1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
83 
FUMIGATING RAILROAD COACHES—This has 
been done profitably in South Africa. In a recent 
communication. Prof. Chas. P. Lounsbury, the gov¬ 
ernment entomologist, writes that at his suggestion 
the Cape Government railways adopted this gas to 
disinfect their rolling stock. For several years the 
high railroad officials of that country have been seek¬ 
ing information, but got no relief. Finally a scheme 
was adopted to exhaust the air from the coaches in 
special iron chambers constructed for that purpose, 
and an order was sent to England for the necessary 
material. At this Juncture the gas was suggested, 
and eight day coaches, badly infested with bedbugs, 
were fumigated successfully. Subsequent experiments 
by Prof. Lounsbury showed that the gas had no in¬ 
jurious or bad effects upon the fittings, cloth, leather 
or metal. Highly polished steel will become a little 
blue when exposed a long time in heavy doses. “The 
relief of the authorities when the head trimmer re¬ 
ported that not a single living insect was discovered 
among the multitude gathered by his workmen dur¬ 
ing their careful inspection of the treated coaches, 
was really amusing,” says Prof. Lounsbury. An or¬ 
ganized corps of fumigators now take charge of the 
through trains as they arrive from the north. It 
should be stated in this connection, that the condition 
of these coaches was in no way due to indifference 
and carelessness on the part of the management. The 
great abundance of the pests is due to local climatic 
conditions and manner of travel. The train journeys 
are usually very long, and the traveler carries his 
bedding with him. These circumstances, and a warm 
climate, foster the breeding of bedbugs. As the Pro¬ 
fessor aptly says, “The Cape excels in, at least, three 
productions, diamonds, gold and bedbugs.” 
THE DEADLY CYANIDE.—The cyanide of potas¬ 
sium used for generating this gas is too terribly dan¬ 
gerous to be trifled with. It is almost snow white and, 
in fact, resembles lump sugar. A piece of it the size 
of a pea would kill a man so quickly he would scarce¬ 
ly know what had happened. Animals eating it are 
killed almost instantly. In my experiments in 1897 
the lumps were too large, and I broke them by folding 
them in an old fertilizer bag to keep the pieces from 
flying. The cyanide was then shaken on a paper, 
and, as a final precaution that none was left in the 
bag, I shook it out of the window. Two fine, large 
chickens, especially prized by their owner, were roam¬ 
ing about the yard. In a few moments I saw one of 
them on its back, kicking, and a little later the other 
one was in a similar condition. They had picked up 
some particles of cyanide not larger than pinheads, 
shaken from the bag. Prof. Lounsbury says, “I have 
repeatedly inserted small particles of cyanide in bits 
of dry meat and laid them as baits for feline dis¬ 
turbers of my evening labors, and I am not exag¬ 
gerating when I say that, as a rule, the creatures 
dropped almost Instantly, and often with the meat 
still in their mouths; seldom dying more than two or 
three feet from the bait.” I simply cite these in¬ 
stances to place my readers on their guard. Gun¬ 
powder, nitro-glycerin, etc., are dangerous sub¬ 
stances, but they are handled every day with im¬ 
punity, as we know them. If you have cyanide 
around, label it poison, and keep it in a tightly-closed 
can, and away from children and other persons who 
might, through curiosity, wish to taste it. 
THE GAS ITSELF generated from the cyanide, has 
an odor characteristic of peach pits, but I would not 
advise you to put your head in an inclosure to sample 
it. Keep out of the building until it has been thor¬ 
oughly aired, for an hour or more. The gas is very 
diffusive, and quickly leaves a room when there is an 
opening for its escape. In mills and other buildings 
some arrangement should be made for lowering a 
window or opening a door from the outside. In clos¬ 
ing this series of articles, I will say that I shall be 
very glad to answer any query concerning this deadly 
stuff that is sent to Tite R. N.-Y. and repeat the 
warning given by Sam, a colored man, who went into 
a room, in which nursery stock was being fumigated, 
too soon after the door was open, in his eagerness to 
get off early to attend a camp meeting. He was un¬ 
conscious for a short time, and when he revived and 
asked how he felt he replied, “De Lord only knows, 
Boss, dat stuff am a pow’ful axfltter.” 
,, [PBOF.] W. G. JOHNSON. 
Maryland Exp. Station. 
