220 
TO PRESERVE SMALL SEEDS FROM BIRDS. 
being boiled, they will become quite insipid. After the water is 
poured off, let the pot with the potatoes in it be put again upon the 
fire, that they may be thoroughly cleared of moisture, let the cover 
be kept off, that the steam may evaporate, and in a few minutes they 
will be ready for the table. 
Some recommend boiling them with the skin on, but this I object 
to, for the black and unwholesome liquor, with which potatoes are 
naturally impregnated, resides much in the skin, and it is much bet¬ 
ter to get rid of that portion of it before the boiling commences. 
Potatoes, if they are of a good quality, and boiled as recommended, 
will be mealy, and of a beautiful white colour, when brought to the 
table. Patrick. 
Article XVI.—TO PRESERVE SMALL SEEDS FROM BIRDS. 
BY A LOVER OF GARDENING. 
Most gardeners are more or less liable to the depredations of birds, 
particularly the house-sparrow,* and chaffinch. My kitchen-garden 
being very extensive, I have been induced to adopt the following 
method to check their ravages. Most of your readers may perhaps 
conceive it both expensive and troublesome, although it is much 
cheaper than netting. The operation may be performed without 
the instructions or the assistance of the mechanic; my labourers, 
when the weather w ill not permit them to work out of doors, prepare 
rods of wood about two inches broad, and one inch and a half thick, 
and from ten to twelve feet long, these I join together by rods of the 
same dimensions, at each end, four feet nine inches long, I then pass 
another rod of the above dimensions, lengthways of the frame ex¬ 
actly in the centre, to hold the work more firmly together; I then 
have the frame closely wired with copper wire, (being the best) so 
as not to admit the birds getting through. The frame is raised on 
the bed with six pieces of wood strong enough, six inches long, one 
piece joined to each corner of the frame, and one in the centre; from 
these pieces of wood, I pass wire all round the frame close enough 
to prevent the birds getting through, I think this will have a more 
sightly appearance, than clothing the beds up with mats, as some 
gardeners are in the habit of doing; the frame can be made of any 
dimensions, according to the mode you prefer in making your beds; 
it can remain on the seedlings until they are well established, and 
then removed at pleasure until wanted again. 
A Lover of Gardening. 
* I have tried Mr. Stafford’s experiment for extirpating sparrows, hut without the desired 
e fleet. 
