SUMMER MEETING. 35 



C. W. Garfield : A gardener near Grand Kapids, on heavy soil, obtains as 

 rgood a yield of the Cumberland as I can on my soil of the Crescent. 



W. K. Gibson: How about Mt. Vernon on light soil? 



T. T. Lyon : On such soils it is inclined to set too much fruit and be small. 



E. H. Scott : I think the Mt. Vernon the best berry there is grown on my 

 soil, a heavy rich clay loam. It is rather soft and easily parts from the hull, 

 requiring care iu picking. 



W. K. Gibson : The Miner seems to thrive on all soils. 



T. T. Lyon : Arnold's Pride has stood drought with me better than any- 

 other variety. 



BOTANY AT THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The time having arrived for the special exercise of the evening one of the 

 most pleasant hours of the convention was now occupied by members of Dr. 

 W. J. Beal's class in botany. Seventeen young ladies and gentlemen, fresh 

 from original work in the botanical laboratory, gave three-minute-talks to the 

 assembled horticulturists upon topics which they had been studying by the aid 

 •of the microscope. 



The work these young people are doing at the Agricultural College was not 

 attempted iu any of our colleges twelve years ago. They are taught to be in- 

 dependent of what has been printed, and are placed at once in the field of orig- 

 inal investigation. The glimpse they gave us of their methods spoke well for 

 the work Dr. Beal is doing. 



The subjects of the talks given us were as follows : 



1. Structure of a leaf. 



■>. The mouths of a leaf. 



3. Young hairs of a leaf. 



•i. Sting of a nettle. 



5. Protoplasm in motion. 



6. Palisade cells in a leaf. 



7. Starch of common and wild Arizona potato compared. 



8. The frame work of a leaf. 



9. Fibers of cotton, flax and wood compared. 



10. Why nuts are hard. 



11. Tough and brittle white ash as seen magnified. 



12. Structure of a grain of wheat. 



13. Pollen and its growth. 



14. Quince-rust. 



15. Corn-smut. 



16. A study of common mould. 



IT. Effects of severe cold or heat on cells and their contents. 



The drawings made by the students and employed in their explanations were 

 admirably executed, and on the whole the entire exercise was as interesting as 

 anything ever presented to the Society. 



The students were questioned upon the topics they elaborated by the horti- 

 culturists present, and the answers given were prompt and clear. 



It may not be out of place for the editor to remark here before proceeding 

 to an account of the exercises that the botauical department of our Agricult- 

 ural College has a beautiful building in which these young people work. 



