1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
In the winter when the colt is coming' six years old, 
he should receive extra care, be fitted and driven 
light, to improve his road qualities. He should be 
put upon the market at six years, a perfect horse, 
that has done work enough to pay his raiser pretty 
well for the feed he has eaten, and be pretty nearly 
50 per cent profit, if not more. I am, of course, look¬ 
ing at this from my own standpoint, that of a farmer 
that must raise at a profit, or not at all. I have aimed 
to cut the cost of production down as low as is con¬ 
sistent with what we aim to produce—a high type of 
the family horse. c. a. chapman. 
Vermont. 
WHAT SAY? 
What About Millet ?—I see that Prof. Roberts ob¬ 
jects to the feeding of millet. I think that it will be 
greatly to my advantage to raise and feed it, provided 
I can do so without danger to my stock. A large 
amount of it is raised and fed in northern Texas, and 
I never heard that it was considered dangerous when 
properly fed. It is not fed exclusively, but in connec¬ 
tion with other feed, usually sheaf oats and a little 
corn. When should it be cut to make hay ? I don't 
wish to use it for green feed. What say The Rural’s 
readers ? If I understand Prof. Roberts aright, he 
does not think that there is danger if the millet is 
cured. My land is unfit for oats, and having consider¬ 
able area in small fruit and garden, and being alone, 
I cannot put much in corn, for I cannot take care of 
it. I cannot keep my mare and cows in condition for 
profit on rye hay and corn fodder ; I must have some 
better feed. I have not succeeded in raising clover 
with another crop. During the drought of summer, 
the crop exhausts the moisture, and the clover dies. 
When sown alone, the clover has always lived ; but 
the weeds being extremely bad on my land, prevent 
my getting any crop the first year. Thus I can get a 
crop only once in two years, and can raise but little 
clover. On the other hand, I can raise a crop of rye, 
turn it under and raise a crop of millet the same year. 
The millet is as strong feed as clover, and as much 
can be raised upon an acre. Shall I cut the rye for 
hay and sow millet? Or turn the rye under and sow 
millet ? Or would some other course be better ? 
Elgin, Mich. C. F. c. 
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piece of paper.l 
Something About Lightning Rods. 
G. R., East Granby, Conn. —How should lightning rods be con¬ 
structed ? How should they be fastened to a wooden roof ? Is 
one necessary on a tin or iron roof ? What should be the thick¬ 
ness of the rod ? How deep in the earth should the lower end be 
carried ? Are good lightning rods effective ? 
J. V. C., Spar kill, N. Y. —Is there any more danger of a barn 
being struck by lightning if it has a galvanized steel windmill on 
it, than there would be with a wooden wheel ? If so, in what pro¬ 
portion would be the chances in favor of a wooden wheel ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. I. P. ROBERTS. 
Several things are necessary to protect a building 
from lightning. The rods should be of good size ; the 
shape of them is immaterial. They should have two 
or more ground connections, and three to five sharp, 
bright points at the summit, preferably made of plat¬ 
inum. The rods should be stapled to the building. 
The ground connection should be made efficient, so 
that the charge, when received, may be carried si¬ 
lently and effectually into the soil. The rod should 
make no square turns ; all curves should be made 
gradually. All things considered, the cheapest and 
best rod is a %-inch, or, better, %-inch wire cable, 
which frequently can be purchased at very little cost 
at a junk shop. It should be stapled directly upon the 
roof and the sides of the building. Each rod should 
be connected with all others at the highest point of 
the building, by a horizontal rod, so that in case one 
point receives a heavy charge, it will have opportunity 
to divide and find the ground by two or more rods. If 
suitable points for attaching to the wire rod or cable 
cannot be secured, then that part which extends above 
the dome of the building, might be made of round 
iron and attached to the cable at any convenient 
point. Almost all lightning rods are defective in that 
they are too small and lack good ground connection. 
There are two ways of overcoming the latter diffi¬ 
culty ; one by purchasing an old copper boiler, which 
may be flattened out and buried four to six feet below 
the surface, preferably where the soil is moist and 
will remain so. If the wire cable is used, it is 
unstranded and soldered to the boiler. Another 
method, and one nearly as good, is to dig a pit not 
less than six feet deep, and as small as convenient, 
and fill it after the rod has been inserted, two or three 
feet deep with charcoal. This will absorb the mois¬ 
ture in wet weather, and retain it when the soil is 
dry, and is also a good conductor. Good lightning 
rods discharge the electricity in the atmosphere, si¬ 
lently, relieve the tension, and, therefore, protect the 
building. The rods might be made of round iron if 
the sections are properly united. If bent at their ends, 
and hooked together, the contact of one section with 
the other will be small, and the rod may be melted at 
this point because of the friction. If the joints are 
united by a screw-thimble, the danger will be entirely 
avoided. The rod should be continuous, and of uni¬ 
form dimensions throughout its entire length. On tin 
or other metal roofs, three or four rods might be 
attached to the roof, as it would serve the same pur¬ 
pose as the horizontal rods at the top of the building. 
