MOORE’S  RURAL  f^EW-YORKER. 
AU6.  ■se 
:^roinii)  tijc 
FROM  OLD  CONNECTICUT. 
Dkak  IUikai.  Tlie  western  bonndary  of  ibis 
township,  as  stated  bj-  ino  in  a  former  letter,  is 
tbe  summit  of  a  range  of  liills  from  (!00  to  1.000 
feet  above  the  Connoetient  Kiver,  wbieb  is,  in  a 
direct  line,  some  nine  miles  distant.  These  hills, 
known  as  Talcott  Mountain,  are  of  trap  rock, 
which  have,  by  some  igix'ous  tirnjdion,  been 
thrown  np  through  the  old,  red  sandstouc,  and 
trend  from  Mount  Tom  in  Massachusetts  south- 
wjudly  Ui  East  Koek,  ni-ar  Now  Haven.  Tim 
eastern  side  descends  ipiite  abruptly  (but  not  8o 
much  HO  as  not  to  be  generally  cultivatable)  for 
neai'ly  two  mile-s,  at  which  point  tho  trap  forma¬ 
tion  is  lost  sight  of.  and  from  whence  there  is  a 
quick  snccesKion  of  hills  and  v.illi'ys,  which  reg¬ 
ularly  diminish  in  si/e  until,  in  the  eastern  part 
of  tho  Uiwn,  a  sandy  level  is  reached,  which  con¬ 
tinues  to  the  river.  I'hns,  withiij  tlie  limit  of  a 
single  town.ship,  or  a  little  more  t.lian  six  miles, 
wo  have  a  variety  of  soil  and  formation  not  often 
comprised  in  tho  same  distance.  First,  on  the 
oastoru  side,  sand  with  but  lilt)<!  loam,  followed 
by  a  jncshirately  heavy  loam  with  clay  subsoil, 
then  a  loamy  gravel,  and  linally  rocUs  and  stoiui 
in  ahiiTidaneo.  Tliis  gives  opportunity  for  great 
diversity  of  agricnltui'iil  ininents,  although  the 
productiveness  of  either  portion  is  not  so  great 
as  to  give  the  farmer  desired  results  without  his 
strict  attoiition  and  unremitting  labor. 
The  most  A'aluahlo  jn-oihietion  lu'.ro,  as  in  all 
New  England,  is  grass.  No  farm  can  ho  kept  in 
good  condition  without  an  ample  supply  of  barn¬ 
yard  manure,  to  obtain  wliicli  tbe  Larger  number 
of  acre.s  tbe  farm  contains  are  kept  in  grass, 
which  is  fed  out  to  stock  in  winter.  Itnt  little 
bayls  sent  to  market,  it  Iming  geuer.ally  believeil 
that  ho  w  ho  sells  bis  bay  ixibs  bis  fann,  for  even 
if  the  nmnoy  it  protlnces  he  i!X))euded  for  phos¬ 
phates,  guano  or  other  ferlili/ors,-tho  result  in 
the  end  is  not  so  favorable  as  if  tho  hay  he  fed 
out  on  the  farm.  Htoi'.k  raising,  as  a  business, 
does  not  seem  to  bo  lai-gely  engaged  in.  'I'licro 
is  but  a  small  proportion  of  tbe  land  tlnil  is  not 
worth  more  for  imlture  than  for  pasturage,  and 
it  is  thought  more  protltalde  to  buy  cuttle  two  or 
three  years  eld  in  tbe  fall  lor  winter  feeiliug 
tliaii  to  raise  younger  stuck. 
Tho  season  seems  imusu.ally  early,  and  most  of 
■  the  grass  was  cut  before  tho  Istof  August.  The 
crop  was  rather  better  than  average  and  was 
housed  in  good  eondition,  ihit  hay  makuig  now 
is  dilTereiit  than  when  1  was  young,  when,  with 
scythe,  and  fork,  and  rake,  man  and  hoy  must 
toil  and  swe.at  ”  from  morn  till  dewy  eve,'’  often 
commencing  in  Juno,  l.iefure  the  grasses  were 
nearly  rii>e,  and  freijuently  continuing  into  Bep- 
tember,  wlion  the  stalks  were  so  dry  and  liard 
that  the  scythes  would  ring  out  their  notes  as 
clear  and  shai'p  as  the  triangles  in  an  oreheslra. 
