The Morning News

Cleaned Out the Snakes.

From the Cincinnati Commercial.

John T. Miller, a prominent merchant of Portsmouth, O., is the owner of a fine farm in Nile Township. This farm runs from the Ohio river across the fertile Ohio Valley into the stone-clad hills of Buena Vista freestone region. Its length is ten miles. The farm house is on the north side of the pike at the northern end of the farm, immediately under a large hill which contains one of the finest stone quarries in this region. However, the quarry is unworked, and the house for a long time remained tenantless, owing to the inroads and unwelcome familiarity of the snakes that inhabited the crevices and holes in the hill country.

There were all sizes and conditions of snakes. The big, stout, blacksnake, or northern boa, was frequently found, and proved a deadly enemy to small animals and fowls. Mr. Miller has in his possession the skin of one that was 8 feet and 2 inches long, that was killed on the place. The blue racer and whipper, more vicious and annoying, made it impossible to keep a tenant in the house through a season. The deadly copperhead and the cotton-mouthed moccasin were met at every hand, while the dreaded rattlesnake was the monarch of the domain. Mr. Miller employed every method to rid his farm of the reptiles. Hunting parties were organized. Men with their legs clad in stout leather boots, reaching to the hips, invaded the infested grounds, armed with heavy clubs, and fought the snakes to no avail. One affair of the kind resulted in the killing of 260 snakes in one afternoon, but the crop did not appear to be diminished to any perceptible degree.

Last spring, Mr. Miller, upon advice of an old settler, concluded to try a new plan. A new house was built south of the public road on territory in which snakes were seldom seen, for the benefit of a new tenant. Around the infested territory a large stockade of light boards was built, and a drove of forty hogs was turned loose therein. No attention was paid to the hogs during the summer. Several brooks and springs in the hills furnished the necessary water, while the woods helped to supply their sustenance.

A few days ago Mr. Miller concluded to see what was the result of this experiment, and in company with a number of friends he entered the immense corral. The herd of hogs was found to have greatly increased, and every individual presented as fat and sleek an appearance as if fed on corn. Diligent search has failed to show a single snake. The holes and caves that they frequented have been explored, but not a trace of a snake has been found. Workmen have been set at work in the quarry, and stone is being gotten out without any interference from a belligerent rattler or copperhead. Apparently every snake has either emigrated or has been killed by the hogs. The old settlers claim that there will be no more trouble from the snakes in that vicinity. The proprietor intends to wait another year before he will be satisfied that the experiment was a success.