1866.] 
AMERICAN AaRICULTURlST, 
441 
Xtie ISoys and Oirli!* are Qetting; 
Many Premiums tlais Year. 
During September, Oetober, nml November, we have 
received a great many more premium clubs than in any 
former year, and the young people are sharing in them. 
These are very acceptable, for aside from their pecuniary 
value to us, we like to .‘^ee lliese business habits ciiliiva- 
ted by the young. For many years to come our boys, 
and girls too, will be writing witli tlieexcellent gold Pens 
they are now receiving from our Office *s premiums. 
Some will be con.stantly gathering information from their 
Cyclopedias and Great Dictionaries obtained in tlie same 
way. Oihers will always lie “ up to time,” because they 
carry our premium Wati-lies. Otliers «ill lie busy mak¬ 
ing something new .tnd useful with tlieir cliests of Tools. 
Many gardens will be planted next spring witli our pre¬ 
mium vegetable and flower seeds. Quite a number of 
aged people will be liappy over the presents received 
from our premium list through the exertion of one or 
more of ilie iiitle folks. A good deal lias already been 
done ill tnis way. mainly in getiing new subscribers. The 
work can now begin in earnest, as tliere are more than a 
hundred tliousand subscriptions to be renewed, which, 
with the multitude of new subscribers that can be found, 
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, 
perliaps, yet tliat will give them experience, and next 
year they will be much more successful. But let every 
one go to work determine I to succeed this year. You 
have all tlie month of December, an I if needed January 
and February too, to make up a premium club. Look 
over the list on another page. 
A Koy Ctits a, Cord, of 'Wood. 
“Tliat's not much, Fve cut dozens of cords,” responds 
one of our fifteen-year old lads. But " H.,” of Riply 
County. Ind.. wtio was an otficer in the war we believe, 
informs us tliat his boy of only eleven years old wanted 
to e.ariL the Agewnlturist himself hvii year, and he volun¬ 
teered to cut a cord of wood to get it, and he. did it'. 
(Give us his name Jlaj. II., and give liim a shake of our 
hand by proxy.) We like tlie s|)irit manifestetl. Boys 
who like to do soinetliiiig useful for tliemselves and 
others are tlie ones who w ill succeed wlien they are men. 
All such inc.dents are to us pleasant episodes, bright 
spots, in the laborious routine of our business life. 
lIoTT Main Fall!*. 
Where does the rain come from ? You answer, “ From 
the clouds.” But w here do tlie clouds come from ? You 
may tliink the wind blows them over you. But if it 
blows clouds over you from somewhere else, it also blows 
them from over you to other places. The fact is, the 
water of tlie clouds is ju.st as much 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 sucli small 
particles, that it docs not obstruct ttie sun’s light, and so 
you see no clouds or water. A change of temperature in 
the atmosphere, as when a warmer and colder current 
of ail* meet, causes the small particles of water to unite 
in iiairs, and the pairs unite, and these quadruple drops 
unite, and so on until hundreds or thousands of liie small 
invisible particles unite in one, and even then that one 
may be many hun lied times smaller than a pin’s head. 
A mass of these combined drops wliich are still small 
enough to float in the air, 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. Wlien enough 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 
lime they get to the ground. Each large dro[) is made 
up of thousands, perhaps millions of the small drops 
that float in the unseen air in a clear sky. 
Oreat Amoiiiiit of Rain.—Problems. 
Did you ever think how much water there is in the 
air, floating unseen ? It alw ays 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 tliat falls during a year is very large. At one 
place as many as 300 inches deep falls in 1’2 months—or 
enough if it all fell at once to cover tlie land with water25 
feet deep. In this latitude 35 to 45 inches deep fall annu ■ 
ally. If tliis fell altogether, 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 le.sstliaii a year — A pint of w ater weighs 
just a pound. A gallon contains 231 cubic or solid inch¬ 
es. A barrel holds 31 Jj gallons. If we call tlie annual 
fall of rain 40 inches, (1) How many barrels of water 
falls on a house,'-'5 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 liow many potinds 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 43.560square feet in an acre.)—(7) How many 
tons of water fall upon tlie surface of the earth in a 
year, if tlie average depth that falls be 40 indies? 
Xlie Oamc of CbecUers or S>raug'lits. 
POSITION NO. 10. — Black to play and win. 
BtarM. 
Game no. 10.—Fife openino.(*) 
Black. 
White 
Black. 
White. 
1—11 to 
15 
23 to 
I9 
17—18 to 
23(i) 
26 
to 19 
•2— 9 “ 
14 
22 “ 
IT 
18-15 “ 
24 
17 
“ 14 
3— 5 “ 
9 
(a)17 “ 
13 
19—10 “ 
17 
21 
“ 14 
4—14 “ 
18 
(i)2I “ 
17 
20—24 “ 
28(j) 
in 
“ 26 
5— 8 “ 
11 
25 “ 
21 
21—‘28 “ 
32 
25 
“ 21 
6— 9 “ 
14(c 
(<029 “ 
■25 
22—32 “ 
27 
26 
“ 22 
7— 3 “ 
8(s)(/)’26 “ 
23 
‘23— 6 “ 
9 
14 
“ 5 
8—11 “ 
16 
30 “ 
26 
24—27 “ 
23 
22 
“ 17 
9— 7 “ 
11 
24 “ 
‘20 
‘25-‘23 “ 
19 
17 
“ 14 
10-15 “ 
24 
•28 “ 
19 
‘26—19 “ 
15 
11 
“ 7 
n— 11 “ 
15 
20 “ 
11 
27— 2 “ 
11 
13 
“ 9 
1>—15 *• 
24 
27 “ 
21 
‘28—15 “ 
18 
21 
“ 17 
1.3-18 “ 
27 
3 -2 " 
23 
•29-18 “ 
22 
17 
“ 13 
14— 8 “ 
15 
20 “ 
16 
30—22 “ 
18 
14 
“ 10 
15—12 “ 
19 
‘23 “ 
16 
31-18 “ 
14 
10 
“ 7 
16—14 •’ 
18(5- 
)(A)I6 “ 
11 
32—11 “ 
16.— 
Black 
w ins. 
