_How to get New Varieties of Potatoes._--When the vines are done growing
and are turned brown; the seed is ripe: then take the balls and string
with a large needle and strong thread; hang them in a dry place where
they will gradually dry and mature, without danger or injury from frost.
In the month of April, soak the ball for several hours from the pulp;
when washed and dried, they are fit for sowing in rows, in a bed well
prepared in the garden; they will sprout in a fortnight; they must be
attended to like other vegetables. When about two inches high, they may
be thinned and transplanted into rows. As they increase in size, they
should be hilled. In the autumn many of them will be of the size of a
walnut, and from that to a pea. In the following spring they should be
planted in hills, placing the large ones together,--they will in the
second season attain their full size, and will exhibit several varieties
of form, and may then be selected to suit the judgment of the
cultivator. I would prefer gathering the balls from potatoes of a good
kind. The first crops from seeds thus obtained will be productive, and
will continue so for many years, gradually deteriorating, until they
will need a renewal by the process.
_To Destroy Rats._--Fill any deep smooth vessel of considerable capacity
to within six inches of the top with water, cover the surface with bran,
and set the vessel in a place most frequented by these pests. In
attempting to get at the bran they will fall in and be drowned. Several
dozen have been taken by this simple method at a time.
_To Kill Rats in Barn and Rick._--Melt hog's lard in a bottle plunged in
water of temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit: introduce into it half
an ounce of phosphorus for every pound of lard; then add a pint of proof
spirits or whiskey; cork the bottle firmly after its contents have been
to 150 degrees, taking it out of the water and agitating till the
phosphorus becomes uniformly diffused, making a milky looking fluid. The
spirit may be poured off on the liquor cooling; and you then have a
fatty compound, which, after being warmed gently, may be incorporated
with a mixture of wheat flour, or sugar, flavored with oil of rhodium,
or oil of anise-seed, etc., and the dough, on being made into pellets,
should be laid at the rat holes; being luminous in the dark, and
agreeable both to the palates and noses, it is readily eaten, and proves
certainly fatal. The rats issue from their holes and seek for water to
quench their burning thirst, and they commonly die near the water.
_Rat Poison._--Flour, six pounds; sugar, one pound; sulphur, four
pounds; phosphorus, four pounds.
_To Banish and Prevent Mosquitoes from Biting._--Dilute a little of the
oil of thyme with sweet oil, and dip pieces of paper in it. Hang in your
room, or rub a little on the hands and face when going to bed.
_To Keep Milk Sweet in the Hottest Weather._--Put a spoonful of
horse-radish in a pan of milk; this will keep it sweet for several days
longer than without.