iZi 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JUNE 34. I'll 



is surrounded by a low flat prairie which extends 

 either way about 10 miles, and in wet seasons the 

 roads in the vicinity are almost impassable : the 

 site of the town is not more than 18 inches above 

 the level of the lake: the location is favorable for 

 business, and the canal which is now beinn' made 

 hence to Pern, connectinj; the lakes with Illinois 

 river, will give the town great advantiges. 



There are sonio very good buildings in Chicago, 

 particularly the "Lake House," one of tho finest 

 hotels in the country; but on the whole the town 

 does not make a good appearance. The population 

 cannot be more than 5000, though it is often stated 

 much higher. The ne.\t morning after my arrival 

 I took passage ou board the steamer Gen. Wayne | 

 for Buffalo, and at 10 o'clock I took leave of Chi- 

 cago. 



It would be impossible to describe the Umeliness 

 that I felt when the boat was about leaving the 

 wharf. I was upon deck casting a last look upon 

 the town, and my attention was arrested by the 

 crowd, most of whom seemed to be saluting and 

 exchanging good wishes with friends on board, but 

 not one of the hundreds that were there were known 

 10 me, — not one was there to bid me God-speed : I 

 felt that I was a stranger, and far, far off were all 

 who could feel any interest for my welfare. 



Upon going into the caliin I found that most of 

 the passengers were Yankees, and I recognised one 

 who travelled through Pennsylvania with me on 

 my way out: we were soon acquainted and T found 

 the society on board much more agreeable than is 

 usual with the promiscuous collections on board 

 steamboats. 



(Continued on page 426.) 



For the New England Farmer. 



FATAL DISEASE IN CALVES. 

 Mr Editor — A farmer in North Andover select- 

 ed from ten calves, three for breed, a bull and two 

 heifers — two born in March, the other in April. — 

 They grew finely, and were in form and size a more 

 perfect specimen of kine than is usually to be 

 found. Their principal food was skimmed milk. 

 They were kept in a large pen in the barn until 

 about two weeks before their death, when they were 

 put into the enclosure about the dwelling house. 

 On Monday evening last they ate but about half 

 their usual quantity of milk, but as they appeared 

 in perfect health, no notice was taken of it. On 

 Tuesday morning the bull was found dead : on 

 Wednesday morning the other two went to the cel- 

 lar door, which opened on the outside of the house, 

 where their milk was preparing, and both appeared 

 impatient to get to it ; and when the person was 

 about to give it them, one turned its head aside and 

 commenced running round furiously in a circle, 

 bellowing as if in great distress. It was shortly 

 seized and with great ditiiculty held by two men, 

 and in fifteen or twenty minutes it fell and expired. 

 The sweat in the mean lime on the skin became a 

 perfect foam — it was literally in its gravy. A post 

 mortem examination was held in all its parts, and 

 not the slightest appearance of poison or disease 

 could be discovered in the entrails or head, unless 

 the entrails had an uncommon degree of warmth. 

 The remaining calf being removed to the bnrn was 

 copiously bled in the neck, and during the day 

 shew no particular signs of disease: at evening it 

 took but about half the quantity of milk offered to 

 it, its usual allowance: at midnight a distressing 

 bellowing was heard: the men repaired to the barn 



and found the calf running in a circle in the stable, 

 exhibiting all the symptoms of the last dead: in 

 about half an hour it fell, and uttering two or three 

 bellows, expired. 



This case was more aggravating, as the calves, 

 for their superiority as perfect and well grown ani- 

 mal.', attracted much attention, and had excited, in 

 no small degree, the honest ambition and pride of 

 the firmer. 



As this casualty is nnk::o'.vu to the farmers in the 

 vicinity, it may be conferring a favor if any of your 

 numerous readers can throw some light ujion it, and 

 if a disease, point out a remedy. A. 



Remarks. — We .-hould be glad to have an an- 

 swer to the above communication from some of our 

 experienced stock raisers, as we are not able at the 

 present moment to give any satisfactory in'orma- 

 lion relative to the nature of the disease which ter- 

 minated so fatally. — Mr Colmnn is now absent on 

 a journey to the west, and will not return for a few 

 weeks : we trust therefore that we shall leceive an 

 answer from some other quarter for the gratification 

 and benefit of the sufferer, and the public at large. 



J. B. 



LIGHTNING RODS. 

 Editors of the Cultivator — Can you give )'our 

 readers any information as to the best methods of 

 preparing and putting up rods, as conductors on 

 our buildings ? There is scarcely a year in which 

 great damage of property, and not unfrequenlly loss 

 of life, is occasioned by lightning. I think farmers 

 should have their barns protected as well as their 

 houses, as experience shows that they are the 

 most liable to destruction, at the time their contents 

 are the most valuable, that is, immediately after 

 harvest. York Co. Pa. L- T. P." 



