
(a117 •' 
13 
19—10 " 
17 
21 " 14 
4-14 
■' IS 
(i/)21 •■ 
IT 
20—24 " 
2S(;) 
:u " 26 
5— 8 
" 11 
25 ■■ 
21 
21—28 ■' 
32 
2r. " 21 
6— 9 
" 14(c) (</)29 " 
•J5 
22-32 '• 
27 
26 " 22 
7— 3 
" S(eKfyl6 " 
23 
23- 6 " 
9 
14 " 6 
8—11 
" 16 
30 " 
2li 
24—27 " 
23 
22 " 17 
9- 7 
" 11 
24 " 
20 
25—23 " 
19 
17 •' 14 
1(1-15 
" 24 
28 •• 
19 
26—19 " 
15 
U " 7 
U— U 
" 15 
20 " 
11 
27— 2 " 
11 
13 " 9 
11—15 
" 24 
27 " 
20 
28—15 " 
IP 
21 " 17 
13 -IS 
" 27 
32 " 
23 
29-18 " 
23 
17 " 13 
14- S 
" 15 
20 " 
16 
30—22 ■' 
18 
14 " 10 
15-12 
" 19 
23 " 
16 
31-lS " 
14 
10 " 7 
16—14 
" f8(ff)(/016 " 
11 
32—11 " 
16.— Black wins. 
(*) It has been so name*l since Mi 
present Champion of Great Biitain. piayeU ii against Mr. 
Andrew .\mleison. at their great inatrli for the champion- 
ship in E.linburg, Feb., ISIT. (a) 20 to 23, draws. (6)19 
to 16. draws, (c) IS to 23. draws. Id) 26 to 23, draws. 
If) 11 to 16, draws. ( f) 24 to 20. Blacli wins. Ig) 15 lo 
19, draws. (A) 31 lo 27, Black wins, (i) 18 to 22, draws. 
I j) Position lYo. 9. {November A^rtculturisty page 405.) 
Somothiu"- Altuiit Meteors. 
Almost any clear night those wiio watch may see what 
are called ''sliooting stars'' darting across the sky. 
Sometimes these are very large; occasionally tliey ex- 
plode with a loud report, and in some instances leave 
long trains of liglit beiiind them. Many of onr yimiig 
readers may have seen the remarkable meteor which w as 
observed by the writer on tlie night of July 20ih, 1S60, 
and which was witnessed by thousands of persons 
thioughout New YoiU, and the Eastern States. It ap- 
peared first in the form of alarge hall of fire, of u blueish 
color, like the ball from a Rcnnan candle, but soon sep- 
arated into two large and several smaller ones, accom- 
panied by a brilliant path of light. One was seen in 
England in 1818, at 2 o'clock P. M., which shone as 
brightly as the sun. and descended vertically. Another 
passed over England in 1T19. which eclipsed the light of 
the moon and stars, and burst with a tremendous report. 
Others of various magnitudes are recorded as having 
been seen in various parts of the world. Probably the 
most brilliant display ever known, was that of ttie night 
of November 12th. 1S33, which was visilde all over the 
United Slates, Mexico, and the West Indies. Tl;e heav- 
ens appeared filled with showers of stars, many of the 
first magnitude, darling along with almost inconceivablG 
speed, and seriously alarming thousands, who thought 
that the Day of Judgment had surely come. As noticed 
in the Agriculturist last month, some astronomers are 
oonfitlently expecting a similar phenomenon this year, as 
it is said to occur once in about thi'ty three years. At 
the date of this wilting (Nov. 3rd), of couiso we can not 
know whether it will take place, but we shall be on the 
lookout fur it. No man can tell with certainty what is 
the nature of these fiery visitors. It seems quite certain 
that they are composed of solid matter in a state of cum 
bustion. as many unconsumed fragments have fallen to 
the earth and been picked up. some of them very large, 
w eighing many tons, otliei s no larger than a bullet. The 
most probable theory respecting them is that a zone or 
belt of dark bodies of matter is revolving about the sun, 
and that its path is occasionally crossed by the Earth 
in its revolution ; that they are moving with such im- 
mense velocity as to take fire by friction, when they come 
in contact with our atmosphere, and that tlie attraction 
of the Earlh causes tliein to leave their own orbits, and 
fall upon our planet, if tliey be not consumed before 
reaching it. One philosopher suggests that similar bod- 
ies swarm throughout the celestial spaces : that myriads 
of them are attracted by the sun, and that the force ex- 
pended by them in their fall upon that body causes the 
heat which is developed from it. 
AnsM-ers to Problcmt^ and Pax-Mes. 
The following are answers to the Puzzles, etc.. in the 
November nmnber, page 40:>. No. 233.— f//(rjr(ra/C(/ Word. 
—Ability. ...No. 234. 220,015.27 inches of wire. ...No. 
235. italhemalical PTO(>/cm.— 5.85+ feet No. 236. Jllus- 
trated Word — Enunciate No. 237. CrammatirnI P*.a- 
ste. — The first him stands for bishop ; his stands for pa- 
tron ; he stands for bishop ; the last him stands for clerk. 
....No. 23S. Illustrated Rfdiij.— Line upon line, precept 
upon precept, benign injunctions, striking example and 
wise advi<;e, are not infrequently overlooked ; but ex- 
perience enfitrces a lesson on all. 
Ttie following have sent cotrect answers to problems, 
up lo Nov. 1st: Emma Waterman, U. W. Fair, R. 
Ellis, Henry J. Meixell, Warren J. Buckalew. 
;>"e'kv Puzzles to be Ans^vcred. 
Ho. 239. Mathematical Pro6/e7n, lo be solved arithmet- 
ically. The crew of a ship consistetl of Sailors and Sol- 
diers. Tliere were 22 sailors to every 3 guns and 10 over. 
The whole number of men was 5 times the number of 
sailors and guns together. After an engagement in which 
one-fifth w ei e slain, there lacked 5 to be 13 men to everv 
2 guns. How may guns, sailors and soldiers at first? 
No. 240. Illustrated Rebus.— Wnith cultivating. 
No. 241. .Mathematical 
Problem. — A man has a tri- 
angular piece of ground 
whose sides measure re- 
spectively, 500, 300, and 200 
feet each. How can he 
divide it equally among his 
fiHir sons, giving each a 
plot of the .same form ? 
No. 242. Geographical 
Problem. — Suppose a per- 
son to start from New 
York on j\londay noon, and 
travel westward at the 
same rate the earth re- 
volves eastward, thus pas 
sing around the globe in 
24 hours. It would of 
course be noon the whole 
length of his journey : at 
what point in his journey 
would he find the inhab- 
itants calling it Tuesday 
noon, supftosing the whole 
of his route to be inhabiteil? 
No. 243. Conundrum, from the " London Fun." Why 
is opium like a trutlifiil father ? 
No. 240. 
No. 244. Illustrated EciMS.- Worth remembering. 
