178 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



row three or four feet square, sixteen or 

 twenty teeth. Now what chance is there 

 to get clear of stones and other substances 

 that cannot be demolished at once? On 

 rough lands such harrows are continually 

 clogging and dragging along a mass of 

 matter with very little effect as to pulver- 

 ization. Would it not be far better to 

 have less teeth, that they might operate 

 well, and then go over the land oftener. 



Boston Cultivator. 



BED BUGS. 



Who has been driven to his wit's end in 

 a summer night by these little blood suck- 

 ers 1 What housewife has not felt her patience 

 exhausted by their persevering residence in 

 her beds and furniture'? The man who will 

 lind a means of subduing their insect army 

 will be more truly a benefactor of the race 

 than any conqueror of them all ; and such a 

 victory will be much more to our admiration 

 than many recorded in history, however great 

 and bloody they may be. The Editor of the 

 Lancaster County Farmer thinks he has found 

 a certain remedy for them in the use of quick- 

 silver. His plan is, to beat a half an ounce 

 of quicksilver with the white of one egg, until 

 they are perfectly compounded. Then to wash 

 the bedstead clean in cold water, and to an- 

 noint all the joints and crevices with the com- 

 pound, which is to be put on with the feather 

 end of a quill. Moreover, he advises us, if 

 the first trial fail, and if the nocturnal pirates 

 continue their career with unabated vigor, not 

 to scold wife and daughter, but have the 

 egg and quicksilver again laid on. He says, 

 further, that he commenced these tactics about 

 \en years ago, and has used diem once every 

 year during that time. In consequence where- j 

 of, although he cannot say he never saw a 

 bug in his house during those ten years, he i 

 dGes say that he was very little troubled with j 

 them. 



We know a remedy for bed bugs which is 

 better than that just given, inasmuch as it is 

 simpler in itself, easier to obtain, quicker in 

 its operation, more cleanly in its nature, and 

 £ar more certain in its effect. Take any 



quantity of alcohol, small or great, as may 

 suit your purpose, and dissolve in it as much 

 corrosive sublimate as it will take up. This 

 well applied once a year will completely rout 

 out the bed bugs, however firmly in possession 

 before. We once lived more than ten years 

 in a house without ever seeing one. There we 

 have the advantage of the Lancaster Farmer! 

 Yet this very house was an old wooden build- 

 ing, which was so much infested with them 

 before the application of our remedy, that 

 even the cracks of the floors were full of them. 

 But when an industrious lady, learned in the 

 mysteries of housekeeping, moved into it, she 

 at once deluged it in the liquor described; and 

 the dynasty of bed bugs was at an end. 



A single application, if plentiful and tho- 

 rough, will effect their total abolition; but to 

 keep the house clear of them, bedsteads, so- 

 fas, &c, should receive it once a year. The 

 proper time for this annual ablution is in 

 March. If there are any about the furniture 

 then, they are lying in a torpid state, and they 

 are then easily destroyed. A little later, and 

 they will have been awakened by the ap- 

 proaching heat, and have layed their eggs. 

 An application of it then only deslroys the 

 generation in being. In a short time the eggs 

 which they have left will be hatched, and a 

 few of the young may be found on inspection. 

 If there is no immediate second application, 

 these will soon lay more eggs, and the tribe 

 will be greatly increased before the end of the 

 season. So soon as the cool weather ap- 

 proaches, they retire from view, nestle in 

 crevices, and go into a torpid state till next 

 May. Therefore, either take them before 

 May brings life and activity to them, or make 

 a double application of the alcohol — one for 

 the full grown generation, and the other for 

 their newly hatched eggs. If either of these 

 is done with care, a deliverance may be safely 

 relied on. 



FEEDING TURNIPS. 



When milch cows are fed with turnips, 

 the milk frequently has a disagreeable 

 flavor. To eradicate the taste communi- 

 cated by the turnips, different substances 



