A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

to the broom or brush; remove all articles from the fire, and have two pails, filled with water, in the kitchen, where they will not freeze. _Stoves and Grates._ Rooms, heated by stoves, should always have some opening for the admission of fresh air, or they will be injurious to health. The dryness of the air, which they occasion, should be remedied, either by placing a vessel, filled with water, on the stove, or by hooking a long and narrow pan, filled with water, in front of the grate; otherwise, the lungs or eyes may be injured. A large number of plants in a room, prevents this dryness of the air. Openings for pipes, through floors, partitions, or fireboards, should be surrounded by tin, to prevent their taking fire. Lengthening a pipe, will increase its draught. For those, who use _anthracite coal_, that which is broken or screened, is best for grates, and the nut-coal, for small stoves. Three tons are sufficient, in the Middle States, and four tons in the Northern, to keep one fire through the Winter. That which is bright, hard, and clean, is best; and that which is soft, porous, and covered with damp dust, is poor. It will be well to provide two barrels of charcoal, for kindling, to every ton of anthracite coal. Grates, for _bituminous_ coal, should have a flue nearly as deep as the grate; and the bars should be round, and not close together. The better draught there is, the less coal-dust is made. Every grate should be furnished with a poker, shovel, tongs, blower, coal-scuttle, and holder for the blower. The latter may be made of woollen, covered with old silk, and hung near the fire. Coal-stoves should be carefully put up, as cracks, in the pipe, especially in sleeping rooms, are dangerous. _On Lights._ Lamps are better than candles, as they give a steadier light, and do not scatter grease, like tallow candles. The best oil, is clear, and nearly colorless. Winter-strained oil should be used in cold weather. Lard is a good substitute for oil, for astral and