DEC 4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
788 
VENTILATES. 
FLOOR. PLAN 
Burnt l)iteclu«. 
THE MODERN SCHOOL BUILDING. 
Among all the characteristic features of 
the American landscape, we know of no ob¬ 
ject which is n cause of greater satisfaction 
and pleasure, or which yields a greater profit 
for the money expended, than the school- 
house. By this we do not. meau merely the 
empty building—and wo may congratulate 
ourselves that but few such 
are to be found in our conn- 
try—but the school building 
agreeably filled with busy, in- I 
telligeut scholars, who are en¬ 
deavoring to store their minds L - ■■ — 
with knowledge. 
It is to be regretted that 
we have so few, really first- I _ 
class school buildings, that 
are constructed in a tasty I _ 
manner, in which are embod¬ 
ied both beauty and general I - 
convenience and health. Con¬ 
sidering the rapidity with j 
which the Western States are I _ 
being settled, it stands to rea¬ 
son that many more of these ! _ 
institutions v. ill be erected in 
the near future in the newly- j - 
settled localities, and also that 
structures to be occupied for a 
like purpose, will replace the | _ 
many antiquated affaire in 
the older settled portions of 
the country. I 
We cannot impress upon 
the minds of our readers too 
deeply, the necessity of con- qqys.^dhthxhqc. 
sidering how and what to 
build for the school building, *- 
and to carefully examine and 
adopt the best plans —in an 
economic sense of the word A Country i 
—that may be brought to their 
notice. To aid all such, we present to our read¬ 
ers three plans,'a side elevation (Fig. 680), and 
ground plan (Fig. *184). and also a plan for 
heating and ventilating the building illus¬ 
trated in our last issue (Fig. 685), the geueral 
idea of which may be equally well applied in 
other plans. It is a fact to be deplored that 
so few school-houses are properly ventilated, 
whereas good air is almost a necessity when 
the brain is to be actively and constantly 
used; the close, heated, ill-smelling rooms of 
most school-houses too often develop disease 
and blunt the mind. Dr. Kenzie says: “By 
securing the best possible conditions for the 
health of the young, we must effectually se¬ 
cure the well-being of the State; and any 
cause which saps the vigor of childhood is a 
blow at the common weal.” Says William 
Appleyard, before the Michigan State Teach¬ 
ers* Association: “In view of the necessity of 
the better construction of school-houses, what 
chauges are to he made i How are we to con¬ 
struct buildings which shall combine economy 
with good hygienic qualities i The form of 
building will, to a great extent, depend upon 
the amount to be expended and the number 
of scholars to bo accommodated. It is un¬ 
necessary that a school-house be highly or¬ 
nate or stately. I consider that tasteful sim¬ 
plicity should enter into all its parts. It 
should be made interesting to the children 
who come to occupy it each day, and it should 
be made to reflect the nature of its surround¬ 
ings. Nowhere are the surroundings better 
fitted than in the country to bring out the 
elements of art which make a simple building 
attractive. There are the woods, the tlelds> 
and a pure atmosphere, made blue by distance 
while within the building, is childhood. 
Therefore I say that of all school-buildings, 
those in the country districts should be most 
artistic.” 
The drawings which accompany thisarticle, 
we have had re-drawn and re-engraved from 
the Transactions of the Michigan State Teach¬ 
ers’ Association. 
‘RtigcfUani'oits. 
THE EYE-OPENER. 
A good deal of money is taken out of (he 
pockets of would-be smart fellows by the 
“ detective agency” business. We have re¬ 
ceived several circulars of such concerns, 
notably of one in Cincinnati and of another 
in this city, and all have a very striking 
“family resemblance.” The New York cou- 
eern, which is now sending its circulars broad¬ 
cast over the country, calls Itself the “ Union 
Detective Agency,” It occupies a small room 
in the remotest corner of the fifth floor of a 
large building on Broadway. The room is 
absolutely bare of furniture, except a siugle 
chair and a small table littered with circulars, 
envelopes, etc. Here is a specimen of the lures 
sent out by the shabby man who is the “Union 
Detective Agency:” 
Dear Sir:—We wish a tnetuher of our association In 
your neighborhood Immediately, and If you will nil 
out the Inclosed blank and forward It, with #5, at 
once, wo will Issue you a commission, forward you a 
shield, and give you full Instructions. The mulls are 
now so absolutely safe that If you Inclose a check or 
a live dollar bill, seal tlu* note securely, and address 
It carefully, It wilt be at our risk. Please reply Im¬ 
mediately Respectfully, 
Usios Detective Answer. 
