1883.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



121 



easy as similar sliipmcnts from central New 

 York. Farmers arc not slow to see new op- 

 portunities, and the bad economy of relying 

 year atter year upon an exclusive crop is now 

 generally understood. 



AVlieat production is naturally the lirst 

 effort of the settler on western lands. The 

 grain is easily planted, easily cared for in the 

 field, and easily harvested, and is certain of a 

 fair price. Where one gets the land for the 

 mere taking, wheat-fanning can be cariied on 

 with very little capital, and so, till he gets a 

 little ahead in the world and can funiisli his 

 place with stock and can surround himself 

 with orchards, etc, wheat is the settler's al- 

 most exclusive crop. But if the conditions of 

 market and transportation are favorable, he 

 soon branches out into more varied industry 

 and|wheat-raising becomes merely an element 

 in his business. Tliis has been the history of 

 wheat culture everywhere. In Oregon and 

 eastern Washington territory wheat has been 

 the only farm product for which there has 

 been a certain market and very naturally, the 

 period of its exclusive hold on the farmer has 

 been longer there than in localities where 

 transportation facilities have brought even the 

 settler on wild lands into close communica- 

 tion with the great markets. But the condi- 

 tions here are changing. Extending railroad 

 lines will soon enable the farmer to get his 

 fruit, vegetables and dairy products to market, 

 and the effect will soou appear in a varied 

 agriculture heretofore unknown in the west- 

 ern part of the country, and wheat will cease 

 to be the exclusive article of export. — Lan- 

 caster Examiner. 



PROVIDE YOUR OWN LIGHTNING 

 ROD ? 



Dr. Geo. Thurber gives much valuable in- 

 formation in an article on the above prac- 

 tical question in the American Agriculturist 

 for August. 



First. As to the rod itself. It is well 

 known that copper is a much better conduct- 

 or of electricity than iron, but it is so expen- 

 sive that iron is most generally used, making 

 the rod much larger than would be necessary 

 if it were of copper. The shape is of no 

 consequence, and the twists and grooves in 

 some "patented" rods are merely to beguile 

 the ignorant. The rod may be of round 7-16 

 inch iron, or it may be a flat strip an inch 

 wide and 3-16chs of an inch thick. If more 

 convenient to procure, larger iron may be used, 

 but it should not be smaller than these sizes. 

 It is very important that the rods be continu- 

 ous. The pieces of round iron may be joined 

 by couplings which are cut with a screw- 

 thread on the inside, while the ends of the 

 rods are made to fit. The portions are usually 

 joined by welding. 



Second. The manner of fastening to the 

 building. At one time it was customary to 

 pass the rod through a glass ring, which was 

 fastened to the building, and the rod thus kept 

 from contact with it. But insulators of this 

 kind are quite useless, for as soon as they are 

 wet they cease to insulate. The rod may be 

 attached by staples. There is not the least 

 danger that lightning will leave the rod to 

 Dass into the house by way of the staples. A 

 flat rod may be fastened by a strap of iron 

 fashioned to clasp it. Should the rod be paint- 



ed V Some years ago there was an idea that 

 the conducting power of the rod would be in- 

 jured by painting it. Tills is not true, I'aint 

 the rod any color tliat will make it as incon- 

 spicuous as jios^ible. 



Tliird. IIow far will a rod protect? The 

 old rule was that a rod would protect an area 

 with a radius twice as great as the height of 

 the rod. In practice, little attention is paid 

 to this rule, it being customary to provide each 

 chinnu^y with a rod, which, in most houses, 

 will bring them much nearer than the above 

 rule requires. Each chimney should have a rod, 

 connected with the main rod, which runs along 

 the peaks of the roof and to the ground. Upon 

 all ordinary buildings but one main rod is 

 needed. If there is a root of tin or other me- 

 tal, this, as well as all iron crestings and other 

 ornaments, should be connected with the rod. 

 Fourth. The upper end of the rod. For- 

 merly much stress was placed upon having 

 the rod terminated above by a very sharp 

 point, which should be kept gilded to protect 

 it from rust, and latter, i)latiuum points were 

 used. At present neither of these are regard- 

 ed nece.ssary. The rod extends a foot or two 

 above the top of the chimney, and is filed to 

 a point. The various ornamental crestings 

 much used on buildings answer as points. If 

 the chimney is a long distance from the gable- 

 end of the roof, it is well to place a short up- 

 right piece of rod there, which should, of 

 course, be pointed. 



Fifth. The lower end of the rod. The 

 mere placing of the lower end of the rod in 

 the ground, so that it will be out of sight 

 will make the rod intended as a protcctiou a 

 source of danger, and the building would be 

 safer without it. The whole object of the rod 

 is to carry off the electricity quietly, and its 

 usefulness depends upon a proper termination 

 in the ground. Dry earth is a poor conduc- 

 tor ; moist or wet earth is a good conductor. 

