6 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[January, 
fine coal, and cover all the rest of the grate with 
at least coal enough to turn the draft of air 
through the Kindling point. It will burn more cer¬ 
tainly and more rapidly, and extend to the rest of 
the mass much sooner than if the kindlings were 
spread ou<t so as to give no strong heat to the hard 
coal at any one point.—The best kindling for hard 
coal, is a few shavings or paper to catch from the 
match ; over this a little pine, cut short; and over 
this charcoal, or dry hard wood only half a foot or 
so in length, and split fine—all the kindling in one 
pretty compact mass. The point is to get heat 
enough to ignite the hard coal. When the draft is 
not strong, or one is in haste, cover all the grating 
with a few thicknesses of waste newspaper, or any 
coarse paper, with some coal upon it, except right 
under the kindlings. This will concentrate the 
draft at that point, and greatly hasten ignition. 
The paper will burn off as the fire spreads, and ad¬ 
mit the air to other points. 
Saving Coal. 
In mild weather, much coal may be saved in large 
stoves, or furnaces, or grates, by covering a part of 
the grating with brick, or flat stones, or clay even, 
or by covering part of the coal with fine ashes, so 
that the draft of air can only pass through a part 
of it. A little skill and care in this will effect a 
great saving of fuel, and supply an amount of heat 
adapted to the weather, or to the rooms to be 
warmed. We prefer a pretty large fire-box in a stove 
or furnace, and in the cook stove even, the burning 
portion or surface to be contracted or regulated as 
above ; we then have ample room for a large fire 
when it is wanted in extreme cold weather, or for 
an emergency. The brick or clay can be readily 
removed from any part of the grating as desired. 
Size of Coal. 
The smallest coal that will not drop through the 
grating is usually the most economical for all fires, 
even for large heating furnaces. Large lump, or 
egg coal even, requires a considerable depth of 
mass to burn well, or indeed to keep ignited at all. 
Fine coal two or three inches in depth will keep on 
fire, and its rapidity of burning can be easily regu- 
leted by the dampers, or opening the upper door, 
or by covering a part or the whole with ashes to be 
raked off or shaken out as necessary. For the cook¬ 
ing stove or range, with three tons of moderately 
small “ stove-coal ” size, we buy one ton of “ chest¬ 
nut ” or “nut” size, to be used in kindling, in 
starting up afresh quickly, and when only a small 
fire is wanted for a short time. For the largest 
heating furnace we use “ egg ” size (not lump), and 
with each four or five tons, one ton of stove size, 
and half a ton of chestnut size—the smaller sizes 
for kindling, and renewing, and when but little fire 
is required—regulating consumption by dampers, 
or ash covering, or stopping part of the grating. 
Soda and Hot Water. —Every now and then 
a recipe comes to us, directing a certain amount of 
soda which is to be dissolved in “ hot water ” be¬ 
fore adding it to the preparation. The “ soda ” re¬ 
ferred to is of course that known as cooking or 
baking soda—the bicarbonate of soda of the shops. 
“ Hot water” is not very definite, but many think¬ 
ing “ the hotter the better” will use boiling water, 
and thus render the soda in good part useless. We 
use soda with sour milk, molasses, or wherever an 
acid is present (as there usually is in molasses, even 
though it is sweet), for a double purpose : in the 
first place to neutralize the acid, and secondly that 
the carbonic acid (a gas) set free by this action of 
the acid upon the soda, may permeate the mixture 
in minute bubbles, and, when these bubbles are ex¬ 
panded by the heat of cooking, make the article 
“ light.” We use washing soda for cleansing pur¬ 
poses and the other kind in cooking. Why ? Be¬ 
cause, supposing both to be pure, the cooking soda 
contains twice as much carbonic acid—the gas just 
mentioned—as washing soda does. So far as mere¬ 
ly neutralizing acid goes, washing soda is as good 
as the other, which is preferable merely because it 
gives off more gas. If we heat baking soda, the 
extra quantity of gas is driven off, and it is reduced 
to common or washing soda. A similar thing hap¬ 
pens if baking soda is placed in boiling water—a 
large share of its carbonic acid is driven off; even 
if the water is but scalding hot, some will pass 
away. It will be seen, then, that to dissolve cook¬ 
ing soda in hot water we reduce it to the condition 
of washing soda, more or less, as the water is hotter 
or cooler, and if boiling water be used we might 
almost as well take the common soda at the start. 