From  tho  wudow  where  i  write  I  can  see 
whore  was  once  a  liold  of  ahont  eight  acres,  in 
which  my  grand futlier  had  aceoin] dished  a  ]iro- 
digioiis  feat  that  1  have  often  hiv.ird  ridated  as  a 
mai’vel  of  wonder  and  proof  of  his  nucoramou 
energy.  When  tbe  grass  wns  fully  ripe,  on  a 
favorable  day,  be  put  Bullicieiit  Jiands  at  work  to 
cut.  cure,  gatber  and  bouse  all  tbe  product  of 
that  held  in  a  singlo  day !  Tliink  of  tliat,  yo 
juoderu  fanners,  who  leismvly  mount  your  mow¬ 
ing  machines  and,  aftiU’  a  not  weaiisomo  I'ide 
over  a  few  acres,  exchange  for  a  tedder’,  and 
afterwai’d  for  a  luko,  riding  about  (he  while  and 
dividing  the  labor  with  your  liorses;  and  not 
quite  such  division  eitlier  as  the  Iiishnraii  had 
who  wrote  to  a  fellow  countryman  that  if  he 
would  come  to  Araeiica  ho  would  get  him  a  job 
where  all  there  was  to  do  was  to  cany  bricks  to 
the  top  of  a  building,  and  the  fellows  up  there 
would  do  all  tire  work.  But  speaking  of  division 
of  labor  suggests  a  query :  Vt  by  is  it  tliat  in 
storing  or  mowing  away  hay  tho  boys  are  always 
put  in  tho  hottest  place  ?  I  see  a  roof  now  under 
which  thirty  years  ago  1  toiled  and  sweat  and 
inwardl.v  enrsed  (1  was  a  l>oy  them),  and  iii  my 
recollec'lion  tbat  is  the  hottest  place  I  over  heard 
of,  unless  it  he  Philadelphia  or  tho  foreign  i>laco 
Tai^mauuk  talks  ahont,  but  which  is  not  ruen- 
tionable  in  polite  society. 
Indian  corn  (why  can't  yon  eduoalo  tho  public 
to  call  it  ?;«/(>  /)  is  cultivated  to  a  limited  ex¬ 
tent.  Every  fanner  needs  a  httlo  for  his  pigs 
and  poirltry,  hut  every  bushel  raised  in  town 
doubtless  costs  more  than  it  would  sell  for  in 
market.  But  the  ai  gmueut  in  favor  of  growing 
it  is,  admitting  a  certain  quantity  to  cost  a  hnn- 
drod  dollars,  and  it  could  bo  purchased  foi-  nine¬ 
ty,  where  will  tho  fanner  get  his  ninoty  dollars 
with  which  to  p.ay  for  iti* 
1  lirrd  a  question  still  niinettled  Ural  was  dis¬ 
cussed  when  I  lived  here,  namely.  If  it  be  more 
prolitablo  to  raise  corn  on  the  light,  sandy  soil 
(kuowrr  as  the  plains),  which  is  easily  worked 
and  produces  ton  busliols  to  the  acre,  or  uu  the 
heavier  soil,  that  produces  foiu-  or  five  times  as 
much,  the  latter  costing  a  hundred  dollars  an 
acre  and  the  former  ten  dollars. 
As  with  com  so  with  other  ordinary  farm 
crops,  rye,  oats,  potatoes,  etc.,  but  little  is  raised 
except  for  home  consumidion.  The  money-pro¬ 
ducing  crop  of  tho  town  is  tohac:co,  of  which  a 
large  amount  and  superior  quality  of  t!oiurocticnt 
siicdlcaf  is  I’aisod.  I  will  write  more  fully  about 
Ibis  at  another  time.  Just  now  I  want  to  go  to 
tho  station  to  see  a  party  off  for  tho  Centennial, 
with  which  are  two  of  my  oldest  friends-  one 
aged  81,  the  other  83,  both  practical  and  success¬ 
ful  fanners,  who  arc  still  able  to  “drive  the 
team  a-llold ''  and  do  a  pretty  good  day’s  work  if 
circumstances  required.  r,.  a.  r. 
