Show PLANT SURE DEATH TO RATS would seem it might bo be utilized to rid the world of a moat most deadly enemy why not mot raise your own rat poison the philippine i bureau of science la Is asking the people its name la is dlo dioscora scora hirsute blume and it grows wild throughout the island lowlands the poison content Is dlos corine an alkaloid which produces paralysis paral ysl of the central nervous system the dioscora Is a tuber look looks like a potato and grows like one it ateo 1490 tastes enough like the old fashioned spud to fool mr rat for a moment but it has a little reaction all of its own the government scientist scientists bay may that one nibble la Is enough to kill a large rat A slice without proper tion would kill a human being on the other hand it has been determined ter mined that by peeling the tuber and allowing it to stand in running water for a period of 24 hours the content Is washed wished out and the vegetable may be prepared for human consumption la in the same man ner as Is in a potato when thus prepared it has a slightly sweet taste and Is said to have a most agreeable effect upon the palate at present one of the largest of the government agricultural schools in the philippines Is making use of the tuber to kill rats and field mice which are proving an increasing menace to growing crops |