PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 143 



pieces, fowls will not be so liable to eat those that ripen first, and 

 the vines will be much more productive than if allowed to grow 

 while prostrate on the ground. 



Are House Plants Healthy ? 



Mrs. Charles Curry, Factoryvillc, AVyoming county.' Pa.: "Is 

 it healthy to have house plants in the rooms we constantly occupy, 

 or otherwise; and the reason, as there have been various opinions 

 expressed on the suoject here? Also whether verbenas will 

 grow from seed. I have a scarlet one just Inidding to blossom, 

 and I would take pleasure in gathering the seed for distribution, 

 if I could procure information on the subject ?" 



Mr, Solon Robinson. — P hints are not considered by those who 

 best understand the laws of vegetable growth as healthy compan- 

 ions in a sleeping room, or, indeed, in any room occupied in any 

 way during the night, because the exhahition then given off con- 

 taminate the air, particularly in the blooming season. We do not 

 believe that plants should ever be kept in a common sitting room, 

 in winter, unless it is extremely well ventilated. Verbenas are 

 produced from seed. 



The chairman said that it was contended by some persons that 

 plants absorb gas that is deleterious to health. 



Mr. Burgess said that no room could be healthy, in the night 

 time, that had growing plants in it. 



Cement for Broken China. 



Mrs. Julia A. Thompson, Pnw Paw, Mich., in answer to an 

 inquiry for a good cement for broken china, sa3^s : " White lead 

 and copal varnish, mixed to the consistency of thick cream, make 

 one of the best cements for china and glass-ware that I ever saw. 

 I have articles in use nine years, that have been mended with this 

 cheap cement. Bind the parts firmly together until dry." 



Mr. S. Edwards Todd indorsed this statement from his own 

 experience, having mended a large bowl, which withstood use and 

 water, hot and cold, many years. 



Dr. Crowell. — The white of an egg, mixed with a little of fine 

 flour of air-slaked limed, is a first-rate cement, and it can generally 

 be had in every farm house. 



How TO Make Cheap Cement Cisterns. 

 S. Edwards Todd. — Where the ground is so compact that it 

 must be dug up with a pick, cisterns may be made by spreading 