(*) It has been so named since Mr. James Wylie, the 
present Champion of Great Britain, played ii against Mr. 
Andrew Amlersoii. at their great match for the champion- 
ship in Edinburg, Feb., 1847. («) 26 to 2-3, draws, li) 19 
to 16. draws, (c) 18 to 23. draws, (d) 2fi to 23, draws. 
(e) II to 16, dr.aws. If) 24 to 20. Black wins. Ig) 15 to 
19, draws. (A) 31 to 27. Black w ins, (i) 18 to 22. draws. 
I j) Position No. 9. ^November Agriculturist, page 405.) 
Sometlitsi^ About Meteors. 
Almost any clear night those who watch may see what 
are called “shooting stars” darting across the sky. 
Sometimes tliese are very large; occasionally tliey ex¬ 
plode vvith a loud report, and in some instances leave 
long trains of liglit beliind them. Many of our young 
readers may have seen the remarkable meteor which was 
observed by the writer on tlie night of July 20lh, 1860, 
and which was witnessed by thousands of persons 
tliroughout New York, ami the Eastern State.s. It ap¬ 
peared first in the form of a large ball of fire, of a bliieish 
color, like the ball from a Roman candle, but soOiT sep¬ 
arated into two large and several smaller ones, accom¬ 
panied by a brilliant palh 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 1719, 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 tlie world. Probably the 
most brilliant display ever known, was that of tlie night 
of November 12th, 1833, which was visible all over the 
United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. Tlie heav¬ 
ens appeared filled with showers of stars, many of the 
first magnitude, darting along witli almost inconceivable 
speed, and seriously alarming thousands, who thought 
tliat the Day of Judgment had surely come. As noticed 
in the Agriculturist last month, some astronomers are 
confidently expecting a similar phenomenon this year, as 
it is said to occur once in about thi' ty three years. At 
the date of this writing (Nov. 3rd), of course we can not 
know wliether it will lake |)lace, but we shall be on the 
lookout for it. No man can tell with certainty what is 
the nature of these fiery visitors. It seems quite certain 
that tliey are composed of solid m,atler in a state of cum 
bustion, as many unconsumed fragments have fallen to 
the earth and been picked up, some of tliem very large, 
weighing many tons, otliers no larger than a bullet. The 
most probable theory respecting them is that a zone or 
belt of dark bodies of matier is revolving .about the sun. 
and that its path is occasionally crossed by the Earth 
in its revolution ; that they are moving witli such im¬ 
mense velocity as to take fire by friction, when they come 
in contact with our atmosphere, and that the attraction 
of tlie Earih causes tliem 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 llie 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 w liich is developed from It. 
Answers to Prol»lems and Puzzles. 
Tlie following are answers to the Puzzles, etc., in the 
November number, page 405. No. 233 .—Illustrated Word. 
—Ability ...No. 234. 2-20,()15.27 inches of wire .. No. 
235. .Mathematical Problem. —5.85-|-feet ...No. 236. Illus¬ 
trated Word. —Enunciate.... No. 237. Grammatical Puz¬ 
zle.—'VUe fir.-t him stands for bishop ; his stands for pa¬ 
tron ; he stands for bisliop ; the last liim stands for clerk. 
_No. 238. Illustrated Rebus .—Line upon line, precept 
upon iirecept. benign injunctions, striking examiile and 
wise advice, are not infrequently overlooked ; but ex¬ 
perience enforces a lesson on all. 
Tne following liave scut co-rect answers to prolilems, 
up to Nov. Ist; Emma AVaterman, R. W. Fair. R. 
Ellis, Henry J. Jleixell, Warren J. Buckalcw. 
Yew Puzzles to l>e Answered. 
No, 239. Mathematical Proftfem. to be solved arithmet 
ically. The crew of a sliip consisted of Sailors and Sol¬ 
diers. There wei e 22 sailors to every 3 guns and 10 over. 
Tlie whole number of men was 5 times tlie number of 
sailors and guns together. After an engagement in which 
one fiftli were -Iain, tliere lacked 5 to be 13 men to every 
2 guns. How may guns, sailors and soldiers at first? 
No. 240. Illuslraled Rebus .—Wortli cultivating. 
No. ‘241. Muthe.matical 
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 
four sons, giving each a 
plot of tlie same form ? 
No. 242. Geographical 
Problem .—Suppose a per- 
.son to start from New 
York on Monday 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 
wliat point in his journey 
would lie find the iiiliab- 
itants calling it Tuesday 
noon, supposing the w liole 
of liis route to lie inliabited? 
No. 243. Conundrum, from tlie ’* London Fun.” Why 
is opium like a truthful father ? 
No. 210. 
No. 244. Illustrated Reins.—Worth remembering. 
