SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
139 
this article must, for many years to come, be much larger 
than the supply. All the cotton factories are using great 
quantities of this oil. 
14. Not raising the Rape here to any extent, 1 am at a 
loss to say how many acres could be tended by hand, but 
it is evident that it is no more trouble than either Corn or 
Cotton. A good hand, with a scythe, can cut from half 
an acre to an acre per day. 
15. The scythe for cutting Rape must be shorter and 
more stout than for cutting Wheat, as the stalk is much 
stronger and thicker than Wheat straw. 
Robert Nelson. 
Macon, Geo., April, 1856. 
ANOTHER PLEA FOR THE BIRDS. 
The following interesting passages are from a paper 
read by Mr. Townsend Glover, before the late meet- 
ing of the United States Agricultural Society, and pub- 
lished in the Washington National Intelligencer : 
Here, however, let me change the subject, to put in a 
wlea for mischievous birds, which appear to have been 
sent to keep the “balance of power” in insect life, which 
insects would otherwise multiply to such a degree as to be 
perfectly unbearable, and render the agriculturist’s toil en- 
tirely useless. A farmer keeps a watch dog to guard his 
premises, and cats to kill rats and mice in his granary 
and barn; yet he suffers an “unfeathered biped” to tear 
down his rails in order to get a chance shot at a robin, 
wren, or blue bird, which may be unfortunate enough to 
be on his premises; and yet these very birds do him 
more good than either dog or cat, working diligently from 
morn to dark, and killing and destroying insects injurious 
to his crops, which, if not thus thinned out, would even- 
tually multiply to such an extent as to leave him scarcely 
any crop whatsoever. 
Birds are accused of eating cherries and other fruits 
True; but the poor birds merely take a tithe of the fruit 
to pay for the tree, which, but for their unceasing efforts, 
would otherwise probably have been killed in its infancy 
To exemplify the utility of birds, I will give one or two 
instances that have occurred under my own observation. 
Some years ago, I took a fancy to keep bees ; tceordingly, 
hives were procured, and books read upon the subject 
One day a king bird or bee-martin was observed to be 
very busy about the hives, apparently snapping up every 
straggling bee he could find. Indignant at such a breach 
of hospitality, as his nest was on thepremises, I hastened 
to the house to procure a gun to shoot the marauder. 
Wnen I returned, I perceived a grayish bird on the bushy 
top of a tree, and thinking it was the robber, I fired, and 
down dropped a poor, innocent Phcebe bird. 
Hoping to find some consolation to my conscience for 
having committed this most foul murder, I inwardly ac 
cused the poor little Phoebe of having also killed the bees; 
and having determined to ascertain the fact by dissecting 
the bird, it was opened, when, much to my regret and as- 
tonishment, it was found to be full of the striped cucum- 
ber bugs, and n.)t one single bee Here I had killed the 
very bird that h id been working for me the v.diole season, 
and perfectly innocent of the crime for which it was sac 
rificed. After the circumsJance, I di^termined never to let 
a gun be fired on the premises, excepting on special occa 
sions; and at present the place is perfectly crowded durinii 
spring, summer and autumn, with the ’feathered song 
sters, which build their nests even in my very porch, and 
bring up their young perfectly fearless of mankind; and 
although cherries, strawberries, &c., do suffer, yet the in- 
sects are not a quarter as numerous and troublesome as 
they were formerly. 
In the Southern States, 1 have seen the bee-martin chase 
and capture a boll-worm moth not ten paces from where I 
stood, and the mock ing-bird feeding its nearly grown 
young on the same insect. Even the ugly toad worksfor 
the farmer and gardener, as his food consists of insects 
more or less injurious. The beautiful and lively green 
and gray lizards of the Southern States, which are seen 
running on the fence rail, or amidst the green foliage of 
trees, shrubs and bushes, and from which they can scarce- 
ly be distinguished except when in motion, are ever on 
the watch for insect prey; and I know of one curious 
case in which even the mice in the green house were of 
service, for they had rooted up the earth round several pot- 
ted peach trees, in order to devour the chrysalis of the 
peach tree borer, 
COTTON IN COBB COUNTY, GA. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — We very frequently 
see communications from the “cotton growing” regions 
of our State relating to the number of pounds of cotton 
picked from certain acres and fields. As we do not live 
in that peculiarly favored region (being fond of good water 
and a pure atmosphere) and it is not expected that we 
would attempt to compete with it, we are generally back- 
ward in giving the results of our experiments in that line. 
If you do not consider it too presumptuous in one living 
in the county of Cobb, I would like you to publish the 
following: 
Last year I planted 23^ acres in cotton — 1 5^ creek bot- 
tom and 8 oZrt! upland. The yield from the whole was 
27,400 lbs. or an average of l,178i lbs. per acre. Between 
6 and 7 acres of the best bottom was so affected by rust 
that we obtained but one picking from it — the most of it 
having died by the middle of August. Two acres in a 
piece to itself and not injured by rust was weighed separ- 
ately and the yield ascertained to be 4,994 pounds or 2,497 
pounds per acre. These acres are not guessed at, they 
were surveyed last week by one who was competent, with 
a chain and compass. Very respectfully yours, 
R. W. Joyner. 
Near Marietta, Ga., March, 1856. 
THE FLORIDA POTATO. 
The following account of a native root, which bids fair 
to drive the famous ^^Dioscorea Japonica” or “Chinese 
Yam,” into the shade, is from the pen of Dr. Wm. F. 
Robertson, of Tallahassee, Fla. Of this esculent root, he 
says : 
“It grows in the sandy soil of our pine woods, near the 
Gulf coast, is perennial, with a climbing vine, and flower 
somewhat resembling that of the convolvulus or morning- 
glory. It appears to be very prolific, the root or potato at- 
taining a growth, in the first year, of four or five inches in 
diameter and ten to twelve inches in length. A specimen 
before me has been planted about three years, and the root 
's more than thirteen inches in diameter, with numerous 
offijhoots or radicles, and would probably weigh from thir- 
ty to forty pounds. The taste is quite palatable, resem- 
iling that of the Irish potato more than anything else. 
Swine are quite fond of it. It has never been cultivated as 
an aiticle of food, but from its pleasant taste and prolific 
|ualities, 1 should infer that it would prove a desirable ad- 
dition to the list of our root crops. In their native or wild 
state, both the Irish and sweet potato were comparatively 
worthless and unproductive; but cultivation, like the 
wand of the enchanter, has transfirmed them in a won- 
ierful manner, and we behold them in universal use, ac- 
ceptable alike at the table of the rich and of the poor, aiad 
from their exceeding productiveness, carrying plenty 
where perhaps gaunt famine would otherwise carry off 