Hloomtleld,  Conn. 
(gfonom^. 
THE  LIGHTNING-ROD  NUISANCE. 
Evkk  since  Benjamin  Franklin  made  bis  expe¬ 
riments  in  ca|itining  electricity,  timid  ixirsons 
have  vvanti'd  some  kind  of  a  kit  and  string  bang¬ 
ing  over  tboir  beads  on  a  thunder  storm  and  this 
weakness  has  been  taken  advantage  of  by  the 
l>eddlers  of  lightning-rods.  How  tboso  men 
Lave  fattened  on  others  fears  is  told  by  tire 
(jliicaigo  Tunes  in  a  vein  batJr  humorous  and  iu- 
stnictive.  From  this  time  till  frost  camos,  look 
out  for  tbe  advent  of  tho  lightning-rod  man. 
Ho  will  call  at  tbe  bouse  and  enquire  for  the 
owner,  and  is  never  so  haiipy  as  when  informed 
that  he  is  absent.  This  gives  him  an  oiiportunity 
to  scare  tlie  women  folks,  who  are  very  likely  to 
ho  “afraid  of  tlniuder.”  Ho  will  represent  the 
danger  of  living  in  a  house  that  has  no  lightning- 
rod  attached  to  ho  so  groat  that  they  will  not 
“  sleep  nights  "  till  oiio  is  put  up. 
Having  talked  for  an  hour,  ho  will  leave  a 
tract,  half  of  which  is  devototl  to  statistics  of 
mortality  from  lightning,  and  tho  other  half  to 
tho  advantages  of  tho  celebrated  patent,  8i>irul. 
tubular,  douhlo-and'twistod  tlmuder-extcnnina- 
tor.  Ho  calls  again  in  a  week  and  oipresses  his 
surprise  that  the  house  Is  standing  and  its  oecn- 
patito  ai’o  alive.  The  head  of  the  family  is  ready 
tor  a  trade,  for  he  fears  that  tho  female  memher 
of  his  honsediold  will  die  of  fright  if  tho  house 
be  not  e()uipi>ed  with  a  Ughtning-rod  before  the 
next  tbuudor  cloud  appears.  Ho  signs  a  skill- 
fuUy-wiirded  contnw:!.  by  tbo  terms  of  which 
ho  obligatos  himself  to  pay  so  mucli  per  foot  for 
a  snilioient  anuiunt  of  rod  to  protect  tbo  building 
bo  occupies.  Of  course  the  lightning-^  man 
Is  iiig  on  cxpei't  at  the  business  is  cunsGtutod 
sole  judge  of  what  length  of  rod  is  necessary. 
He  roughly  gueBScs  that  about  fifty  feet  will  be 
reiiuued.  The  next  visit  is  fur  tbe  purpose  of 
initting  up  (ho  celebrated  lightuiug-demolisher 
and  thunder-tamer. 
A  survey  of  tlie  house  is  now  made  for  tho 
pui-))09e  of  seeing  how  niiuiy  foot  of  rod  tho 
signer  of  tho  contract  can  he  forced  to  pay  for. 
You  may  depend  on  the  lightning-rod  man  to 
figure  this  very  fine.  Ho  understands  how  to 
bond  tho  rod  round  tho  eaves  of  tliis  house,  how 
to  ciu  ry  it  to  the  oxtrcino  corner,  and  how  to 
attach  it  to  the  most  distant  chimney.  He  is 
engaged  in  selling  rods  by  the  yard  and  he  has 
no  notion  of  disposing  of  a  scant  pattern.  When 
measured  ujt  willi  all  its  crooks  and  turns  it  is 
found  to  ho  abimt  lined  times  as  long  as  origi¬ 
nally  supposed.  If  this  was  tue  only  swindle 
cxmnocted  with  tho  transaction  there  would  ho 
less  causo  of  complaint.  But  it  is  not  the  only 
one.  Tho  rod  is  gouerally  sold  for  fom-  or  five 
times  as  much  as  it  cost. 
