1806 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
595 
To Kill Woodchucks. 
C. D. H., Geneseo, N. Y.—If M. H. C. 
Gardner will take an old rag of any kind 
about as large as a common handker¬ 
chief, pour on it about a tablespoonful 
of bisulphide of carbon, and put it in 
the hole as far as he can with a stick, 
then cover up the hole and all other 
openings, with earth pressing down firm 
enough to keep the odor from escaping, 
he will have no more trouble with that 
chuck. I have tried this, and know that 
it will kill. 
Antidote for Poison Ivy. 
S. L. B., Mottville, N. Y.—I spent 
the first 11 years of my life on a rocky 
brook farm in Fairfield County, Conn. 
Poison ivy was very common, and it was 
no uncommon occurrence for the laborers 
in the hay fields, especially, to be pois¬ 
oned by it. My elder brother (now 76 
years old) was especially subject to the 
poison. But it seems that Nature had 
made provision for the trouble, for 
there was a common weed which we 
called “Blue Top,” which was a speedy 
and certain remedy. This plant, steeped 
in water and used as a wash, was said 
to produce almost immediate relief, two 
or three applications being sufficient to 
cure. This weed is not very common in 
this locality, but is found occasionally in 
damp places, or along water courses. I 
have never found any one who knew its 
true name. I chanced to find a sprig of 
it yesterday, and inclose it for your 
examination and a name. 
R. N.-Y.—The plant is Verbena has- 
tata, common Blue Vervain. 
Weather Service in the Hop Country. 
F. O. S., Cooperstown, N. Y. —Central 
New York is a great hop growing coun¬ 
try, one of the greatest in the world. 
The heart of it is the Susquehanna 
valley, which, including the hills sur¬ 
rounding it, produces as a general 
thing, hops not only of unquestionable 
quality, but in surprisingly large quanti¬ 
ties. One of the largest growers has 
yards which occupy 150 acres of ground, 
and he has hops good enough this 
season to yield nearly 3,000 pounds to 
the acre. There are scores of minor 
growers, having anywhere from three 
to 30 acres, and the most of them, com¬ 
paratively speaking, keep their yards 
under a high state of cultivation. No 
crop grown in these parts is more sus¬ 
ceptible to injury by storms and high 
winds than hops; yet, I fail to see where 
any of the bulletins or signals of the 
Government Weather Bureau ever did 
any good to the grower in helping him 
to avert the fury of a relentless storm, 
or in saving the hops themselves any 
more at picking time. When the har¬ 
vesting of the crop comes, nearly every 
grower engages help enough so that his 
kilns for drying the hops, lodging and 
boarding places, in fact, all accommoda¬ 
tions and appliances necessary in hop 
culture, are run for the most part to 
their utmost capacity. Therefore, even 
if warned of the approach of a hard 
storm, the average grower could do but 
little in bettering his situation. 
As to the planting, growing and har¬ 
vesting of other crops, however, some 
benefit is, no doubt, derived by farmers 
living near towns where they can readily 
avail themselves of the bulletins and 
signals sent out; but even such cases 
hereabouts rarely come to my notice. 
Those farmers residing more remotely 
in the country, though, have to depend, 
for the most part, upon their knowledge 
of reading the weather “signs” as 
nature herself presents them, and then, 
trust to luck ; 1 am almost inclined to 
believe that this method is about as 
good as any for the generality of farm¬ 
ers, especially in a hilly country. If 
one will only take pains to study the 
peculiarities of the elements a little, in 
all ordinary times, he can usually fore¬ 
tell truthfully, what kind of weather 
there is liable to be 24 hours in ad¬ 
vance. 
Yet, for all this, I would hardly ap¬ 
prove of the abolition of our weather 
bureau. Not to speak of the good it 
achieves along our seaboards in help¬ 
ing fishermen and others, to escape the 
fury of violent storms, it has become an 
almost indispensable luxury to our 
cities aDd towns, both large andsmal'. 
“ Good Grass ” on the Pacific. 
