1914. 
927 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Grade for Open Ditch. 
ILL a grade of one foot per 1.000 
feet be enough for an open ditch? 
E. j. 
If this four-foot ditch will run full in 
flood time a grade of one foot per thou¬ 
sand would be better than a heavier 
grade, because of the erosion of banks. 
But if the ditch will never run more than 
half full a heavier grade would help more 
toward making it partially self cleaning. 
Velocity of water is so accelerated by "ol- 
ume and depth that a mild running shal¬ 
low stream is changed to a rushing tor¬ 
rent when at a flood depth of four feet. 
In open ditch construction we find nat¬ 
ural limitations to grade that we can 
only partially adjust—hence many drain¬ 
age canals as light as a foot to the mile. 
J. F. v. s. 
Driving Off Rabbits. 
AN you give an effective remedy 
against rabbits, that eat the young 
blossoms and tender leaves from the 
top or tips of growing bush snap beans? 
Would spraying with lime-sulphur, or 
with sulphur alone, cause a disagreeable 
taste to these young shoots, or would a 
trap row, not to be marketed, sprayed 
with an arsenical poison reduce the ma¬ 
rauders? r. w. c. 
Pemberton, N. .T. 
We assume this refers to bean culture 
on a large scale. We doubt if spraying 
will prove a complete remedy. Weak 
solutions of some tobacco mixture would 
probably be better than lime-sulphur, 
though we have never tried either for 
this purpose. This is a case to submit to 
our readers for experience. If we had 
a large acreage and wore greatly troubled 
in this way we should use a number of 
smart and noisy little dogs—keeping them 
in the field as much as possible, and em¬ 
ploy some good marksman to shoot the 
rabbits. 
Extent of Immigration. 
OTTLD you tell me how many immi¬ 
grants came into this country last 
year, and how much money each 
was required to have? w. a. m. 
Ohio. 
The report of the Commissioner of 
Immigrations shows that during 1913 
there were 1.197.892 alien immigrants ad¬ 
mitted to this country. The greater por¬ 
tion arrived at New York—S92.653. 
The amount of money an alien must have 
is not fixed by law. The authorities use 
their judgment regarding this, the points 
to be considered being that he shall have 
enough to provide for his reasonable 
wants and those dependent on him until 
he is likely to get work. When bound for 
an interior point he must have his rail¬ 
road ticket or money enough to buy it. 
Questions About Fish Culture. 
UST at present the “Fish Law” is not 
available. When is the open season 
for pike, pickerel and black bass. 2. 
Tn stocking a pond would the above game 
fish destroy such fish as bullheads, yellow 
perch and sunfish? The pond is one acre 
in size; half is nine feet deep, the other 
half gradually shallow. Bottom is muck 
and sandy, fed by numerous springs, and 
plenty of shade. 3. Is the mud turtle 
harmful to fish. If not, is it of any 
value? ir. k. 
Ulster Co., N. Y. 
1. The “Fish Law” is still not avail¬ 
able, so I cannot tell about the special 
exceptions, but the general season is open 
on all the fish named and will remain so 
until long after we should all receive 
copies of the new law. It is impossible to 
say when we will see the new law in 
print. 
2. These fish would eat all the bull¬ 
heads, yellow perch or sunfish they could 
catch and swallow, but would not be 
likely to destroy them all unless the pond 
was much overstocked. If “pike and pick¬ 
erel” is used in the same sense as in the 
published game laws of New York State, 
these fish should do well in the pond de¬ 
scribed if the water is shallow and muddy 
with a growth of marsh plants at some 
part of the edge where they can spawn. 
Large-mouth black bass will also do well 
under these conditions but. Small-mouth 
bass need cooler water and gravelly bot¬ 
tom near shore where they can lay their 
eggs. 
