454 



NEW ENGLAND FARSIER. 



Oct. 



marvel that lie goes home in a state of mind no 

 ^Yi\ys cnviiible, linding fault -with everybody, and 

 everything, apjile-huyers and apples in particular, 

 and ending wit.'i a resolution to let the trees take 

 care of themselves in future. 



Had this man (wlio by the way is but a fair 

 specimen of the majority,) picked his apples care- 

 fully, put them in baskets or barrels, and driven 

 slowly to market, a quick sale and high price would 

 have rewarded him in full for his care and atten- 

 tion. Nor would these be the only benefits arising 

 from such a course, tlie purchaser would be well 

 pleased with his bargain, and a great saving would 

 be made in the time and temper of the farmer. 

 Finally, and best of all, he would return to his 

 home with a firm determination to take the best 

 of care of his trees. J. g. a. 



— Dollar Newspaper. 



MANURING FRUIT TREES. 



The Dutcli, who are admirable gardners, had in 

 the Great Exliibition an instrument called "Earth 

 Borer," for manuring fruit trees without digging 

 the ground. A circle of holes is bored around 

 the tree at two feet distance from the tree, and a 

 foot from each other. Taking the tree at a foot 

 diameter at the surface of the soil, the circle will 

 be five feet in diameter and fifteen feet in circum- 

 ference ; and if the holes are three inches diame- 

 ter and a foot apart — fifteen inches, there will be 

 about twelve holes ; more or less, according to the 

 diameter of the tree. They are eighteen inches 

 deep (where there is enough depth of soil) and 

 slanting towards the center ; are filled with liquid 

 manure, diluted more or less in dry weather, and 

 stronger as the weather is wetter. For the time 

 of application. Dr. Lindley tells us (Gardener's 

 Chronicle, Feb. 21, 1852 ;) " For fruit, the prop- 

 er time for using liquid manure is when the fruit 

 is beginning to swell, and has acquired, by means 

 of its ovm surface, a power of suction capable of 

 opposing that of the leaves. At that time, liquid 

 manure may l)o applied freely, and continued from 

 time to time as long as the fruit is growing. But 

 at the first sign of ripening, or even earlier, it 

 should h?: wliolly withheld. If liquid manure is 

 applied to a plant when the Qowers are growing, 

 the vigor which it communicates to them must 

 also be communicated to the leaves; but when 

 leaves are growing unusually fast, there is some- 

 times a danger that they may rob the branches of 

 the sap required for the nutrition of the fi-uit ; 

 and, if tliat happens, the latter falls off. And 

 we all know, that when ripening has once begun, 

 even water sjwils tlie quality of the fruit, although 

 it augments the size, as is sufficiently shown by 

 tlie 8trd\vl)erries prepared for the London market 

 by irrigation ; great additional size is ol)tained, 

 but it is at the (>xpense of flavor, and any injury 

 wliich mare water may produce, will certainly 

 not be diminished by water holding ammoniacal 

 and saline sub^-rtances in solution." I am not 

 av/are tliat this jiinM'mation has made its way into 

 our orchards, finding no allusion to it in any of 

 our books on orchard management, nor at our ag- 

 ricultural meetings. The time is just coming for 

 putting it to the test, and it remains with the 

 fruit growers to see what profit they can make of 

 it. Tliey need, in these times, all they can get, 

 and this method has the recommendation of re- 

 quiring littJt" outlay U anj.— Mark Lane Ea-prcss. 



PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING. 



[We copy the following from an interesting ar- 

 ticle in the Parlsmouth Journal, from the pen of 

 E. Meriam, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., — a gen- 

 tleman whose opinions on this subject are worthy 

 of respect :J 



Lightning-conductors, reared for the purpose of 

 protection, afford absolute protection to life against 

 lightning. In all of my long-continued and exten- 

 sive researches into the phenomena of lightning, 

 1 have never found a case of loss of life by light- 

 ning either in a building or vessel furnished with 

 a conductor reared for the purpose of protectio7i. 



As to the fears expressed by many that light- 

 ning rods are dangerous, because they say they 

 attract lightning, a brief statement will suffice to 

 show that such fears are wholly and entirely 

 groundless. Steamboats, which contain iron in 

 great quantities, are rarely struck by lightning, 

 and no case of loss of life by lightning has ever 

 been known on board of a steamboat. Iron ships, 

 iron buildings, and wareliouses filled with iron, 

 are never struck by lightning, nor have I ever met 

 with a case of loss of life by lightning in a rail- 

 road-car. These facts arc conclusive as to metala 

 being dangerous from their attraction for light- 

 ning. 



Trees are no protection, and I advise-all persons 

 during thunder-storms to get away as far as possi- 

 ble from trees, whether in front of a building or 

 elsewhere. 



Lightning-conductors are of easy construction 

 and need cost but very little, and any person of 

 ordinary capacity can erect them. Iron-wii'C of 

 No. 1 or No. 2 size, five-sixteenths or one-fourth 

 of an inch in diameter, is abundantly large for a 

 lightning-conductor ; it is the size used on board 

 of ships-of-the-line, frigates, and sloops-of-war, 

 and has never failed. Wire of this size costs less 

 than one cent per foot ; it can be oljtained in 

 pieces of one hundred or more feet in length ; no 

 other pointing is required but what can be made 

 by a file. The rod should extend one or two feet 

 above the chimney or cupola, and down to and 

 into the ground to the depth of permanent mois- 

 ture, and should not come in contact with any 

 other metals. Every chimney to a house should 

 have a rod. A barn fifty feet long should have 

 conductors — one at each end and one in the mid- 

 dle — and may diverge and reach the earth at a 

 distance of twenty feet from the foundation of 

 the building. 



The conductors should in no case ascend from 

 one end to the other, but preserve a continuous 

 descent, and in no case make a sharp angle, but 

 where a turn is necessary, it should be a gentle, 

 gradual curve. Wliere glass insulators are used, 

 the bore should be at least one inch in diameter 

 for a ([uarter-inch rod, and the iron holder should 

 be painted with two goud coats of paint, but the 

 rod should in no case have any paint upon it. 

 The gilded point may flatter human pride, but the 

 liglitning needs no such trifling tinselling. 



I shall feel a pleasure to give any person precise 

 information as to putting up rods on any kind of 

 buildings, free of any expense. 



Persons struck down by lightning, should be 

 freely drenched with cold water ; and if anima- 

 tion is not restored, continue the drenching for 