C. J. P., Rock Island, Wash. —I have 
read all of every R. N.-Y., kept still, 
and studied until I have got past keeping 
still ; so I will start in, but will come 
easy at first. Your notes from Mr. Clark 
are the last straw. Mr. Editor, it is a 
pity for a man of his push, to waste so 
much vim and enterprise in trying to do 
on the poor, eastern farm, what any com¬ 
mon scrub can do here, where we have 
good soil, and sunshine all the time, and 
absolute control of the rainfall. He has, 
no doubt, astonished the natives with 
his six tons of hay per acre, but if he 
had the conditions we have here, he 
could astonish the world by produc¬ 
ing twice or three times as much 
We raise mostly Alfalfa hay, of which 
we cut four crops ; but I have a patch of 
Timothy and clover which will do for an 
illustration of what I say of Mr. Clark 
and his grass. This piece, which meas¬ 
ures 20 square rods, was sown four years 
ago, and has made a fair crop every year 
since. But last spring, my hogs got in 
and rooted out and ate all the roots they 
could find. After this, I passed a light 
harrow over the ground, and on June 20, 
cut the first crop, which to-day meas¬ 
ures 588 cubic feet in the stack. The 
second crop, now ready to cut, looks as 
heavy as the first. 
Mineral OH” for Paint. 
E. H. A., Ithaca, Mich.—The R. N.-Y. 
in answer to H. C. G., as to red paint for 
a barn, page 401, says, “ Mineral oil is 
not a paint oil.” Whether it is or not, it 
makes a good barn paint mixed with 
Venetian red. Some time ago, The R. 
N.-Y. said, speaking of some other 
matter, “ Mr. So-and-So speaks from 
actual experience, and a fair trial is 
worth more than theory.” I have painted 
three barns and one house with residue 
oil, and I have a barn built three years 
ago that was given two coats of daub 
formed by mixing one pound of Venetian 
red to one gallon of residue oil, and my 
neighbor used oil and ochre for first coat, 
and mixed paints for second coat on his 
barn one year later. My barn has stood 
one year longer, and looks to-day two 
years better. I have just completed a 
barn 34x60 feet and 40 feet from ground 
to peak ; I have bought two barrels of 
summer black oil, and shall use ochre 
and lamp black as roof paint, and Vene¬ 
tian red for the sides, and the cost will 
not exceed 10 cents per gallon. 
R. N.-Y.—Our answer was written by 
a painter of long experience. 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
This Rural Nkw-Yorkbr. 
Buckeye Wrought Iron Punched Kali Fence. 
Alio manufacturer* of Irua Cresting, Iron Turbine and 
Buckeye Wind Engines, Buckeye Force Pumps. 
Buckeye, Cilobe and Champion Lawn Mowers. Send 
for IllumraMd Catalogue and Prices to 
MAST. FOOS <5t CO. SPR1NCFIELD. O. 
Unequaled for 
all purposes. 
Stock, hog, 
isheep & 
poultry 
fen 
ALL 
No break-1 
.ter. I 
K 
A'Aaaaaaa ^ 1 
gm 
; llililr 
No I 
D jno. w. FENCE 
Protects * “ ■ ■ w t ging | 
against rab* ^in sum- 
E bits. Meets all mer, 
climatic changes. Send for catalogue, etc. 
Hartman Mfg. Co., Ellwood City, Pa. 
Manhattan Bldg., Chicago. 217 Broadway, N. Y. 
ARMSTRONG A McKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BEYMER-BATTMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS-CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR ) 
> Cincinnati. 
ECKSTEIN ) 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
BROOKLYN 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
80UTHERN 
New York. 
Chicago. 
J- Chi 
St. Louis. 
JOHN T. LEWIS A BR08.C0 
Philadelphia. 
M0RLEY 
SALEM 
CORNELL 
KENTUCKY 
Cleveland. 
Salem, Mass. 
Buffalo. 
Louisville. 