There is a demand for the opening of the hemp ports 
in the Philippines, as the blockade has caused a corner in 
hemp, which seriously affects binding twine. 
Peas for Near-by Market. —My area of peas must be 
doubled this year; they are almost all sold to hotels In 
the village. The boarders appreciate them highly; the 
secret is in having them freshly picked. Alaska and 
Stratagem gave the best results last year, with no trouble 
to brush. A good crop can be raised, and the last time 
the peas are cultivated I plant potatoes between the 
rows. These gave us enough potatoes to pay for all the 
labor expended on both crops. M. G. y. 
New York. 
A “CONSERVERANDA 
The past Autumn I entered an amateur photography 
contest in which the subjects were to be country 
homes, verandas, home grounds, fruit gardens and 
flower gardens. This caused more than ordinary in¬ 
terest in looking about for something original, pretty 
and practical. Among the 30 views thus procured, 
(and which won the five first prizes offered), illus¬ 
trating as many bright ideas in architecture, land¬ 
scape gardening and fruit and flower culture, there 
was none of more interest than a combination veran¬ 
da and conservatory, designed and built by Dr. 
Brown, of Newark, O. Mrs. Brown, like thousands of 
other women, delights in her collection of house 
plants, annuals and perennials, while the Doctor not 
only enthusiastically toes the mark as a committee of 
one on floral carpentry, but actually launches out in 
his own boat and constructs some downright novel 
and unique conveniences. A study of the picture of 
A “CONSERVERANDA.” AS A VERANDA. Flo. 30. 
this veranda, as seen during the Summer, shown at 
Fig. 30, reveals to us that a very beautiful home 
can be made doubly beautiful, homelike and inviting, 
by weaving about it an almost tropical luxuriance of 
vines, plants and flowers. Fig. 31 shows the same 
veranda in Winter, transformed into a small con¬ 
servatory, in which one may, upon the coldest, gloom¬ 
iest day, catch a breath of tropical atmosphere and 
feast the eye upon a little wilderness of bright, green 
foliage. 
The pictures, I trust, will almost explain them¬ 
selves. A portable lining of two thicknesses of 
jointed flooring boards, with building paper between, 
fits snugly inside of the railing or balustrade of the 
veranda. The cold is excluded from beneath the 
floor by a casing of common inch boards, closely fit¬ 
ted, the lattice hiding them from view. The sashes, 
which rest upon the airtight lining, extend almost to 
the ceiling, and are held in place and also rendered 
A “CONSERVERANDA.” AS A CONSERVATORY, FIG. 31. 
almost airtight by strips or battens, securely fastened 
with screws, over all joints. One sash, however, is 
arranged to open and close at the top as a means for 
ventilation. The floor is, of course, watertight and, 
like all such floors, slopes to the front, where there is 
a little “pig-door,” as the doctor calls it, that serves 
as an outlet for the surplus water that may be thrown 
in with the hose or sprayer. The conservatory has no 
outside door; in fact, no door at all, as a large, low 
window serves as such, through which one may step 
from the sitting room. The outside or hall door opens 
upon a narrow passage or entrance, which may be 
seen at the left of the conservatory, and has no con¬ 
nection with it. 
This little greenhouse is heated by a small flue 
from the furnace in the basement, although the Doc¬ 
tor says that they heated it, the first Winter, by a 
large lamp, which kept everything safely through the 
coldest weather. He says there is no question but 
that such an apartment can be thoroughly heated, at 
small expense, by a modern, small lamp stove. If 
this be true, there is no reason why a great many 
country people, in planning their homes, cannot ar¬ 
range to stow away a bit of nature in the form of 
green foliage and fragrant flowers, as well as to 
stock their cellar shelves with luscious products of 
the plant, tree and vine. f. h. ballou. 
Ohio. 
ECONOMICAL HANDLING OF MANURE. 
About 30 years ago most of the then modern barns 
had a manure cellar to hold all manure made during 
or through the greater part of the Winter. This was 
a good plan if well carried out, as it held all of the 
liquids. But some hold to the old theory of throwing 
the manure out behind the barn, and letting it lie 
until some convenient time, if that time ever comes, 
to haul it out and place it in small heaps in the field, 
to be rehandled after plowing season commenced, 
either plowing through these piles or poking them 
around a little, so they will not obstruct the plow 
too much. Others haul it out during the Winter and 
place it in large piles ready to rehaul in the Spring, 
spreading It upon the surface just before plowing com¬ 
mences, thinking that the manure is better for re¬ 
handling and mixing. Manure decomposes very 
slowly in the Winter, and very little is gained in this 
way, with the exception of what little may get away 
from leakage when placed upon steep or sloping 
grounds. 
