I860.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
seen. Presently we see mists and clouds gath¬ 
ering over-head. These clouds do not come 
from a distance, hut they are formed right in the 
air which but a few hours ago was apparently 
so dry and clear. The reason is, that by some 
means, say by a cold current of air, the tem¬ 
perature of the air has been reduced, and the 
moisture, before invisible, is now visible. The 
minute particles of water unite together, so as 
to be seen in the form of cloudy vapor; and if 
the reduction of temperature goes on, the par¬ 
ticles of water will condense still further, and 
form drops of water, that descend as rain. 
Now for the application. The air in a room 
contains a considerable cpiantity of water. If # 
the room be cold, the air feels damp. Close the 
room, so that the air can not escape, nor 
be mixed with fresh air from without, and 
then heat it. As the temperature rises, the 
moisture will leave the walls, and the en¬ 
tire air of the room will become dry. The 
water has not left the room during this warm¬ 
ing process, but it has been secreted in the air 
itself, which is now like a dry sponge. It picks 
up the particles of moisture from the skin and 
it feels dry and husky. The air we breathe, also 
dries out the lungs, so to speak. Bring in a dry, 
cold body, say a pitcher or tumbler of water, 
and this will cool the adjacent air to such a de¬ 
gree that it will condense the moisture that was 
insensible while the air was warmer. 
In a room heated by an open fire place, there is 
a large current of air going up through the chim¬ 
ney, and consequently a constant change of air 
in the room, and the lack of moisture is not felt. 
In a room heated by a stove with a narrow 
draft, there is less consumption of aft, and as the 
confined portion becomes heated, it secretes the 
moisture of the room, and a dry unpleasant at¬ 
mosphere is the result. Set a tea-kettle or oth¬ 
er vessel on the stove with a little water, so that 
it will boil briskly, and the watery vapor will 
soon supply the place of that which has been 
secreted, and the result will be a warm, moist, 
genial atmosphere. A fire should never be built 
iu a stove without placing upon it, at once, a wide 
open vessel of water to keep the room saturated 
with vapor. Even then, the aft will be dry and 
unpleasant at first, until the water is hot enough 
to send off vapors or steam freely. 
Heating by steam circulating in iron pipes is, 
on one account, the most unpleasant, not to say 
unhealthy, methods of warming rooms, and sim¬ 
ply because of the difficulty of placing water 
upon the pipes so as to be rapidly evaporated. 
Those who are using steam pipes, will find great 
relief if they will keep moistened cloths hanging- 
over some portions of the pipe, to give out a 
supply of moisture to the aft. Without some 
means of supplying extra moisture, steam pipes 
are decidedly objectionable. 
We feel quite sure that the method of heating 
by hot air pipes from a furnace, is the most con¬ 
venient, agreeable, and even healthful, provided 
always that suitab.e arrangements be made to 
keep the hot air constantly saturated with moist¬ 
ure. Without this, the hot dry air absorbs all 
the moisture from the walls and furniture of the 
room, and from the surface of our bodies, and 
from the lungs. Our own dwelling is heated 
throughout by a furnace in the cellar. A con¬ 
stant current of fresh air is conveyed from with¬ 
out to this furnace, where it is warmed by a 
large heating surface outside of the burning 
coal. Tin pipes convey this fresh warm air to 
the several rooms, in large or small quantities 
as required. But in the upper part of the fur¬ 
nace, directly over the fire, a large wide open 
vessel is kept constantly supplied with water, 
the vapors of which saturate all the warm air 
ascending to the rooms. The result is, the air is 
moist, warm, and what is quite important, it is 
constantly renewed and fresh, which is not the 
case when the confined air of a room is heated 
by a stove. We thus get rid, not only of the 
trouble of building and watching the fires in half 
a dozen rooms, but also of the dust and ashes 
necessarily attending their use. There is also 
an economy of fuel, for the large heat ing surface 
of a good furnace appropriates the heat better 
than the ordinary single stoves. Let the hun¬ 
dreds of families who have unused hot air fur¬ 
naces in their dwellings, try the effect of provid¬ 
ing an abundant supply of moisture along with 
the heated aft. 
Any one may readily convince himself of the 
difference made in the air by the addition of 
watery vapor. Let two rooms be equally heated 
by stoves. In one let there be damp clothing, as 
on an ironing day, while the other has no provis¬ 
ions for supplying vapor. The air in the one 
room will be dry, husky, and exhausting; in the 
other it will be as genial and pleasant as a 
Spring morning. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Experience with an Ice House. 
