162 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



July 



Li&HTMTJsra-RODS os conductors. 



BY L. WETHZSELL. 



There are few persons upon whom a thunder 

 shower, when passing directly over them, does' not 

 make an impression ; and some there are who suffer 

 most intensely from fear. This fear is not without 

 cause ; for many persons, every warm season over 

 our country, are killed by lightning. Voldev re- 

 ports that there were in the United States, in 1797, 

 from the montli of June to the 28th of August, 24 

 persons struck by lightning, of whom 17 were kill d. 

 In France, in 1819, 20 persons were killed by the 

 same cause. That there is danger then, none can 

 deny. And the instinctive dread which man has of 

 death, is a sufficient cause for the fear and suffering 

 which are excited in many persons, by a thunder 

 shower. 



From the fact that many lives and much property 

 are destroyed annually by the agency of electricity, 

 or lightning, for these are but dilierent names for the 

 same powerful agent, the inquiry arises in every 

 thinking mind, is there any way to avert this dan- 

 ger ? because, if there be, common prudence and 

 forethought would seem to dictate its immediate ap- 

 plication for the preservation and security of both 

 life and property. From the discovery of the facts 

 by experimenters with electricity, that certain sub- 

 stances repal, ward off, or are non-conductors of the 

 electric fiui I, while others attract it, and are called 

 good conductors, Dr. Franklun was led to invent the 

 lightning rod, or conductor. 



This ro i or conductor is usually made of wrought 

 iron, though copper is hotter, bee ms s less liable to 

 rust or melt, and is, also, a better conluctor. The 

 rod should be three-fourths of an inch, or an inch in 

 diameter ; its extremity extending above the build- 

 ing into the air should be finely pointed, and gilded 

 with some metal that does not rust ; and no inter- 

 ruption must occur from the point to the lower ex- 

 V: ;ni y extending into the earth. M. Gay-Lussac, 

 under the auspices of the French Academy of Sci- 

 ences, has presented the following instructions : — 

 "The rod. of the lightning-conductor is about 27 feet 

 in length : it is composed of three pieces, namely, 

 an iron rod 25 j> feet in length, a brass rod of 18 

 inches, and a platinum nee. fie 2 inches long : taken 

 together they form a figure resembling a cone. — 

 (The length must be greater or less according to the 

 height of the building.) The platinum needle or 

 point is soldered to the brass rod with silver, and the 

 place of junction surrounde I by a covering of copper. 



The brass ro 1 is screwed into the iron ro I, and se- 

 cured by transverse pins. The iron rod is often 

 composed of two pieces in order to facilitate it- 

 transportation ; one of these fastens into the other 

 by means of a long conical projection, 7 inches in 

 length, which is secured by a transverse pin." 



Much depends upon a good connection of the rod 

 with the earth, after it has been properly fastened or 

 attached to the bni ding. It should terminate in a 

 well, or moist, earth, where the rod should be divi 'ed 

 into several branches. The part of the rod in the 

 i arth shoull be covered with charcov 1 , which is also 

 a good conductor. It is best to connect with water 

 wh :i it can b done. 



Es lerience teaches that a lightning-rod such as 

 has been here descri ed, protects around it to a di ;- 

 tauce equal to twice its height; or for example: 

 when the rod is 5 fi t above the roof it protects 

 circle whose diameter is 20 feet, or ten feet in all di 



rections : so if the building be large, more than one 

 conductor will be necessary to furnish protection. — 

 The experience and observation of more than 60 

 years show, that, when the rods or conductors are 

 made and put up in accordance with the direction 

 here furnished, which is not the speculation of some 

 abstract theorist, but truth as discovered by observa- 

 tion aud confirmed by experiment, they will furnish 

 ample security and protection for both life and prop- 

 erty against the effects and perils of lightning. 



Arago, a French philosopher, says, that it is 

 highly probable that a silent and gradual discharge 

 of a thunder-cloud is often effected by the points of 

 lightning-rods, and thus an explosion is prevented. — 

 He further states, that " lightning-rods not only 

 render the strokes of lightning inoffensive, but con- 

 siderably diminish the chance of the building being 

 struck at all." So it seems that the conductor so 

 facilitates the passage of electricity between the 

 cloud and the earth, that a discharge is much less 

 likely to occur over a building thus furnished — but 

 admitting that it does, the conductor renders the 

 stroke " inoffensive." 



The farmers of Massachusetts, and especially of 

 Worcester county, called the back-bone of the Bay 

 State, have many of them provided lightning-rods 

 for both their barns and their houses. Many more 

 barns than houses are annually destroyed by light- 

 ning. 



Lightning-conductors furnish the very best, and 

 cheapest insurance against the perils of lightning. 

 How much wiser and better is the policy pursued by 

 the man who provi les for the security of both life 

 and property against the effects of lightning, than 

 that of him who provides for the latter only, by shift- 

 ing the hazard to an insurance company ; so that, 

 though he be killed by the stroke of lightning which 

 might have been averted by a conductor which would 

 have cost less than his insurance policy, yet his friends 

 have the consolation of knowing, that his forecast 

 has secured for them a sum sufficient to repair all 

 damages done to the buil ling by the stroke. 



Will not farmers and others consider the expedi- 

 ency, where they have not already done it, of provi- 

 ding lightning-conductors imme liately fortheir build- 

 ings, and so secure an 1 preserve both life and prop- 

 erty from the effects of one of the most fearful, ter- 

 rilfic and powerful agents of this nether world ? 



PLOWING. -SAW-DUST AS A MANURE. 



Messrs. Editors: — Under the above head I wish 

 to state a few facts, and make a few suggestions. 

 There is one thing necessary in all grain growing 

 countries to ensure a good crop — that there should be 

 good plowing. The first requisite to gain this end 

 is to have good teams; (and, by the way, it is not so 

 "xpensive keeping a good team as it is a poor one.) 

 An I the second is to have a good plow, and have it 

 w dl rigge I, with wheel, colter, and all. When the 

 plow is taken into the field and tried, the plowman 

 should measure with his eye the width of the furrow, 

 an 1 al o the lap the plow will turn, and do it well. 

 Then he should keep it in that position as to width, 

 and hoi I steady and firm, and he will thereby make 

 a' straight furrow, and the land will be even and nice, 

 fhe u ows should not be less than six inches deep 

 for sprin ■ grain, nor less than eight for winter grain. 

 I h tve I earl many farmers make the assertion that it 

 would not do to plow deep always, but that it would 



