1865 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
11 
drances to their multiplication, a single pair 
would increase to no less than 6,000 in a single 
year, and this, if they breed only once in two 
mouths. There is, however, one way in which 
they are destroyed by wholesale, for not only 
will rats devour the weakly and sick of their 
companions as soon as they are unable to de¬ 
fend themselves, but if very hard pressed, as they 
doubtless often are, they will eat their young. 
The destruction by cats, dogs and men is as a 
general thing inconsiderable. The veiy happy 
results often attributed to the use of dogs and 
cats, are usually due to the rats having multi¬ 
plied so as to overstock the premises at the 
time their foes are introduced, when they scat¬ 
ter, emigrating, as is their instinct, in families to 
other localities. The rat is eminently a social 
animal, and short commons, or any cause of 
especial discomfort, or strange noises, as the cry 
of Guinea hens, perhaps the discharge of fire 
arms, or a wide-awake terrier will cause a stam¬ 
pede. It is this trait which makes the effect of 
the phosphorus paste so efficient. Compara¬ 
tively few rats are poisoned, but their actions 
alarm the others, and when the poisoned ones 
run away it brings on a general flight, so that 
often not a single rat is left. The least amount 
of food which will sustain rats may be very ac¬ 
curately estimated, but not so all they will eat 
if they can. In this city great numbers of rats 
are kept for the purpose of baiting dogs in 
“ pits,” similar to those used for cock and dog 
fighting. These are fed only just enough to 
keep them from killing and eating one another, 
and it is found that 100 rats will live on one 
bushel of sound corn a week, if it be fed with 
great care at two feedings a day. A bushel and 
a half of corn, fed once a day, will bring them 
through, and wheat or rye will go further than 
corn. When rats have their “full swing” at 
corn in the bin or grain in the mow, then the 
quantity they will eat is limited by their capac¬ 
ity; yet they will carry away a great deal, be¬ 
sides damaging and gnawing much more. Sup¬ 
pose there are 1,000 rats on a farm—and this 
is no extravagant supposition. During the time 
when they c.an not get much in the field, they 
will consume 10 bushels of corn, or its equiva¬ 
lent, per week. Calling this period 4 months, 
the amount consumed is 170 bushels, which, 
even at 75c. per bushel, comes to $1755. This 
loss is not apparent; for it is not all corn, but 
it is hay seed, buckwheat, oats, pig feed, eggs, 
chickens, etc., and thus divided around it is 
overlooked. The number of rats in any single 
locality is almost always under-estimated. They 
live in families, and send out scouts and spies, 
which are the only rats seen, unless great pains 
be taken, and a person remain quietly upon 
the watch from early in the evening, so that 
he is neither seen, nor heard. Then they are 
often seen in scores, and often fierce battles are 
witnessed. The rat does not see very well by 
day, being a nocturnal animal, but his hearing 
and sense of smell are very acute. A rat will 
never jump higher than about 30 inches, but 
will climb rough walls, posts, etc., easily. 
Potatoes under a Straw Mulch. 
Mr. H. Holbrook, of St. Clair Co., Ill., has 
practised raising potatoes under a covering of 
straw for the past six years, and thinks that he 
gets “ from two to four fold ” more than is ob¬ 
tained from adjoining land on which potatoes 
are grown in the old way. The ground is plow¬ 
ed in the usual manner and the potatoes are 
olantcd in shallow drills and covered with an 
inch of earth. The surface is then covered with 
straw to the depth of a foot. The potato stem 
readily penetrates the straw covering, but the 
weeds are efiTectually kept down and the crop is 
raised without hoeing and plowing. Mr. H. 
has his doubts if this plan will succeed in more 
northern localities, but thinks it better adapted 
to those in which the potato does not flourish 
well in the ordinary method of cultivation. 
This is not according to our experience in a sin¬ 
gle experiment, as we have been successful in 
growing them under straw in New England, 
with the result of a crop fair in quantity and 
excellent in quality, but with nothing like the 
increase in yield stated by our correspondent. 
How Much Lumber from a Log? 
J. E. Hardisty, Harford Co., Md., contributes 
to the American Agriculturist the following table 
for ascertaining the amount of lumber which 
can be made by a careful sawyer from logs of 
different dimensions; 
Diameter. 
Snuare. No. ft. 
Diameter. 
Square. 
No. ft. 
10 inches. 
7 inches. 
4 
24 inches. 
17 inche.s 
24 
11 
5 
25 
17% 
26 
12 
8^ 
6 
26 
18% - 
28 
13 
7 
27 
19 
.30 
14 
10 
8 
28 
19% 
32 
1.5 
9 
29 
20% 
35 
16 
nyi 
10% 
30 
21% 
:i7% 
17 
12 
12 
31 
22 
40 
l.« 
12% 
13% 
32 
22% 
42% 
10 
13‘4 
15 
33 
23% 
45 
20 
14% 
16% 
34 
24 
48 
21 
15 
18% 
35 
24% 
51 
22 
1-5% 
20 
36 
25% 
53% 
23 
16% 
22 
The first column is for diameters of logs, from 
10 inches to 3 feet. The 2d column shows the 
number of inches which each log will square. 
