MISCELLANEOUS 367 



and throws the rat into the water. Of course, a bait has to be placed 

 on the top. Among the poisons used are: barium carbonate, strych- 

 nine, arsenic and phosphorus. The barium may be fed in the form 

 of a dough, composed of four parts of meal or flour and one part of 

 the mineral. Another plan is to spread the barium carbonate upon 

 fish, toasted bread or ordinary bread and butter. The prepared bait 

 should be placed in rat runs, about a teaspoonful at a place. Strychnine 

 may be used by inserting the dry crystals in small pieces of raw meat, 

 sausage or toasted cheese; or oatmeal may be moistened with strych- 

 nine sirup, and small quantities laid about. The sirup is made as 

 follows: dissolve one-half ounce of strychnia sulphate in a pint of 

 boihng water, add a pint of thick sugar sirup and stir thoroughly. 

 For an arsenic bait, take a pound of oatmeal, a pound of coarse brown 

 sugar and a spoonful of arsenic; mix well together and put the com- 

 position into an earthen jar. 



Bulbs, Corms, Tubers, Rhizomes, and Rootstocks 



A bulb is composed of fleshy scales packed together, forming an 

 ovoid, oval, round, or flattened ball, from the under surface and edges 

 of which roots are produced during growth. Examples: Hyacinth, 

 LiHum, Dafl'odil, Onion. A corm may be superficially like a bulb but 

 is solid. Examples: Gladiolus, Crocus, Cyclamen. A tuber is best 

 represented in a Potato, being "a short thickened shoot furnished with 

 'eyes' or buds"; other examples are Caladium, Calla or Arum Lily, 

 Dahha, tuberous Begonia. A rhizome (rhizomatous plant) is a shoot or 

 stem that grows more or less horizontally on or in the soil producing 

 buds and stem growth. Examples: German Iris, Lily of the Valley, 

 Solomon's Seal. A rootstock is the thickened fleshy mass that hardy 

 herbaceous perennial plants as a rule, form, and in which their store of 

 nourishment is carried over in Winter. Examples: Peony, Rhubarb, 

 Phlox, Delphinium. 



Ants, Destroying 



Some good ways of destroying ants are to get some old meaty 

 bones — from the stock pot will do — and place them near the nest; 

 these will attract them in large numbers, and they can then be dropped 

 into boiling water. Another way, where there are no valuable plants 

 near, is to sprinkle the nest and runs with a mixture of six parts water 

 to one part kerosene. Forceful syringing with warm water will clean 

 pot plants of ants; and stirring the soil around their nests repeatedly 

 will also tend to clear them out. As a soil fumigant Vaporite is an 

 excellent remedy. It is safe and easy to use, being already prepared. 

 Bisulphide of carbon is likewise sure. 