It may be interring to some of your readers 
to hear my experience in packing ice to keep 
through the Summer. Before building, I made 
inquiries of architects and others, as to how an 
ice house should be built. Some said “ have it 
underground”, others “have it above ground,” so 
I concluded I would try both. I built my ice 
house six feet under ground, and six feet above, 
eleven feet long and seven feet wide, with a 
window and blind at each end, about 18x24 
niches, giving good ventilation. I used four- 
inch studs, and filled in to the peak, with saw¬ 
dust. An experienced hand filled the house, 
which will hold about twenty tuns. He put 
joist across the bottom, and packed the ice on 
straw, using it freely at the sides, and top. 
As soon as warm weather commenced, the 
ice began to melt, and by the first of July, all 
that was above ground, had been used up, or 
had disappeared by melting. The underground 
ice kept better, but all was gone by the middle 
of August. 
Some people said it was because it was a new 
house, and that it would keep better the second 
year; I believed it, and tried again; but the re¬ 
sult was the same—the ice was gone by the mid¬ 
dle of August, and the straw rotted. 
Some one then suggested that the thickness of 
sawdust was not sufficient, and that the heat 
from the bottom caused it to melt. So I put in 
another set of studs, and filled in again with 
sawdust, put down a double floor, and lined that 
also. I then felt sure it would keep; although 
by reducing the size, I could only put in 18 tuns. 
That year it kept till the first of September. I 
was induced to fill it in the same way again, be¬ 
cause they said the ice was not solid the year 
before, and did not keep in any of the houses. 
The result was the same, the ice was gone by the 
first of September. 
By that time I had become convinced that 
straw was not the right thing to put round it, 
and that unless I could do better hereafter, I 
would buy ice during the Summer. 
I concluded to try once more, and use saw¬ 
dust. Last Winter I put about six inches of 
sawdust on the floor, and then packed in the 
ice, leaving a space of four inches between the 
335 
ice and the sides, which was filled in witli saw¬ 
dust, and the top covered with about six inches 
also. On the first of September of this year, wo 
had not used it down to the level of the ground 
even, and could perceive but very little moist¬ 
ure on that which was taken out daily. At this 
time we are using it freely, and it comes out in 
solid cakes. I am not certain but it might keep 
well, if packed in an empty stall with plenty of 
sawdust round it, or even in a pen out of doors, 
if well covered with the sawdust and protected 
from rain. Yonkers. 
How to Keep Eggs. 
A correspondent at Goodwinsville, N. J., has 
had good success in keeping eggs in the follow¬ 
ing manner. With an inch-and-a-half auger, 
holes were bored in shelves, which were put up 
in a cool cellar protected from frost. The eggs, 
as fast as collected, were set in these holes, with 
the little end downward. Some were used in 
three months, some in six months, and the bal¬ 
ance in a little over a year from the time of 
storing, and all were reported as perfectly good. 
The cellar in which eggs were kept so well, 
must, we think, have been very dry and cool. 
It would be well for those making this experi¬ 
ment to try a small quantity at first; they might 
not keep as well under all circumstances, as in 
the case above. 
---——i a <-■--- 
Albany Breeding Association’s Sales.— 
The annual Auction Sales of this Association 
for the present year, were not satisfactory or 
encouraging. A severe storm interfered with the 
transactions on the day first announced. On 
the second day, a month later, Oct. 10, the late¬ 
ness of the season and other causes prevented 
active bidding, and many animals went for about 
half the price nominally set upon them. 
Of Horses, 31 were sold for $5,050, viz.: 2 stal¬ 
lions for $1000; 11 mares for $1,800; 2 three 
year-olds for $300; 8 two-year-olds for $1,165; 
and 8 yearlings for $785. 
Of Cattle, 25 were sold for $3,158; viz.: 8 bulls 
for $515; and 17 cows and heifers for $2,634. 
Considering the quality, pedigree, etc.; these 
prices were very low, and considerably under 
the real value of the animals. The Sheep and 
Swine were not sold. 
Manures Purchased Annually in Eng¬ 
land. —Prof. Anderson gives the following es¬ 
timate, of the amount expended annually by the 
farmers of Great Britain, for artificial manures. 
Guano.$12,500,000 
Nitrate of Soda. 1,125,000 
Bones. 1,200,000 
Superphosphates. 2,100,000 
Coprolites . 1,875,000 
Sulphate of Ammonia. 750,000 
Other Articles. 500,000 
Total.$20,050,000 
This expenditure coupled with improved 
methods of tillage accounts for the fiict, that the 
average product of wheat in England has been 
raised from 8 or 9 bushels to nearly 30 bushels 
per acre. 
-- - - — - ► «■ - 
Veterinary Physicians Wanted. —Every 
farmer should rejoice that Veterinary science is 
taking its proper place among the professions. 
But we need ten men skilled in this branch of 
study, where we now have one. If properly lo¬ 
cated, they would find it a paying business. 
Here is a fine field open for our young men, 
and one worthy of the highest order of talent 