 The lower end of the rod should reach a place 

 where the earth, in the dryest time, is always 

 moist. Some dig down to this point and then 

 surround the lower end of the rod for a few 

 feet whith coke, which absorbs moisture and 

 is an excellent conductor. The ease of find- 

 ing a moist stratum for the rod will differ with 



the locality, but it should always be secured. 

 ^ 



THE BLACK KNOT ON PLUM TREES. 



Dr. B. D. Halstcd, writes of a serious pest 

 of the orchard, in the American Auriculturist 

 for August. 



Mr. D. D. Gaines, near Catskill, N. Y., 

 brings us peculiarly distorted branches from 

 his plum orchard, and complains that the 

 trouble is a serious one, as he lias over two 

 thousand plum trees more or less affected. 

 The cause of this distortion of the smaller 

 Ijranches is a fungus, and it has long been 

 known as "Black Knot." It has often been 

 claimed by careless observers that the swell- 

 ing were due to various insects which infest 

 the peculiar outgrowths. The parasitic fungus 

 attacks the yo\uig branches in early spring, 

 causing them to increase rapidly in size rupture 

 ofthcliark soou follows, and the soft sul)- 

 stance, coming to the surface, expands in an 

 irregular manner, and is sliortly covered with 

 a peculiar olive-green coat. The fucgus 

 plant is like many others of the same low 

 order of vegetation, as the various moulds, 



mildews, etc., and coii.si.st.s of a multitude of 

 tine threads, thai run in all directions through 

 the substance of the plum tree. The olive 

 color of the surface is due to a viwt number 

 of minute bodies called spores, which are 

 formed on the tips of the threads, and break- 

 ing away from their attachments, serve U> 

 propagate the troulile. Alter the knot has 

 grown to some size, its soft 8Ld)stjiuce offenj 

 a good home for various kinds of insects, and 

 it is rare to find such a knot that is not thus 

 infested. This was the strong argument in 

 favor of the view that the knots were of insect 

 origin. The scientific name of the fungus is 

 Siihiriu morhosa, and this, the cause of llie 

 black knot, is as much a plant us the plum 

 tree upon which it lives. The olive surface- 

 spores continue to form througli tlie summer, 

 and at autumn another kin<l of spore begins 

 to develop within the substance of the knot. 

 These are of slow growth, and are not ripe 

 until the following spring. The oidy remedy 

 thus far known is the judicious use of the 

 knife. The knots should be cut off and 

 burned whenever they are found. They are 

 most conspicuous in the winter, when the 

 branches are not covered with leaves; but 

 when a tree is attacked, it is not wise to delay 

 the removal until a more convenient time. 

 The diseased branches should always be burnt, 

 otherwise the spores will continue to form for 

 a while, and thus propagate the contagious 

 pest. If the tree is badly attacked, it may be 

 best to remove it entirely. 



The Clioke Cherry is a favorite host of the 

 black knot, as the neglected fence rows often 

 show in winter. All such trees should be 

 rooted out. Tlie cultivated cherry trees are 

 subject to attacks by the black knot, for which 

 the same remedy ius that for the plum tree is 

 recommended. Use the pruning-knifc, always 

 at sight, and cut several inches below the 

 swelling, that all the infested portion may be 



removed. 



^ 



PHOSPHATES AS APPETIZERS. 



A little knot of tanners were discussing the 

 other day the benefits of phosphates. One 

 said he sowed a hundred pounds to the acre, 

 and he had "good wheat." Another had put 

 pliosi)liate in the hill with his corn, and he 

 had "lirst-ratc corn. It grew right along." 

 Another said: "1 like phosphate; it is such 

 an ciisy way to manure the land." The last 

 man put in the clincher : " I do not know 

 that it is so much of a manure, but it is a good 

 appetizer." So is whisky. I do not lielieve 

 ill paying forty or lifty dollars per ton for "ap- 

 petizers" for land any more tlian I do in at- 

 tempting to live on slimulanls. There is 

 enough virtue in most phosjiliates to .stimulate 

 a crop at first and cause it to start with a more 

 ra|>i<l growth. In the same way a good drink 

 of stimulant will give a person a brave .start, 

 but the trouble is the effect is not sutliciently 

 lasting — it does not hold out. In many cases 

 this stimulated growth is a damage, for when 

 the cause is exhausted, the plant is weakened 

 and checked in its growth, or else it has 

 formed an unnatural stem or stalk which the 

 soil is not able to supply, while if there had 

 not been this excess of stalk or stem, there 

 would have been no check, but an ability on 

 the part of the soil to have met all the re- 

 (|uirements of the plant. 



