Nails.
A test has recently been made of the relative value of wire and cut nails, with results quite at variance with generally received opinions. This test, given below, is published in a circular issued to the nail trade by the Wheeling nail manufacturers, and was made by a committee appointed by the Wheeling manufacturers, who give the following result:
| Number of nails in pound. | Pounds required to pull nails out. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut. | Wire. | Cut. | Wire. | |
| 20d | 23 | 35 | 1,593 | 703 |
| 10d | 60 | 86 | 908 | 315 |
| 8d | 90 | 126 | 597 | 227 |
| 6d | 160 | 206 | 383 | 200 |
| 4d | 280 | 316 | 286 | 123 |
This test showed the relative value of a pound of each kind to be as follows:
1 lb. of 20d. cut nails equals 1·40 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 10d. cut nails equals 2·01 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 8d. cut nails equals 1·87 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 6d. cut nails equals 1·49 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 4d. cut nails equals 2·06 lb. of wire nails.
In obtaining the above results, two tests were made of the 8d. cut nail and four of the 8d. wire nail; three tests each were made of the 6d. and 4d. cut nails and 6d. and 4d. wire nails, and the average is shown.
The committee report as a result of their experiments that $1 worth of cut nails will give the same service as $1.78 in wire nails, if at the same price per pound.—Building.
Rabbit Remedy.
A correspondent of the Revue Horticole states that he has been completely successful in saving both his vines and haricot beans from being totally destroyed by the rabbits which swarm in this district by using a remedy which he terms the “Bouillie bordelaise.” This consists of a mixture of sulphate of copper (bluestone or blue vitriol) and fresh slaked lime, in the proportion of 3¼ lb. of the former to 4½ lb. of quicklime in twenty‐one gallons of water. The bluestone is first dissolved in a bucket of water, the quicklime is then slaked, and when cool it is thrown along with the dissolved bluestone into a barrel or other vessel of sufficient size; water is then added to make up twenty‐one gallons, and the whole is well stirred up. The mixture is conveniently applied with a whitewash brush, and in fine, dry weather only should it be used. The object of the lime in the mixture is to counteract any ill effects that the sulphate of copper or bluestone might have on the vegetable tissues, and also to indicate that no part of the stem or plant which it is intended to protect has been passed over without receiving its proper share of the application.