At least two rods should connect the roof with the 
ground. 
The more iron is put at the top of the building, the 
more likely will the electricity be drawn to it; 
although in the wooden wheel windmill, there are 
always enough bolts and rods to form a good con¬ 
ductor for the lightning. The difficulty would be 
that these iron connections would not be continuous, 
and the electricity would jump from one rod to an¬ 
other, or, in following the wooden part of the frame, 
would find so much resistance that sufficient heat 
might be generated to produce fire. Whether a wooden 
or steel windmill is erected, the electricity in leaving 
it and finding only wood, which is a poor conductor, 
would be likely to produce so much heat that it would 
set the building on fire in its passage to the earth. If 
the steel windmill .were properly connected with the 
earth by two good rods, it would not be dangerous, 
but would be an additional safeguard to the building, 
since it would tend to relieve the building and the sur¬ 
rounding atmosphere of electrical tension during 
a thunder storm. 
Work of the Bud-Moth. 
E. W. if., Holly Grove, Ark. —1. What sort of bugs are the in¬ 
closed ? They were found on plum trees. What shall I do to rid 
the trees? Are they very injxirious ? 2. What is the inclosed 
worm, which is found also on plum trees ? 
ANSWERED BY M. Y. SLINGERLAND. 
1. The “ bug ” is a species of plant louse. As only 
their cast skins remained, I could not determine their 
name. The lice may be killed with a spray of kerosene 
emulsion diluted with 9 or 10 parts of water. It will 
require thorough work, especially if the leaves are 
curled. Yes, they sometimes occur in very injurious 
numbers, as any housewife who grows plants, or any 
hop grower, and many others, can attest. Sometimes 
frequent sprayings with ordinary water thrown with 
considerable force, will discourage the lice and finally 
rid the trees. 
2. The worm proved to be the caterpillar of the Bud- 
moth, one of the most serious pests that work on the 
buds of fruit trees. I discussed the insect in detail 
in Bulletin 50 of the Cornell Experiment Station, but 
the bulletin is, unfortunately, now out of print. 
Early in the spring, as soon as the buds begin to 
open, this pest makes its appearance as a minute, 
dark-brown, black-headed caterpillar, which at once 
attacks the buds, boring into them and tying the ex¬ 
panding leaves together, thus forming a nest within 
which it continues to feed, drawing in new leaves 
from time to time. As some of the leaves soon turn 
brown, the nests are often quite conspicuous. In 
some cases, they tunnel down the growing shoot a 
short distance. In about a month, the dark-brown 
caterpillars become full grown, when they measure 
about half an inch in length. They then form a 
cocoon by rolling up one of the leaves in their nest, 
and the change to pupae soon takes place within this 
cocoon. In about 10 days, the pupa works its way 
out of the cocoon, and its skin splits down the back, 
allowing a delicate dark-gray moth to emerge. The 
front wings are crossed by a wide band of cream 
white. Three or four days after emerging, the 
females lay their curious, transparent, scale-like 
eggs on the lower sides of the leaves. The little 
caterpillars emerge in from seven to ten days, and 
feed during the late summer and early autumn, on 
the undersides of the leaves near the midribs, doing 
but little damage. Before the leaves fall, they mi¬ 
grate to the twigs, where they spin over themselves 
a thin, tough covering consisting of silken threads in 
which particles of dirt from the bark are mixed. 
These hibernacula, or wintering cases, are very in¬ 
conspicuous objects, so closely do they resemble the 
bark in color. The half-grown caterpillars stay in 
these snug retreats all winter, and are on hand early 
in the spring to appease their long winter’s fast on 
the opening buds. There may be two broods of the 
pest in the South, but only one occurs north of Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. This insect has done a great deal of 
damage in western New York orchards during the 
last few years. It is capable of literally “ nipping in 
361 
the bud” a prospective crop of fruit, a graft, or a budded 
stock. It has not been found practicable to check it 
in either the adult or egg stage, or while it is in 
hibernation, as a half-grown caterpillar. The best 
time to combat it the most profitably and successfully, 
is in the spring, when a little poison can be easily 
sprayed on the opening buds ; and thus the little 
caterpillar, hungry from its long winter’s fast, will be 
quite certain to get the fatal dose at its first meal. 
Several successful orchardists in western New York, 
have checked this pest by two or three thorough 
sprayings early in the spring, before the blossoms 
open. Use Paris-green at the rate of one pound to 200 
gallons of water, always adding two or three pounds 
of freshly slaked lime to prevent injury to the foliage. 