Most  of  the  claims  for  the  efficiency  of  the 
rod,  tho  ability  of  the  point  or  points  to  attract 
lightning,  and  for  its  pconliar  method  of  attacL- 
nieut  to  the  building  are  fraudulent.  Borne 
smart  fellow  got  a  patent  on  some  peculiar  turn 
or  twist  in  a  piece  of  fragile  metal  that  could  not 
sniiporl  itself  and  used  it  for  tho  purpose  of 
Belling  an  article  almost  entirely  useless.— Every 
oloctrk’ian  knows  that  tho  fevv'er  turns,  twists, 
curves,  angles  and  joints  there  are  about  a  light¬ 
ning-rod  the  better  it  is  for  tbe  purpose  for 
which  it  was  designed.  The  truth  of  tlio  matter 
is  there  has  Loon  no  essential  improvement  on 
tho  original  lightning-rod  as  brought  out  by  Br. 
Franklin.  That  was  a  straight  conttuuous  bar 
of  wrought  iron  secured  to  a  building  by  attach¬ 
ments  of  wood  or  metal.  It  was  a  very  inexiven- 
sivo  and  simple  contrivauco,  hut  it  conducted 
electricity  better  than  most  of  tlie  now-faiiglod 
himibugs  that  have  taken  its  place. 
The  cheapest  way  to  procme  a  good  lightning- 
rod  is  to  buy  a  bar  of  ronnd  iron  tliree-fonrths 
of  an  inch  in  diameter  and  of  tho  requisite 
length  to  roach  ton  feet  above  tho  highest  point 
of  tho  roof,  to  extend  over  tlie  roof  on  the  most 
direct  lino  to  the  ground  and  to  continno  into 
tho  earth  till  permanent  moisture  is  reached. 
This  can  bo  secru-ed  to  the  ohimnoy,  tho  roof  and 
walls  of  tlie  building,  by  moans  of  iron  staples. 
The  tip  of  the  rod  should  bo  cut  in  the  form  of 
a  Bci-ow  so  as  ao  fit  in  a  polished  point  tnat  can 
he  obtained  in  almost  any  hardware  shop.  .Some¬ 
times  points  may  be  obtained  tbat  will  fit  over 
tlie  end  of  tbo  rod.  Listead  of  a  round  iron  bar 
a  strip  of  iron  one  inch  wide  and  a  fotu-th  of  an 
inch  thick,  may  be  used,  and  in  some  respects  it 
is  superior.  This  strip  may  be  pierced  with 
holes  and  tacked  directly  to  tho  building  and 
chimney,  or  it  may  lie  seenrod  by  staples,  or  by 
pieces  of  iron  bent  oyer  it  ami  seenrod  by  screws. 
Whichever  kind  of  conductor  Is  used,  it  is  lulvls- 
ahle  to  paint  it  of  tho  same  color  as  the  house, 
so  it  will  not  act  to  disfigure  it.  Tho  jmint  will 
protect  it  against  tho  action  of  the  air  and  rain, 
and  will  not  osscutially  Injure  its  conducting 
power. 
At  iiresent,  all  persons  versed  in  the  laws  that 
regulate  tho  passage  of  electricity  look  with  dis¬ 
favor  on  any  attempts  to  insulate  a  rod  by  means 
of  pits'es  of  glass.  On  the  othoi'  hand,  they  ad 
vise  couiificting  tho  rod  direelly  with  tho  btiilding, 
and  particularly  with  mchil  eavo-HiMjnts  or  other 
metal  surfaces  aliout  tho  exterior  of  tho  build¬ 
ing.  Tho  old  idea  tliat  electricity  only  passes 
over  tho  am’faco  e»f  a  substance  is  abandoned. 
It  is  now  accepted  as  a  fact  tliat  electricity  in 
motion  pervades  tbe  entire  substance  of  the  ob¬ 
ject  through  which  it  passes.  This  dispenses 
with  t  he  argument  in  regard  to  tapes  and  rib¬ 
bons  of  metals  as  conductors  of  electricity.  Tlie 
matter  that  demands  moat  attention  in  putting 
up  a  ligbtning-rod  Is  the  connection  it  forms 
with  the  earth.  This  is  tho  thing  to  which 
lightning-rod  men  give  tlie  least  cjire,  as  digging 
in  tlie  hard  earth  is  not  tho  kind  of  occupation 
they  prefer.  It  suite  tJieir  jmriiORO  better  to 
sink  a  ci'owbar  into  dry  sand  and  drop  tho  end 
of  the  bar  into  it.  The  end  of  rod  should  roach 
pormanent  moisture,  or  else  it  should  extend  into 
a  pit  filled  witli  charcoal,  coke,  or  scrap  iron, 
either  of  which  constitute  very  excellent  coiiduc- 
tors  of  electricity. 
