236 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
The Unbiassed Opinion of an Old Fogy.— 
Some people Ty to raptures about the black¬ 
bird’s whistled notes ; others talk sentimen¬ 
tal humbug about the lark’s wildly thrilling 
notes or the nightingale Vpity-pleading notes; 
but my opinion is, that the only notes really 
worth admiring are bank notes. 
An Editor who became a military captain, 
was about to “order his men on training. 
“ Two paces in front—advance,” he cried 
out in mistake, “ Cash two dollars a year in 
advance.” He was court-martialed and ig- 
nominiously ordered to read his own paper 
four-and-twenty hours. 
A poor Irishman who applied for a license 
to sell ardent spirits, being questioned by the 
Board of Excise as to his moral fitness for 
the trust, replied : 
“ Ah, sure it’s not much character a man 
needs to sell rum. 
If you feel as though you didn’t know 
where to go and what to do—kinder chaotic 
and indefinite—get married. For bringing 
one to a fixed fact, and making him feel 
somehow and where, matrimony is a great 
article. 
Rather Dear. —A returned Australian ob¬ 
jects to the mode of sleeping in that country. 
He says, for sleeping three nights on a bed 
stuffed with clam-shells and broken crock¬ 
ery, he was charged $13 ! 
Progressive. —When a man now-a-days 
wishes to communicate the intelligence that 
a daughter has been added to his family, he 
says that his domestic affairs have reached 
a cry-sis ! 
There are three sorts of friends—your 
friends who like you, your friends who do 
not care for you, and your friends who hate 
you. ____ 
Avoid temptation, through fear you may 
not withstand it. 
Never borrow money, if you can possibly 
avoid it. 
USE OF FUEL. 
As the time is near at hand when large 
fires must be supported in Northern dwel¬ 
lings, in order to maintain a cheerful warmth 
during the severe cold of stern winter; and 
as coal forms a very heavy item of domestic 
expenses, it is important to inquire if fuel is 
generally used in the most economical man¬ 
ner. We believe it is not; indeed, we are 
confident that more heat is wasted—passed 
up the chimneys of the houses in New-York 
—than is obtained and used for warming and 
cooking purposes. This is especially true 
respecting grates that are merely set into 
the wall. It was demonstrated by Count 
Rumford many years ago, that a grate sends 
five-sixths of the heat up the chimney and only 
one into the room ; it may at least be safely 
calculated that there is a waste of three- 
fourths of the fuel by burning it in a common 
grate. We do not know' how many grate 
fires are maintained in this city for four 
months in the year, but they can not be less 
in number than ten thousand. It may be 
safely calculated, we think, that in this city 
alone, ten thousand fires send off three-fourths 
of their heat unused into the clouds every 
day during the winter. A great fire is very 
cheerful and pleasant to look at, but it is far 
from being economical. 
Stoves give out a far higher per centage of 
the heat of fuel under combustion than grates, 
but many of them are so set and arranged as 
to squander the heat by sending it half un¬ 
used into the chimney. It is a very com¬ 
mon plan in many houses in New-York, to 
have the stove placed a very short distance 
from the wall, the pipe running in a horizon¬ 
tal line into an opening in the fire-board. 
This is a very unwise plan for using fuel, 
although it may be considered a more snug 
and neat method of arranging the stove and 
pipe, than by setting the former well out into 
the room, running up the latter some dis¬ 
tance above the stove, and then directing it 
horizontally—old fashion—into an opening 
made for its reception in the chimney. The 
heat obtained from stoves in rooms is by 
radiation from the metal; that is, the air 
absorbs the heat of the metal of the stove, 
with which it comes in contact, and commu¬ 
nicates the same from particle to particle 
throughout the room. It is therefore evi¬ 
dent that the more radiating surface there is 
in a stove, and in its smoke conductor or 
pipe, the more heat will be communicated to 
the surrounding atmosphere. And it is also 
evident, that the nearer the stove is placed 
to a chimney and the shorter its smoke pipe, 
the nearer it. approximates to the character 
of a grate in respect to its waste of fuel. 
Here then we have positive data with regard 
to the most economical method of using fuel 
for domestic purposes, and our people w'ould 
do well to profit, by its application. 
Scientific American. 
INTERESTING TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS 
A chance to fill your libraries with valu¬ 
able BOOKS 
WITHOUT EXPENSE. 
Three numbers more will bring us to the 
commencement of a New Year, and although 
our volume does not begin at that time, it. is 
a favorable season for enlisting new subscri¬ 
bers, and, as heretofore, we shall look for 
large accessions. Many of our present sub¬ 
scribers have promised us clubs of five, ten 
and twenty at. that time. While our 
agents here and there can do something, our 
great reliance is upon the individual exer¬ 
tions of those who have read the American 
Agriculturist for a season, and can testify as 
to its merits. Every person can influence 
one or more of his friends and neighbors to 
subscribe; but as this takes some time and 
effort, we are willing to remunerate such 
effort, and we therefore make the following 
offer of premiums for obtaining new subscri¬ 
bers. 
N. B.—The books offered are not “old 
stock,” but are the latest editions of stan¬ 
dard works, fresh from the hands of the pub¬ 
lishers, and they will be delivered free 
OF POSTAGE OR OTHER EXPENSE. 
The premiums will be paid as fast as 
the subscriptions are received at any time 
before the first of January next. - 
Subscriptions may begin at any time. 
It will be seen that this offer does 
away with all uncertain competition—every 
one will be thus paid for whatever success¬ 
ful effort he may make, if it be only the pro¬ 
curing of one new subscriber. 
