■Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
699 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Poison in Parsnips 
Are p)irsnii).s iioisoiioii.s the .seeninl year? 
Pleasant Plains, N. Y. mus. z. 
Y'es, and tlie first year, too, hut very 
few people are sensitive to parsnip itoison, 
not nearly so many as to the ])oison of 
I)oison ivy. The parsnip, root, braneli, 
leaf and flower, earries a mild irritant 
poison, whieh seems stronger the second 
year; perhai)s it is. and perhaps there are 
simply more leaves and stalks. This poi¬ 
son is wholly destroyed in cookiiiR the 
roots, and the roots are better and sweeter 
when dug early in the Spring before the.v 
have sprouted. As the root sprouts and 
grows, it gives ui) its sugar and starch to 
make the .stem and leaves, and soon, be¬ 
comes too poor and wood.v to be worth 
the digging. A reasonable amount of cau¬ 
tion should be used in handling the pars¬ 
nip leaves and stalks, especially if you 
have a s(‘nsitive skin. Here and thei'e 
is a very sensitive skin which blisters 
badly with parsirn)s, but this is unusual. 
Plent.v of soap and water as soon as you 
can will usually head off the poison if you 
must handle the leaves. 
Dyeing Calf Hide 
flow can I color the white spots on a 
<'.ilf liide black to match the rest of the 
hair, so I can make a robe out of itV 
J.afayette, Pa. u. i.. (i. 
We looked this up some time since, and, 
while there are plent.v of ways to dye 
hides black, all the good ones depend on 
the production of the black <'olor in the 
l).iii' itself, and are beyond the ahilit.v of 
the amateur. Here is the only process 
which looks possible, and this will pi'ob- 
ably not match the rest of the hide; in 
fact, no local dyeing will match the nat¬ 
ural black. First, wash out eyer.v bit of 
oil or grease, by several applications of 
gasoline, followed by plenty of soap and 
water, and dry thoroughl.y. 
Second, wet in a .solution of nitrate of 
silver, one-half ounce to eight ounces of 
water. Third, wet in a solution of i).vro- 
gallic acid, one-half ounce to eight ounces 
of water, to which, just before use, a few 
droijs of a .solution of carbonate of soda, 
one 'ounce to eight ounces of water, have 
been added. Let dry in the sun, and then 
wash out ver.v thoroughly in water. This 
will stirely blacken tlu' hair, and a ver.v 
little oil well worked in will help to re¬ 
store the gloss. Try it on a small s|)ot 
first; any druggist will make up a ver.v 
little of the above .solutions in the pro[)or- 
tions giv(‘n. and you can judge if you like 
the elTect. Use the solutions pr<>mi)tl.v 
wluMi made*; the.v do not ke<‘p well. 
Cleansing Monuments 
What will (.dean the stoiu's in our cem¬ 
etery. stained by a fire that ran thi-ougii 
it. and also h.v moss? 1,1 n. H. 
Prookfi(>ld, Mass. 
You will have to try several things for 
the fire staims. P>egin with a rather 
strong .soda lye solution, .six or eight 
ounces to the gallon of water, applied 
with a cloth swab wired on a stick. Do 
not get your hands in it, and hav»' a pail 
of clean water handy in case a little 
splashes on your hands. The clotii swah 
will soon wear out, but old rags are plen¬ 
ty. ''I'hen follow' with strong soapsuds 
and a stout scrubbing bru.sh. If these 
fail, or rather, after the.se have done all 
they can. try a weak muriatic acid .solu¬ 
tion, say tw() ounc(‘s to the gallon, and 
wa.sh well with plain water. One of the 
the best things is a stout wire brush; 
coarse steel “wool” is akso good. The 
moss which has not been removed by the 
above treatment for the smoke stains may 
.\ield to a paste of chloride of lime, fol- 
iow'ed by the weak acid, which will give 
free chlorine. But usually a moss-stained 
stone must be re-surfaced by a profes¬ 
sional, which is exi)ensive. The nuison 
is that the living cells of the moss actual¬ 
ly i)enetrate the substance of the stone 
itself, and are beyond any surface treat¬ 
ment. This is unjjleasant for the stone 
and its owner, but interesting, in that 
this ver.v proce.ss is the source of prac¬ 
tically all soil, except for the act’on of 
water and the grinding action of streams. 
Weed-killer for Potato Field 
Do you know of any wt'edicide we 
could apply w'ith traction sprayer and 
kill w'ceds and gra.ss on i)otato ground 
where vines have died? Potato vines are 
compb'tely dead, .so no harm can be done, 
unless possible injury to the ground. 
Most of our weeds are flat grass. If we 
<‘ould kill it with a spray and prevent 
its .seeding it would be worth a great deal 
to us. F. L. Y. 
New York. 
