Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/87

69&#93; COR fcual means of extirpating the white and • om-worm* aa well as to secure the grain from the d ; mice and rats, is tli. i the corn with the branches of the alder buck- thorn, or black berry-bearing al- der, Rliamnus Frmgula, L. The exhalations of this plant arc so offensive to every kind of vermin, that they n it only prevent their generation, but also eiieer the de- struction of those which have been carried in with corn from the fields, or granaries. We state this fact on the authority of MiHochhkimer ; and as the experiment is not at- tended with any considerable ex- pence, it certainly merits the atten- tion of the wholesale farmer. Among the numerous sugges- tions of foreign writers, for pre- serving grain from the devastations ot insects, we shall only mention those of smoking the store-houses "with sulphur and tobacco (which, however, renders the corn unfit for vegetation) ; of covering the heaps of grain either with thin sail-cloth or old sheets, rolling them toge- ther when the vermin are settled on the surface, and exposing them to the voracious appetite of poultry in the farm-yard ; of brushing them off the walls with hard brooms; of introducing ants, their greatest enemies, into the granary ; of ex- posing dead lobsters ; and, lastly, of ventilating the whole building, and frequently stirring the grain 5 remedies which, of all others, are perhaps the most efficacious me- thods of averting damage. For the information of those dealers who avail themselves of ar- senic, to destroy the rats and mice frequenting their corn-floors, we think it our duty to observe, that such a dangerous remedy ought COR [6 9 never to be employed ; as it lias frequently produced the. most fatal accidents, and as the excrements, ot the poisoned animals, where mixed with the grain, may Id. ion disorders, the cause of b is not even sus; eeted by physicians. Hence we advise those rnercen iry economists to substitute a remedy, which will be found equal- ly effectual, and is perfectly sate : it merely consists in mining two parts of pounded quick-lime with three parts of sugar, and placing at the side of it a separate shallow vessel with water. The heating nature of this composition very speedily excites thirst, and induces those depredators to drink eagerly: in consequence of which the lime is slacked in their stomachs, and proves inevitably destructive. When corn has been cleared of all impurities, in the manner above stated, it may be kept for a great number of years, nay, for ages, by depositing it in dry pits covered with strong planks : but the safer method is, to cover the heap with quick-lime, which should be gra- dually dissolved, by sprinkling over it a small quantity of water. This causes the uppermost grains to sprout to the height of two or three inches, and incloses them with an incrustation, through which neither air nor insects can penetrate. See Granary. In ordr to ascertain the relative value of different species of grain, corn-dealers avail themselves chief- ly of the combined criterion of weight and measure. In a com- mercial point of view, such a me- thod is doubtless the most accu- rate ; but as it cannot be explain- ed without entering into a very dif- fuse detail, accompanied with nu- merical tables, we shall communi- F 3 cate