B»e  RURAL  INKW-KOKft.tR 
Homemade  Lightning  Rods 
Cables  from  Barbed  Wire 
63d 
difficulty.  As  the  wires  tightened  with  twisting  we 
had  to  release  them  from  the  fence  posts  and  hite’a 
them  in  other  places  to  prevent  breaking.  Even 
then  we  had  a  few  breaks,  hut  these  were  easily  re¬ 
paired.  When  the  cable  was  finished,  we  hitched 
one  end  to  the  hind  axle  of  the  wagon  and  “snaked’’ 
it  up  to  the  barn.  This  cable  weighed,  when  fin¬ 
ished.  three  ounces  to  the  foot. 
For  groundings  we  used  some  pieces  of  half-inch 
round  iron  which  we  happened  to  have  on  hand. 
Near  the  west  end  of  the  barn  there  is  a  never- 
tailing  well.  By  running  one  of  t  he  round  irons  to 
the  bottom  of  this  well,  we  had  a  first  class  “ground¬ 
ing"  to  start  with.  The  cable  was  attached  to  the 
iron,  well  above  the  ground,  being  careful  to  give 
_  plenty  of  contact  between  rod  and  ca- 
R.*Vi  ^ 
hie.  The  cable  was  then  run  up  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  barn  to  the 
eaves,  then  from  the  eaves  to  the  peak, 
using  ordinary  fence  staples  to  keep  it 
in  place.  Running  along  the  peak  to 
the  middle  of  the  barn,  it  was  given  a 
loop  around  the  cupola,  with  a  branch 
running  to  the  top  of  the  cupola.  When 
the  east  end  of  the  barn  was  reached 
A  the  cable  was  allowed  to  follow  the 
M |  roof  down  to  the  eaves  on  the  south- 
H  east  corner,  then  down  the  post  to  the 
I  q  ground.  The  barn  stands  on  “made” 
H  ground,  in  a  place  which  was  at  one 
time  a  frog  pond,  so  we  can  strike 
V  wafer  at  any  time  by  going  down  four 
or  five  feet.  This,  of  course,  made  our 
groundings  easy;  for  we  were  aide  to 
/4i  strike  permanent  moisture  (after  dig- 
a '  -  ging  down  two  or  three  feet  with  a 
shovel  l  with  an  ordinary  crowbar.  In 
t  'll 
order  to  give  plenty  of  ground  eonnec- 
.  |  £  tion  for  the  size  of  the  building,  we 
ran  a  second  cable  over  the  middle  of 
the  barn  grounding  it  at  the  north  and 
south  sides. 
|  We  are  told  by  scientific  men  who 
are  in  a  better  position  to  understand 
these  tilings  than  you  and  I.  that  when 
a  building  is  redded  all  metal  work 
about  it  should  he  connected  with  the  cable.  Bearing 
this  in  mind,  wo  ran  wires  from  the  iron  horse-fork 
track  and  from  a  galvanized  iron  water  tank  which 
we  have  in  the  barn  and  attached  them  to  the  cable 
at  the  nearest  points. 
Some  one  may  ask  why  Ave  used  barb  wire  in 
making  the  cable  instead  of  plain  galvanized  wire 
which  would  liaA*e  been  much  easier  to  handle.  The 
reason  is  that  we  wanted  the  barbs  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  the  lightning  rod  man’s  points.  Barbs  are 
not  as  ornamental  as  copper  points,  hut  they  are  cer¬ 
tainly  cheaper,  and  (according  to  these  same  scien¬ 
tific  men)  will  serve  the  same  purpose  when  there 
are  many  hundreds  of  them,  as  in  the  case  of  our 
barb  wire  cable.  c.  s.  moore. 
Payment  by  Worthless  Check 
Legal  Aspect  of  Fraudulent  Intent 
T  was  much  interested  in  the  article  headed  “The 
Paying  by  ('heck  Game,”  on  page  54N.  If  Mr.  Jewett 
had  paid  for  those  apples  by  a  worthless  cheek  (in  Now 
York  State)  he  would  be  liable  to  arrest  for  obtaining 
goods  on  false  or  fraudulent,  representation.  I  do  not 
know  Massachusets  laws,  hut  I  believe  that  such  a  case 
in  New  York  State  would  render  “Percy  L.  Jewett” 
liable  to  criminal  prosecution.  I  would  like  t<>  have  a 
legal  opinion  on  lids  matter.  1  hnve  had  very  similar 
cases  where  a  threatened  prosecution  brought  the  cash. 
( )f  course  this  depends  somewhat  on  the  exact  words 
used  by  "Jewett”  and  also  by  Wallis.  E.  w.  c.  i*. 
Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y. 