Much manure on the average farm is allowed to go 
to waste, especially in liquid forms that could be 
saved by tight trenches in the stables. They need 
not necessarily be made deep. Scatter all horse man¬ 
ure, oat and clover chaff, or any dry material to take 
up this liquid, then haul daily from stable direct to 
the field and spread upon the soil intended for the 
coming crop. My custom is to plow the ground that 
is to be manured in the Fall, then there will be very 
little, if any, waste by the liquid washing away. As 
the thawing of plowed ground will open It and the 
tendencies of liquid manure are downwards and not 
upward, rains and thaws are a benefit. Good stable 
manure is a perfect fertilizer, supplying humus and 
improving the mechanical texture of most soils. Com¬ 
mercial fertilizers do not justify any farmer in neg¬ 
lecting or wasting the home supply, and he cannot 
afford to do so. Every farmer should study the wants 
of his soils, so that he can supply the manure more 
economically than his ancestors. Prof. Roberts, of 
Cornell, says that 10 lo. ds of manure are plenty for 
one acre of land for any ordinary purpose, as the 
growing crop cannot take up more plant food than this 
amount of manure can supply. I fully agree with 
him in this amount being sufficient in meadow top¬ 
dressing. If the farmers would take more interest in 
trying to make more, and also take better care of 
what manure they make, they could produce better 
crops. j. w. wood. 
Oneida Co. 
A mill is being built in Louisiana to convert bagasse, 
the refuse of sugar cane, into paper. Every year there 
are from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 tons of bagasse turned out of 
the mills, and the utilization of this waste product has 
long been a problem. Its manufacture into paper will be 
a great advantage, and may do something to lessen the 
excessive prices now imposed by paper makers. 
A new industry, for which The R. N.-Y. will be some¬ 
what responsible, is the forcing of rhubarb In the dark. 
We learn that quite a number of readers are trying it 
this Winter. We caution them against expecting too 
much from the first trial. The "know how” comes slowly. 
It cannot be “forced” in the dark or in the light. Grind 
the “know how” out of experience. That’s the only 
way. We shall have more to say about marketing the 
crop. 
Killing Woodchucks.— I was Interested in W. A. L.’s 
experience with the Wise Woodchuck. If he will use my 
recipe, his farm boy will stop his funny remarks. Ma¬ 
terials required are a two-ounce vial, full or half-full of 
fine powder. Insert one yard of fuse, cork and tie the 
vial to the end of a flexible stick (first And out in what 
direction the hole runs), and insert it in the hole; cover 
with a good-sized flat stone, and touch off the fuse be¬ 
fore or after covering, and Wise Woodchuck will dig no 
more - WINDHAM COUNTY. 
Connecticut. 
To this W. A. L. replies: I see now that I ought to have 
begun my history a little earlier. My first experiment 
with woodchuck destroyers was in the shape of gun¬ 
powder exploded in their holes. I used a little bag hold¬ 
ing two tablespoonfuls instead of the vial, tying the 
powder to a stick, thrusting it as deep it would go, ex¬ 
ploding it by means of a fuse and closing the holes with 
stones and dirt packed tight. Instead of causing the 
farm boy to "stop his funny remarks” the result (every 
hole dug out in 24 hours) made him so amusing that he 
obtained a permanent position as clown in a circus, and 
we had to do our own milking for three weeks. 
carbon. I think that he will 'succeed with same if he uses 
It properly. While in business for years in the West I 
have sold great quantities of it to exterminate prairie 
dogs, and users of it uniformly testified to its efficacy 
Several neighbors would unite and purchase enough to 
destroy whole dog towns, as they termed them, and have 
told me that it was astonishing how completely the ani¬ 
mals were exterminated. Since coming East I have used 
it myself for woodchucks, and never a show of the pest 
after placing it In his hole. Take container of the bisul¬ 
phide right to the hole and saturate some such sub¬ 
stance as cotton waste or even rags or feathers, and 
drop immediately into hole, and throw earth over until 
thoroughly stopped up, and I am confident the earth will 
not be disturbed by the inmate. r. 
