1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
185 
THUS MOUSEMOm 
(327" For other Household Items , see “ Basket " pages .) 
An Aquarium. 
A properly managed aquarium is not only a pleas¬ 
ing household ornament, hut it is capable of afford¬ 
ing uo small amount of instruction. Some years 
ago, when the aquarium was a new thing, we gave 
considerable space to the subject. The excitement 
soon subsided, but all interest in the matter has 
not died out, as we have several letters asking how 
to start and manage an aquarium. The aquarium 
is a vessel of water con¬ 
taining plants and ani¬ 
mals, and is in fact a 
miniature lake. A globe 
or other vessel contain¬ 
ing fish, the water iu 
which is daily changed, is 
not an aquarium proper. 
In the aquarium there is 
plant life as well as ani¬ 
mal life, and the main 
condition of success 
consists in keeping 
the plants and animals properly balanced. The 
plants as they grow in the water, give off oxygen, 
a proper amount of which is necessary to the life 
of the fish or other animals that may be there. Re¬ 
ciprocally the fish, etc., give off carbonic acid, which 
is needed for the growth of plants. Too many 
plants are only objectionable, as they diminish 
the room needed by the fish; but an overstocking 
with fish will soon prove fatal. The first thing to 
be considered is the vessel, or tank, as it is gen¬ 
erally called. A very pleasing aquarium may be 
made by using a large 
glass jar, holding a gallon 
or more. Such jars as 
confectionary is kept in 
(fig. 1) answer well, and 
they are to be preferred 
without bauds or hoops. 
Large glass covers, such 
as are used by confec¬ 
tioners to cover up cake, 
make a good tank. They 
have to be supported in an ^ GLASS cover. 
inverted position by means of a base, which has a 
hole for the reception of the knob upon the glass 
as in fig. 2. Vessels with curved surfaces have the 
objection that they distort the objects within when 
viewed through the sides. Regular tanks (fig. 3) are 
made with metallic bottom and frame with the 
sides formed of glass; these are sold by the manu¬ 
facturers at prices varying from 86 to $20, accord¬ 
ing to size and finish. The fiat, glass sides allow 
the interior to be distinctly seen. An aquarium 
may be made with a wooden frame, black walnut 
being the wood usually preferred. The glass is 
fastened iu with a cement of rosin and beeswax ap¬ 
plied hot. The bottom of the tank and all the 
parts of the wood-work that come in contact with 
the water should be covered with the same cement, 
spread on while hot. Four parts of rosin and one 
of beeswax, with a small proportion of tallow, are 
used for the cement. Enough tallow is used to give 
toughness to the cement, so tiiat it will not break 
readily when cold. The quantity is best found by 
experiment, probably a fourth as much as there is 
of wax will answer. Those who do not care to 
procure a tank of the regular style, can find suffi¬ 
cient to interest and amuse them in an aquarium 
made in ajar. An inch or so of clean gravel from 
which all fine particles have been washed, is to be 
put into the bottom of the jar or tank, and then 
the vessel is nearly filled with river or rain-water. 
The plants are next iu order, and it is a little diffi¬ 
cult to indicate which are most desirable, as there 
are few that are known by common names. Almost 
any plant which naturally grows quite under water 
in ponds or slow streams, will answer. One of the 
best is the Tape-grass, or Eel-grass, figured in Au¬ 
gust last, and those who will take the trouble to 
search the ponds, will find a number of others well 
suited to the purpose. The plants, being washed 
clean, are made into convenient bunches, to the 
lower end of each of which a small stone is tied to 
sink it, and as many plants as are desirable are an¬ 
chored in the tank. It is best to allow the aquarium 
to remain thus for several days, before any animals 
are added, exposed to the light, at a window that 
has the sun for a part of the day. For animals, very 
small fish, water newts,snails, mussels, and tadpoles, 
are the principal ones. If the vessel is quite small, 
care must be taken in introducing fish, as they 
consume oxygen much more rapidly than newts, 
snails and less active animals. IVe shall speak of 
the management of the aquarium in another article. 
How I brought Water into the House. 
I live in one of those farm houses built about 
fifty years ago, which are only remarkable for hav¬ 
ing no modern conveniences. No gas, no bells, no 
soft water, no sinks, no drains, no furnace. It is 
true, there is a sink; but I turn it out of doors 
every summer, preferring to have the refuse water 
wheeled away to having a cholera bog near the 
house, which stands on a level space, and the wa¬ 
ter cannot be easily carried away by surface drains. 