•L The common painted tortoise is prob¬ 
ably the one meant by “mud turtle.” If 
so, they are not likely to be harmful to 
fish as they would catch very few that 
were not diseased or injured. In Mary¬ 
land and farther south all turtles are eat¬ 
en more or less if they are large enough 
and do not have an unpleasant odor. This 
turtle seldom gets more than six inches 
long (length of upper shell) and is sel¬ 
dom seen in the markets of Washington 
and never, so far as I know in New York. 
If the “mud turtle” is one of the larger 
ones, known variously as “map turtles” 
or “sliders” there is a small demand, in¬ 
creasing southward, but the price is never 
so high as for the snapping turtle or 
terrapin. 
The most important points to notice 
in deciding what fish to put into a pond 
are (1) the temperature at surface and 
bottom in the warmest weather of Sum¬ 
mer. (2) The character of the bottom; 
whether stony, gravelly, sandy, muddy or 
very soft mud. (3) The character and 
amount of the water flowing in and out. 
Some failures to introduce fish into ponds 
have been apparently due to the fact that 
the water came from peat swamps and 
was too acid. In some experiments made 
at Washington it was found impossible to 
keep fish alive in water showing an acid 
reaction. Alfred c. weed. 
Wayne County, N. Y. 
Barley, Cow Peas or Soy Beans. 
HOULD I sow barley on last year’s 
corn ground for plowing under next 
September, for seeding to grass, or 
sow Cow peas or Soy beans for the same 
purpose, and if either of the latter what 
would be the value above barley? 
Connecticut. j. a. g. 
It would not pay you to sow barley 
at this season as a cover crop. Barley 
is a plant for cooler weather. It would 
make a fair growth in the Fall, but not 
during the Summer. Either cow peas or 
Soy beans would be better, but a simple 
crop would be buckwheat with two or 
three pecks of field beans seeded with it 
per acre. Put that in broadcast, and 
that would make a fair growth which 
can be plowed under in September, so as 
to benefit the soil. 
A Drainage Question. 
A CERTAIN man states that one can 
ditch from a low wet spot in a 
field to a higher. lie states that the 
hill will draw the water. What do you think 
about that? I have a wet spot in my 
field I would like to drain out. j. p. a. 
We think that young man who expects 
that a hill will draw water through a 
ditch away from a low place will have 
his labor for his pains, unless he puts 
a pump of strong power on the hill and 
uses it to pump the water. There is 
nothing to such a proposition. 
No Friend of a Cat. 
I T is very seldom that I disagree with any¬ 
thing you publish but your advice in a 
recent issue as to what to do for a sick 
cat, instead of medical treatment, should 
have been either the ax or bullet.—With 
me this would apply to the majority of 
cats, sick or well. A good mouse-trap, 
with but little trouble, well placed, beats 
the cat 10 to one, and does not spread 
contagious diseases, neither cut short 
the life of the beneficial bird or chick. 
Iowa. p. a. n. 
Sweetening Cistern Water. 
H OW can we sweeten a rain water cis¬ 
tern when the water has an unpleas¬ 
ant smell, and is not agreeable as 
water for bathing and for watering stock 
on the farm? j. d. m. 
Albany, N. Y. 
Cistern water which has a foul odor 
from being kept from the air, but is not 
polluted by foreign matter, may be sweet¬ 
ened by aerating it. The cistern should 
be opened to the air and the water agi¬ 
tated very much as the cream in a churn 
is during the operation of churning. Un¬ 
derground cisterns which cannot be ade¬ 
quately ventilated are subject to foul 
odors from the contained water becoming 
stale. m. b. d. 
Exterminating Bats. 
W IIAT can be done to get rid of bats? 
They live in the attic by the hun¬ 
dreds and make it so foul that 
nothing can be kept there. L. 8. 
Sullivan Co., N. Y. 
W T e have had no personal experience 
with bats. Can any reader tell us? 
“He’s a self-made man.” “I know. 
He surely made a mistake in not consult¬ 
ing an expert.”—Detroit Free Press. 
