■Ghe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
73 
Muskrats a Food Delicacy 
I would like to have some information 
on “fried muskrats." Are they whole¬ 
some. and is there any sale for them? 
Indiana. ii. ji. 
The muskrat is regularly eaten liei-e 
and considered a delicacy. It is far bel¬ 
ter than squirrel or rabbit. We sel¬ 
dom fry them, but usually roast them 
whole. Some years ago the late .Tosepli 
Wing and Cary Montgomery were at¬ 
tending a farmer-s’ institute in this city, 
and I had them to dinner at my home, 
and had muskrat for dinner roasted. 
They enjoyed it greatly, and saitl that 
it was the first time they had ever tasted 
it. I do not know that there is any dif¬ 
ference between our “marsh rabbits" 
from the salt water marshes and your 
fresh water .species. The name rat has 
been made a prejudice against them, for 
they are not a rat, but more nearly al¬ 
lied to the beaver. They are vegetahlo 
eater.s, and cleanly in their habits, as 
they wash their food oefore eating. In 
these days of high meat prices we find 
the musquash a cheap dish in the open 
season. They are largely trapped here 
for the fur, and the carcass is "a sort of 
side issue with hunters. Marshes are 
regularly leased by the hunters, and the 
close season well ob.served. The only 
damage they do is in making leaks in 
dyki's with their burrows. 
W. V. .MA.SSEY. 
want evidence to substantiate the claims 
for Mutt above made, and I will append 
one or two. Have you ever known a cat 
that undei'stood the purpose of a door 
bell? Mutt does, and, what is more, no 
human teacher ever consciously impart¬ 
ed this knowledge to him. Possibly, 
h(>wever. he learned from observation. 
When Mutt wishes admittance to the 
house and the back doors are closed to 
him. he wastes no time in yowling and 
scratching at the door post, but goes 
around to the sitting-room door and rings 
the bell. It is no electric i)ush button, 
either. lie has to clasp a small, elusive 
porcelain knob in one paw and pull 
down with considerable force to make 
the gong ring. He does it, however, and 
if one ring brings no one to the door, 
he rings again. Ho doesn’t seem to ex¬ 
pect an immediate response to his ef¬ 
fort and waits patiently for a moment 
between strokes of the gong, but he usu¬ 
ally rings at least four or five times be¬ 
fore giving up the attempt to bring 
Sale of Human Hair 
Last Spring my young daughter on not¬ 
ing that slK)rt- hair was soon to become 
universally fashionable, had her head of 
beautifully curly hair cut short, which she 
shortly .sorely regretted, as it also caused 
in(‘ great disappointment, (’an I .sell it 
for her for .^12 or .$l,o? It is about 18 
inches long when pulled out; there are 
12 long curls and three short ones of a 
beautiful che.stnut brown. Could you 
recomend where I could .sell it for its real 
'■alueV jEiiS. E. w. 
N('w ,Tersey. 
It is unfortunate that this hair should 
hav(' been cut in this way. Romo remai'k- 
al>le stories are told about the value of 
Itali.-in hair, but when traced down they 
lose very much of their size. We have 
be<Mi told for example of a i)lace in North¬ 
ern Italy where women grow cn-ops of h.air 
for sale. It is claimed that in that cli¬ 
mate the hair grows nipidly and at gi-eat 
length. The women cut their hair (wery 
three or four years, and it ai)parently 
keeps on growing and is sold at extrava¬ 
gant prices. There is i)riictically nothing 
to this story. In fact the hair dealers 
her(‘ s;iy that there is iK)t great value in 
.•inything (>xcept very sui)erior (|uality. 
Pure white hair apparently s(dls for most 
money. There are some shades which are 
woi-th more than others. IMany women 
S 'cin to think that tlnu'e is a good demand 
for combings or short h.air. The better 
class of dealers do not care to handle 
thi's(‘ combings, and will not (piote prices 
on them. A certain cl.ass of dealers buy 
them at a very low price and u.se them 
mostly for making wigs or puffs. There 
would be no way of telling what the hair 
you mention is worth without a personal 
examination by a hair dealer, but it is 
doubtful if it wfiuld bring such a price as 
.vou mention. We want to make it clear. 
how(>ver. that the great ])rices fi‘e(iuently 
quoted for hum:in hair are largely exag¬ 
gerated or fictitious. 
“ Mutt”_a Wise Cat 
.\side from unusual Avidth between the 
ears, and two eyes that i)eer at the world 
like tAvin moons at full. Mutt looks like 
finy other full-fed. comfortably-housed 
tiger cat; dignified in deme.anor. jealous 
of his position in the family, affection¬ 
ate, and wholly s.atisfied with the pleas¬ 
ant places in which his lines have fallen. 
Mutts mother Avas a lady; at least, .she 
carried a large proportion of patrician 
p*?'**^ AA’hich showed in silkiness 
of tur and a certain spitefulness of tem¬ 
per tiermitted only to the aristocracy, 
^he po.sse.ssed, moreover, an innate re- 
nnement of breeding Avhich marked all 
ler habits^ as those of a thoroughbred, 
n her. daintiness, dignity, and efficienev 
were ideally combined. :Mutt's father is 
uuKnown; he may have been a u.seful 
and honored member of the cat communi- 
t.y, or .A’et one of tho.se wandering niin- 
rtiels of the_ night. Bohemian in nature 
and confe.ssing allegiance to no one. 
ft you have read thus far, you will 
No Place Like Home 
some member of (In* family to the door. 
