1851. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
169 
architecturally considered, so here he shows him that he 
can furnish it properly and even attractively without any 
outlay of money beyond his ability. The hook closes 
with some extended remarks upon 11 Warming and 
Ventilating;” and we know not where to find the same 
amount of valuable information upon these subjects in an 
equal space. The question of the best mode of warm¬ 
ing dwellings is one which has great interest to the mass 
of our people. We may safely say in regard to our 
country as a whole, that, for at least six months of the 
year, we are under the necessity of resorting to artificial 
warmth, in order to make our dwellings comfortable. 
Of course, the question how this warmth shall be ob¬ 
tained, is one of prime importance to every housekeep¬ 
er. Nor is it to most persons a question of less impor¬ 
tance, considered economically, than it is in its bearings 
upon comfort. But this question is not simply that of 
obtaining the greatest amount of heat at the smallest 
cost. Many have seemed to consider it so, and their mis¬ 
take has been a most injurious one. They have left out 
an element, and that a most important one, in the real 
question persented for solution. That question, a ques¬ 
tion set before us for solution by the Creator himself, 
is how to secure at the least cost the requisite warmth 
in consistency with the physiological laws of our being. 
Leaving out this latter part of the question, we have had 
men, making some pretensions even to a knowledge of 
the laws of natural philosophy, who have undertaken to 
warm human beings as they would bake biscuit in a tin 
oven, at a cost of only three cents worth of charcoal! 
Air tight stoves have been made, by which it is profess¬ 
ed that two sticks of wood will be almost as serviceable 
as a quarter of a cord under the old arrangement of 
things. You have only to shut the damper after the fuel 
is once ignited, and have the windows carefully caulked 
so as to be air-tight too, and then you may sit and swell 
and toast, and grow delightfully brown, and all at the 
cost of only a few cents a day. Yes, and what is more, 
you may become air-tight yourself, also, getting bron¬ 
chitis, asthma, an unpleasant stagnation of the blood in 
the lungs, and divers other equally agreeable affections! 
No wonder that hydropathy and all the other pathies are 
in demand, and that drug shops are multiplying. 
But seriously, we are beginning to find that we may 
warm ourselves at the expense of health though at a 
saving of the pocket. Yet that saving is only for the 
present. Better far to pay a few dollars extra for fuel 
now than to be obliged to pay many extra dollars by- 
and-by for doctors, nurses, plasters and pills. Those 
open fire-places and Franklin stoves of former days, with 
the bright shining faces and the family drawn up around 
it, were a source of comfort and of real social profit too, 
which we already have but in memory, and which our 
children will know hardly otherwise than as a matter of 
history. The open grate, however, is still left us, and 
the furnace is now brought within the means of almost 
all. These, with a proper care, provide the requisite 
heat without violating the laws of life; but as for stoves, 
we feel little disposed to thank more than one or two of 
all the inventors of them. The fondness of our aged 
people for an open fire-place, where they can see the 
the glowing coals and the leaping flame, is a most amia¬ 
ble fondness, and we trust their sons will inherit it, and 
Indulge it so long as any thing of our forests remains. 
At any rate, we hope they will abjure ovens and biscuit 
baking except in the kitchen. We commend Mr. Down¬ 
ing’s concluding chapter as an admirable treatise upon 
the whole subject of warming and ventilation, and hope 
that it will not be without profit to the public that he 
has written as he has. 
Our readers cannot fail to conclude, even from our de¬ 
sultory and imperfect notice of the book before us, that 
it is a valuable addition to the stock of reading, and pro¬ 
mises to do much for the social welfare of those who 
may come in contact with it.. Mr. Downing has here 
aimed to show how much of genuine comfort can be had 
within the compass of a very humble dwelling, as to 
cost and pretensions, such a dwelling as alone it is with¬ 
in the means of many to command. At the same time 
he has undertaken to set forth the principles of taste and 
truth -which have their application to the most costly 
and elaborate structures. He has given advice suited to 
the circumstances and wants of almost all who are, or 
are likely to be, concerned with the important business 
of house building. And we feel bound to say that this 
advice is eminently sensible throughout. We are glad 
that such a man as Mr. Downing has been moved to take 
the subject of architecture in hand and bring it before 
the public in its practical relation to human comfort. 
There is in all his writings a simplicity, a regard for 
sterling truth and honesty, a love of the beautiful in na¬ 
ture, an earnest desire to promote the welfare of his fel¬ 
low men, which entitle him to the regard of all, and 
make him a valuable counsellor. The book which he 
has now given us, the professional builders will of course 
possess. It is also set forth with such beauty of paper, 
type, and illustrations, as make a proper ornament of 
the parlor table, and fit it to claim a place on any book¬ 
shelf. We would suggest whether a cheaper edition 
would not get into the hands of a larger class of readers 
than the present one is likely to reach, and that class 
who most need and would be most benefited by its in¬ 
structions. Meanwhile, we will conclude by expressing 
the hope that when Mr. Downing returns from his vist 
to Europe, enriched as he will be by the observation of 
its architectural beauty, he will give us a volume upon 
the proper structure of school houses and churches, a 
class of buildings in which we are more defective if pos¬ 
sible than in our dwellings. 
Cutting and Laying Tile Drains. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, 1 
New-Haven , Conn.. March 26, 1851. j 
Messrs. Editors —The subject of laying tile drains, 
is one upon which I have written before, both for the 
Cultivator and other agricultural publications, but there 
are some reasons why it seems best to enter upon it 
again at the present time, After all that has been spo¬ 
ken and written by myself and others in favor of drain¬ 
ing, and of tiles, it is in my experience, still the fact, that 
a majority of the farmers in most districts are even yet 
unable f o tell what a tile really is, much less to say what 
should be done with it in making a drain. In some quar¬ 
ters, however, enterprising men have introduced their 
manufacture, and as fast as their usefulness becomes 
known, the demand for them is increasing. I have re¬ 
ceived letters from numerous sources, inquiring as to the 
nature of tiles, where they are to be procured, how they 
were to be laid, &c., &c. 
In my 11 Elements of Scientific Agriculture,” I have 
devoted part of a chapter to a description of the various 
kinds of tiles used, the modes of laying them, the tools 
emjTloyed, and the systems of arrangement best adapted 
to different situations and classes of soil. Mr. Colman, 
in his “ European Agriculture,” has also dwelt upon 
this subject somewhat at length. These books, howev¬ 
er, are not known to all, and do not, in themselves, fur¬ 
nish anything more than an outline of what may now be 
called the science of draining. I find that In practice, 
various unforeseen difficulties arise, which are not provi¬ 
ded for in the tiooks, and now propose to notice some 
points relative to the actual working details of drainage, 
without referring much to theory. In doing this, I am 
not unaware that I may possibly err in some of my prac¬ 
tical views, but as they have been mostly drawn from 
observations of real experience, they probably will not 
lead any one very far astray. Bye-and-bye, when time 
has shown the success or failure of their respective sys¬ 
tems, some of our practical drainers must give us the 
details of their management. While waiting for such 
developments, I will endeavor to answer a few of the in- 
