POISON-SUMACHS AND HARMLESS WOODBINE 



93 



from suspicion, being often destroyed under the impres- 

 sion that it is the " poison-ivy." 



The writer knew of a person who possessed a beautiful 

 home upon the Hudson, and whose deficiency in knowl- 

 edge of this one little page of botany cost him a severe 

 loss. His children were suddenly prostrated with ivy- 

 poisoning, and one of his " ninth hour " neighbors came 

 in to offer him some learned advice something in this 

 style, as it was narrated to me : 



"Well, Squire, it's fetched 'em at last. I've been 

 tellin' Betsy all along that the pesky stuff would ketch 

 ye arter a while. Well, thar, goodness and truth ! Time 

 an' time agin, when I've been goin' by the gate an' seen 

 them air children playin' in the summer-house yender, 

 it's made me feel 'tarnal ticklish, an' I've sed time and 

 agin, an' tole Betsy so tew, that I'd bet my best gobbler 

 they'd be broke out afore a week, an' now they've done 

 it; an' if you take my advice, you'll cut the pesky weed 

 down an' burn it afore the hull on ye is ketched. You 

 needn't look so surprised, Squire. What I'm 

 tellin' ye is fer yure own good. That air weed is 

 pizen-shumake, an' it'll nigh on to kill some folks." 



Such advice, coming from a practical farmer 

 in whom the "Squire" had perfect confidence, 

 was immediately acted upon. The vines 

 which had embowered the beautiful arbor for 

 a generation were sawed off at the ground. 

 And to think that a peep into the botany 

 might have saved them! 



Four things need to be committed to 

 memory to insure safety against our poison- 

 sumachs : 



First. The poison-ivy has three leaves. 