— - - - - 
CROSS  BREEDING  OF  GRAIN. 
Tiir  “ReiKirt  of  the  Department  of  Agiicnl- 
tnre,  for  Ylay  and  June,"  forniH  a  t.iiniphlet  of 
nearly  100  pages,  and  is  in  most  rcsiiecta  a  very 
coimiiendahlo  production.  Tho  reports  on  tho 
condition  and  prosiieete  of  Uio  growing  crops  are 
quite  full  and  satisfactniw ;  and  the  slatistic.8and 
diagranra  exhibiting  tbe  amount,  value  and  pro¬ 
gress  of  agricultural  production  In  tlio  various 
States,  etc.,  arc  higlily  creditable  to  tbe  industry 
and  talents  of  the  worthy  statistieian  of  tho  Dc«- 
jiy  rtnioiit,  whose  liiudablo  aim  has  evidently  been 
to  make  this  report  a  (loiitcnnialdoennient  which 
American  citizens  should  take  pleasure  in  putting 
into  tlie  hands  of  visitors  from  other  countries 
who  desire  information  resiiecting  the  resources, 
productions  and  progress  of  this  coniiti-y. 
Ikit  every  iuteUigeiit  .American  who  reads  the 
article  on  p.  191  2,  written  by  tho  Omninissioncr 
himself,  on  “  CToss-Breediiig  of  Groin,”  will 
blush  for  the  ignorance  of  the  man  who  occuiiies 
such  high  position;  And  before  handing  the  Re¬ 
port  to  any  foreign  visitor,  will  tear  out  the  arti¬ 
cle,  which  is  a  tlisgraco  to  its  author  and  the 
J>e[>arlment  of  which  he  is  the  official  head. 
After  a  couple  of  paragraphs,  which  amountto 
nothing,  on  tho  subject  of  farmers’  changing 
seed  of  groin,  tho  Commissioner  goes  on  as  fot 
lows : 
“Another  maxim  which  farmers  generally 
accept  as  an  axiom  is,  that  by  sowing  wheats  of 
differoht  qualities  together,  that  they  wiU  so  hy¬ 
bridize  ns  to  produce  a  mixed  breed ;  while  even 
a  little  observation  would  teach  them  tho  error 
of  this  oonclusion,  and  that  eiuih  grain  piroducos 
its  own  like,  and  that  really  no  hybridization 
takes  place  at  aU,  and  that  tlie  mixture  of  seed 
produces  tbe  unmitigated  evil  of  mixing  wheats 
which  ]ierhapB  ripen  at  different  periods,  or  per¬ 
haps  requiie  different  treatment  when  they  come 
to  be  reduced  to  flour.  A  little  study  of  tho  na¬ 
ture  of  jilaiits  Would  soom  to  bo  necessary  to  a 
knowledge  of  their  iiroix'rtreatmontdnrlug  their 
growth.  Of  the  flowers  of  plants,  some  are  male 
and  some  female.  In  some  the  stamiuato  and 
pistillate  flowers  occupy  different  parts  of  the 
same  plants,  as  in  Indian  corn.  In  tho  larger 
niiiiiber  of  plants  Uio  male  and  female  organs 
mature  at  tho  same  time  in  the  same  flower ;  and 
of  those  some  ai’O  subject  te*  eelf-fertihzation, 
and  others  to  cross-fertilization.  Such  plants  as 
peas,  beaus,  wheat  and  bai'ley  have  tho  male  and 
female  organs  within  themselves,  and  are  not 
subject  to  ci'uss-fertilization,  and  therefore  it  is 
that  wheats  do  not  mix  their  qualities  ut  all  by 
being  planted  togetlior ;  and  as  it  is  objectiona¬ 
ble  for  other  reasons,  it  should  never  be  done. 