Hence, when soda is to be dissolved for use in 
cooking, let the liquid be merely blood-warm. 
TOYS & OTW TOCTHMSo 
“ Please, CJive Us More Plays ! ” 
writes one of our young readers, for, she-says, “ we only 
have our Church paper and the American Agriculturist, 
and the Church paper is for Sunday-reading.”—Well, we 
will try to gratify such readers, for we believe all chil¬ 
dren should play some. This month we are too busy in 
reading the hundreds of letters, on agreat many subjects, 
from renewing subscribers that come every day. But we 
must try to mix in good instruction, as well, for wo want 
every young person to learn something new in every num¬ 
ber, something that will be useful or of interest all their 
lives, something that will set them to thinking about 
other things. A play or puzzle interests for an hour, and 
that is the end of it. But we will try hereafter to give the 
“ UTILE CUM DULCE.” 
There ! We have got in one of those “ foreign phrases,” 
before we thought of it. As it is written down, we will 
explain it, so that you will always know what, it means, 
when you see it. “ Utile ” is the Latin for useful, benefi¬ 
cial, valuable. Our word Useful came from it. “ Cum ” 
is the same as our preposition, with. “ Dulce," means 
sweet, pleasant, delightful. So, “ Utile cum dulce" means, 
the useful with the pleasant. That will be our motto in 
this department during the present year ; and, though we 
do not write it out in Latin again, you will know what it 
means, and what we will try to give our young friends. 
No. 464.— Puzzle Picture.— Well 1 we should not 
have thought it possible, but really a whole year has 
passed since we have had a Puzzle Picture. There have 
been so many real natural puzzles in microscopic and 
other matters, that we have not thought of the artificial 
Our Puzzle-lfiox. 
SYNCOPATIONS. 
{Example .—Syncopate a bird and leave an animal. 
Crow, cow. 
1. Syncopate a flower and leave an animal. 
2. Syncopate an article of clothing and leave an animal. 
3. Syncopate another animal and leave a dwelling. 
4. Syncopate a fish and leave an article of dress. 
5. Syncopate a relative and leave an insect. 
6. Syncopate an excuse and leave a vegetable. 
7. Syncopate a tropical plant and leave a beverage. 
8. Syncopate a pipe and leave a color. 
9. Syncopate a volume and leave an extremity. 
10. Syncopate a metal and leave a boy. ” Isola. 
HIDDEN LITERARY CELEBRITIES. 
1. I understand that he will keep operatic pieces. 
2. Long rays of light emanated therefrom. 
3. His cottage stands in a sequestered vale. 
4. I saw the rascal make at. Sam with a dagger. 
5. He wrote several beautiful pieces of poetry. 
6. Your friend Will is not at home. 
7. Thomas where is the cow? Perhaps she is in the field. 
8. He saw a red ant eating his winter store of provisions. 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
CTSHjLOTMEIY(HILE 
O T S H 
EOT. STBS 
E^H II E I 
YM II L I 
Y I I YL 
HOESY 
II S TOE 
S II Y S 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1. I am composed of 11 letters : 
My 10, 1, 5, 11, is a course. 
My 2, 6, 4, 7, 8, is crime. 
My 3, 9, 11, is a bitter plant. 
My whole is husbandry. St. Clair & De Leon. 
2. I am composed of 12 letters: 
My 6, 5, 3, 8,12, 1, 4, is an animal. 
My 8, 7, 2, 9, is a household article. 
My 4, 3, 11, is a small mark. 
My 5, 10, 1, is a member of the body. 
My whole is the name of a river. A. L. Parkyn, 
3. I am composed of 43 letters: 
My 22, 33, 9, 36, 31, is a vessel. 
My 15, 1, 11, 38, 18, 43, to give notice. 
