378 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Mr. Tlios. Cavaiiach. — It depends upon the variety of the hens 

 whether they could be kept with j)rotit or not. He had had Brah- 

 mas for the hist three or four j'ears ; they were a fine looking fowl, 

 sometimes weighing from ten to twelve pounds, but they were the 

 most unprofitable kind a man could keep, on account of their 

 unproductiveness. 



Ml'. J. N. Nutler, East Bridgewater, Mass. : I have a barn cellar 

 thirty feet square ; one-third is used for a henery. The hens have 

 a warm place lighted by windows. I keep fifteen, and have a good 

 supply of eggs all winter ; during cold weather from three to six 

 a da}^, and now from seven to ten. Each morning I give them one 

 quart of meal mixed with hot water ; in the afternoon a quart of 

 corn, sometimes pork scraps ; keep water by them, also old mortar 

 and clam shells. The cost of eggs does not exceed eighteen cents 

 a dozen. The variety of hens is the White Leghorn, which I pre- 

 fer, because they are good layers, and seldom want to set, but 

 they are tender and must be kept warm. I think ten enough to 

 keep together, unless the inclosure is quite large, and I shall 

 reduce my flock when the safety of the garden requires they shall 

 be shut up. 



if'RUITS FOR THE FaMILY GaRDEN. 



Mr. Thos. Cavanach then reail the following paper : 



Gi'apes. 



Four of the best grapes for general cultivation — first, the Con- 

 cord, for hardiness and productiveness, is without a rival ; Hart- 

 ford Prolific is valuable on account of its earliness, ripening about 

 the 15th of September. The only fault it has is its tendency to 

 drop its berries when fully ripe ; for flavor, Delaware and Iowa ; 

 in favorable situations the Catawba is nearly, if not quite, equal 

 in flavor to the Iowa. 



Ha^pberries. 



Brinkle's Orange is a beautiful berry, in color a rich golden 

 yellow ; for flavor it is Unsurpassed ; the worst that can be said 

 of it is, that it is not perfectly hardy ; in exposed situations it will 

 need to be laid down and covered with earth in the fall ; for profit 

 the best varieties are the Doolittle Black Cap, Philadelphia and 

 Hudson River Antwerp ; these are hardy and extremely product- 

 ive ; the thornless Black Cap is quite an acquisition ; the ladies 

 need no longer be afraid of torn dresses or scratched hands. 