N. B.— If you cannot serve, please hand this letter 
[The ashes of any plant cannot be more 
valuable than the plant itself if rotted in the 
ground, because, in burning, most of the 
n itrogen is lost. It is better, however, to burn 
when scattered than to bum in heaps.—E ds.] 
1 GIFHJ7 tvnWNCa 
COLD Ais: DUCT 
BOYS WAEDBOBE 
A Country School-House.—Ground Plan. 
and circular to sime reliable and energetic man 
whom you can recommend, as we shall endeavor to 
secure a member there. 
Attached to the letter is the statement: 
“Secret inquiries of every nature made in 
any county of the United States. Corres¬ 
pondents everywhere. Reliable inforenation 
furnished of the business, character, standing 
and history of any person in the country. 
Legal opinions given. Infringements on pat¬ 
ents, copyrights and trade-marks a specialty.’, 
HINTS. 
With the short Winter days farm-work 
slackens up to a considerable extent. The 
various farmers’ clubs assemble, and the op¬ 
portunity presents itself to the fanner to at¬ 
tend enefited by social 
intercourse, and by listening to and profiting 
by the experience of others. If you have 
nothing more important to do, spend your 
time in improving the mind, in reading good 
books and newspapers, but don’t hang around 
the grocery, or liquor shop, feeding on airy 
reflections or the gossip of scandal-mongers. 
The most successful farmers are those who 
improve every opportunity presented to them, 
whether it be in sunshine or rain, Summer or 
Winter.We admit that the fire feels 
delightfully agreeable these cold December 
days; but at the same time we would suggest 
that you shouldn't mope over it too much, to 
the detriment of the live stock on the place. 
Do not feed dry food to too great an extent, as 
it is constipating; feed mangels, turnips, beets 
and carrots, as they keep the bowels open. Oil 
meal is a very good feed at this time. 
In the meantime, see to the watering of the 
stock. Give only pure, clean water, and if 
possible, do not allow it to be too cold, as ice- 
water does not produce the best results; better 
have it of a moderate temperature. 
Don’t expose the flocks to the snow and cold 
rains.Turn over the soil in the poultry 
house occasionally. If the ground is frozen, 
put in coal ashes or sand for the fowls to dust 
in. Vary the food of the poultry. Don’t 
crowd too many birds in one room. Kerosene 
the perches. Look out for disease . 
During mild spells, vines and shrubs may be 
trimmed ..Keep dose watch of fruit to 
be marketed, and see that it does not rot to 
any great extent..Overhaul seed, and 
throw away such as may be valueless. 
Water house-plants only when needed, and 
have the water about as warm as the tempera- 
w old. For wool and mutton combined, ther 
is nothing better or more easily done than 
to select common, mixed Merino ewes, 
and breed them to a good ram of one of 
the mutton breeds. Feed well, and you can 
raise as good mutton as auyone can desire. 
One of our largest pork packers a few days 
ago said to me that people were getting so 
rich that they wanted mutton and beef in¬ 
stead of pork. I am nob sorry to hear it. Let 
us furnish the mutton and beef. 
It is a pity we cannot produce as good mut- 
tou as can be found elsewhere. It is admitted 
abroad that our beef is of the highest quality. 
Our mutton might easily be just as good. 
And we ought to be able to raise a pound of 
the best mutton for less than a pound of pork. 
Sheep eat cheaper food than hogs. Let us 
send less cotton-see d cake abroad and more 
mutton. 
Moreton Farm, Rochester, N. Y. 
ti 
3 
rzrn 
pi! 
1 
m 
Plan for Ventilating and Heating 
With the letter is inclosed a blank application, 
which the incipient Vidocq is to till out and 
send with 85, as mentioned above. Last of all 
is the circular, “private and confidential,” 
which sols forth the “Advantages of becoming 
a member of the Union Detective Agency.” 
The post-office authorities have already inter¬ 
fered with the working of some of these “De¬ 
tective Agencies;” but this New York con¬ 
cern has as yet not been noticed. The fellow 
who sends a remittance to auy of these con¬ 
cerns, by so doing demonstrates that he is un¬ 
fit for the role of detective, for a detective j 
should not lie a gullible fool. 
---- 1 
Burning Straw as a Fertilizer.—M. 
