834 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
than dry air, and if the transpiration from the foliage 
of the trees increases the humidity of the air to a 
height above them, it makes it still more likely that 
the discharge will take place through the instrumen¬ 
tality of the trees, and oftenest, probably, so gradu¬ 
ally as not to be observable, and in this way doubt¬ 
less offering protection to the house. 
“Why is it that the electricity striking a tree near 
a building often jumps onto the building instead of 
following the tree to the ground?” When an intense 
lightning discharge takes place between two clouds, 
or between a cloud and the earth or some object 
upon it, the case may not be a single stroke, but the 
current reverses a very great number of times in a 
second, and these sudden stoppings and reversals, 
when the amount of energy to be dissipated is very 
great, give rise to a tendency for a part of the cur¬ 
rent to flash off in any direction which may offer 
less resistance than the path itself. Suppose water 
were flowing very rapidly through a pipe in a given 
direction. If this current were stopped instantane¬ 
ously and its direction reversed, the result would be 
' a violent spurting of water laterally through any 
possible opening, or it would probably shatter the 
pipe itself. The electric current, like water, has in¬ 
ertia, and behaves under these checks and reversals 
much as water would. In accordance with the same 
principle there is a tendency for side flashes to occur 
from lightning conductors, and it is thought that be¬ 
cause iron more rapidly absorbs or transforms the 
electric current into heat, thus reducing the number 
of oscillations, it reduces the danger for side flashes 
more than the better conducting copper, although this 
is not the only cause of the difference in the relative 
impedance of the two metals. 
“Is any metal roof safe unless grounded, and ought 
points to be placed on the peaks of such roofs?” The 
roof itself would be safe, but there would be danger 
to the structure below if it were not well grounded. 
If it were grounded by a few wires and the building 
were struck by one of the heavy alternating bolts the 
conductors might not be sufficient to prevent side 
flashes from the conductors or from the roof along 
other lines. The greater the number of wires leading 
to ground, the nearer the building would come to 
being enclosed by a metal cover or a wire cage, and 
so the safer it would be against the most violent 
strokes. In regard to points it is generally conceded 
that every point helps to neutralize the cloud above 
by discharging into the air toward it the opposite 
phase of electric energy, induced upon the building, 
but the efficiency of a single point is relatively so 
small that it is regarded as not worth while to try 
to install a great number of non-corrosive, expensive 
points. It is found by experiment that it is only 
after the intensity of the discharge becomes very 
great that the efficiency of the point becomes high, 
and then duller points are practically as efficient, so 
that where No. 3 telegraph wire, or those finer down 
to No. 8, are used as conductors, the ends turned up 
above the ridge or above the chimney, and filed to a 
blunt point or cut obliquely, give sufficiently rapid 
discharge. 
“Would you advise one to buy a good rod at an 
advanced price or pay less and get less?” As bearing 
upon this question we may again quote Sir Oliver 
Lodge. He says: 
A recognition of all the chances of a stroke a neighbor¬ 
hood is liable to doubtless prevents our feeling of confi¬ 
dence being absolute in any simple system of dwelling 
house protection ; but at the same time an amount of pro¬ 
tection superior to what has been in reality supplied in the 
past is attainable at a far less outlay; while for an ex¬ 
penditure comparable in amount to that at present be¬ 
stowed, but quite otherwise distributed, a very adequate 
system of conductors cau be erected. 
Wisconsin. F. h. king. 
PREPARING SOIL FOR GRASS SEEDING. 
We have often stated that soil for lawn or meadow 
seeding should be “as fine as an ash heap.” Bulletin 
175 of the' Kansas Experiment Station shows a photo¬ 
graph of soil properly fitted by the side of a poor job. 