The 3d column gives the number of feet, board 
measure, (1 ft. square, and 1 inch thick) which 
each foot in the length of the log will make. 
Thus: a log 10 inches in diameter will square 
7 Inches, and if 1 foot long, it will make 4 feet; 
if 10 feet long, will make 40 feet of boards. 
Again, by the table, a log 36 inches in diameter, 
will square 25f inches; if 1 foot long, will out 
53a feet board measure; if 10 feet long will con¬ 
tain 535 ft.—allowing the usual thickness of saw. 
If the logs are to be sawed into lumber with 
squared edges, of the same width and thickness 
at each end, and no wane-edged boards allowed, 
then the logs will make l-9th part less than the 
amount named in the table. If for lumber | inch 
thick, add about k part more. If the log is 
crooked, reckon the diameter less to allow for 
straightening. For the calculations in the table, 
measure the small end clear of the bark, but if 
the log is to be sawed tapering or as large as 
each end will make, then measure for the diam¬ 
eter about the distance from the small end. 
A Wheelbarrow for the Boys. 
L. L. Fairchild, Dodge Co., Wis., writes to 
the American Agriculturist; “ A light wheelbar¬ 
row for the boys will not only please them, but 
will be found a very convenient and a paying 
institution to have about the premises. Lots of 
little chores and errands can easily be done by 
a boy with his little wheelbarrow, which would 
take up the more valuable time of older per¬ 
sons if he did not have this vehicle to assist him. 
I made my boy one in half a day’s time that has 
paid for itself many times over in gathering 
wood and chips for the summer fire and keep¬ 
ing the yards clear of rubbish. It is simply a 
basswood wheel made of one and-a-fourth-inch 
plank, with a two-inch maple axle-tree mortised 
through the plank and cut down at each end 
for gudgeons to run in two side pieces for han¬ 
dles. The wheel is secured in the center of the 
axletree by a half-inch pin driven through a 
hole bored each side snug up to the wheel and 
left to project from the axle a couple of inches. 
A dash board and boards for a bottom secui-ed 
by nails, keep the handles in place and compleie 
the barrow. It has been in almost constant use 
for two years, and is good for two years more.” 
How to Kepair a Eoad. 
The first requisite is to have a dry bed for the 
road. Without this, the superstructure of what¬ 
ever material it may be composed, will soon 
become rough and uneven. Some soils are nat¬ 
urally drained and the gravelly subsoil thrown 
upon the surface and rounded a little, makes as 
good a path as need be. Others need draining, 
and no amount of gravel upon the surface will 
make a good bed without it. We frequently 
find bad places upon a hill-side where the water 
is always bursting out in rainy seasons. A three 
inch tile drain four feet deep just above these 
wet places would make them dry up permanent¬ 
ly, and save a large expenditure every year. 
If tiles are not available, stones or wood should 
be used. There is no help for these mud holes 
but in draining the bed. A single dollar spent 
at the bottom is worth ten at the top in gravel. 
Roads are so constantly in use and the prosi)er- 
ity of the fiirmer so much depends upon them, 
that no ])ains should be spared to have them of 
easy grade and as smooth as possible. A” 
classes in the community are benefited b3'good 
roads, but the farmer most. All his surplus 
crops must go over the road to market, and it 
makes a great difference with him in the course 
of the j’^ear, whether he be able to take a ton and 
a half at a load, or only half that quantitJ^ 
Good roads add to the value of every acre he 
owns and of every thing that he produces, to 
say nothing of their influence upon his manhood. 
They are a mark of the progress of civilization, 
and a pretty good index of the moral culture of 
a people. A team stuck in the mud, the snap¬ 
ping of whiffietrees and braces, the cursing and 
bad temper of the driver show that “ there is 
something rotten in Denmark.” The mud 
holes in the highway undo the work of the 
schoolhouse and the church. There is an inti¬ 
mate connexion between the highways and the 
moral ways of a people. In mending either it is 
a very safe maxim to “ begin at the bottom." 
Hovel and Simple Gun Cleaner. 
Mr. I. W. 'Parmenter, of New York City, re¬ 
cently brought to the office of the American 
Agriculturist a simple and efficient gun cleaner, 
that he had been using in lack of tow, which 
he could not readily obtain, and to which it 
proved superior. A bit of corn cob about three 
inches long w'as whittled down small enough to 
enter the barrel readily, but not so much as to en¬ 
tirely cut off the rough projections—these serve 
admirably to scour the interior of the barrel. 
The lower end of the cob was split up about 
an inch, and the two-halves were kept sprung 
apart to fill the bore, by a small wedge across 
the upper end of the opening. The interstices 
on the surface of the cob may be filled with ash¬ 
es, emery powder, or other scouring material to 
remove rust, etc. The cob so prepared and 
screwed to the wormer of the ramrod was used 
as a swab, and in a very short time the gun was 
thoroughly cleansed. This is not patented. 
Virtues confessed by our foes, and vices ac¬ 
knowledged by our friends, are probably real 