PREMIUM NO. I. 
To every person forwarding us one new sub¬ 
scriber, with $2, we will send,post paid, any 
TWO copies of the following boohs in the 
first division: 
First Division. —1, Tfie American Kitchen 
Gardener ; 2, Wilson on the Culture of Flax; 
3, Dana’s Prize Essay on Manures ; 4, Ele¬ 
ments of Agriculture, by Skinner; 5, Top- 
ham’s Chemistry Made Easy; 6, Leibig’s 
Agricultural Chemistry; 7, Leibig’s Animal 
Chemistry : 8, The Horse, by Richardson ; 
9, Horse’s Foot, and How to Keep it. Sound, 
by Miles ; 10, Milburne’s Cow : Dairy, Hus¬ 
bandry, and Cattle Breeding ; 11, Knowl- 
son’s Cattle Doctor ; 12, Richardson on the 
Hog; 13 , Domestic Fowls, by Richardson; 
14, the Poultry Breeder : 15, The American 
Fowl Breeder; 16, The Hive and Honey 
Bee, by Richardson ; 17, Phelp’s Bee Keep¬ 
er’s Chart ; 18, Every Lady her own Flower 
Gardener ; 19, Richardson on Dogs; 20, 
Johnston’s Catechism, by Norton. 
Or one copy of any of the following: 
Second Division. —1, Bridgeman’s Kitchen 
Gardener’s Instructor ; 2, Schenck’s Garden¬ 
er’s Text. Book ; 3, Hoare on the vine ; 4, 
Bridgeman’s Fruit Cultivator’s Manual ; 5, 
Chorlton’s Cold Grapery ; 0, Buchanan on 
Grape Culture ; 7, Pardee on the Strawber¬ 
ry; 8, Cole’s American Fruit Book ; 9, Ele 
ments of Agriculture, by Skinner ; 10, Da 
vis’s Text Book of Agriculture ; 11, Norton’s 
Scientific Agriculture; 12, The American 
Veterinarian, by Cole ; 13, American Pocket 
Farrier; 14, Guenon’s Milk Cows; 15, Nef- 
fin on Milk Cows ; 16, Weeks on the Honey 
Bee ; 17, The Cottage and Farm Bee Keeper; 
18, American Rose Culturist; 19, Browne’s 
American Bird Fancier. 
PREMIUM NO. II. 
To any person furnishing two new subscribers, 
with $4, we will send twice the amount named 
in No. 1, or, instead thereof, ive will send 
free a copy of any of the following books : 
American Farm Book; The American 
Poultry Yard; Buist’s Kitchen Gardener; 
Stockhart’s Chemical Field Lectures ; Beat¬ 
ty’s Southern Agriculture ; Allen on the 
Grape ; Thomas’s Fruit Culturist; Dana’s 
Muck Manual; Johnston’s Elements of Ag¬ 
ricultural Chemistry and Geology ; Blake’s 
Agriculture for Schools; Hind’s Farriery 
and Stud Book, by Skinner ; Stuart’s Stable 
Economy; Practical Farrier, by Mason ; Al¬ 
len’s Domestic Animals ; Evan’s Dairyman’s 
Manual; Dadd's American Cattle Doctor ; 
Youatt and Martin on the Flog ; Canfield on 
Sheep; Youatt on Sheep; Morell’s Ameri¬ 
can Shepherd; Miner’s Domestic Poultry 
Book; Bennett’s Poultry Book ; Quinby’s 
Mysteries of Bee Keeping Explained; Min¬ 
er’s American Bee Keeper’s Manual; The 
American Florist’s Guide ; Buists Rose Man¬ 
ual ; Breck’s Book of Flower’s ; Book of 
Caged Biids ; Marshall’s Emigrant’s Guide. 
PREMIUM NO. III. 
To any person forwarding us three new subscribers, 
with $6, ive will furnish the Premiums No. 1 and 
2, or one copy of either of the following: 
Blake’s Farmer at Home; Bridgeman’s 
Young Gardener’s Assistant; Johnston’s 
Dictionary of Modern Gardening ; Elliott’s 
American Fruit Grower’s Guide ; Guide to 
the Orchard, by Lindley ; Neill’s Fruit, Flow¬ 
er and Kitchen Garden; Downing's Fruit 
and Fruit Trees of America ; Barry's Fruit 
Garden ; Browne’s American Field Book of 
Manures; Ruffin’s Calcareous Manures ; 
Leibig’s Complete Works ; Youatt on the 
Structure and Disease of the Horse ; Youatt 
and Martin on Cattle, by Stephens; Farm¬ 
ers’ Barn Book ; Randall’ Sheep Plusbandry; 
LangstrotlionBees ; Buist’s American Flow¬ 
er Garden Directory ; American Rose Cultu¬ 
rist ; London’s Lady Companion to the Flow¬ 
er Garden; Allen’s Rural Architecture ; 
Smith’s Landscape Gardening; Wheeler’s 
Rural Homes; Youatt on the Dog ; Evan’s 
Sugar Planter’s Manual. 
PREMIUM NO. IV. 
To any one furnishing four new subsri- 
bers, with $8, we will send Premiums No. 2 
and No. 3. 
PREMIUMS FOR CLUBS. 
To any person forwarding a club of three, 
five, ten, or twenty subscribers, at the usual 
rates for clubs, we will, for each new subscri¬ 
ber centained in the club, send any one of 
the first. 19 books named in Premium No. 1. 
The books in the First Division of Premi¬ 
um No. 1 , are well bound in paper covers; 
the others are in the usual style of binding 
books. 
