1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
311 
Whatever may be added increases the cost without 
adding to the value. Let us have a thermometer. 
LAMP OF “ WINDSOR ” OIL STOVE. 
Kerosene in the Kitchen. 
Soon after Kerosene came into general use for il¬ 
luminating purposes, attempts were made to use it 
as a source of heat as well as of light, and stoves of 
various kinds were devised both for warming small 
apartments and for cooking. It is to its use as a 
source of heat in cooking that we would call atten¬ 
tion at this time. The first attempts at kerosene 
cooking stoves were very crude. A large lamp-body 
to hold the oil, two to four such wicks and wick 
holders as were used in ordinary lamps, and a 
frame of some form to hold the cooking vessel, 
were the essential parts of the affair, and some 
had a chimney to increase the draft. Though these 
were difficult to manage, and would often smoke in 
an annoying manner, they were more or less useful. 
In almost every household it is often desirable to 
have a source of heat without making a fire, and in 
the summer mouths a small family rarely requires 
fire in a stove or range more than a few hours in the 
day, and on many days it does not need even that. 
In cities and 
villages where 0 Q 
gas is used for 
lighting, gas- (J^ 
stoves, of vari¬ 
ous sizes, are 
much used. In 
some families 
all the cooking 
in summer is 
done by gas, 
and in others, 
where the stove 
or range is used 
in cooking the 
dinner, the gas- 
stove supplies sufficient heat for breakfast and tea. 
The majority of people are beyond the reach of 
gas, and need some substitute. Alcohol, from its 
price, is out of the question, while kerosene, being- 
very cheap, and having abundant heating powers, 
is the available substitute, aud would come into 
general use, did people feel that it was safe. The 
number of kerosene stoves that have been iuvented 
shows that there is a demand for such an article. 
They will do all sorts of cooking, and a small fam¬ 
ily, for several months in the year, can get along 
with one of these, without any other fire, save on 
washing days. Stoves of this kind have, in com¬ 
mon with gas, a great advantage over coal stoves. 
The fire is kindled at once, and put out at once; 
there is no loss of time and fuel in getting ready, 
and no waste after the cooking is done. When we 
lived within reach of gas,we found, notwithstanding 
the cost, as shown by the remarkable contrivance 
called a meter, (which measures, whether gas is used 
or not), its convenience so great, that we used it 
for cooking in summer. Living now where gas can 
not be had, various kerosene stoves have been tried. 
Some have been only partly satisfactory, especially 
in baking; others worked well in every respect, in¬ 
cluding baking, aud we have had as fine bread from 
a kerosene-heated oven as ever came from one 
heated by coal. But however efficient the stoves, 
at first, they would soon be used only occasional¬ 
ly, and then not at all. We found, no matter how 
much labor was saved, or how much more comfort¬ 
able the kitchen without a fire in the range, the 
kerosene stove would be put aside. The help, who 
control such matters, becoming afraid of the stove, 
apprehending an explosion, would not use it, and 
there was an end of the matter. Having experi¬ 
enced the great convenience of such a stove, we 
were especially pleased to meet with one so con¬ 
structed that even the most timid person, if but 
fairly intelligent, could see must be safe from any¬ 
thing like an explosion. It is very easy to show 
that oil itself can not explode, but that the danger 
comes from the vapor of the oil mixed with air. If 
a lamp is “chock full” all the time, there is no 
place for vapor, and there can be no danger from 
that source. The lamp of the “Windsor Oil Stove” 
is so constructed that it must be always ful. There 
can not be, if the simple directions are followed, 
a thimbleful of vapor. This oil stove is provided 
with the needed accessories of oven, extension-top, 
etc., much like other oil stoves, but in its oil res¬ 
ervoir, or lamp, it is so unlike any other that we 
have seen that we give a diagram showing its 
structure. The engraving makes no attempt to ac¬ 
curate proportions, or to show anything but the 
parts concerned in holding the oil, which are given 
in section. The oil reservoir is shown at a, aud is 
completely closed, except the openings for the 
wick tubes and the supply tubes. Above this is 
an open pan, l>; from the bottom of this pan there 
is a tube, c, going nearly to the bottom of the res¬ 
ervoir, a ; at d is the filling tube, which reaches 
almost to the bottom of a, extends up some inches, 
and is closed by a screw cap. The wick tubes, e, e, 
are quite long, passing through the pan, 6, and 
sufficiently far into the reservoir, which has at f 
a glass window, to allow the hight of the oil to be 
seen. At g, g, are supports which hold up what 
we may call the the stove proper, a cylinder, not 
shown, upon the top of which the cooking utensils 
are placed ; the bottom of this cylinder is formed 
by a sheet of perforated metal, h, through which the 
wick tubes pass. Of course there are contrivances 
for regulating the wicks, and other conveniences, 
but our business is only with the oil reservoir. 
Now, to fill this lamp, water is poured into the 
pan, b, until, passing through the tube c, it fills the 
reservoir a. . When a is full of water, then oil is 
poured into it through the filling tube, d ; of course 
this will rise to the top of the water in a; but the 
tube being long, sufficient pressure is exercised to 
drive the water out of a, through the tube c, into 
the pan b. More or less oil may be put in, as de¬ 
sired ; the amount being seen through the window, 
/. In the diagram, water is represented by short, 
horizontal lines, and oil by perpendicular ones. 