The wholesale weed killers which are 
used at times in the troi>ics to keep dowu 
the rank growth along railroad tracks 
are mostly powerful poLsons which we 
cannot advise you to use. Dilute solu¬ 
tions of the sulphate of copper or (much 
<‘heaper) sulphate of iron have been u.ss'd 
on oats to kill wild mustard, but. as 
the.se do not harm the oats, it is unlikely 
that they will hurt the gra.ss. There is 
no clmmical which 'is both cheap and de¬ 
structive and also available in the pres¬ 
ent upset state of the chemical market 
which we can sugge.st. We had an in- 
<]uiry about (lestroying skunk cabbage 
and our chemist is now experimenting 
along that line. The cheapest and (luick- 
est thing you can do is to run a mowing 
machine, set close, over the field. It 
will be some weeks before the grass fonns 
a second crop of seed heads. 
Making Dry Batteries 
I can get carbons and terminals from 
old batt('ries and inak(' the zinc cases 
myself. What is the filling? ii.F. c. 
N'erimmt. 
The filling of commercial dry batteries 
is sonu'times kept secret and sometimes a 
patented mixture, but there aia* .sevi'ral 
puhlislu'd formubis which work fairl.y 
well. Here is one: Take by volume, not 
by weight, one part each of: ammonium 
chloride, zinc chloridi', mangtinese diox¬ 
ide, granulated carbon, wheat flour; and 
three i)arts by volume of phistei- of Paris, 
mix well by repeated sifting and add two 
parts by volume of water. Pack this 
well about the carbon, taking c.are to 
ha\e the end as far above the base of the 
cell as the sides tire from the sid(*s of the 
carbon. It is sometimes worth while to 
set the carbon in a little richer mixture 
Itcpi’oUuci'd from N. Y. Fveninf; Telegram 
for an inch or so. madi* of ammonium 
chloride and zinc chloride each om^ part 
by volume, flour, thre<>-(iuarters part and 
water two parts. If they an* to be 
handled much tin* cells should be sealed 
with tar or i)itch. as are the commercial 
ones, taking care to leave a hole for ;i 
gas vent. Tin* prestmt prices of zinc and 
manganese oxide will suri)rise you. The 
manganese and carhon from old cells can 
b(* well washed and well dried .and will 
Work, but not as well as new. Cells made 
.as above should give a little o\-er a volt 
each. _' 
Sulphur Dioxid in Molasses 
I enclose a cli|)ping from a mail order 
catalogue. I bought a large can of their 
b(*st cooking molasses and find i)rinted 
on its label, “Contains sulphur (lioxid.” 
Would you tell me whether this is an 
adulteration and if so, is it harmless? 
My reason for sending away for mo¬ 
lasses was that what I can obtain her(> 
lias the .same statement on label and 1 
was afraid to use it. a. .s. 
New .ler.sey. 
The jiresence of sulphur dioxide in 
syrup, etc., has long been a sore point be¬ 
tween tho.se who want “absolutely noth¬ 
ing added” to food stuffs and those who 
want to iiroducfi a good-.selling, attractive 
article which will keep well. The gas 
it.self is that pisKluced by burning sul- 
jihur. You may remember the fragrance 
of the old sulphur matches, and when 
strong it will kill almost anything, and 
when dilute will kill the lower forms of 
life, ‘'gei'ins.” etc. 'The use of sulphur 
candles for disinfection is an instance. 
Nejw if .vou chance* to be old enough to 
remember the “(dd-fashioned” sugar-cane 
mola.sses. you will la'call that when it 
had been in the barrel or jug for .some 
time the last to come out was rather 
dark, and apt to have a sourish, yeasty 
smell and taste. That was because some 
of the yeasts and molds can grow, rather 
slowly, in the dark in very sugary licjuids. 
Now it has been found that a very little 
siilphui' dioxidt* gas run into tin* syrup 
will bleach and sterilize it so that the 
color and taste are imnrovt'd, and the 
germs killed, so that it keeps uiu'hanged 
a long time. Tin* gas itself is used up 
in the process, so there is nothing to fear 
from that. The chemist to whom we re- 
ferr(*d your letter tells us that for his 
part he would sooner have a clean, sterile 
article with a little suli)hur in it. than 
an untreated syrup, but of course the gas 
is a foreign addition. At the worst it is 
only a mild, modern form of "sulphur and 
molas.ses” and can affect only your 
iniaginatiou. 
Nothing could save it. It would 
simply add one more to the thousands 
and thousands of buildings that are destroyed 
every year by Lightning. 1918 Lightning losses will 
be the greatest ever known, because of the increased 
value of the buildings, grain and live stock destroyed. 
This country cannot afford to lose your grain and live stock 
this year. It is your duty to your country, na well aa to your family and your¬ 
self, to aee that every building on your farm ia protected before Lightning strikes. 
Protects Property from Lightning 
The Shinn-Flat Conductor ia made of pure copper wires, woven in the form of flat 
ribbon-like cables, 1 inch in width. It is the most modern Lightning Kod everdevis^. 
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Every Shinn-Flat installation ia covered by a Cash Bond that Lightning will not 
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Any Lightning Conductor is dangerous unless properly installed. Shinn-Flat Con¬ 
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RememberH 
Lightning Can't Strike if 
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