Description:The huge size and variety of the Sutherland Papers Collection means that many intriguing documents containing unusual features are hidden away waiting to be discovered.
One such document dated 5th February 1845 describes a recipe 'To prevent Rabbits etc. injuring young trees'
The recipe is given as below:
Take
1 ½ tbs soft soap, ¼ of a pint of
Train Oil, pour 2 ½ gallons of hot water,
stir it well and let it stand for an
hour, then add the following Ingredients,
one shovelful of cows dung, 2 quarts
of Tobacco Water, ¼ of a peck of
soot, ½ a peck of quick Lime,
1 tb of sulphur, as each ingredient
Is added let them be well stirred
The sulphur requires to be well
Mixed with about a pint of
Cold water before it is added
Otherwise it will remain lumpy
Whether the recipe was effective remains a mystery.