SEPTEMBER 1, 1912 



stems. Their juice gives a rich magenta stain. 

 They have a sickly sweetish taste which sometimes 

 tempts children, and causes poisoning. Starving 

 migrating robins often devour them and are in- 

 toxicated. With one exception the whole plant 

 is poisonous, causing vomiting, purging, convul- 

 sions, tetanoid contractions, and sometimes death. 

 Several fatalities have followed cooking the root 

 with vegetables. 



Properly used, the root is a most certain rem- 

 edy for chronic rheumatism, but requires skill and 

 judgment in its use. The first early pale shoots _ 

 that come up in spring are harmless, and make " 

 a welcome addition to mustard greens. When 

 the stalk itself appears they should no longer be 

 used. The plant is so splendidly ornamental that 

 it should be more frequently seen. — H. A. Moody, 

 M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Thera- 

 peutics, School of Medicine, University of Alabama, 

 Florence, Alahama. 



I presume the above is authority in re- 

 gard- to the matter; but I do not quite 

 agTee with the concluding sentence — that 

 is, if I understand it correctly. In Florida 

 we clip off: the young shoots, including a 

 part of the stalk where it is certainly the 

 size of one's finger, and we have cooked 

 stalks and all repeatedly, and have never 

 noticed any ill eifects; and with the tre- 

 mendous growth it makes, especially on 

 rich ground, I do think it is worthy of cul- 

 tivation as a garden vegetable. Perhaps 

 it may be well, in localities where it has 

 not been used, to eat it sparingly at first 

 until you are satisfied it jDroduces no ill 

 effects. 



BREATHING THROUGH THE NOSTRILS, ETC. 



In Gleanings for Dec. 15 you make mention 

 of a nasal trouble you have. Like yourself I like 

 to get as much of God's pure air as I can, not only 

 around me, but into me., and that through the proper 



571 



channel — the nose. For many years I tried hard 

 to do all my breathing through the nose, and at last 

 succeeded during the waking hours; but night time 

 would find me sleeping with my mouth wide open, 

 one or both nasal passages blocked up, and the top 

 of my throat dry and distressed. Snoring, also, 

 was often present. I tried various kinds of head 

 harness to keep the mouth closed, but all to no pur- 

 pose. They either required to be uncomfortably 

 tight or else got shifted out of position. Some years 

 ago a correspondent in the English Mechanic, re- 

 plying to an inquiry, suggested a disc of celluloid 

 to fit over or across the front of the teeth inside the 

 upper and lower lips. I saw the point instanter, 

 and made an oblong disc 3x1 14 from the rubber of 

 an inside bicycle tube. After you cut it, just sandr 

 paper the somewhat sharp edge ; boil it for sanitary 

 reasons ; put it over the front of the teeth when you 

 lie back on your pillow ; and if you have cut a good 

 fit you can not well breathe but through the nose, 

 even if you wanted to do otherwise. When you rise 

 in the morning, rinse it in water, and it will serve 

 you for a year or two. Simple, is it not ? Yet I 

 can assure you $100 would not tempt me to throw 

 it aside. By the by, several years' use has not cured 

 me of the habit of breathing through the mouth 

 in sleep, as proved on several occasions, when I 

 have tried to do without it. This may seem a small 

 matter ; but I can assure you it is not. Millions are 

 suffering all sorts of dental, nasal, throat, and lung 

 troubles, to say nothing about annoying others with 

 their snoring, because they are inhaling tlirough ti^e 

 mouth. We live a good part of our lives asleep, so 

 let us do it properly. 



Will you be good enough to pass this on to friend 

 Terry ? 



By some means the address and signa- 

 ture of the writer of the above have been 

 lost — something that rarelj^ happens in our 

 establishment. Wie have been holding it 

 for some time, hoping to get track of the 

 author. When he sees this, will he kindly 

 assist us in giving him proper credit? Of 

 late I have had so little difficulty in sleep- 

 ing with my mouth closed that I have not 

 tested the invention of our good friend. 



Poultry Department 



DRIP WATER FOR CHICKENS; A CHEAP ARRANGE- 

 MENT. 



I herewith send you a description of a watering- 

 fountain that is a little the best of any thing I have 

 ever used. Get a wooden faucet and bore a hole 

 near the bottom of a candy-bucket of such a size as 

 to fit in tight. Set it in the shed so it will keep cool. 

 Place it on a box up from the ground, and set un- 

 derneath it a small galvanized dish that is easy to 

 keep clean. Fill it with water and turn the faucet 

 so it will just drip. By fill ■ the bucket once a 

 day one will have a fountain that is cheap and 

 easy to keep clean. 



Okeene, Okla., July 7. S. J. Spaulding. 



I would add to the above that I would 

 have the water-bucket or half-barrel in- 

 doors on the north side of the shed in 

 summer time, and on the south side when 

 the weather becomes cooler and sunshine 

 is more desirable; and instead of a gal- 

 vanized dish I would have one of the cheap 

 porcelain dishes, as they are easier to keep 

 clean; and in j^lace of the wooden faucet 

 I would have one of the little brass faucets 

 (or air-cocks), such as we buy of Sears, 

 Roebuck & Co., for 15 cts. each. I like the 

 brass faucets better, because they do not 



need so much adjusting. The wooden ones 

 swell and shut off the water unless you let 

 it run so fast as to waste. 



DUCKLINGS ; WHY DO THEY DIE ? 



Would you advise me how to feed young ducks ? 

 Mine grow nicely for a time, then become unable to 

 walk, and die. I have been feeding bran and shorts. 



Orangeville, Ont. R. J. Galbraith. 



Bran and shorts, or middlings (wet up) 

 is all right ; and when they get a little older, 

 put in some corn meal; and water to drink 

 must ahvays be close by the feed. If you 

 have been reading our journal you must 

 have noticed Avhat I have said about gTeen 

 food, especially lettuce. Give them all the 

 lettuce they can eat, and I don't believe you 

 will have any trouble. I suppose other 

 green food will answer, but lettuce they 

 seem to prefer to any thing else; and if 

 they are not where they can get insects, 

 etc., they must have some meat or some 

 sort of animal food. Fresh meat from the 

 butcher's, or bones ground up in a mill will 

 be all right. 



