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WEASEL PLAGUE.
it Was Brought About on
v of Jamaica.
the Island
Results of an Attempt to
ad of Rats.
End a Scourge
mongoose is a species of ichncu-
The HH is native of India
or weasel. t a
jou cat reputation in that
mi h a9 a g V
a destroyer of snakes and
pantry as
^11 animals. In Jamaica it has
Led a reputation for destroying except . that al-
lost every living thing,
hic-h it was expected to. Its tirst
,usiu, the ichneumon, is noted and
ted in Egypt as a destroyer of
tecra description,
paltry and eggs of every
[fact the Jamaicans seemed to have
Looked. The mongoose is brown
color, has a slender body about 12
L I g Jong, and in general appearance
much like the common weasel. It
a fi crc e nature, and is not at all a
s
feasant animal to have prowling
ound. suffered great loss by
[The L planters wh'ch in-
depredations of rats,
feted the estates in large numbers,
Istroying immense quantities of
limgsugar canes, cocoauuts, and bananas, creating
[neral d other products,
havoc in the sugar works and
(rehouses. Seven or eight years
o a planter hit upon a scheme which
thought would • settle the d fiiculty
d them sat the 8 me time. With
je consent and procured approval three of the Gov- four
junient lie India or and
kipics of mongoose from
[•lied them loose on his estate. They
Lltiplied Iged rapidly, and for a time
tierce war on the rats, with so
Leh-success that the man who in-
pduced them was hailed as a public
[ncfuctor. |c But in a very avoiding short time ihe
rats found a means of
t 'goose and the mongoo.-c found
une more to their liking and much
Lie; to obtain. They turned their
tendon to the lieu roosts, eating
itli young chickens and eggs, and
[entually carrying oil' t ie old hens
Id the roosters.
[Their numbers increased with mar-
[llous rapidity, and they began to
by oa everything within reach and
he continued to do so, with the la-
eatable result that almost all the
ild birds, which a few years ago cx-
|cd in great abundance and variety,
|e snakes, lizards, and small anionrfs,
phi ami domestic, of every k'lid, have
iuo-t disappeared from the island,
b n the great tu key-buzzards do not
[ape, for the post cats their eggs and
rang birds. This latter is a most
do us affair, for in Jamaica, as in
her tropical lands, the buzzards arc
e natural ami the only scavengers,
jd but for them, ihe e mlition of the
IWllc and villages would be insufler-
lc. Poultry raising has become a
>t art in the country districts, and the
ring chicken and new laid egg will
km disappear from the isl md, for
fe towns are being invaded by the
pngoo-c. Their boldness increases
phi their numbers, and it lias been
feerred, on excellent authority, that
two instances this year they have
tucked babies. The negroes have a
reat and increasing dread of them,
pc exasperating part of it is that the
b'lbcr of rats is not sensibly diinin-
W0,st fcatme of the P cst is that
Cy lavo brou « ht another scourge on
e is and-a plague of ticks, and it is
11 arul which is the worse of the two
ils. except that the one is responsi-
e b)1 ‘ U»e other. The tick is a small,
°'"1-sucking insect, no larger than a
n ’ head,
s that burrows under the
111 of man and beast alike and stays
ere. feeding on its victim’s blood
>' caush'g a„ irritating There
sore.
"° U,fia,,s of - etdn = thcra
, t -cpt by a painful of dig-
n process
0 onl v rc,n3d y is prevention.
-
, T 86180,1 bush and
bdeo CVC1T
glassis covered with !*<*•»
ldt aV8 .‘ hc beutc ath is to be
" P
i Ver ,,,i ' Ut them
agi, ‘| * Thcy are a
e t C:Utle ofteu Uterally
. in(M| ’ woi-
^tructiv" *! dCath ’ aDd are e8pecia,ly
° y0H " g St ° ck gettiUg
ider the ,i ’
animals’ tongues and event-
‘" g th ? r death * No l >as,ure
dd is a atUe
Mreadf,m 1K> ° r "
fusel „ 0xe “ Positively
•
^ k' world 2 g i t i “ e t thC ,T ,0rC CaUe he,d6 fu ig aU n
dcL r ° ! rda v ,be ’ snuk ticks, . es ’ and and Lizards they need
never at all troublesome until after the
advent of the mongoose, The snakes
have entirely disappeared, the birds
and lizards are going', and appearances
are that, unless same remedy is found,
the island will in the near future be
given up to the mongoose and the ticks.
Many methods of exterminating the
mongoose have been tried and many
more suggested, the inoculation method
among the latter, but nothing seems to
avail. The matter was the subject of
much discussion in the last Legislature,
and the testimony as to the alarming
extent of the plague was as'onishing.