In erecting rods for the protection of buildings 

 from the effects of lightning, a few things must al- 

 ways be kept in mind, in order to ensure efficiency 

 and consequent safety. As the point of erec- 

 tion, the most exposed and elevated part of the 

 building, should be chosen. If a dwelling house, 

 the chimney is the point that will require protec- 

 tion ; if there are several of them, the most ele- 

 vated one, the one most exposed to the general 

 course of storms, as the westerly one ; or if but 

 one has a fire in it, that (me will be found most lia- 

 ble t:) be struck by lightning, and will of course 

 more require protection. Numberless recorded 

 cases prove that all heated currents of vapor, 

 whether lising from a chimney, or the masses of 

 hay or grain in a barn, are excellent conductors of 

 the electric fluid, and are to be consitlered as such 

 in all arrangements for protection. 



The materials to be used as the conducting me- 

 dium or rod, is another point that should be attend- 

 ed to. Iron is the most generally used for this pur- 

 pose, but copper is preferable, as it possesses great- 

 er conducting powers, is not liable to rust or fusion, 

 and, being tougher, is not broken to fragments by 

 an electric discharge, as iron sometimes is. The 

 greater cheapness of iron, however, will probably 

 continue its use, and when well put up, it gives all 

 reasonable security. No iron rod should be used 

 of a less diameter than three-fourths of an inch, 

 and an inch rod is still better: as it must be re- 

 membered that the surface only has any effect in 

 electricity, and, therefore, the larger the surface 

 ! over which it passes, the less intense its action, and 

 1 the less danger of breaking or fusion. A small 



quantity of metal, if of the right kind, and a large 

 surface given to it, will make a better conductor, 

 than a larger quantity in an improper form. Thus, 

 a copper ribbon, two inches wide, and of the proper 

 length, will be superior to a copper wire of the 

 same weight, as the process of rolling and flatten- 

 ing it, gives a much larger surface ; and the same 

 remark will be true in regard to iron. A number 

 of small iron or copper wires, twisted into a rod, i.s 

 better than a solid rod of the same weiaht, for the 

 same reason ; that is, a greater surface is exposed 

 by the small wires than by the sidid one, ami this 

 would be ihe best manner of constructins' rods, 

 were it not to be apprehended, that heavy dis- 

 charges passing over wires would fuse and destroy 

 them. Such have been recommended for ship con- 

 ductors, as they would be entire, and flexible, and 

 perhaps it would bo found that the distribution of 

 the fluid over such an extent of surface as such a 

 rod would aflTord, would prevent the danger effu- 

 sion in any case. 



In preparing the rod, the most essential thing is 

 the makir.g of the elevated points. 'I'hese should 

 be several in number, slightly diverging from the 

 main rod, and the sharp points gilded or tipped with 

 silver, so as to prevent their rusting, and losing, in 

 a great degree, their conductive power. Perhaps 

 the easiest mode of pointing them, is to make 

 points of large silver wire, an inch in length, turn- 

 ing a screw on one end, and insert this into an 

 opening drilled in the tapered end of each branch 

 of the conductor, to receive it. If wire of tho 

 proper size is not convenient, they may be made by 

 cutting them from a half dollar, and hammering 

 them into the right form. If the rod is made in 

 pieces they should never be put up by turning 

 hooks on the ends, and connecting them in that 

 way ; as interruption to the fluid in its descent is 

 frequently attended with bad consequences. The 

 several pieces should be put together with screws, 

 (he connecting piece receiving the ends of two 

 rods, and being as near the size of the conductor 

 as strength and security will admit. The rod 

 should never be secured to the building by metal 

 staples or fastenings ; or if such are necessary, the 

 connection between the rod and these should be 

 broken by pieces of glass, which is a non-conduc- 

 tor. Wood is the best for fastenings, and should 

 only be used, except from necessity. It is not 

 enough that the rod attract and receive the dis- 

 charge; it must also conduct it to the earth, or no 

 adequate security is aflibrded. 



It has been estimated that a rod properly made, 

 affords protection to five or six times the diameter 

 of its height : that is, a rod standing six feet above 

 a building, will protect tlie building for thirty feet 

 around it. Instances have been known, however, 

 in which a chimney having a column of heated va- 

 por rising from it, has been struck, when within the 

 limits usually considered safe, in a protected build- 

 ing. In such cases the result must be ascribed to 

 the height, and conducting power of the vapor. 

 The foot of ti.e conductor should gradually recede 

 from the walls of the building, and enter the earth 

 to such a depth as to reach moist earth, and if the 

 bottom of the rod is pointed, or split and parted 

 different ways in the earth, the passing off of the 

 fluid will be facilitated. No paint should ever be 

 allowed on a conductor. — Albany Cultiralor. 



Hon. D. Webster's farm, in Marshfield, Plymouth 

 Co., Ms., contains a 1000 acres, and is one of the 

 best in New England. 