After a is partly filled with oil, the wicks are put 
in. A glance at this diagram will show that so 
long as there is any water in the pan, b, the reser¬ 
voir must be full of either water, or part oil and part 
water; the window shows when the oil needs re¬ 
plenishing. So long as there is water in the pan, 
there can be no space in the reservoir for vapor, 
and it is manifestly impossible for an explosion to 
take place. As we intended to describe only the 
seat of possible danger in such stoves, the oil reser¬ 
voir, we dismiss the cooking portions by saying 
that they appear to be abundant and well made. 
A Knife Box, is not a new thing, and in giving 
an engraving of one, we do it to remind those who 
are still without this useful article,—of its great 
utility. A knife box should be large enough to 
hold the knives and forks in every day use, and 
nothing more. It should be so constructed, as to 
not be ugly ; in fact, it ought to be neat, aud of a 
6hape to take up no extra room in the pantry. The 
handle should be large and sensible, and the parti- 
KNIFE BOX. 
tion through the middle of the box always separate 
the knives from the forks ; there should be a lid to 
each side, to keep out the dust, as in the engraving. 
Handy and Easily Made Steps. 
There are many occasions in the daily work of 
the housewife when a step-ladder, or perhaps bet¬ 
ter, a step-stand, is the one thing needed. There 
are curtains to fix ; windows to wash ; a high shelf 
to reach; pictures to hang, and a multitude of 
cases where a chair is not high enough, the table is 
unsafe, and some kind of a steps are desired. The 
engraving shows a step-stand, which has two im¬ 
portant qualities, viz.: a broad place to stand upon 
at top, and it can be easily and cheaply made. It is 
a step-stand which has no means for folding up 
and lengthening out, is substantial and safe, and is 
not patented. The engraving shows how it is madq, 
It may be of any size, but one that will pass readi¬ 
ly through an ordinary door, and is about three 
feet in hight, will be of a handy size. If the legs 
are made of hard-wood, they need not be very large, 
and the braces, which serve as steps on the front 
side, can be nailed, 
but it is better to 
screw them, to the 
legs. The top should 
be so large that a 
person can stand 
upon it, with room 
for a pail. The three 
short braces beneath 
the top are not 
shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, but should not 
be omitted in the 
construction. This 
step-stand may be 
made by any one who can use a saw and drive 
a nail. Many families who can not afford to buy 
a step-ladder from the stores, can build one for 
the few cents the lumber aud nails, or screws, 
will cost. Aside from the household, such a step- 
stand will serve a good purpose in picking fruit. 
A STEP STAND. 
A Boiling Basket.—The utensil shown in 
the engraving, is to hold the vegetables to be 
cooked, and is set in 
the boiling pot. The 
ease with which the 
potatoes, etc., can be 
removed from the 
boiling water as soon 
as they are done, and 
the perfect draining 
which they after¬ 
wards get, make this 
a very convenient 
and useful affair. “ Sogginess ” in potatoes, is 
largely due to imperfect draining after cooking, 
which the Boiling Basket generally overcomes. 
Rye Bread, by Mrs. “T. B. F.,” Cbicopee, Wis. 
Set a sponge over night as follows : One cup good 
yeast; six potatoes, mashed fine; one pint warm 
water ; three cups flour ; two table-spoons lard ; 
two table-spoons brown sugar. In the morning, 
mix with this, one quart warm sweet milk; one 
table-spoon salt; one cup Indian meal, and enough 
rye flour to make a pliable dough. In warm 
weather add one tea-spoon soda dissolved. Mix 
it well and let it raise for two or three hours; then 
mould into loaves, raise, and bake in deep pans. 
SOTS 4 ®(D3L¥fflMSo 
The I»«ct«r’s Talks. 
In our last talk about Matter we reached a point where 
we can no longer use our eyes, even when aided by the 
most powerful microscope, for you will recollect we were 
TALKING ABOUT ATOMS, 
or the particles of which all matter is made up. While 
these atoms have never been seen, all that we know about 
matter gives evidence that they exist. 
Everything that we do know, then, 
points to the belief that matter is 
made up of minute globes or spheres, 
called atoms, with spaces between 
them. We can represent by the dia¬ 
gram, figure 1, this idea. Understand 
that no one has ever seen this, but in 
order to explain the various properties 
of matter, we feel very sure that this 
must be the real condition of all bodies. 
Supposing then that these atoms real¬ 
ly exist, we have now to consider what 
holds them together. You know that 
the atoms of steel are held together 
more firmly than those of lead, and in 
the lead they are more firmly held than in wax or tallow. 
The atoms are bound together by a power or force called 
COHESION, OR ATTRACTION OF COHESION. 
You will notice that this is a very different force from one 
we talked of a while ago—the Attraction of Gravitation , 
or Gravity. That acted between one mass of matter, or 
body, and another, while Cohesion acts between the par¬ 
ticles or atoms of the same body. This force, as already 