It is re-engraved at Fig. 321. The larger particles or 
lumps would be considered good preparation by many 
farmers, but you can easily see that fine grass seeds 
would have a poor show in such soil. At the left is 
about what we mean by “an ash heap.” The bulletin 
mentioned is one of the best on grass culture that we 
have seen. The following are extracts: 
When a seed bed for grasses is prepared by plowing the 
land should be plowed several weeks or months before 
seeding time and should be cultivated at intervals to 
clear it of weeds, to conserve "the soil moisture and to put 
the soil in the best possible condition. The seed bed 
should be finished with a level mellow surface, but with 
a rather compact sub-surface in order that the seed may 
be evenly covered and brought into close contact with the 
moist soil. If it is necessary to plow shortly before 
seeding, the ground should be made firm by the use of a 
sub-surface packer, or a heavy pulverizing roller. The 
disk harrow may be made to do the work of the sub-sur¬ 
face packer in part by setting the disk rather straight and 
by weighting the harrow. The packing and pulverizing 
of the furrow slice is especially necessary when the soil 
is plowed dry, or when stubble, trash or manure are 
plowed under. If the furrow slice is left loose and un¬ 
pulverized the capillary connection of the soil with the 
subsoil is largely broken, and the soil water will not rise 
into the surface soil to supply the germinating seed and 
to feed the roots of the young plants. As a result the 
seed fails to germinate well or the plant is often stunted 
in growth. In such a seed bed the crop is apt to freeze 
out or to burn out. It is not best to plow under coarse 
manure or a heavy growth of weeds or stubble in pre¬ 
paring a seed bed for grasses. If the soil is in good 
physical condition a good seed bed may be prepared by 
plowing immediately before seeding, provided the soil is 
repacked and well pulverized as described above, but this 
is often a more expensive method than the disking or 
early plowing methods. It is often a good plan to disk 
the ground previous to plowing. If plowed immediately 
after disking the loosened surface is in better condition to 
SOIL FITTED FOR GRASS. Fig. 321. 
reunite readily with the subsoil when the furrow slice is 
inverted. If the plowing is delayed the ground should 
remain in good condition for plowing for a longer period 
during dry weather than land which has received no cul¬ 
tivation. Also the disked surface receives and retains 
moisture. Hence it may often be advisable to practice 
early disking of large areas when early plowing cannot be 
accomplished. 
“THE LAND OF HEART’S DELIGHT.” 
A Sucker in Southwest Texas. 
Part IV. 
POLITICAL AFFLICTIONS.—Soon after pur¬ 
chasing our home we learned that the county seat of 
tliis, Starr County, was on the bank of the Rio 
Grande, just across the river from Mexico, and 90 of 
the longest miles I ever traversed across deep sand 
most of the way. We also learned that the county 
was wholly officered with Mexicans, also that the 
Mexican voting population was largely in the major¬ 
ity. The average Mexican officer regards an office 
as a gift or purchase from the party because of his 
especial fitness, and for the especial honor of himself 
and profit for himself and most immediate relatives. 
Thus we found ourselves under Texas laws, executed 
by Mexicans. To attend court one must either travel 
by private conveyance 90 miles over a very sandy 
route or go around by rail about 250 miles and then 
part of the way by automobile or hack. To prose¬ 
cute a criminal requires two or more trips to Rio 
Grande City, and many crimes go unnoticed officially 
here, because of the present court conditions. We 
have at last after two hard efforts with the Legisla- 
ture got Starr County divided, and we hope to soon 
WATER TROUGH OF CEMENT BLOCKS. Fig. 322. 
be organized and keeping house for ourselves and 
will be known as Brooks County. 
SECOND YEAR'S CROPS.—My first year’s farm¬ 
ing and trucking experience having taken consider¬ 
able of my money and some of my nerve, I took hold 
more carefully the second year. The land intended 
for onions I cultivated nicely and planted in cow peas 
during Summer. I rented 10 acres and planted in 
sorghum for a feed crop. In the Spring early it was 
so dry that I only got a partial stand. In July I had a 
fair crop cut, bound and shocked, and we had about 
10 days’ rain that ruined most of it. While the rain 
lasted the weeds grew so fast that it would have cost 
the price of two crops to clean the crop. Right here 
I want to say that weeds can outgrow any crop in a 
very few days, and can grow faster and larger here 
than any country I have found yet. I got about $60 
for that sorghum crop. The rent of the land cost 
me $30. That Spring I planted a half an acre in okra 
August 19, 
and got about one-fourth of a stand. I irrigated and 
cultivated it well, and gathered and sold $35 worth. I 
had about 200 hills of squashes that paid well. The 
Mexicans would come and buy for them five to 10 
cents apiece, when they were quite small and green, 
and when they got grown they would pay 25 cents 
for large ones. They will buy small green squashes, 
or pumpkins, in preference to any other vegetable. 
