1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
57 
with fresh fuel. The flues are covered with heavy 
cast-iron plates, pierced with round holes 2 inches 
in diameter. The ends of the center flue open into 
the draught chimneys, seen at figs. 3 and 4. These 
chimneys are covered with plates of cast-iron, ar¬ 
ranged so as to be opened when the fuel is first fed 
into the fire, to let the smoke pass off, and closed 
when it has burned up clear, to throw the flame 
into the mass of limestone in the kilns. The kiln 
is surrounded by an open shed, and is supported 
by buttresses, one in the center and one at each 
end, at each side. The walls are two feet thick, 
and are strengthened with iron bands around them, 
drawn tight with adjustable couplings. Fig. 4 is a 
section of the kiln, showing the method of con¬ 
struction. It is seen that it is simply a combina¬ 
tion of four ordinary kilns. The kiln should be 
lined with fire-brick, 9 inches thick, for 4 feet above 
the fire-bars, and the work around the fire-holes 
should all be of fire-brick. Fig. 5 shows an eleva¬ 
tion of the kiln, with the track laid from the quar¬ 
ry, upon which the cars of limestone are run upon 
a down grade. It shows the fire-holes and with¬ 
drawing holes, the shed surrounding the kiln, and 
the general arrangement of the whole. The lime 
is drawn from this kiln as from the one previously 
described, and as the unbumed stone sinks down, 
more is thrown in from the cars, shown in the il¬ 
lustration. By regulating the chimney dampers, 
the heat may be kept low, or be raised, so as to 
burn the lime in 12 hours or less. Lime may be 
drawn every 6, 12, or 24 hours, and will cool ready 
for use in 12 hours. One part of coal to every 
seven parts of limestone is used in this kiln. Lime 
burned in it is free from ashes, and is perfectly 
calcined ; it is therefore of extra good quality for 
plasterer’s use. There is also an economy in fuel 
and in time in burning the lime. These advantages 
go far to offset the large first cost of the kiln, and 
the possibly greater cost of labor in operating it. 
Cutting Ice in Shallow Ponds. 
In cutting ice in shallow water, the ordinary ice- 
saw is very inconvenient. In such a case the fol- 
Fig. 1.— ICE-SAW. 
lowing expedient may be adopted. Procure a worn 
out mill-saw, or a cross-cut-saw, with the teeth 
changed to the shape of rip-saw teeth, rivet to it a 
long handle, in a sloping direction, so that when in 
use, the saw can be worked almost horizontally as 
shown in figure 1. When the first cut is to be made, 
the axe is used to open a hole in the ice. The saw 
is then worked back and forth from the hole, in a 
slightly sloping or nearly horizontal direction, and 
ice may thus be cut when the water is not over six 
Fig. 2.— ICE-SAW WITH MARKER. 
inches deep, without touching bottom. To make 
the blocks of even size, it is only necessary to fas¬ 
ten a piece of smooth board to the saw, and paral¬ 
lel to it, by iron rods and screw bolts, at such a dis¬ 
tance from it as will be equal to the size of the 
blocks wanted, see fig. 2. With this, the lines of 
the cuts are marked out first, it is then removed 
and the blocks are cut. This form of saw we have 
found the easiest to use both in deep and shallow 
water ; and a heavy blade with rip-saw or chisel¬ 
shaped teeth, such as a worn out upright mill-saw 
much the easiest to work with, as the weight rests 
upon the ice, and it is only necessary to push it for¬ 
ward and draw it back with a low motion, which is 
far less fatiguing than to lift a saw directly up and 
down, making an upright stroke. 
The "White Sage” of the Far West. 
The common names of plants are often quite 
puzzling, and it is frequently 
difficult to see their applicability 
to the plants which bear them. 
Especially is this the case in the 
newer parts of the country, where 
old and well-known names are 
made to do duty for plants quite 
different from those to which 
they properly belong. Thus on 
the barren plains of the Far West 
two or more species of worm¬ 
wood are called “ sage,” their 
only resemblance being in the 
sombre color of their foliage. In 
the mountains of Utah, Nevada, 
and Colorado there is another 
plant known as “ White Sage,” 
which is quite as far removed 
from the sage of the Plains, as it 
is from the sages of the gardens. 
This White Sage is a plant of no 
little importance to the settlers 
in the regions where it grows, as 
it is often their chief reliance for 
winter forage. It was first de¬ 
scribed by Pursli, from speci¬ 
mens collected by Lewis & Clark, 
as Diotis lanata, but for good rea¬ 
sons it was placed in another 
genus, and its proper botanical 
name now is Eurotia lanata , and 
it belongs in the same family with 
the beet, the spinach, and the 
pig-weed. It is a half-shrubby 
plant, being woody at the base, 
with erect, somewhat herbace¬ 
ous branches, and is from 6 to 18 
inches high. The numerous 
leaves are narrow, and, as well 
as the rest of the plant, clothed 
with white hairs. The stamens 
and pistils are in separate flow¬ 
ers, and these are sometimes 
borne upon the same plant, and 
often on different plants ; they 
are gathered into spike-like 
clusters at the ends of the branches. The engrav¬ 
ing gives the appearance of a small branch of the 
natural size ; at the left hand is a staminate flower 
closed, and one laid 
open, and on the 
right-hand side a 
pistillate flower and 
seed. The pistillate 
flower is surrounded 
by bracts, forming a 
sort of cup, which 
bears four dense tufts 
of long white hairs. 
In drying, the hairs 
turn brownish, and 
give the plant quite a 
different aspect from 
that which it has 
when fresh. Two 
other species of 
Eurotia are found in 
Asia, and it is thought 
that our plant may 
be a narrow-leaved 
form of one of them. 
The White Sage is 
found from the Brit¬ 
ish possessions along 
the mountains as far 
south as New Mexico, and westward to the Sierras : 
it often covers large tracts in the elevated valleys,and 
on the driest land. Our correspondent, I. D. Pasco, 
Esq., whose farm is in Nye county, Nevada, at an 
elevation of 0,800 feet above the sea, states that 
there is before his door a “field” 25 miles long, 
and averaging 2 miles wide, where hundreds of 
horses and cattle are grazing upon the White Sage 
this winter, and are fat. He says that as soon as 
the grass starts in the spring they prefer that, but 
will even then take an occasional bite at the sage. 
In reference to its great value as a winter forage, 
the plant is in some localities called “ winter fat.” 
the white sage.— (Eurotia lanata .) 
The plant has a strong and unpleasant odor, 
and it is said to impart a peculiar and rather dis¬ 
agreeable flavor to the beef fed on it, a difficulty 
shed for sheep. —( See next page.) 
which may no doubt be overcome, by changing 
the food for a short time before slaughtering. 
