296 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



They should be made of horse shoe 

 rods, five-eighths inch square, which are 

 sufficiently large, and being slit cold, 

 have a rough, jagged surface, affording 

 numerous radiating points. The several 

 pieces of which the rod is composed may 

 be welded smoothly together, so as not to 

 increase the size, or joined by a hook and 

 eye. 



In the last method, the hook should 

 have a point left on the end, and be driven 

 into the eye after being bent at little more 

 than a right angle. 



In applying the conductor to barns, be- 

 gin at the northwest corner, by inserting 

 the rod far enough into the ground to al- 

 ways insure its contact with moist earth ; 

 carry it along the gable end to one end of 

 the ridge pole, thence along the ridge pole 

 to the other end of it, thence along the 

 other gable end, and down the southeast 

 corner, continuing it into the ground, as in 

 the beginning, far enough to reach the 

 moist earth. There should be a point at 

 the eaves on each corner, and one on each 

 end of the ridge pole, which should be 

 covered with a coating of silver to pre- 

 vent them from rusting. The rod should 

 be secured in its place by wooden fasten- 

 ings. If these directions are carefully 

 observed, there can be but little doubt that 

 buildings thus provided would be effectu- 

 ally secured against destruction by light- 

 ning, with little trouble and at a small ex- 

 pense. W. 



TRENCHING. 



Trenching is one of the readiest modes 

 in the gardener's power for renovating his 

 soil. The process is thus conducted : 



" From the end of the piece of ground 

 where it is intended to begin, lake out a 

 trench two spades deep and twenty inches 

 wide, and wheel the earth to the opposite 

 end, to fill up and finish the last ridge. 

 Measure off the width of another trench, 

 then stretch the line and mark it out with 

 the spade. Proceed in this way until 

 the whole of the ridges are outlined, after 

 which, begin at one end, and fill up the 

 bottom of the first trench with the sur- 



face or 'top spit' of the second, then take 

 the bottom 'spit' of the latter, and throw 

 it in such a way over the other as to form 

 an elevated, sharp-pointed ridge. By this 

 means, a portion of fresh soil is annually 

 brought on the surface, to the place of 

 that which the crop of the past season 

 may have in some measure exhausted. n 

 Bastard trenching is thus performed : 

 " Open a trench two feet and a half or a 

 yard wide, one full spit, and the shoveling 

 deep, and wheel the soil from it to where 

 it is intended to finish the piece ; then put 

 in the dung, and dig it in with the bottom 

 spit in the trench ; then fill up this trench 

 w T ith the top spit, &c, of the second, 

 treating it in like manner, and soon. The 

 advantages of this plan of working the 

 soil are, that the good soil is retained 

 at top — an important consideration where 

 the subsoil is poor or bad — the bottom soi] 

 is enriched and enloosened for the pene- 

 tration and nourishment, of the roots; and 

 allowing them to descend deeper, they are 

 not so liable to suffer from drought in sum- 

 mer ; strong soil is rendered capable of 

 absorbing more moisture, and yet remains 

 dryer at the surface by the water passing 

 down more rapidly to the subsoil, and it 

 insures a thorough shifting of the soil." 



In all trenching, whether one, two or 

 more spades deep, always previous to dig- 

 in g, put the top of each trench tw 7 o or 

 three inches deep, or more, with all weeds 

 and other litter, at. the bottom of the open 

 one, which not only makes clean digging 

 and increases the depth of loose soil, but 

 all weeds and their seeds are regularly 

 I buried at such a depth that the weeds 

 j themselves will rot, and their seeds will 

 ! not vegetate. 



" BIG-HEAD" IN HORSES. 



The disease in horses called " big-head'' 

 is sometimes very troublesome, both on 

 account of the pain and injury it inflicts 

 on the horse, and the difficulty of curing 

 it. J. J. Rosseau, in the Prairie Farmer, 

 gives an article descriptive of the d sease 

 and mode of cure. He says: " The first 

 appearance of the big-head, when it at- 

 tacks the upper jaw, is more like that 