B. R., Washington, N. C., inquires in a late 
Rural, how Rice straw can be utilized. The 
ashes of straw scattered widespread on old 
plantations are more valuable than the 
manure would be, could it be rotted for the 
purpose. If practicable scatter the straw 
through the stubble and burn it. Osage, Mich. 
a Country School-House. Fig. 685. 
turo of the room. In time of very severe 
frosts the plants ought to be withdrawn from 
the windows towards the centre of the room. 
Clean the foliage of plants frequently, to re¬ 
move dust, etc. 
Skcq.) IjiisbmuXnj. 
A SHORT ARTICLE ON SHEEP. 
JOSEPH HARRIS. 
In regard to sheep, I entertain the opinion 
that native or common or grade ewes should 
be bred to pure-bred rams. If you want wool 
alone, use Meriuo rams; if mutton alone or 
principally, use a ram of some of the 
English mutton breeds — South Down 
Shropshire Down, Hampshire Dowu, Ox¬ 
fordshire Down, Leicester, Lincoln or Cots- 
Mr. Lindley, of Monticello N. Y. has worked 
his cane raised on a plot of 1-15 of an acre 
and it gave him seven gallons of very fine light- 
colored sirup, or at the rate of 105 gallons per 
acre—this being only a trifle over half the av- 
eragecropin his county for 1881, This season 
being so very cold and backward, cane has 
matured a very small percentage of seed; 
hence a small percentage of saccharine mat¬ 
ter; in an ordinary season he thinks we may 
safely estimate the sirup crop at from 150 to 
175 gallons per acre. This wall give its grower 
from 840 to 855 net profit—if cane is worked 
near the farm. His sirup is much sought after 
at 85 cents per gallon. 
SuGAR-making in Kansas is now an estab¬ 
lished fact, says the Kansas Farmer. There 
is no longer any uncertainty about it. Sugar 
is made in every effort to do so by those w ho 
understand the work. At Sterling and 
Hutchinson sugar is being made in large 
quantities up to the full capacity of the ma¬ 
chinery. There has not been a single failure 
at either place since the work started. Certain 
methods are followed, and they give uniform 
results. The sugar is all alike, and sirup is 
uniform. There seems to be little doubt but 
that Kansas iu soil, latitude and the enterprise 
of its inhabitants, is likely to be exceptionally 
successful in this industry. 
The Farmer is at the bottom of the social 
structure. He is the foundation of the busi¬ 
ness world. He is the corner stone of trade 
says the Editor of the Kansas Farmer, in an 
address deli vered before a farmere’ club, Yet, 
strange as it may appear, while farmers are so 
important in all affairs of life, so much inter¬ 
ested in commerce and politics, if we look 
among the persons who fill our public offices in 
general, we find not to exceed five per cent, of 
them are practical fanners. Fitness for office 
implies a degree of intelligence above an aver¬ 
age; and the fact that so large a proportion 
of our public men are taken from other voca¬ 
tions, is evidence that the farmer is below an 
average in point of intellectual culture, or 
that he has too much confidence in the power 
of his ballot and in the honesty of his fellow- 
men- He does not believe, as some seem to do, 
that men who raise our wheat and corn and 
hogs are less intelligent than a majority of 
their fellows. 
The Phylloxera in Sandy Soil.— The 
London Times in a recent issue contains a 
dispatch which gives the condition of the 
French grape crop as follows: “Only 12 of the 
southern departments seem satisflet’ with their 
vintage. The yield in geueral is expected to 
be even below the average of late years. Bur¬ 
gundy and Champagne report a yield ex¬ 
tremely deficient, both in quantity and quality 
while Macon counts on a better crop than had 
been predicted, though of somewhat poor qual¬ 
ity. In Charente the quality is also poor.” 
The same dispatch, in summing up the obser¬ 
vations of Lalande, Mai or of Bordeaux, on 
the conditions of the vines in the phylloxera 
’infested sections of the eouutry, gives a most 
favorable account of the use of American 
stocks and shows that even the French vines 
at Aigues Mortes arc flourishing in the sandy 
soils thus emphasizing the fact of the impo¬ 
tence of the phylloxera in such sandy soils. 
The Kieffkr and Concord.—T he Massa¬ 
chusetts Ploughman publishes a communica' 
tion from Mr. C. A. Hovey, of Boston, caution 
iug purchasers against the great humbug 
called the Kieffer Pear, says Mr. Josiah Hoopes 
