482 



NE^^ ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



up for himself, was deemed all sufficient to carry 

 harmlessly to the earth any shock of lightning 

 that might seek a passage. And I may here say, 

 that I am yet to learn that that rod has ever 

 proved false to its trust when kept in proper re- 

 pair. But the work of the great discoverer and 

 philosopher has been superseded by a multitude 

 of new inventions, with the pretended discovery 

 of new principles. I doubt the principle of Prof. 

 Dewey's statement, for many reason which I have 

 not space to give. But if it be true that surface 

 is all that is required in a good lightning con- 

 ductor, then will not some one please give us an 

 ansvv'er to the following points : — 1. If surface is 

 all that is necessary, will electricity ever leave a 

 metallic surface for any other passajje, such as 

 wood, any more than water will turn from a 

 downward course of its own accord and flow up 

 hill ? 2. And if not, what is the use in passing 

 the rod over glass, since in every shower said 

 sheets would be covered with water, which is of 

 itself a good conductor ? 3. Therefore, why not 

 dispense with glass fixings altogether ? And 4, 

 since metallic surface is all that is necessary, why 

 cannot every farmer furnish himself with a light- 

 ning conductor possessing double the surface of 

 Lyon's rod, (since the thinnest sheet of copper is 

 as good as the thickest, no matter if it is as thin 

 as paper, fastened to a strip of pine board, is all 

 that would be required,) at an expense not ex- 

 ceeding one-fifth the expense of Lyon's rod ? 



Again, it is stated by Prof. Dewey, that copper 

 has from six to eight times the conducting power 

 of iron. This statement is at variance with that 

 of Mr. Davis, of Boston, in his Manual of Mag- 

 netism, page 38, Avhere he states the conducting 

 power of the two metals as follows : copper 17,050 

 grains ; iron 7,800 grains. Now that does not 

 look like six or eight to one. Who is right ? 

 We want more light ; we want definite knowledge 

 upon this subject, and less of that cutaneous af- 

 fection called guess-work. L. Baker. 



East Templeton, July 30, 1858. 



HOW COFFEE CAME TO BE USED. 



It is somcM'hat singular to trace the manner 

 in which arose the use of the common beverage, 

 coffee, without which few persons, in any half or 

 wholly civilized country in the world, would 

 seem hardly able to exist. At the time Colum- 

 bus discovered America it had never been known 

 or used. It only grew in Arabia and upper Ethi- 

 opia. The discovery of its use as a beverage is 

 ascribed to the superior of a monastery, in Ara- 

 bia, who, desirous of preventing the monks from 

 sleeping at their nocturnal services, made them 

 drink the infusion of coflee, upon the report of 

 some shephei-ds, who observed that their flocks 

 were more lively after browsing on the fruit of 

 that plant. Its reputation spread through the 

 adjacent countries, and in about 200 years it 

 reached Paris. A single plant brought there iai 

 1714, became the parent stock of all the French 

 coffee plantations in the West Indies. The extent 

 of the consumption can now hardly be realized. 

 The United States alone annually consume it at 

 the cost of its landing of from fifteen to sixteen 

 millions of dollars. You may know the Arabia 

 or Mocha, the best coffee, by its small bean of a 

 dark yellow color. The Java and East Indian, 



the next in quality, are larger and of a paler 

 yellow. The West Indian Rio has a bluish or 

 greenish, gray tint. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SHEEP AND FLEECES. 



Mr. Editor : — There is a statement going the 

 rounds of the papers, of the great weight of fleeces 

 sheared by J. Smart, and others, of Vermont, 

 which I am very glad to see. It shows that there 

 are some, at least, who are trying to improve the 

 quantity, and it is to be hoped, at the same time, 

 the quality of their wool. A desideratum, certain- 

 ly, for us New Englanders in this progressive age, 

 when almost everything the farmer grows, ex- 

 cept wool, is so much higher than formerly. 

 • It cost but little, if any, more than half as 

 much per head to keep sheep thirty to forty years 

 ago, as it does at the present time. Then, good 

 Spanish merino avooI brought from sixty to eigh- 

 ty cents per pound. Hence the necessity of many 

 fleeces to make wool-growing a profitable busi- 

 ness, was not so great as it is now. The cost 

 per head of keeping a flock of sheep, that will 

 shear four pounds of good wool, is but a trifle 

 more than that of one that will shear but half that 

 amount. And with the present prices, and fu- 

 ture prospects, the greatly increased cost of keep- 

 ing, the necessity of many fleeces, together with 

 good quality, is but a too self-evident fact to all 

 intelligent wool-growers of New England, as the 

 difference in the prices paid for heavy or light 

 fleeces is comparatively nothing. 



My sheep were poorly fed the first year, not 

 one of them having anything more than ordinary 

 keeping. I sheared 108 ; they were all well 

 washed — in fact the cleanest that I ever saw a 

 flock. I did not keep an account of the weight 

 of fleeces, but should not be willing to sell it for 

 anything less than five pounds per head. I 

 weighed several yearl;ngs' fleeces that weighed 

 from six to six and three-fourths pounds each. I 

 sheared two full blood Spanish Merino bucks, 

 that made nine and one-half pounds each ; and 

 one three years old that sheared twelve pounds ; 

 and one three-quarters blood Spanish and one- 

 quarter French MerinOjt wo years old, that sheared 

 eleven and one-half pounds, and as to quality and 

 condition, I am willing to compare it Mith any in 

 Vermont. J. B. Freeman. 



Lisbon, Grafton Co., N. H., 1858. 



For the New England Farmer. 



BE-SHINGLING OJbD ROOFS. 



Mr. E'DITOR : — I noticed in your paper some 

 remarks from the pen of J. T. Adams, Esq., on 

 re-shingling old roofs. He says his method is 

 to shingle over the old shingles, thus saving the 

 expense of removing them. In most cases the 

 old shingles will pay for removing for our ladies 

 to kindle fires. To obviate the difficulty of 

 getting the building wet, if it should ram be- 

 fore it is finished, no more shingles should be 

 removed than can be replaced by new ones in a 

 short time. As for the roof being much warmer 

 and tighter, I very much doubt. If the roof is 

 properly covered, no snow or rain can beat un- 

 der the feuts of the shingles. As for the rooi 



