FARMERS' REGISTER- CLOVER— RICE MILL— CROWS, &c. 



687 



The follovvina: acUliiional dclails, the result of 

 further experiments, are from the pen of James 

 Mitchell, Esq. under date of January 10th, 1833 : 



" I was one of a parly where some tuliers of this 

 plant were cooked, by boiiinp; for ten minutes, and 

 they were on trial, declared liy all present to be 

 more ao;reedble in their flavor than the common 

 potato. It is not possible to <^ive an idea of the 

 flavor in words; but if I were to attempt it, I 

 should say it was that of the potato slightly com- 

 bined with the chesnut. I have been informed 

 that the tuber of the oxalis crenata was broujiht 

 from South America by Mr. David Douglass, and 

 was planted in 1831, by Mr. Lambert. One of 

 the tubers obtained from Mr. Lambeit was plant- 

 ed by Mr. Hirst in a pot in the green-house, in 

 the end of April last, and in the month of May, the 

 pot was removed to the flower garden, and broken, 

 and the ])arts removed. It was first planted in the 

 green-house as a security against frost; but this 

 appears _to have been unriecessary, as tiie i)lant has 

 stood the frost remarkably well, and the leaves on 

 the 5th instant, before the tubers were dug up, 

 were quite green. The ful)er j)lanted was less 

 than an ounce in weight, and the tubers produced 

 were more than ninety in numl^cr, and weighed 

 altogether upwards of four pounds. They were 

 in a space the diameter of which was nine inches 

 and the depth six. The stems were between 

 twenty and thirty in number, succulent, and of a 

 reddish color. The flowers appeared in August, 

 and consisted of five petals, crenate at the edge, 

 and of a yellow color. The leaves are trifoliate ; 

 the leaflets are inversely heart-shaped. 



"The experimentof cultivating tiiis tuber may 

 be considered as hitherto very successful, and 

 when we consider that the common potato was 

 long confined to gardens, producing roots which 

 were exceedingly small, and was far less promis- 

 ing than the oxalis crenata at present appears, we 

 may reasonably anticipate that it may prove a 

 valuable addition to our culinary vegetables, and 

 that by skilful management the tubers may be 

 greatly increased in size." 



CLOVER SOWKD AMOIVG CORN. 



Extract from the Ameriran Farmer. 



An experiment of this kind was made very suc- 

 cessfully by a friend of mine, who sowed red clover 

 among his corn; after going through with thecul- 

 tivator the last time, the seed v/as protected from 

 the heat of the sun by the corn, it consequently 

 vegetated very soon, and after the corn was cut off, 

 there was a luxuriant growth of clover, which 

 afforded fine pasture for several successive seasons. 

 The red clover is an excellent manure. I have 

 raised a fine crop of wheat, by ploughing in the 

 second growth after harvest ; it is probable it may 

 not suit the climate or soil of your subscriber, if 

 so there may be other grass more congenial to it, 

 which would answer the same end. 



EXTIRPATING RATS AND BITCE. 



From the Farmers' Journal. 

 Lay bird lime in their haunts, fi^r though they 

 are dirty enough in other respects, yet being very 

 curious of their fur, if it is but daubed with this 

 stuff, it is so troublesome to them, that they will 

 even scratch their skins from off their own backs 

 to get it off; and will never abide in the place 

 where they have suffered in this manner. 



RICE MILL. 



From the Bristnn Courier. 



AiTiong the inventions and improvementsof the 

 age, the patent Rice Mill is destined to take an 

 imi)ortant rank, whether it be considered as a labor 

 saving machine, or as a means of giving in- 

 creased value to an article of food. This M ill was 

 invented and patented bv a gentleman of North- 

 ampton. John Prince, Esq. of Roxbury, has re- 

 cently erected one at South Boston, which is now 

 in operation, and completely justifies the expecta- 

 tions of the proprietor. The process of hulling 

 and cleansing Rice, as practiced in the rice-grow- 

 ing regions, has always been expensive, trouble- 

 some and imperfect. It is performed at Mr. 

 Prince's Mill witii great rapidity, and to a degree 

 of perfijction that will establish the value of the ar- 

 ticle beyond comparison, above that cleansed in 

 the ordinary way. The machinery is moved by 

 steam jiower. The grain is placed in the mill in 

 its rough state, and passes through the various 

 stages of the hulling and cleansing process, from 

 ho|)per to hopper, without tlie intervention of man- 

 ual labor of any sort, till it is delivered in its most 

 perfect condition, fit for use. There is a separate 

 mill for grinding the grain into flour. 



We understand that the patentee has erected, 

 or is about erecting, one of his mills at Wilming- 

 ton, and another at Charleston. There is no doul)t 

 that it will speedily supersede the present mode 

 of preparing rice for the market, which is by 

 pounding. 



When it is considered that rice furnishes not 

 merely a cheap and wholesome food, but enters 

 into the composition of many of the luxuries of 

 the table as a principal ingredient, this improve- 

 ment must be viewed as one of great miportance 

 and the enterprising proprietor of the mill at S. 

 Boston may claim consideration as a public bene- 

 factor. 



DESTRUCTION OF CROWS. 



From the Maijazine of Natural History. 



It is stated in one of the Perthshire newspapers, 

 that not less than 27,000 crows were destroyed 

 this season at Dupplin by the demolition of be- 

 tween 11,000 and 12,000 nests; and all this was 

 performed by contract for the sum of twenty-five 

 pounds sterling. — [Anon, June 25, 1833.] 



In opposition to the spirit of persecution dis- 

 played in the above remarks, against the rook, 

 and other birds — " vermin," as the writer calls 

 them, — we present a short extract from a notice 

 of some length, on the usefulness of the rook, which 

 has been published in the Magazine of Natural 

 History, vol. vi. pp. 142, 143. 



" In the neigborhood of my native place, in the 

 county of York, is a rookery belonging to Wm. 

 Vavasour, Esq., of Weston, in Wharfdale, in 

 which it is estimated that there are 10,000 rooks, 

 that 1 lb. of food a week is a very moderate allow- 

 ance for each bird, and that nine tenths of their 

 food consist of worms, insects and their larvag ; 

 for, although they do considerable damage to the 

 fields for a few weeks in seed time and a few weeks 

 in harvest, particularly in backward seasons, yet 

 a very large proportion of their food, even at these 

 seasons, consists of insects and worms, which (if 

 we except a few acorns and walnuts in autumn) 

 compose at all other times the whole of their sub- 

 sistence. Here, then, if my data be correct, there 



