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®i)e JTarmer's illontl)i|) IJiciior. 



117 



prove iliat ilie coiidticfu)^' I'nwiTof lo'igli iron is i 

 greater thiiii tl;ut of Kuiooiii, otiier things heiiig ! 

 <;(]ur,l. 'i'lio (iti.-ilogy ol' iliiids would I«;kI ns to | 

 l)cdievc it lo be less. Jt is suid that, iu cortain 

 "^iise,-* where the rongli i-ods luivc heen siiiirU, j 

 flic liiiiitniiif;- li:is hecn seen to slrt'inn (ioni the j 

 rod in vurions parts, tliiouglioiit ils length, thu;- 

 disjier.sins the charge, and leaving but a iusidnni 

 to be conveyed to the earth. Snch an illunnua- 

 tioii (d' the rod, itseltj nsnally implies h defec- 

 tive condni-ior; v.iieii eleclriciiy pusses througli 

 a good I'ondnctor i;apacioiis eninigh lo transmit 

 it, it maiulpsls no light. A perfect <',oniiection 

 with tile gromid will make the lightriing t;:kc 

 that course, rather than discharge itself into the 

 eUinospliere. 



I'licre inay be cases when the conr.sc ol' light- 

 ning from llieclonds to the earth has been so di- 

 verted from a perpejidicidar dtrection, (its usual 

 lonli^) as to timet a lightiniig rod laterally instead 

 of entering its pointed snriiuur. Such cases how- 

 ever are lielievcd to he exiremely rare, and re- 

 (■luire to be better untheniicated. No such in- 

 stance has come to my knowledge of a building 

 being sl*-nck laterally, when armed with a good 

 conductor of the cuuimon form. 



The sue of the conductor may be, in most ca- 

 ses, alioiit three' fourths of an inch in diameter. 

 Rods that are attached to very high buildings, as 

 steeples, should he an inch. Soaiehavc suppos- 

 ed that, since electiicity pervades the surfaces of 

 conductors, it is not necessary that the rod should 

 be solid, but that it would !)e 0(pially good if 

 inaile in the form of a Hibe;.liut, ahhougli the 

 fluid traversi!s the surface, yet. ti»e conilucting 

 [lower is proportioned to the solid intws ; and 

 this considemrion as well as a reganijo strength, 

 rctpiires the parts to be solid... In . ordinary dis- 

 cliarges of liglitiuiig, a smaller conductor, than 

 the one here recommended, would proliably be 

 suflicient; but in tlie most violent discharges 

 (against which we wish specially to provide) a 

 smaller conductor, as an iron wire, would be 

 liable to be used, or broken in pieces; or nor being 

 able to convey the entire charge, thi.s would be 

 apt to divide into several branches a.iid find its 

 way to the earth bj diflvrent .routes. 



As the: metallic barsare usually, sold in detach- 

 ed pitices of a few leet in length, itbeeoines ne- 

 cessary to unite them, and Co insure perfect con- 

 linuity by well lilted juinls, is one of the most 

 important principles of tlie whole. I know of 

 no betlerjuint than that made by Mr. Griswold 

 of New Haven; — it is the mortice and tenon 

 joint, the projecting. |)art of the end of one piece 

 being tncely fitted .to a corresponding slit in the 

 Olid of another i<iece, and the two pinned firmly 

 together. Pndialily ingiuiious artists .will devise 

 other kiiids of joints which are equally, good. — 

 Tlie only essential point is, that it should be a 

 perfectly close lit, the parts of one piece being 

 in intimate contact with those of the other in us 

 large a surface as possiide. 



3. Tenninnlions. Tlieu))|'er part of the rod 

 should consist of a tapering stem of copper, end- 

 ing in one or more sharp points of a metal not 

 liable to nist. It. may be either platina, silver or 

 gold. Gris\v()ld's reds have their tips coated 

 with gold leaf J biit.as tliis-is somewhat lialilc to 

 wear off in time, a better method is to gild the 

 points on copper by the new electrotype process. 

 Gold is the Ijcst conductor of electricity of all 

 the inetals — far better than plalina — and when 

 thus permanently incorporated with the copper 

 points, notljing_niore eligible can be desired. — 

 Electricity thus furiiishts the best means of se- 

 curing lis against its invn inegiilarities. A single 

 point only is generally employed in Eurojie, but 

 in this coittitry three diverging points are more 

 common, partly because they are considered 

 inore tasteful, and partly because it is supposed 

 advantageous to present points to tlie cloiifls in 

 different direclious. But there is some rea.son 

 to believe that a single point has greater efficacy 

 than several, since, as was mentioned in another 

 connexion, it ha.^ been (bund by e.xperiinent, that 

 ii conductor charged with electricity, will be soon- 

 er discharged by asingle point than by a collect- 

 ion of nine [joints. 



