Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1841-01-28
Frbm the farmers Cabinet.
n Flyly

! Suffer not yoar substance TO be derourcd By Rats
An eminent English agricultural writer est.
mates that each und every rat in that country
ealI and destroys on an average one pint of
grain, or its equivalent in other fool. per week,
ana there is iln good reason Tor slIppOsing thai
"ur Republican rats, oil this side Of The Allan.
tic. are less vDraciOus than their Erropcuu bre-
ircn aud sisters. Now, us this description OF
veriuin are pretty liberalIy entertained by far
nlers genprnlIy throughout Pennsylvania. il nl-
peared desirable That all estlnatc should be
lnaeI. of the aggregate amount of the cost of
their keep in this commonwealth; und in order
10 do this. we must first take tho census TO de-.
lernine their number, and Congress having
neglected to insert this very important ilem in
the law furnishing instructions To the marslmls
who perform that dn.y. we must arrive al II
probable result by approximation. The cell-
sis for l540 not having been completed YET.
we mus, 20 by that of 1861, when it was est-
mated that Pennsylvania contained Io0GL0
farmers. Now, how many rats has each far
n,er, on mn ayeruse, TO support ont ol the pro-
ceetls of his industry, throwing The mice into
the bargainl Would ten be loo hig gil an aver.
age! think not; for although some very nice,
careful farmers have but Il small stock, others
make up for their deficiency by their hundreds
Well, we will say ten to eacll, OH all average
and if any think the number too s5eAl or too
small tlev NAV r calcuIu,c tur ,heiil'ei'es' len
rats. at a pInt each per week. Is upwards Of
eight bushels n year for each farmer in the
State, or one million two hundred thousand
h,, oie.+n, ,I." whole number! This sounds
uryc, but think il within tho mark,
Pit this at fifty cents bushei, which is GER
tanIy too low. and the amount of loss Sllstain-
bnin l,,, A
Oh ten millions of capital. A pretty cOhsiIrr;l-
bic sum this, and II il neither more nor less in
consequence of lis being sustained BY Il large
number Of persons We l:aye laws giving pre-
millms for wolf scaips, fox scalp$, wildcat
ton seems TO be very popular in Fenus, lyania,
for there is scarcely session OF the legislature
without some euacllncut in regard to these ver-
min, yet the rats have far escaped tho attcll-
ton Of politicians.
have been thinking what it wouhl cost To
eAlirpatc the whole race Of rails in this Slate,
and a,n inclined TO The opinion that nIlc-trnih
pant uI one veai's depreciation wnilid destroy
The whu!c race amongst IT'S; AMI il llIr lcgisla-
lurc don't engage in is accomplishment The
farmers must 20 to work IN good earnest, each
for himself, and the enemy will soon be Gull
qllered by united cxertion.
Now for the way; every Iarmcr hOuld have
Il terrier OF rat-catcIing dug. aud n pair of for
retS, and the business will suon he accomplish.
cd. The ierr"ts pass into lIlr Iodgings Of the
rats and either catch them Or drive them out,
when the dogs pick them mp in Il twinEililrg.
Several larmcrs have adopted This p.an will,
complete success, and if others would wish To
try il. the editor of the Farmers Cabinet can
inform s,,cl, where iclrcts can be procured ul
five dollars pair.