My 27, 5. 23, 29, 37, to strip. 
My 3, 24, 17, 40, 21, 30, a check. 
My 10, 32, 14, 2, 39, 4, to exalt. 
My 7, 42, 12. 26, 13. 34, imposition. 
My 41. 20, 19, 25. 35, one unwise. 
My 16, 28, 6, to cast. 
My 8, is a vowel. 
My whole is a quotation from Washington Irving. 
C. B. R. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in bottle but not in wine, 
My next is in cattle but not in swine. 
My third is in coffee but not in tea, 
My fourth is in arbor but not in tree, 
My fifth is in yellow but not in blue, 
My sixth is in me but not in you, 
My seventh is in tatter but not in rag, 
My eighth is in tarry but not in lag, 
My ninth is in silver but not in gold, 
My whole was a soldier, brave and bold. 
Frank L. H. 
pi. 
Helawnebo si on ebon ta lal; ron seod ti spessos nay 
stripporee fo beon. Ti si a stabsecun cheattad ot het 
rowel waj fo eth ahewl, dan emses ot nastir het trawe, 
cwihh eth ruetrace eskat pu ni greal sluftohuin. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
Primals and finals name two places where battles were 
fought during the revolutionary war. 
1. An Indian chief. 5. A garden vegetable. 
2. A mythological ship. 6. A kind of brass. 
3. A singing bird. 7. A domestic animal. 
4. Part of the body. 8. A forest tree. Isola. 
BLANK ANAGRAMS. 
(The italicised words in a sentence, transposed into the 
original word, will fill the blank and complete the sense.) 
1. He is always in search of -; nothing ever 
daunts him. 
2. General! Our best Indian is-! 
3. Has Louisa gone to get that-compound ? 
4. We bought our petrels at the-. 
5. Dear sir, save me from my -—. 
6. Ask Mat hoiv he liked the-. 
7. Sometimes the - rise late. 
8. Act, 1 pray, with less-. 
9. O' let me sit under the-. 
Puzzles, answers, and such matters as were formerly 
directed to “Aunt Sue,” may hereafter be sent to “The 
Doctor,” No. 245 Broadway, New York. 
ones. A year makes a great change in our Agriculturist 
family of youngsters. New children come in, and others, 
feeling that they are no longer boys and girls, cease to 
take interest in puzzles of any kind, but turn to the parts 
of the paper intended for older persons. It may be neces¬ 
sary to say to the new comers that, a puzzle picture is in¬ 
tended to give you a little trouble, that you may show 
your skill. It is in fact a double picture; one made up 
of certain parts that strike the eye at once, and the other 
of parts which are so arranged that you do not notice them 
at first sight, but when once seen, are very plain, and, in¬ 
deed, you cannot avoid seeing them, and only wonder 
why they were not plain at first. Of this kindis the above 
rural scene, taken evidently just in the season of hay¬ 
making. The frog evidently admires the view, but 
whether it is the hay-cock, that so surprises him, or 
something else, you can perhaps find out if you look. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE NOVEMBER NUMBER. 
Numerical Enigma— John Halifax, by Miss Mulock. 
Pi.—The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every 
man the reflection of his ownface. Frown at it and it will 
in turn look surly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it 
Is a jolly, kind companion. 
Anagrams'— 1. Particular. 2. Chrysalis. 3. Indomitable. 
4. Malevolent. 5. Advocates. 6. Greediness. 7. Consterna¬ 
tion. 8. Terrifying. 9. Landscapes. 10. Escapade. 
Geographical Double 
Acrostic. 
Hin dostan—Gibraltar 
H— eidelber —G 
I- tr -I 
N— obo —B 
D— enve —R 
O— mail —A 
S— andy Hil —L 
T— remon —T 
A— requip —A 
N—orth Ilivc—H 
Well-known Cities Con¬ 
cealed. 
1. Troy. 5. London. 
2. Boston. 6. Rome. 
3. Toronto. 7. Trenton. 
4. Hartford. 8. Concord. 
9. Salem. 
Cross-word. 
The Marchioness. 
Charade. 
Foxglove. 
