476 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



The third experiment was to cut the roots on 

 two sides oC the stalk, as they are usually cut in 

 late ploughing. On the other sides the roois were 

 not disturbed. The result— small ear=, tolerably 

 well filled. 



In the remaining two stalks, no roots were cut 

 or disturbed ; the ears lar^ze and well filled. 



The plough is not sufficit-nily used on our rice 

 plantations, In preparing corn land (or planting, 

 and is generally used too late after planting, 

 If the soil has been well prepared and in good tilth, 

 the cultivator or hoe harrow may be used most 

 advantageously after the second ploughing. As 

 soon as The plants can be ploughed, the first fur- 

 row ought to be thrown from it, and the second 

 to it; and if used again, the sooner the better, so 

 that the corn may be laid by, when it has attained 

 a third of its growth, or very soon alter. 



1 will here remark, that the planter who wishes 

 to increase his corn crop in quantity, must select 

 his seed in the field. Seed from those stalks that 

 have produced Irora three to six ears, will, in like 

 manner, produce again from three to six ears, if 

 the soil is well manured and well cultivated ; and 

 seed (i-om those stalks that have produced one ear 

 will again, in all probability, produce but one ear. 

 John H. Tucker. 



Hampstead, Sept. '9ih, 1842. 



LICE ON CHICKENS. 



From tlie American Fanner. 



Mr. Editor— ilaiVing discovered an effectual 

 mode of destroying lice in hen houses, and on 

 chickens, and thinking it may prove useful to 

 some o( the readers of your valuable paper, 1 give 

 it as Ibllows. 



To destroy Ike in hen-houses.— Cleav the hen 

 bouse out thoroughly ; then wash the walls, floor, 

 roosts, and particularly the nests, with i^obacco 

 juice or tobacco water, Irom the tobacconist's; then 

 put some fresh hay or straw in the nests, and 

 sprinkle them wiih the juice, and as soon as the 

 house is dry, you may let your chickens into it. 

 If you find that this does not destroy them effec- 

 tually, repeat the operation. 



To kill the lice on about fifty chickens, take a 

 pint of the strongest grease you can get conve- 

 niently, and mix wiih it about an eigliih of a 

 pound of Scotch snuff, and grease them under the 

 wines and on ihe back of the neck. 



Baltimore county. Juvenis. 



THE POLAR PLANT OF THE WESTERN PRAI- 

 RIES — A VEGETABLE COMPASS. 



From tlie National Intelligencer. 



Washington, August 9, 1842. 

 Dear sir : — In offering through you to the 

 National Institution a dry-pressed specimen of 

 [he polar plant of the western prairies, it is proper 

 that 1 should give a description of it and of its 

 location. It is a species of lern, with one large 

 flat leaf, whose plane always points to the north and 

 south. The leaf is symmetrically disposed aboui 

 the stalk. It attains the height of from ten to 

 sixteen Inches, and it is believed that it never 



blossoms. It is spread profusely in large beda 

 over all the western prairies, from the lar north- 

 west to the far south-west. It has been seen in 

 the prairies ot Wisconsin and other regions east 

 of the Mississippi. It is never found in the 

 forests; or in other words, out of the prairies. It 

 has been well known to the hunters and trappers 

 of the wesi, and to the officers of dragoons; but 

 1 believe that its existence has never (at least ex- 

 tensively) been made known to the world. lis 

 plane is always in the plane of the meridian, when 

 not disturbed by high winds or other external 

 causes. The indications are always most accurate 

 in the valleys, where the beds are sheliered from 

 the winds, and where the traveller finds them 

 arranged in parallel posiiions, faithlully pointing 

 out the direction ol the meridian. The leaf ia 

 symmetrical, and thus there is nothing in its in- 

 dications to distinguish the nor: h from the south. 



The specimen which I send was plucked from 

 the prairies near Fort Gibson, west of Arkansas. 

 That iis indications are actually the same 

 wlierever (bund is the universal testimony of all 

 who have known ot it; and I have met many who 

 have noticed it (rom south of Fort Towson to a 

 considerable distance north of Fort Leavenworth. 

 In many instances those who spoke of it derived 

 their first intimation of its existence (rom that ex- 

 cellent officer and capital woodsman, Capi. Nathan 

 Boone, of 1st regiment U. S. Dragoons, son of the 

 celebrated Daniel Boone. 



The cause ol the polarity of this curious plant 

 yet remains to be discovered. Being symmetri- 

 cal in shape, or rather the weight being equally 

 distributed about the stem, it is possible that its 

 sap or fibre is so thoroughly impregnated with 

 ceriain salts of iron as to be deviated, Irom the 

 period of its infant growth, by the aciion of the 

 magnetism ot the earth, turning like a compass 

 needle on its stem or root as a pivot. That it is 

 not caused by the action ot light would seem pro- 

 bable flora analogy, as vegetables acted upon by 

 light are noted lor turning their leaves or blossoms 

 towards the sun instead of (i-om it. At midday 

 the plane o( the polar plant passes through the 

 sun, and thus it shuns the light. I have noticed it 

 in long-continued cloudy weather, and could find 

 no alieratioii in its position. 



As the existence of the torpedo and the electri- 

 cal eel exhibited the influence of electricity on ani- 

 mal life, this plant is very interesting as showing 

 its probable connexion also with vegetable life ; 

 ihus liirnishiiig a link to supply the chain of gra- 

 dation. It is well known that there are many dis- 

 tinguished naturalists and prolessors of physiology 

 who would go higher still, even to the human 

 Irame, and predict the final discovery of the inti- 

 mate connexion between electricity and the opera- 

 tion of the nervous system. Any (act connected 

 with the action of eUctricity or magnetism (sup- 

 posed 10 be one and the same ageni) is now 

 especially interesiing, when iheie are so many in- 

 genious minds throughout the Vvorld devoted to jij 

 such investigations. ^^i 



I have asceriained to my satisfaction that ihia | 

 plant has been well known to trappers and to I 

 many of the Indian tribes, and that they have been I 

 in the habit of availing ihemselves (in their lours I 

 over those vast tracts) of this humble but omnipre- ■ 

 sent guide, which a kind Providence has sprinkled I 

 over That region, and which is thus available ifl 