T here is a right way to paint 
and a wrong way. The right way is 
to have the best Paint—Pure White 
Lead and Linseed Oil—applied by a prac¬ 
tical painter. The wrong way is to get 
some mixture about which you know nothing 
and apply it yourself or have some inexpe¬ 
rienced, irresponsible person do it. 
PureA\^hite Lead 
can be readily tinted to any shade required 
by using National Lead Co.’s Pure White 
Lead Tinting Colors, prepared expressly for 
this purpose. 
Pamphlet giving valuable information and card showing samples 
of colors free ; also cards showing pictures of twelve houses of different 
designs painted in various styles or combinations of shades forwarded 
upon application to those intending to paint. 
NATIONAL LEAD CO., 
1 Broadway, New York. 
SAVE YOURSELF from Suffering 
HAY-FEVER 
WITH 
or ASTHMA. 
Dr. Hayes’ Constitutional Treatment will relieve the itching, stop 
the sneezing, abate the cough, control the Asthma, and give great com¬ 
fort the present season, curing to stay cured, by removing the cause. 
Write for particulars. DR. HAYES, Buffalo, N. Y. 
A Peck of Potatoes 
is “A peck of trouble”—if sorted by hand. 
1200 bushels of potatoes can be sorted in a day 
with no trouble and little expense with a 
Champion Potato Sorter. A new machine, 
operated on a new principle. Wonderfully 
simple and as effective, practical and durable as 
it is simple. The 
Champion Potato Sorter 
is an absolute necessity to any one growing 
potatoes for market. A book “ongoing fun description 
r an<l illustrations mailed free. 
American Road Machine Co., Kennctt Square, Pa. 
HENCH & DROMGOLD’S 
Potato Digger 
Poaitively tho simplest, neatest, 
moBt effective and 
Agents cheapest Potato 
Wanted. 11 Tl Digger made. 
Circulars '“TTjcA Will dig more potatoes in a 
mailed day than any other digger 
JTJiEE. for the price. 
HENCH Sc DffOMGORD, Mira., York, Pa. 
POTATO 
—THE— 
‘HOOVER’ 
DIGCER 
Price Reduced for 1896 
A 16-page pamphletfree 
Mention this paper. 
HOOVER, PROUT & CO., Avery, 
WOVEN MB§ FENCE 
Over 508tyleslBestonearth. Horse-high, 
Bull-strong. Pig and 
Chicken tight, you can 
make 40 to 60 rods a day for 
12 to 20c. a Rod. 
Illustrated Catalogue Fre®. 
KITSELMAN BROS., 
Ridgeville, - Indiana. 
KEYSTONE WOVEN WIRE FENCE 
IS THE BEST FOR FARM USE. 
25 and 28-inch for hog lots. 46,55 and 58- 
inch for general use. 
Send for illustrated catalogue. 
KEYSTONE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO ., 
19 llush St.. Peoria. 1U. 
r SUCCESS” Jr. 
A I IMPROVED 
DIGGER L /’ POTATO 
DIGGER 
YOU WANT a digger 
that will please you. We 
want to put 10,000 samples 
ON TRIAL 
for introduction. 
FREICHT PAID. 
If your dealer cannot 
_ show you our improved 
_f “SUCCESS" send at once for particulars. 
[ D. Y. HALLOCK & SON, Box805 York, Pa. 
A PRACTICAL TEST. 
At Adrian we have a park enclosed with 
over a mile of Page fence, on posts four rods 
apart. Inside are eight Buffalo, seventeen 
Elk and thirty Deer and Fawns. With public 
roads on three sides, there are thousands of 
visitors, accompanied by hundreds of dogs. 
Here is the record for over two years: no 
animal has gotten through, over or under, 
in or out, and not a cent for repairs. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian, Mich. 
RANDALLOT FENCING, 
A three-ply cable on each edge. Always taut. Will 
not buckle or sag. Handles like a roll of carpeting. 
To erect simply strain cables. The only fence suit¬ 
able for Lawn, Garden, Orchard. Park and Cemetery 
Fencing. Address 
KAMI)ALL FENCE CO., Le Koy. N. Y. 
