276 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



ling so as to be fit for spinning. It is not necessary to pull flax. 

 There is no fibre within two inches of the ground, and the roots 

 are in the way. It should be cut with a reaping or mowing 

 machine. The fibre of the common milkweed promises to be 

 valuable. The length is about equal to that of the Sea Island 

 cotton ; and they are tapering, with points so delicate as to float 

 in the atmosphere. This is the fibre of the stalk, and not of the 

 seed vessel. It has also been ascertained from experiments, that 

 the juice of the plant yields a substan.ce similar to India rubber. 

 The stalks may be passed through crushing rollers to extract the 

 gum, and then rotted and passed through the Sanford machine. 

 He had tried about 100 lbs. of it this year ; and it might be even 

 more profitable than flax. He should make a more extended 

 trial the next season. 



GRAPE CULTURE. 



Mr. Robinson read an article furnished by Dr. George Pepper 

 Norris, of Wilmington, Del., upon the cultivation of foreign 

 grapes in cheap glass houses, in wdiich he says: 



" Structures in which foreign grapes can be successfully grown 

 "without fire-heat, can be so cheaply constructed that no farmer 

 who has any ambition that way need be w^ithout one. The supe- 

 rior quality of the fruit, the greater security against the early 

 spring frosts, and the length of time we are able to preserve the 

 fruit after it has matured, all combine to render buildings of this 

 kind very desirable. 



" Grape-house, or cold vineries, are of two shapes— the lean-to 

 or the span-roofed. The former are generally liked best, and are 

 usually thotight cheapest, especially if there is an old back gar- 

 den wall, against which they may be built. Cheap structures 

 may be made of wood. The foundation should be laid of stone, 

 at least three feet below the surface. 



"AcheAp, good back wall can be had by placing cedar or 

 chestnut posts well in the ground and nailing thereon inch plowed 

 and grooved flooring-boards. On the top of the back wall is 

 placed a wall-plate, on which the rafters are to rest. On the 

 front wall-plate will hang two feet wide glass sash, to open or 

 shut at pleasure. The back wall should be nine feet high, and 

 the front one three feet. The roof must be entirely of glass, 

 and can be cheaply made by using hemlock or yellow pine rafters 

 five 'feet apart, between which strips of board two inches by one 



