198 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



sole under the forward part of the wood, having leather between 

 which makes the sole flexible. A few of this kind were furnished 

 some New Jersey soldiers in the late war, who approved them so 

 highly that a large mauuftictory has been started in Newark. 



Caiibolic Acid. 



Mr. George Bartlett exhibited and made some remarks upon 

 the value of carl)olic acid, which is a new product obtained from 

 the distillation of coal, and has been proved the best disinfectant 

 ever discovered. With that and sulphurous acid, cholera has 

 been entirely controlled the present season in this city, and with 

 it the rinderpest has been almost subdued in England. Its power 

 as an antiseptic is almost miraculous. 



Professor Tillman indorsed all that had been or could be said 

 in favor of this substance, but he would prefer to adopt the name 

 of phenic acid, whenever it is sold in liquid form, or phenol when 

 in a crystalizcd form. At present, the retail price, $6 a pound, 

 will prevent the general use of this substance as a disinfectant, 

 although a pound will go a great way when properly diluted. 



Successful Wheat Growing. 

 Mr. Wallace Sigerson, 8t. Louis, Mo., says that "Mr. Bamber, 

 whose farm is 28 miles below here, in Illinois, sold his crop of 

 ■wheat from 30 acres for $3,500. Average yield, 33| bushels per 

 acre. St. Louis is the center of the best wheat region in the 

 United States. The Avhole region can be made to average forty 

 bushels per acre. Bat fruit-growing is more profitable than 

 ■wheat. The Leonard grape has yielded $1,000 an acre. The soil 

 of the American bottom is inexhaustible. It has been cultivated 

 without manure over a hundred years, and portions of it are still 

 for sale at very low rates considering its value." 



Blackberries — Transplanting Wild Ones. 



Mr. John E. Ennis, Lyons, Iowa, " wants to know if common 

 wild l)lackberries will bear transplanting to the garden." 



Mr. Solon Robinson — Yes, with perfect success. The Lawton, 

 the Kittatinny, the Dorchester, the Wilson Early, have all been 

 thus transpl-nted and improved. Plant them in rich, mellow 

 ground, mulched with barnyard manure. 



