A cushion, or pad, must be provided, to fill completely the space between the top of the packing material and the cover of the box after the kettle is in place. This should be made of some heavy goods, such as denim, and stuffed with cotton, crumpled paper, or excelsior. Hay may be used, but it will be found more or less odorous. Figure 43 shows the vertical cross-section of a home-made fireless cooker. [Illustration: _Fig._ 43.--Vertical cross-section of fireless cooker. A. Outside container; B. packing or insulating material; C. metal lining of nest; D. cooking kettle; E. soapstone plate, or other source of heat; F. pad of excelsior for covering top; G. hinged cover of outside container.] DIRECTIONS FOR FIRELESS COOKER--NO. II (Single Cooker) Materials required: Galvanized iron can, No. 3, with a cover; some sawdust; a covered agate pail (to be used as a cooking pail); and two yards of denim; any old linen, cotton, or woollen material may be used instead of denim. METHOD OF MAKING Place loose sawdust in the bottom of the can to a depth of about three inches. Measure the depth of the cooking pail. Turn a fold two inches greater than this depth the entire length of the denim or other material and make a long bag. Lay the bag flat on the table and fill it with an even layer of sawdust, so that when completed it will still be half an inch wider than the depth of the pail. Roll the bag around the cooking pail, so that a smooth, firm nest is formed when the bag is placed upright in the can on the top of the sawdust. From the remaining denim or other material make a round, flat bag (the material will have to be pieced for this). Fill this bag with sawdust and use it on top of the cooking pail. The bags must be made and fitted into the can in such a way that there will be no open spaces whatever between the sides of the cooking pail and the can, or between the top of the cooking pail and the cover of the can, through which the heat might escape. DIRECTIONS FOR FIRELESS COOKER--NO. III (Double Cooker) Materials required: One long box and two square boxes; the long box must be large enough to hold the other two and still leave two inches of space all around them; five and one-quarter yards of sheet asbestos one yard wide; two covered agate pails to be used as cooking pails; and about one yard of denim or other material. METHOD OF MAKING Line the bottoms and sides of all three boxes with sheet asbestos. In the bottom of the long box lay newspapers flat to a depth of about half an inch. Put two inches of sawdust on top of this layer of newspapers. Place the two square boxes inside the long one, leaving at least two inches of space between them. Fill all the spaces between the boxes with sawdust. Tack strips of denim or other material so that they will cover all the spaces that are filled with sawdust.