84 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



suo^v and frosts will have but just left the soil, when its foliage 

 will start forth, and furnish at once a pleasant and beautiful vege- 

 table for the table, and it may be hailed as the first vernal pro- 

 duction which nature, in her beneficence, presents for the health- 

 ful recuperation of the human system from the seemingly adverse 

 conditions which the seclusion of winter and the deprivation of 

 fresh garden products have entailed upon it. I am not aware that 

 this plant exists in any family garden of our country except my 

 own, and esteeming it as of great value in the family economy, I 

 have taken some pains in its dissemination throughout our country 

 the present spring, and have distributed several hundred parcels 

 of the seeds through the American Institute and otherwise." 



Dr. Snodgrass said, that *' we were not fully aware of the value 

 of that kind of spinach. Our systems need the acid afibrded by 

 such a plant. The whole family of greens will regulate our physi- 

 cal system and give tone to our health. A small quantity of vine- 

 gar taken in connection with the greens will improve its efficacy 

 as an article of healthful food. Those persons who are cut off 

 from the country and confined within the city limits, should secure 

 such articles of food to promote their health." 



Col. Henry spoke of a plant known as "patient's dock," as one 

 of the best he ever used for greens. It has this name because it 

 may be eaten by persons in delicate health, not only with impu- 

 nity, but advantage. 



When to cut Timothy Hay. 



Mr. G. H. McKinney, Stanford, Lincoln Co., Ky., makes this 

 inquiry and the following statement: "At what particular time 

 should timothy grass be cut for hay, and is there any sure indica- 

 tion that it is ready, and when cut how long should it remain 

 exposed to the hot sun to cure, in order to retain a bright green 

 color ? 



" This is a question about which many of our Kentucky formers 

 hold different opinions, some maintaining the position to cut when 

 the bloom is nearly ready to fall off, while others prefer to wait 

 until the grass is fully ripe." 



An intelligent farmer near Albany, N. Y., who grows hay upon 

 a large scale for market, gives the following rule for a proper time 

 when to cut timothy : " Whenever in the blooming stage it had 

 grown and obtained sufficient strength to pull up by the root 

 without breaking the straw, that it was then ready, and, if cut at 