In the middle of a cold M’inti'r night 
he has heen known to ring more than a 
dozen times before making mi his mind 
that no_ one Avas going to get out of hed 
to admit him. Rad to confess, he Inus 
more than once outAA-orn tin* jiatienco of 
those in the housi* avIio Avantiul to sleep 
and has gaiiu'd his iioiut by |)('rsist('nce. 
A door bell clanging lu your ears evi'ry 
feAA' minutes isn’t I'onducive to slumber, 
but you can’t scold a cat that comes 
imrring in with such an assurance of Avel- 
come that you aren't (|uite certain your¬ 
self that you didn't get out of bed‘Avith 
a smile. 
But, not only does Mutt sIioaa’ au ap- 
jireciation of household conA’enlences, he 
displays a A'ery human desire for aiijiro- 
bation. I’ossibly he ha.s heard some one 
.say that th house-fed cat never becomi's 
a good hunter and has set out to dis¬ 
prove it. There i.s no (nu'stion but that 
he ha.s been fed at the house, and Avell 
lod, ov(*r siiifo ho hocaino hi^ onough to 
balance himself on his fat stomach across 
the edge of the box in Avhich his mothm- 
Topsy tried in vain to keep him; and 
.A'ct. there are but comt»aratively fcAV 
days on aaIucIi he doesn’t bring in some 
trophy of the chase. He Avill not Avill- 
ingly (‘at his game. hoAV(‘V(‘i’, until he 
has shoAA'n it to his mi.stress and re¬ 
ceived the prai.se that he f(‘els is due 
him. No matter AA’lu'tln'r his ju’ey is a 
gigantic rat, a young rabbit from the 
fields, or a baby mouse, so .small that 
his pride over the catch appears ridic- 
ulou.s_. he brings it into the wood .shecl, 
lays it down or hides it in the coal bin, 
and calls to his mistress to come ami 
see Avhat he has caught. If he can’t get 
Ills mistre.ss to the door with his pecu¬ 
liar hunter’s call, ho goes around to the 
sitting-room door and rings, then, AA’hen i 
admitted, coaxes her to the hack door 
and proudly .step.s’ out to get his quarry. 
A pat on the head and a Avord of com¬ 
mendation i.s all that he wants, but, un¬ 
til told that he is a good cat and that 
his niistross roully doi^siTt c*ui*(? for any 
of the fresh meat, his jna'y is untouclu'd. 
.lust why he should display such hu¬ 
man pride in the succ(‘s.s of the chase, I 
cannot say. but lu'obably, like my.self, 
you hiiA’c knoAA'u^ nu'u Avhose annual visit 
to the North \\ ood.s AA'ould lose its zest 
if they could not bring home the head 
of a deer or the pelt of a bear that had 
fallen A'lctim to their long range rifles. 
I hese men strut around among their 
friends very much like Mutt displaving a 
baby mouse; in fact. I think that‘ Mutt 
Avears the same kind of smirk Avlien tohl 
what a hunter he has shown himself to 
be. Mutt has this excuse. hoAvever. he is 
hunting for food and not merelv dis¬ 
playing a saA'age desire to kill. AA-'ithout 
object and without hardship or risk to 
, 5 _ 1 , 
A Point About Harris^ Seeds 
Every (dealer says his seeds are the 
best, but how good are they? No one 
knows until a week or two after they 
are sown. 
Here is the difference about Harris' 
Seeds. You can just tell 
how many will groyv before 
you sow them. 
Every lot of seeds is tried in 
soil or a germinating apparatus 
and the number out of one hun¬ 
dred that grows is marked on 
the label Every package of this seed that is sent to our custo¬ 
mers has on it adittl^jabeMike^^^^tl^ showing the proportion that 
germinated. | ^ ^ 
"No Other Seedsman Does This! 
When sowing Harris’ seeds you can 
tell just how thick to sow to get the 
right number of plants. 
Seed of which 75% will grow should be sown thicker than 
another lot of which 95% are good. But unless the seed comes 
from Harris you can’t tell which to sow thick and which thin. 
Harris’ Seed Corn Famous for its Vitality 
and Big Yields 
According to our Tests 
96 per cent. 
of this seed germinates 
Buy Direct from the Grower at Wholesale 
Harris seeds are raised on Moreton Farm and are sold direct 
to growers at prices many other dealers have to pay. 
The most careful selection 
and breeding is practiced to 
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field seeds and flowers. 
We have wonderfully im¬ 
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You cannot afford to use 
inferior seeds, no matter how 
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I our catalogue which tells all about 
Irfforris’ Seeds and how they are 
raised. 
Harris Seeds 
Label on every Lot 
Tells how many 
will- 
It will pay 
you to see 
it. 
iccordirn^ to our tests 
98 percent 
[of this seedgerminates 
Harris’ Seed Potatoes Selected by “H.ll Unit” System 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO., Box, 55 Coldwater, N.Y. 
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ford's GIor^Cabba^€ 
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^ The Flower City 
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