differing either in shape, color, or taste from the com¬ 
mon potatoes, saring that the roots hereof are not so 
great, nor so long.; some of them are round as a ball, 
some oval or egg-fashion; some longer and others short¬ 
er; the which knobby roots are fastened unto the stalks 
with an infinite number of thready strings. 
Battata Virginana sive Virginianorum et Pappus. 
Virginian Potatoes. 
[Here follows a cut of the plant. With roots and 
tubers.] 
The Place. 
It groweth naturally in America, where it was first 
discovered, as reports C • Clusvus , since which time I 
have received roots hereof from Virginia, otherwise 
called Norembega, which grow and prosper in my gar¬ 
den, as in their own native country. 
The Time. 
The leaves thrust forth of the ground in thebeginning 
of May; the flowers bud forth in August. The fruit is 
ripe in September. 
The Names. 
* The Indians do call this root Pappus, meaning the 
roots; by which name also the common potatoes are called 
in those Indian countries. We have the name proper unto 
it mentioned in the title. Because it hath not only the 
shape and proportion of Potatoes, but also the pleasant 
taste and virtues of the same; we may call it in English, 
Potatoes of America or Virginia. 
Clusius questions whether it be not the Arachidna of 
Theophrastus. Bauhine has referred it to the Night¬ 
shades, and calleth it Solanum tuberosum esculentum, 
and largely figures and describes it in his prodromas, 
page 89. 
The Temparature and Virtue. 
A. The temperature and virtues be referred unto the 
common potatoes, being likewise a food, as also a meat j 
for pleasure, equal in goodness or wholesomnness unto 
the same, being either roasted in the embers, or boiled 
and eaten with oil, vinegar and pepper, or dressed 
any other way by the hand of some cunning in cookery. 
B. Bauhine saith that he heard that the use of these 
roots was forbidden in Bourgandy, (where they call 
them Indian artichokes,) for that they were persuaded 
the too frequent use of them caused the leprosy. 
DESTROYING- THE GRUB AND WIRE-WORM. 
In a recent conversation with an intelligent farmer of: 
Cayuga Co., N. he described the method by which he 
saved his corn crop from the destruction of the wire- j 
worm and grub. The former of these depredators had 
appeared in prodigious numbers—something less than | 
a bushel per square rod of land, and their ravages were j 
great. He ascertained by observation that they did not 
descend deep into the soil at the usual time of plowing 
sward land for corn, but continued mostly among the 
roots of the grass. His object, therefore, was to bury 
them alive. This he accomplished by turning over the 
sod with a powerful team, to a depth of at least eight 
inches, the soil being rather heavy. The surface was 
then pressed down evenly and firmly with a heavy 
roller. By this process sevei’al inches of compact 
soil lay above the region of the wire-worms, and as a 
consequence, whenever they attempted to pass upwards 
to the surface, they met with too formidable a resist¬ 
ance to penetrate. Hence, they continued with the 
grass below, and perished with its decay. Whether 
this be the true explanation or not, one thing was cer¬ 
tain,—that where the corn was formerly almost wholly ! 
destroyed, it is now full and even in the rows, without ! 
the usual numerous vacant spaces over the field, always 
existing under the old practice. 
Bj' a similar process of observation, he was enabled 
to destroy the grubs. He discovered that these depre¬ 
dators, instead of remaining at the surface, like the 
wire-worm, descend deeply, and hence that deep plow¬ 
ing brings nearly all of them to the surface. Hence by 
the use of a heavy roller, many of them were crushed* 
and the remainder immovably compressed in the solid 
earth, till a fine toothed harrow passing over the sur¬ 
face, tore out and destroyed them. The utility of this 
practice, like that of the former, has been amply proved 
by successful experiment. 
Another practice of the same farmer, though not 
new, is worthy of notice. He has been enabled to keep 
his flock of sheep of the very finest animals only, by 
always doing his own picking for sales, instead of 
leaving this to the purchaser, as is too frequently the 
case. Or, at any rate, no sheep buyer is permitted to 
select from his flock, unless he is willing to pay 
fifteen or twenty dollars per head, which, of course, 
he will not do. A perseverance in this course for a 
long series of years has so improved his sheep, that 
though originally nothing uncommon, they will now 
compare creditably with many of the very finest in 
market. 
DRAINING AND FENCING, 
Mr. Editor —Although the advantages of draining 
are almost universally conceded, yet, how rare it is, to 
see in our travels in this country, well drained or tho¬ 
roughly reclaimed swamps, or wet, low lands. Such 
lands, abounding in almost every district, when neg¬ 
lected, are not only unproductive and unprofitable, sub ¬ 
tracting materially from the value of a farm, but are 
unsightly, and more or less prejudicial to health. On 
the contrary, when reclaimed, such lands, of all others, 
are the most interesting and productive. They have 
been depositories for freshets and floods for ages, and 
have received more or less of the manure and surface soil 
gradually carried from time to time from the surrounding 
knolls and hill sides. When thoroughly drained and 
stirred up by proper cultivation, and the inert vegetable 
substance brought into action by the application of the 
usual decomposing agents, such lands are distinguished 
for their enduring fertility. 
Much money, however, is fruitlessly expended in the 
operation of draining. Very few of our native Ameri¬ 
can farmers are skilled in the art, and like every other 
branch of farming, it will pay best when well per¬ 
formed. It is by no means necessary that a bog or 
swamp should have a‘‘great fall ” or inclination, to 
be well drained. It is customary to dig the ditches 
down to the gravel, instead of digging three or four 
inches in depth into the gravel stratum, which, by the 
bye, is one great secret in the business of draining. 
Where springs abound, either above or below the sur¬ 
face, they must, of course, all be let down into under- 
drains. An expert ditcher will not often be deceived 
about the location or source of blind springs, under the 
surface, which generally do most mischief. Such 
springs develop themselves by the peculiar character of 
the vegetation which covers them, or can be discovered 
by the tread. The location of drains is of the utmost 
importance. Twenty-four to thirty inches will in most 
places be found a sufficient depth. Thirty inches wide 
at the top, sloped to eighteen at the bottom, are the 
common dimensions of a good ditch; but if the gravel 
substratum be more or less shallow, the depth should 
always be determined by it. Stones, for many reasons, 
form the best material for filling such drains. After 
shovelling the bottom of the drain entirely clean of 
gravel or mud, the first layer of stone for a foot in 
depth, should be set in a vertical position, leaving no 
opening or culvert; the stone afterwards may be leveled 
promiscuously within eight inches of the surface, re¬ 
serving the smallest stone for the top; this done, cover 
the stone, first, with the inverted sod, carefully cut 
from the surface of the ditch, and preserved for this 
purpose. Lastly, fill in over the sod all the earth 
thrown out by digging, which will elevate the surface, 
but it will settle down in due time. This method of 
draining I have practised, and prefer it to all others. 
An inexperienced farmer would profit b 5 r employing 
an experienced ditcher, from Scotland or Ireland. 