They cook them with 'fresh meat. I sold from these 
200 hills $45 worth, and unlike almost every other 
crop I had tried they cost me but little money or labor. 
I had raised a few eggplants the first year that about 
paid for their raising, and the second year I planted 
seed about June 20, had fair success in raising plants, 
sold plants enough to the neighbors to pay for the seed 
and labor of raising them. I transplanted an acre and 
raised and sold about 250 bushels averaging a' out 60 
cents per bushel net. That acre paid about $60 over 
expenses. There was an immense crop of them 
raised that year, and five full cars were shipped from 
this town, besides enough was sent by express to fill 
several cars more. Those shipped by freight did not 
average five cents per bushel net. I planted 2'/ 2 acres 
of onions in the Fall that promised well about 33 days 
before time to gather them. The thrips, or onion louse, 
began on them and I went to spraying with coal oil 
and whale oil soap emulsion. I sprayed four or five 
times, but it did no good and they only made 413 
bushel crates of small onions. I shipped these onions 
consigned to myself at Kansas City, Mo., “with priv¬ 
ilege of stopping at Ft. Worth,” noted on the bill of 
lading. I left on the train ahead of the freight that 
took my car, intending to stop the car at Fort Worth, 
if I could sell them there. Finding that I could not 
sell there, I did not order the car stopped and I went 
on to Kansas City. I waited several days for the car 
and had the agent at the freight office hunt it up by 
wire, and found it was stopped at Ft. Worth and 
lay there six days waiting for orders. When I did 
get the car through I diverted it to Wichita, Ivan., 
where it arrived 10 da3’s after leaving home, which 
was about seven days longer than it should have been 
in transit, for the next car shipped arrived in Kan¬ 
sas City in four days and four hours. By the time I 
got this car to Wichita the market was glutted, and 
they could not be sold, so I had the commission house 
store them and after the loss of storage the sales aver¬ 
aged 62 cents per crate, or about 13 cents per crate 
less than it cost to produce and place on board the 
cars as light a crop as this one was. The commission 
man who sold them made affidavit that the unnecessary 
delay damaged me to the amount of $336.90. 
Whether I will ever get any of it from the railway 
company remains to be seen. .1 raised four acres of 
German millet that yielded about two tons per acre. 
This I kept for my own use. A victim. 
(To he continued.) 
A NEW SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION. 
The picture on first page of R. N.-Y. for July 29 
prompts me to send my picture of “irrigating the 
stock.” These boys in Fig. 323 are supposed to be 
picking berries, but with the mercury registering 100° 
and over day after day, “irrigation” was more popular 
than the berry field. clara r. roper. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—We do not blame the boys. Let this be 
an extra argument for a swimming pool and a good 
bathroom on every farm. Some of the experts are 
telling of their prize live stock, but there is nothing 
ahead of the human stock—mother and the children. 
Water them ! 
A LATE-SOWN HAY CROP. 
Is there any crop that I can sow in late Summer which 
will give a fair crop of hay this Fall? s. u. 
New Jersey. 
We have tried, with fairly good results, the seed¬ 
ing of oats and barley, oats and Canada field peas, 
also barley and Canada field peas, as a late Summer 
and Fall crop, and have succeeded, I believe, about 
three years out of five in producing a satisfactory 
crop. The question of moisture has been the govern¬ 
ing factor, and when the oats and barley and peas 
were seeded in early August, and the Fall rains were 
little more than the average, the records show that a 
very satisfactory crop of green forage or hay was 
harvested, in case the early frosts did not catch the 
crop before it was harvested. A mixture of a bushel 
of oats, a bushel of Canada field peas, and two pecks 
of barley would be satisfactory if seeded in a pro¬ 
ductive soil during early August. It is quite necessary 
that this be harvested before a killing frost, for if 
nipped the animals would not eat it. 
After our crop of oats and Canada field peas, 
which is harvested usually the last of June or the 
first of July, we have had very astonishing yi Ids of 
cow peas and Kaffir corn, using a bushel and a peck 
of cow peas and 12 to 14 quarts of Kaffir corn. 
While it is rather difficult to cure the cow peas for 
hay, we have had most excellent results by mixing 
the cow peas and Kaffir corn with the corn silage, 
running it in the silo. f. c. minkler. 
N. J. Exp. Station. 