The lower part of the rod should hayq un in- 

 creased surfice, either by enlarging the size of 

 the bar or by letting it end in several branches, 

 all terminating in sharp points. As iron, howev- 

 er, is pecnliariy liable to rust in the ground, it is 

 c'pccially necessary lo.|irolect , this pari of the 



rodTroin corro.^ion, either by a thick cftating of 

 black paint, or'(wliat is better) by .employing gal- 

 vi'.ni/.ed iron without paint. 



A. .'Ipjilication. The efficacy of- a' 'Ughliiing 

 rod'is miitti incr<:ase'?l by its lisin-g hig'h above 

 the biiildihg. Even at tlie top o("'a spire, it is 

 not sufficieift that it [irojecta little way above the 

 spile; llir alllKinirh it might even in that case 

 protect the spire itself, yet its power to protect 

 the other parts of the building would be very 

 small. A long needle held near a charged con- 

 ductor, will readily discharge the electricity if 

 the thumb and finger be applied to the leinoter 

 end ; but if applied near the adjacent end the 

 conducting power will be greatly diminished. — 

 Tnis e.\perinifcnt was tried by Dr. Frankiin, and 

 the necessity of rods rising high above buildings 

 inferred Iroiii it. A similar c.\perinieiit was a!'- 

 terwards tried by Lord Stanhope, wdiicli led him 

 lo similar conclusions. The rule, thereliire, that 

 a lighlning rod will protect a space every way twice 

 llic exlenl of ils height above the iuihli7ig. requires, 

 in its application, a careful consideration of the 

 circuhistaiices. If a house has but one chimney 

 and the rod is attached to that, there being no 

 other prominent object on the roof, the height of 

 the rod may be recltoiied fi'oin the ridge at the 

 highest part of the roof Thus if the rod rises 

 fifteen feet ab.ove the ridge, it will protect a space 

 every way li'oiii it of thirty feet. Biit if there 

 are .several chimneys, it will be necessary to 

 reckon the height of the rod above the level of 

 the tops of the chinums. In such cases it will 

 generally be better to employ two or more rods, 

 than to attempt to cover the whole space by a 

 single stem of "great height, it iiuist be borne 

 in mind, that the kitcdien idiimiiey requires spe- 

 cial protection. When the building i.-i not of 

 very great extent, it will be sufficient to have a 

 single cofiilnclor lead lo the earth, while one or 

 more separate stems rise b'om it to guard points 

 of the house peculiarly exposed. In many cases, 

 however, it will be more eligible to let separate 

 conductors descend to the earib from two tiislant 

 chimneys by the shortest possible route, than lo 

 tittenipt to connect several stein-s with a common 

 condiietor. 



The cojuierion with the ground is, finally the 

 most important point of all, sinrx', however per- 

 fect the con.luctor may be, wdiether ol' one or 

 of m.uiy projecting stems, all will be unavailing 

 unless an easy e.xit be furnished to the electric 

 fluid .at the low estpemity. Some writers have 

 recommended tlitit the rod be pliin:;ed into a 

 well. Dr. Hare suggests that, in cities, it bo con- 

 nected with the public acqueducts ; but as these 

 methods might be itr many cases inconvenient or 

 even impracticable, t'>e only general ride that 

 can be given, is, that several times referred to 

 ii]rem\\, nHnie\y, lo let the rod descend to the depth 

 of permanent moisture. This will vary with the 

 iiiUnre of tlie soil. In a sandy or gravelly soil, 

 it is not less than eight or ten feet. It isa usel'id 

 pra(;tii-e also to dig a pit- two feet or more- in 

 diameter, hWi the centre of whii h the rod is in- 

 serted, and the surrounding space filled «iili 

 fine ciiareoal more or less in the state of pouder. 

 'I'liis serves to kee|) the rod iVoni rusting; when 

 thoroughly wet it is very retentive of moisture; 

 and it increases the conducting surface at the 

 lower e.viremily. It is essential thiit the charcoal 

 should liavo been tbotougldy bnrneil. Stove 

 pipes and metallic gutters, or water pi|ies, and 

 metallic coverings of the roof, should all lie eith- 

 er brought into conducting cGinmimication with 

 the li^dilning rod, or have separate cnnnectlon 

 with tiie earth. A strip of copper, having one 

 end uuiind closely around the lightning rod, tlie 

 other end nailed or soldered to the inetallic roof, 

 would form the communication requisite; and if 

 the pipes and glitters were similarly in contact 

 with tiie metallic sheeiing, the wdioje would sev- 

 erally compose parts of the li!.ditiiiiig conductor, 

 and contiilnile to the general safety, instead of 

 acting as an antagoniti'jibrce lo the lightning lod. 



The Philosophers Stone, or something near it. 