The Government pays a reward for
every mongoose killed, but some
wholesale remedy is required. One
man suggested the introduction of a
species of wild animal from South
America to destroy the mongoose and
he narrowly escaped lynching.—[New
York Sun.
Descent With Parachutes.
“Ilow high do you ascend to mak
a parachute descent?” was asked ox
Prof. S. Y. Baldwin, the aeronaut.
“Not less than 3,000 rcet. A smaller
distance does not give the parachute
time to expand and act as a resisting
fo: ce. The highest leap I made was
at Quincy, when l intrusted myself to-
the parachute at a height of 10,001'
feet. It is, of course, quite an expo
ricnce to cleave the air for that di9
tance. I use nothing but iny hands to
hold on to the bar. I do not grasp
the bar tightly, as a less experienced
man would do, for that would soon
exhaust my strength, i hold on merit
jy enough to support my weight. At
the beginning of the descent the sens**
tion resembles that experienced by
people descending in an elevator, only
it is more intense. The tirst hundred
feet, or so, my body is a dead weight
and the descent is nearly rapid enough
to take one’s breath.
“The main danger in parachuting
has been due to the oscillating motion
in the air. During some descents I
have been astonished to see this oscilla¬
tion so great as to bring the parachute
on a horizontal line with myself. Go¬
ing thus from side to side, parachuting
becomes dangerous business. 1 have
at the present time a fringe three feet
wide attached to my parachute, and iu
descending I think this steadies tha
motion.
“When I leave the balloon for tha
parachute, I pull a rope which rips ifc
partly open so that the gas can maktt
its escape and allow the balloon to de¬
scend. My balloon generally reachoa
ihe ground before I do in the pafr>
chute. My parachute is twenty-two
f oet j„ diameter and made of silk of
(|, e lightest and strongest material poro
^Ide.”—[Dos Moines (la.) Register,
Hypnotizing a Hen.
Within tiic la>t month 1 have made
an interesting experiment with a fowl-
Some choice egg's being sent me for
hatching purposes (having no lieu at
that time broody and no incubator) I
determined to set one of my hens on
these eggs and keep her thereby the
force of mesmeric power. Ihe
were not fresh when I received them,
and to keep them with the uncertain
hope of a hen becoming broody might
have been fatal to their hatching. I,
therefore, went against nature, and set
mv hen upon liiese eggs; she was in
full lay at the time, and remained so
throughout the three weeks that she
WJ i9 sitting, laving, according to wont,
twQ out ; f t | iree davs. Those who
undergtuid poultry will appreciate
that no hen will do this, having bc-
come naturally broody, altliough for
the first day or two after being set on
eggs I have had liens Jay once or even
twice.
Marking the eggs I 6ct her upon, 1
wag able to know and withdraw the
eggg ghe kept laying. The first day I
placed her on the eggs it took me half
aQ hour to bring her into a hypnotic
coudition . bu t each successive day. af-
ter having rouse l her to drink and
eat> i wag a blc to sooth her drowsy
placidity iu much less time; also there
were days, for which I can give no
reas n? w hen l had to go to her more
than once in the day, she being in a
restless, excited state, trying to get
off the negt . The result has been
much to my own astonishment, that
four out of seven of these eggs have
hatched and are healthy, happy little
chickens. At night I can still influ-
cnce their mother to her maternal du-
ties, but in the daytime she takes nc
, notice of them.
FOR FARM AND GARDEN.
CORN FLAVORED RT THE SOIL.
There is a great difference in the
sweetness of the same kind of corn
when grown on different kinds of soil.
This is usually attributed to admixture
of seed, but there is good reason to be¬
lieve that the cause lies deeper than
this. There is probably a variation in
plants depending largely on what
plant food they receive. A soil rich
in nitrogenous and mineral fertility
would naturally not produce so sweet
corn as land where roots received
chiefly moisture from the soil, and the
plant was built up by absorbing car¬
bonic acid gas from the atmosphere
through the leaves.— [Boston Culti¬
vator.
REMEDY 1'OR CABBAGE WORMS.
The worms which are found upon
cabbage are the Iarvsc of two or three
kinds of butterflies, which deposit
their eggs on the leaves, chiefly on the
under side, for protection from the
weather. The worms when hatched
gather for shelter in the heart of
plants. There are several ways of
preserving the cabbage from these
pests. One is to dust them with plas¬
ter, either dry or mixed with a little
turpentine or carbolic acid, or with
Cayenne pepper or with insect pow¬
der. Where only a few plants are
grown, the worms might be picked
)ff or crushed with finger and thumb.
— [New York Times.
RAISING DUCKS.
All the farm animals worth raising
are voracious feeders, and ttic duck
especially will eat her own head off
several times over if not managed witn
the best economy. But there is money
in ducks if they are properly reared.