LAST  Summer  avc  had  a  nice  little  visit  from  a 
lightning-rod  agent  who  seemed  Avorried  over 
the  unprotected  condition  of  our  barn  from  light¬ 
ning.  lie  Avas  so  anxious  that  our  property  should 
he  rendered  safe  front  the  furies  of  the  tempest,  that 
lie  offered  to  rod  the  building  (which  is  42x100  feet) 
with  a  fancy  copper  cable  and  ornamental  points, 
for  something  like  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars.  Imagine 
his  look  of  horror  and  pity  Avhen  we  told  him  blunt¬ 
ly  that  avo  intended  to  rod  the  building  ourselves, 
using  ordinary  galvanized  barb  Avire.  lie  had  to 
acknowledge  that  fence  Avire  avus  a  fairly  good  eon- 
TJIE  trouble  with  these  Avortliless  Chech 
even  in  Noav  York  is  that  it.  is  hard  tc 
that  they  were  given  Avith  the  intent 
to  deceive  or  defruud.  The  excuse  of 
the  giver  always  is,  “Why  I  didn’t 
know  my  account  avus  overdrawn.  I 
thought  I  had  plenty  of  money  there. 
I  have  made  a  mistake  in  figuring,” 
and  it  is  hard  to  prove  othenvise.  But 
if  it  can  be  slioAvn  that  he  kept  on 
drawing  checks  after  he  knew  of  this 
the  proof  is  easier.  In  New  York  the 
matter  is  covered  by  the  following  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  Penal  Code: 
The  use  of  a  matured  check  or  other 
•riler  for  the  payment  of  money  as  a 
means  of  obtaining  a  signature  or  money 
or  property . by  n  person  who 
knows  that  the  dniAver  thereof  is  not  en¬ 
titled  to  draw  for  the  sum  specified  there¬ 
in,  upon  the  drawee,  is  the  use  of  a  false 
token  Avithin  thj  meaning  of  those  sec¬ 
tions,  although  no  representation  is  made 
in  respect  thereto, 
1  cannot  find  that  any  special  law 
such  as  this  has  been  passed  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  and  the  matter  would  there  be 
governed  by  the  general  statutes  cov¬ 
ering  fraudulent  practices.  m.  i>. 
Poor  Meadows  for  Pasture 
Budding  the  Mango.  Fig.  251 
(a)  Bud  wood;  (b)  section  of  stock  showing-  incisions  made  preparatory  to  the  insertion  of  the  hud 
(c)  hud  inserted;  (d)  bud  tied;  (e)  hud;  (f)  budding  knife.  See  page  697. 
ns,  A  good  ductor  of  electricity;  hut  he  argued  that  as  soon  as 
r  I  L  .  1  , 
' . tile  galvanized  coat  was  injured  the  efficiency  of 
[•re  is  about  the  wire  as  a  conductor  was  greatly  lessened.  Com- 
"f  the  plow  potent,  authorities  have  told  me.  however,  that  as 
i  cows  mat  lo»g  as  the  body  of  metal  is  not  lessened  at  any 
ire.  Would  point  the  efficiency  of  the  rod  is  not  impaired. 
nlfnV  I  till  1110  h''sl  problem  which  avc  had  to  sol ve  was 
stalks,  but  lo  twist  three  barbed  Avires  into  a  cable.  We  man* 
id  h.rymmg  in  ,ll(>  following  manner.  Selecting  a  smooth 
e.  At.  place  in  the  pasture  where  the  grass  Avas  short,  avc 
ver  such  a  strung  out  three  lengths  of  wire  as  long  as  the  cable 
it.  the  farm  was  to  lie.  One  end  of  each  of  these  strands  was 
’hat  sort  of  fastened  to  a  fence  post,  the  three  ends  being  eight 
exact  char-  or  ten  feet  apart,  so  that  they  would  not  become  en- 
Use  of  a  Mulch  on  Peaches 
SEVERAL  growers  liaA’e  asked  re¬ 
cently  whether  or  not  mulching 
could  be  used  successfully  on  peaches, 
and  if  so,  Avhat  was  the  best  procedure 
in  starting  and  maintaining  it.  This 
is  not  an  easy  question.  Of  course 
most  people  avouUI  say  at  once  that 
mulching  would  newer  do  on  peaches, 
and  that  nothing  hut  tillage  should 
ever  be  used  on  them.  This,  moreover, 
is  undoubtedly  the  best  general  advice. 
But  Ihe  same  statements  were  former¬ 
ly  made  about  apples,  and  nothing  else 
Avas  even  suspected  in  the  case  of 
citrus  fruits.  But  even  in  the  latter 
fruits,  during  the  past  Summer  the 
writer  observed  some  very  striking  ex- 
The  Lime  Spreader  at  Work.  Fig.  252 