!n ('arniinL', il'you would out do your neighbor, 

 use two shovels liill of inaunre, w^ere he uses but 

 otie, Iri,, diplomacy, be right, and then never 

 jield. In war, bring more force upon tlie key of 

 your enemy's position than he can resigt: in love, 

 kiss twice to vour rival's once, and if ?he is very 

 IMctiy, three iinies. UNCLE J.VCO.H.." 



I'"or tlie Fdrinor's .Monthly Visitor. 



The time for ciitttiiK small Grain, Corn aud' 

 Hay. 



In the appointments we make for the transac- 

 tion of our worldly affairs, it is a coirinion say- 

 ing, that it is lietter to be too soon, than too late ; 

 which means, no doubt tliat un early a!t*;iiilance 

 will not subject ns to tlit; accusation cf having 

 lieeii the cause of wasting the time of others. 

 True this undoubtedly is, and do we not suffer 

 ill consequence of our neigligence, fiir those who 

 look upon time as money? Tliose who know that 

 \vliat is passed is gone to that abyss whose tide 

 flows on forever, without ever returning, cannot 

 but ' ic'el displeased Avitli those who may cause 

 them to wail iind thus squiinder the time of otli- 

 ei-.s. Doing things at the time and in season is 

 an old adage, that is presented to ns in cliiid- 

 liood, and as we iiiatnie iri'litb, follows us on- 

 ward to the end where there is no time, where 

 we count not, the days are not ' numbered, and 

 there is neither seed time norliarvtst. i'et with 

 all the lessons, all the adnioniiions, all that wis- 

 dom has taught, and e.\|ierience every day ex- 

 emplifies, how few there are that do things iii' 

 time ! How rare are the fiirmers who are not 

 driven by their business, instead of driving their 

 business before them, and thus as in waiting for 

 the hastening tread of their ceaseless traveller. 



In no one thing perhajis, attending a farm, is 

 more lost or gained than in the timely, early 

 harvesting of crops. Has not experience been 

 ample upon this subject .' Tn the experiments 

 n]ioii wheat, made with great care, it has appear- 

 ed that when cut almost in the milk while the 

 stalk was yet green, even in this state it was 

 eipial ill yield to that which was permitted to 

 stand too long, or become dead ripe. In rye, 

 bar'ey, and oats it has appeared from experiments 

 that befiirc they become i-liinding ripe, while to- 

 wards the root there is yet a portion of the sap 

 and green appearance, then is the time to put in 

 the sickle, or crailie. The grain is heavier, shells 

 out less, in the handling', preventing waste ; the 

 straw is better for all juirposes ; for if straw is 

 [iicriiiitted to stand too long, it btjcomcs brittle 

 and rotten, and as food for young stock in win- 

 ter, the early cut is worth double to that which 

 is permitted to stand until its substance has es- 

 cape'd. Is there not another consideration too,' 

 that should induce nio.st of us farmers to com- 

 mence cutting our grain, and corn rather too ear- 

 ly ? We are well aware that a few days of good 

 weather, such as we have so often and generally 

 in the harvesting season, changes very materially 

 the harvesting of our crops; the ripening process 

 is rather a rapid one ; fi-oni tfic firi-t symptom of 

 change it is but a few days before the whole is 

 wrought, the grain has lost its iiiHk and is hard 

 if ripe. Then if we begin early, if we begin a 

 little too soon, it is almost certain that we shall 

 not finish too soon ; that if the first acre is not 

 quite as far advanced as we conld wish, the 

 chances are that the last .ncre will be a. little too 

 much so, and that we thus tlirow away the largest 

 portion of time sve can apply to the very best of the 

 season. If this is true for small grain, how niucli 

 mine so if possible in Imlian corn, the fodder of 

 whicli is so valuable when obtained in time. 

 There is a practice in all the Southern Sfaics of 

 what they call blading their corn. While the grain 

 is yet ill the milk they go through the field, strip 

 all the blades, and tie lliem in handfulls with u 

 blade, and set them up tor a few days to dry. 

 These bhide's are considered the very strongest 

 and niost nutricions food for horses, and ara 

 usually fed to those in pre|iaration for runnin.;r, 

 in the place of hay. There is I think no doubt 

 that pulling the blades thus early is injurious to 

 the yield of the cro;), the season when they are 

 stripped lielng too early, and the corn is doubt- 

 less deprived of a portion of its proper nourish- 

 ment, for if 1 am not mistaken the experiments 

 have shown tli.it even cutting the to[is or stalks 

 of the corn is tin injury, diminishes the yield, and 

 how much more to strip off the whole of the 

 leaves at an early period .' But when the com 

 is out of the milk, when the leaves are brow i, 

 the stems and root of the stalk is yet green, then 

 as we believe is the time to cut it up by the 

 roots; then the grain will, as the fodder dries, 

 extract their dui: share of it, and the corn not on- 

 ly be heavier, but the fodder worth double to 

 feed to the stock, which for n chatlge in winter 

 will prefer it lo the best hay. 