A swampy meadow is the best run for
ducks. They can he reared without
any swimming p ace to speak of. They
may be allowed to run out all the year
except at laying time; then they
should be shut up at night, being let
out in the morning as soon as their
eggs are laid. They lay about day¬
light. They find their own feed dur¬
ing the day all summer, but should he
fed some grain when they come iu
night.
Put the eggs under a lien to hatch,
nine to a nest. Feed the ducklings on
boiled cornmeal and oatmeal, with
chopped onions and green food, every
two hours, and plenty of clean water
to drink. A duck is a most producing
machine, and this must be kept in
mind. A pair of fat, young roast
ducks, three months old, is a feast for
the gods. A duck at this age will
weigh four pounds, and should then
be marketed.— [New York Herald.
LIKES AND DISLIKES OF ISEES.
A lady reader writing from West-
field, N. J., who is seldom stung by
bees, while a larin laborer in her em¬
ploy cannot go near the hives without
being badly stung, asks if we think it
“true that bees have their likes and dis¬
likes?” There is no doubt that the
exhalations from some persons arc of¬
fensive to Lees and a cause of at¬
tack by them, when other per¬
sons might come equally near their
hives,without exciting their animosity
in the least. For sueh persons to un¬
dertake to keep bees would be not only
unpleasant but unprofitable. Their
numbers, however, are not great, and
quite as often the attacks of bees are
caused by the fear many persons have
of them and by their striking at the
bees and dodging them, when if they
quietly came about the hives without
making any quick or hostile motions
they would be unmolested.
It is said that nervous people and
such as are addicted to the use of to¬
bacco and liquor never make success¬
ful bee-kccpcrs. To some persons the
venom of the bee is a serious poison.
Such persons, of course, had better
not keep bees. Generally speaking,
frequent stings are the result of the
nervous condition of the individual.
Such a one by learning tc control the
nerves may become a successful bee-
keeper.—[New York M orld.
VAST WALKING FOR HORSE WORK.
Most horses can be trained to a
more than ordinarily fast walk. One
good way is to be quick and wide
awake yourself. The horse (and hired
man) soon becomes considerably like
his master. B’ork-horscs, I think, can
be trained to walk faster if they are
never driven off from a walk during
the working season. Many a time
coming back from market, farmers
have overtaken me and went by, slap-
bang, only to be overtaken themselves
by a fast-walking team before they
reached the top of the next hill. When
they stopped trotting their horses
slacked up to about half the rate of
speed that mine kept steadily.
I have always thought I got around
just as quickly in the long run, and
with a saving of horseflesh and wag¬
ons, by not trotting a step when doing
heavy teaming; that is, where the
horses are trained to wa’k fast and
know that is the only gait required of
them. It is called twelve miles from
my house to Akron. The last three
teams 1 had would walk it from three
hours to three hours and ten minutes,
coming home. Going required thirty
to sixty minutes more, on account of
steep hills. This when they went over
the same road nearly every day in the
month.
At home on the farm we never work
the horses more than eight to ten hours
a day, and for this length of time
they will keep pretty well up toward
(he four-mile-an-hour gait when draw¬
ing many of our tools. 1 saw men
just moving last summer behind a
slow, moping horse, cultivating corn
and potatoes. Mv man, behind a free-
walking horse, easily cultivated seven
acres of our narrow rows one way in a
day of about nine hours. The other
man will get over about three acres.
Which do you choose? The fast walk¬
ing would throw dirt over the little
plants, you say. No, we have on pur¬
pose teeth so narrow that they cannot
throw dirt, so as to accomplish twice
as much in a day.
Another good plan, after you get
your horses trained to walk fast, is to
never hold them in, on cultivator or
plough—or any other tool unless it be
necessary—let them work at a natural
gait. How it provokes me to see a
man make a free-walking horse drag
him along by the reins! I will not
allow my horses to be discouraged.
When ploughing or cultivating, after
getting started, we always hang the
reins loosely on the handles of plough
or cultivator.— [Ohio Farmer.
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.
Salt your field stock regularly.
Remember corn fodder and millet.
Get good household help for liar-
vest.
The best incubator — The mother
hen.
Nine times in ten it pays best to sell
any crop as soon as ready for market.
Don’t stop the drag or cultivator for
any ordinary hindrance. Long days
now help long crops later.
It is not too late to put in beets for
a fair crop—don’t be without roots of
some kind for the stock the coming
winter, unless you have a silo.
This is a good time to start a com¬
post heap, Work into it all the ani-
mal and vegetable refuse about the
house and barn, garden and farm.
Well drained land warms up when
the 6iin’s rays strike it, but wet land
remains cold because of the constant
evaporation going on from its surface.