The  leaf  or  flower  whicb  protrudes  from  the 
glume  of  wheat  is  neither  an  anther,  a  pistil,  nor 
a  Btameu,  and  neither  emits  nor  receives  the 
fertilizing  pollen." 
The  lack  of  botanical  knowledge  beteayed  by 
tbe  foregoing  would  disgrace  a  country  school 
boy,  flftecu  yews’  old,  of  the  present  day.  Any 
person  of  "  even  a  little  obsorviitiou,”  who  has 
rroticed  a  Held  of  wheat  when  iir  bloom,  has  seen 
the  anthers  hanging  outaido  the  spikelets  of  the 
heads,  and  when  in  right  couiiitiou,  the  pollen 
from  these  anthers  may  he  seen  car  ried  by  the 
breeze,  like  flue  dust,  over  the  fleld,  liras  eettUng 
uixiu  the  heads,  and  reaching  the  tips  of  the 
little  feathery  pistils  which  at  such  time  pro 
tmde  outside  the  glumes,  for  tho  purpose  of  fer¬ 
tilization.  In  this  way  “cross-breeding”  is 
readily  accomplisbed  by  natural  moans,  or  it  can 
bo  done  easily  by  art,  and  has  been  tbo  moarts  of 
producing  a  mnltitirde  of  diffeveirt  varieties. 
Lake  County,  o.  Triticcm. 
AGAIN  ABOUT  MOLES. 
I  AM  the  “  srrbscribcr  ”  who  asked  bow  to  rid 
my  grounds  of  moles,  and  was  answered  in  the 
Rorat.  of  Juno  24th.  I  hope  that  Uio  gentleman 
who  invcutvsl  tho  nrolo  trap  will  yet  bo  rownrded. 
and  tho  public  iMmolited  by  its  fiu-llior  sole.  1 
noticed  in  tho  Rnr\i.  last  spring  a  statomctit  in 
regard  to  moles  which  I  do  not  think  is  correct, 
at  least  I  am  sure  it  in  irot  entirely  so.  It  was 
said  tliat  tho  mole  was  an  inseotiverous  aninial. 
’J’hat  it  snbsisted  ujam  grubs  Ac.,  and  did  not 
disturb  plants  except  to  cut  a  hole  through 
^em  when  thev  happeiUHl  to  bo  in  its  way.  At 
tbat  time,  1  sciit  the  RruAJ.  a  pawiip  which  a 
mole  bad  hollowed  out.  by  ascending  its  interior. 
1  lately  found  an  Isolated  hill  of  isitatooH  in  my 
squash  patch,  which  was  dying.  Tho  luolos  had 
oaten  uj)  Its  roots  imllrfhi,  tubers  amt  all. 
Rowiiid  Springs,  Term.  L.  II.  Uki.i.. 
Remarks  i— Some  of  the  ways  of  molos  are 
past  finding  out.  Two  and  three  years  ago.  our 
gi’ounds  were  alive  with  them.  Tho  sod  was 
riddloil— iKirders  and  clcarod  iflots  for  flowers 
roBomblod  majia  of  mountainous  regions  and  it 
was  found  iiextto  impossible  to  cultivate  annuals 
at  all.  Ga:4tor-oil  plants,  Camiaa,  Balsam,  I’e- 
tunias,  Hnaiidragons  were  so  undermined  that 
between  resetting  and  being  upset,  many  were 
killed  and  tbe  rest  dwarfotl  and  harmed.  A 
weeping  Birch  was  so  undermiiiod  as  to  lose  its 
foliage  anil  a  Norway  Spruce  would  have  died 
ha<l  not  their  excavations  lioou  refilled.  We 
used  almost  everything  (as  wo  then  stated)  th.at 
wo  know  or  could  hear  of  to  poison  or  to  ilrivo 
them  away  witliout  decided  effect  and  finally,  in 
despair,  loft  them  to  do  Uieir  worst.  Htrangu  to 
say,  last  year  wo  were  troubled  with  them  very 
littlo  and  tins  year  not  at  all.  Wo  have  never 
even  conjectuxod  why  they  thus  suddenly  quit 
our  proiuisei  after  having  given  every  evidence 
of  an  attadimout  Uio  sincerity  of  which  we  were 
too  hofieloss  to  doubt. 