Washing or Spraying Plum Trees. 
A. N. J., Bridgewater, N. It. —I have read Bulletin 83 of the Cor¬ 
nell Experiment Station, and was interested to And further notes 
from M. V. S. on the same subject in The R. N.-Y. Plums are not 
grown extensively here, but might be. I have been contemplat¬ 
ing for a year past, the idea of setting an orchard, and have or¬ 
dered a few varieties to experiment with this spring. M. V. S. 
says that it is important that each scale be hit with the emulsion 
in order to kill it. I would like to ask whether, especially in the 
case of young trees, we could not do more effective work by 
washing the branches with a sponge on a stick or pole, dipped 
into the emulsion of proper strength. Has any one tried this 
method of applying washes to kill insects_or fungous growths on 
bare branches in the winter ? Is it too costly a method to be 
practical ? 
Ans. —Yes, insecticides can be just as effectively 
(and perhaps more so) applied as a wash with a sponge, 
rag, or brush ; it would be practicable on young trees. 
On very small trees with few branches, this would be 
the most economical manner of applying the liquid. 
This wash method has been used extensively in many 
cases. Wm. Parry has thus treated hundreds of trees 
this winter for the San Jos6 scale. M. v. s. 
Wood Ashes and Hen Manure. 
J. II. B., A/ton, Wyo. —Which is the best way to apply wood 
ashes and hen manure to a vegetable garden, currants, trees and 
strawberries ? 
Ans. —Do not mix them. Crush the hen manure 
fine, and use it on the vegetables. Scatter the wood 
ashes around the trees, and work it in with rake or hoe. 
Killing the Asparagus Beetle. 
J. E. B., New City, N. Y. —What is the best remedy for the pests 
that eat the asparagus shoots ? I used white hellebore.in a small 
way last year; it was effective, but rather slow. 
Ans. —Rubbing off the eggs as soon as deposited 
upon the shoots, is the simplest remedy. They are 
black, easily seen, and deposited at right angles to 
the stems. 
Bulletins on the San Jose Scale. 
G. B. W., Penn Yan, N. Y .— What can we do to destroy the San 
Josd scale ? 
Ans. —We have given this answer already. Send to 
the Geneva Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y., and 
to the New Jersey Station, New Brunswick, N. J., for 
bulletins on this subject. 
A Hew Potato Disease. 
F. J. L., Elmo, Ark .— What was the matter with my potatoes? 
They were planted April 17—about one month late for this State ; 
variety, Triumph. They did remarkably well until the potatoes 
were about half grown, when all at once they commenced to turn 
yellow, and in eight or ten days were dead. The potatoes were ail 
right except that they were too small. The Early Rose did not 
yellow, planted side by side on the same day. The potatoes came 
up very well in the field, and made a fair crop. 
Ans. —This is a new disease to The R. N.-Y. It 
seems to be neither the early nor the late blight. 
Neither does it seem to be the result of injuries from 
the flea-beetle which, we are confident, renders the 
vines more liable to blight. The only remedy we 
would suggest is the Bordeaux Mixture, spraying for 
the first when the vines are six inches high, and again 
two weeks later. 
The Girdling of Trees. 
C. G. A., East Orland, Me .— 1. Some years ago, there was some 
discussion of the subject of girdling fruit trees to promote 
productiveness. I understood that some orchardists, espe¬ 
cially in the West, practiced girdling apple trees annually by 
sawing through the bark. What can be said about the matter 
now ? Is it much practiced anywhere ? How would it best be 
done? 2. At what season of the year should forest trees be 
girdled to kill them ? Many years ago, I observed this to be the 
common practice where land was to be cleared in Ohio; but I 
never heard of its being done in Maine, though it would save im¬ 
mensely in the labor of clearing land. 
Ans. —1. It often happens that fruit trees growing 
in a too-rich soil, engage themselves in producing 
wood and, so to say, neglect the more important func¬ 
tion of- fruit producing. The vitality, or rather, 
vigor, of the tree, may be moderated by root pruning 
and girdling. To induce the fruit-bearing habit, gird¬ 
ling may be serviceable ; but to continue it from 
year to year, would be harmful. We do not think it 
is at present practiced at all, except upon grape vines, 
and then produces inferior fruit. 2. It really doesn’t 
matter, so long as the cambium layer is destroyed. 
This is a starchy deposit of the preceding year, be¬ 
tween the inner bark and the sapwood, and it is this 
which adds yearly the annual growth to the tree, add¬ 
ing one layer to the wood, another to the bark. Be¬ 
neath the cambium is the sapwood. If we would kill 
the tree at once, we should not only cut through the 
cambium layer, but also the sapwood in early spring. 