For potatoes select good ground.
Never plant on land that is low or
poorly drained. You cannot afford to
risk seed and the work on that kind of
land. Plant to corn if you must plant.
Wheat grown on a rich soil contains
more gluten and nitrogen than that
grown on a poor soil, and the short
wheat kernel contains lc-s nutriment
in proportion to bulk than the long
one.
Facts About Trees.
There are four hundred and thirteen
species of trees found within the limits
of the United States and Territories,
sixteen of which, when perfectly sea¬
soned, will sink in water. The heavi¬
est of tlie.-e is the black ironwood,
found only in Southern Florida, which
is more than thirty per cent, heavier
than water. Of the other fifteen, the
best known is the lignum vita? and the
mangrove. Texas and New Mexice
are the homes of a species of oak,
which is about one and one-fourth
times heavier than water, and which,
when green, will sink almost as quiuk
as a bar of iron. It grows only in
mountain regions, and has been found
west-ward as far as the Colorado
desert, where it grows at an elevation
of ten thousand feet. All the species
heavier than water belong to tropical
Florida, or in the arid west and south¬
west.
(JUAINT AND CURIOUS.
Paper is made in France from hop
vines.
Foolscap is a corruption of the
Italian folio-eapo, a folio-sized sheet.
Hog-skin is used for carriage cush¬
ions, book-binding, card-cases and
purses.
A man in Pennsylvania eats bis
meals in Erie county and sleeps in
Crawford county, all in the same
house.
The original manuscript of the poem
“Scots Wba’ Ilae wi’ Wallace Bled”
lias been purchased by an American
gentleman for $350.
A spoonbill catfish weighing nearly
two hundred pounds was speared in
Smith’s Lake near Little Sioux, South
Dakoto, the other day.
The Chicago Sun believes that rail¬
road affairs are slowly shaping them¬
selves so that governmental control
will ultimately result.
The late J. J. McElhone, stenogra¬
pher of the National House of Rep¬
resentatives, could report equally well
with cither hand, and in taking a
iong speech in the House he would
frequently shift the pencil from one
hand to the other without interrupting
his speed.
The grapple plant of the Kalahari
Desert is said to be a real vegetable
curiosity. In its general appearance
it looks more like a star fish than a
plant, and each ray or arm is tipped
with barbs, which, when fastened to
the wool of sheep, have to be cut out
as the only way of removing them.
Among the Chinese no relics are
more valuable than the boots that
have been worn by a magistrate. If
he resigns and leaves the city, a crowd
accompanies him from his residence
to the gates, where his boots are
drawn off with great ceremony, to be
preserved in the hall of justice.
A farmer’s wife living near Dover,
N. J., broke a duck egg in a frying
pan a few days ago, when out rolled
an egg of smaller size. The larger
egg was of ordinary size, and con¬
tained a perfect yolk. The inner egg
was about ono and one-half inches
long, with a perfect shell and normal
in every way.
The seven Bibles of the world are
the Koran of the Mohammedans, the
Tri Petikes of the Buddhists, the five
Kings of the Chinese, the Three Vedas
of the Hindoos, the Eddas of the
Scandinavians the Zend Avesta of the
Persians and the Scriptures of the
Christians. The most recent of these
is ihe Koran, dating from about the
middle of the seventh century.
The virtues of the kola nut have
been recognized on the west coast of
Africa from time immemorial, as
cementing a mystic bond of friend"
ship between tribes and individuals.
No treaty is binding there unless the
chieftains share this fruit, which re¬
sembles an apple, and private persons
are Jinked in ties of brotherhood if
each of them take a bite of its acid
pulp.
Mrs. A. F. Wood, of Kennebunk,
Ale., a lady who has been lame for
several years, went to the barn loft to
gather some eggs, and in sliding down
upon the hay with her lame leg, hear¬
ing something crack, she felt she had
broken some bone, She called to her
husband for help, and when lie came
and helped her up she found she could
walk better than before, The liga-
ments which had adhered to each oiher
by non use were broken apart,improv¬
ing her lameness.
Metal in Bookbinding.
Metal has for some time been very
advantageously used in the binding of
books as a substitute for cardboard.
A special preparation is first necessary,
and the leather may be bent and
straightened again without percepti¬
ble damage, a course of treatment that
would destroy cardboard covers, The
metal is covered with any material
that taste may dictate, and the fin¬
ished book shows no difference in ap¬
pearance, excepting in a greater thin¬
ness of the cover, which is always de¬
sirable.—[Commercial Advertiser.
A Tribute. *
“To whom did you bow?”
“A mosquito. He has some of the
finest blood in the State In his veins.’*
“How do you know?”
“He iu6t bit me.”—fNcw York Sun.