zoo TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



usually grown about the height of the shoulder. In Italy he had 

 seen them grown upon mulberry trees, which were cultivated to 

 feed the silkworm, thus afibrding a double crop from the same 

 ground. At Fontainbleau there is a grapevine called the King's 

 vine, extending upon a wall for half a mile, the branches falling 

 to the ground and taking root at intervals. 



Prof. Nash said that in France the stakes are placed as closely 

 as we plant corn. Although they are not more than four feet 

 high, yet the vijies may be trained to as great a length as upon 

 any other system. 



FLAX CULTURE. 



Mr. Robinson read a letter from D. Wellman, Jr., of Watertown, 

 Conn., in which he says : 



"It is high time we at the north should look about and see if 

 there is not a substitute for cotton, which will answer our pur- 

 pose equally well, or better; and if there is, use it instead of 

 cotton, and let the south and the world know that we are not 

 dependent on them to furnish us with material to clothe us. 



" There seems to be no difticulty imagined in growing flax. The 

 only question is, can it be manufactured into cloth at an expense 

 which will bring it within the reach of the j)Oorer classes ? That 

 it can be manufactured by machinery there need be no doubt, 

 and this will operate favorably to the consumer. 



" Mr. Dawson, a manufacturer of woolen cloth in Watei-bury, 

 Conn., says that flax can be made into cloth by machinery to 

 advantage ; and I am of opinion that much, if not all, the produc- 

 tive labor preparatory to the spindle and loom can be very much 

 facilitated by Yankee invention. 



"What hinders us from making the experiment?" 



CULTIVATION OF SORGHUM. 



Mr. Robinson read a letter from C. M. L. Andrus, of Somerset, 

 Mich., who says that he procured in 18G0 an iron mill, and that 

 season run some ten barrels of excellent syrup, Avhich induced the 

 planting of so much the past season, that I was unable to run for 

 all that applied, being obliged to send many away. We run, how- 

 ever, between twenty-five and thirty barrels of syrup, most of it 

 of a quality that sells readily for seventy-five cents per g-allon by 

 the barrel. None that have it would be willing to exchange it 

 for the best southern syrup to be had here in the market. I kept 

 an account of all that knew how many rods they had planted, and 



