78 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



they have all been turned over. Female birds do it instinctively. 

 Instinct has done more for female birds than science has for us. 

 Were the eggs not turned over during the process of hatching, 

 the contents would settle on one side of the shell, and adhere to 

 the inside, to the destruction of the embryo chicken. For this 

 reason hens' nests should not be made so deep that the fowls can- 

 not turn their eggs over readily. 



Asparagus — When to Cut. 



A. member inquires "when to cut asparagus — above or below 

 the surface, white or green ? Does cutting injure the bed ?" 



Mr. Wm. R. Prince. — No man of sense, who knows the difier- 

 ence, will ever buy white asparagus, and much more cut it from 

 his OAvn bed, when there is no green to the stalks, which is really 

 the only valuable portion. The fashion here is to cut it all below 

 the surface, because the city taste demands it, and to gratify it, 

 the cultivators run the risk of injuring their beds, which the prac- 

 tice does, if long continued. Country people who grow aspara- 

 gus for their own use, should learn never to cut it below the sur- 

 face, nor try to eat the white stalks. 



Long Island Land. 



Mr. William Turner wants to emigrate from Camden, N. Y., to 

 the sea shore, and wants the Club to tell him whether Long Island 

 lands are as good as those of Hammonton and Vineland. 



Mr. S. B. Nichols, of Hammonton, N, J., said that he would not 

 draAv the comparison between the two localities; he would only 

 speak of Hammonton as it is, in the most encouraging terms. 

 Their prospects never looked more favorable — even peach buds, 

 which were thought killed, are blossoming, and strawberries and 

 all other fruits give good encouragement. Settlers, too, are con- 

 stantly arriving and making locations, and Mr. R, J. Byrnes, the 

 proprietor of the vacant lauds, has just purchased 15,000 acres 

 additional, which he is preparing for sale in lots to suit purchasers. 

 It is now certain, with the aid that you have given, this wilder- 

 ness portion of New Jersey is sure to be occupied. 



Mr. Wm. R. Prince. — My opinion has always been favorable to 

 the settlement of that part of Jersey. I wrote and published 

 years ago a list of fifty plants that could be profitably cultivated 

 upon those light lauds. All that is wanted is the hand of man to 

 make them productive. The same thing is true of the neglected 

 land in the interior of Long Island. 