But  to  answer  our  correspondent Through 
tho  whole  period  during  which  oiir  grounds  were 
infested,  we  never  once  had  evidoiuto  that  they 
oat  a  plant,  root  or  vegetable  liber.  'That  they 
Moemto  si'leofc  (ho  route  of  plaints  in  their  runs  i.s 
tnio  enough— but  tl'iis  may  bo  because  they  are 
attracted  by  tho  moisture  from  artificial  watering, 
and  the  Morms  Hint  in  such  moist  and  rich  sixits, 
congregate.  'That  they  do  not  oat  such  vege¬ 
tables  as  parsnips  and  potatoes,  wo  give  as  proof 
tho  following : 
“  I  oaiight  ”  says  ajj^conospondent  of  tho 
'Tiibuno  “a  mole  in  Ootobor,  and  iriijirLsoued  it 
in  a  box  12  inches  siiuare,  slats  across  tho  top, 
with  5  inches  earth  in  tho,  bottom.  1  put  in 
some  slices  of  potato,  turnips,  parsnips,  cai-rot 
and  beet  and  left  them  three  days,  but  nothing 
of  them  wo-s  oaten.  I  then  put  in  sonio  grub 
worms  and  some  earth  worms,  which  were  de¬ 
voured  ravenously,  tho  hilf-starvcd  mole  taking 
them  from  my  lingers.  1  Uien  loft  it  two  days 
longer,  thiJu  put  In  some  corn,  which  was  eaten. 
I  did  not  go  to  it  again  for  three  or  four  days, 
but  when  I  wont  it  was  dead.  It  died  rather 
than  eat  vegetables.” 
How  does  our  cori'espoiident  know  that  moles 
hollowed  out  tho  parsnip  which  ho  sent  to  the 
Rural  ?  How  does  ho  know  that  molos  eat  up 
his  potatoes  “tubers  and  all"?  Did  ho  see 
them  in  jlagraiUe  Mirlu.  ?  Otherwise  wo  should 
charge  this  work  to  ground  mioo  or  even  to 
grubs  rather  tliau  to  moles. 
As  to  tbo  te-ap.  We  wrote  a  letter  of  inquu-y 
to  the  inventor  and  manufacturer,  who  replied 
that  having  many  iioiis  in  tho  fire,  ho  was 
unable  to  spare  tho  time  required  to  place  it  in 
tho  market.  Perhaps  it  is  different  now.  Tho 
trap,  a  somewhat  hirge,  clumsy  contrivauco 
would  cost  not  loss  thau  five  dollars  at  retail, 
manufactured  in  its  prosout  sliaiie.  But  it  is 
very  effectual  and  we  should  say  that  the 
“  public  would  be  benefited  by  its  sale”  and  tho 
inventor  “  rewarded.” 
Note.— Let  it  he  understood  tliat  it  is  not  the 
present  writer  but  “Daily  Rural  Life”  who 
owns  the  ti'ap  which  with  him  has  iiroven  so 
effectual ;  and  it  is  he  who  is  responsible  for 
having  raised  many  hopes  (judging  from  tho 
letters  received)  destined,  as  wo  think  ho  well 
know  at  tJie  time,  to  bo  dashed  all  to  pieces. 
We  have  our  opinion  as  to  people  who  enjoy 
snch  trilling  with  tho  needs  of  those  who  help  to 
support  them — and  our  readers  will  have  theii's . 
- - - - 
The  Ct-RRANT  Worm.— I  mean  the  green  worm 
about  half  an  inch  long  that  feeds  on  tho  leaves 
of  the  currant  only  when  it  can  tiad  none  of  the 
gooseberry.  Itaving  read  tbat  tbo  unago  hiber¬ 
nates  In  tbo  eai  th  near  the  stem  of  the  bush,  i 
plastered  early  in  spriug  with  lime  mortar  a 
radius  of  G  or  8  iuches  uiteiuhug  to  bury  tuein 
beyond  resiu-rection.  'That  season  I  saw  but 
one  and  none  after  for  three  seasons,  i’. 