Men do not always know that they suffer from 
sink drains and neglected ventilation, for they are 
abroad in the breezy fields and acquire a stock of 
hardy health, which does not succumb to malarial 
exhalations ; but women, who are obliged by their 
duties to keep in the house, often breathe an atmos¬ 
phere of sickening odor from sink and cellar, and 
drift into consumption, fever, or paralysis. A 
farmer’s wife usually rises at about half-past four, 
o’clock in the summer, and six in the winter. 
Therefore, at half-past two she has worked ten 
hours and has a possibility of feeling weary, and be¬ 
fore she goes to her chamber for an hour’s rest, she 
remembers that the water for the chambers is to be 
carried up. It is work that she will not, if she can 
avoid it, allow her daughters to do, as she knows 
by experience the strain on back and arms ; so she 
toils painfully up the stairs with a bucket of water, 
knowing it must be brought wearily down again, 
wishing, perhaps, as I have done for years, that she 
could have water brought into her second story. 
After wishing for it many years, I decided that I 
could and would bring it in. Perhaps others will 
do better than I have, if they will plan instead of 
regretting. Our house formerly had no gutters at 
at the eaves, but a few years since it was slated and 
a gutter added with a conductor, which delivers 
the water to a hogshead at the 6ide of our south 
door. Above that south door is a large window, 
which lights a closet or bathing-room. As the small 
room adjoining was deficient in ventilation (for 
none of our windows can be opened at the top), 
several years ago I broke out the upper right-hand 
pane of glass in the closet, knowing it would be 
so difficult to rc-set it that I should have constant 
ventilation. Why not bring a water pipe from the 
gutter above through that open sash, as well as air 
from without? My plans were soon laid. I could 
place a barrel with faucet upon a high stand by the 
window, curtaining off a space that no fastidious 
taste be offended. I would have a water pipe in¬ 
troduced into the gutter about 18 inches long with 
one elbow, bringing the water near the window, 
indeed quite close to the open sash, and at the low¬ 
er end of this pipe there should be a rim sufficiently 
large to allow me to attach a section of hose which 
could either deliver water into my barrel or into 
the hogshead below, as I might choose. 
At the left-hand corner outside the window I at¬ 
tached 20 feet of hose to deliver the refuse water 
into a small reservoir on wheels, which will be daily 
wheeled away. The house being covered on the 
south side by a luxuriant Virginia Creeper, the hose 
passes behind the net-work of branches, and is 
therefore not conspicuous, and will not be seen at 
all in summer. I have no doubt there are many 
country houses which might have similar or better 
arrangements, if women will once think for them¬ 
selves, instead of waiting for others to plan for 
them. * W. 
Aii Unpatented Clothes-Horse. 
Many of the contrivances to hold clothes while 
they are drying or airing, are patented. We give 
one invented by Mr. Chas. E. Diebert, Schuylkill 
Co., Pa., that is not patented, and which is so 
simple that it can be readily made. The engraving 
shows a perspective view of the horse, which is 5 
feet long and 4>£ feet high. It requires in its 
construction neither nails nor screws, the whole 
being fastened together by wooden pins through 
the ends of the bars, 
which project through 
holes in the uprights. The 
bars are 1 inch square, 
but rounded at the ends 
which go through the up¬ 
rights, which arc % inch 
by 2 inches. The end view 
is given in fig. 2 ; perpen¬ 
dicular dotted lines show 
the manner in which the 
clothes hang, and it will 
be seen that those upon one bar will not come in 
contact with those upon another. The cross-pieces 
at the ends arc attached by one of their ends to one 
of the horizontal bars, and hook upon another bar 
by means of a notch near the opposite end. By 
unhooking the cross-pieces, as shown by the dotted 
lines, and removing the lower center bar, the horse 
can be folded up and occupy but a small space. 
» > ■■ ^ B" »-*—- 
Gardens, Flowers, and Children. 
BT FAITH ROCHESTER. 
I cannot imagine a country home without flow¬ 
ers. No crop on a farm “ pays ” better than a 
well-kept and properly used flower-garden. Of 
course I do not refer to dollars and cents, though, 
to bo sure, everything which has a soothing or en¬ 
livening effect upon the spirits, and which tends to 
keep the body in health, contributes to our mate¬ 
rial prosperity—saving time, wages for hired labor, 
and doctor’s bills. 
Every mother needs a flower garden for herself 
and children. Rightly used, it is a great help in 
family government, in the same way that singing 
is an aid in the discipline of a school. The less of 
visible government anywhere the better. It is the 
wiser way, in most cases, to manage children so as 
to avoid the necessity for prohibitions and punish¬ 
ments. In spite of all our management there will 
be need enough for serious correction with ordina¬ 
ry children, so let us ward off the necessity when¬ 
ever we can. 
We must “ Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but 
being in, bear it.” When a child is losing all pa¬ 
tience with work or play, and is iu danger of some 
