»b TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



cut back the plants will bloom again late in the fall. Plants that can he 

 raised with the least care are the kinds that will be generally most admired 

 by that class who have not much time to devote to flower cultivation. 



Mr. Fuller. — The best list of flowers and plants that I have seen in any 

 book, is one in a work upon the garden, lately published by Fowler & 

 Wells. It is highly important that persons, in sending for plants, should 

 give the botanical name. 



USE OF LIME FOR TREES. 



Solon Robinson read a letter from Wm. P. Gates, Windham, Conn., 

 which, alluding to a former discussion before the club, inquires : "Why 

 use lime with ashes, since the analysis of ashes gives lime as one of the 

 component parts, and as minerals having progressed through plants are 

 considered more efficient and better adapted to the want of plants ? Is 

 not the lime in ashes sufficiently large for the use of plants ? One ques- 

 tion further — Cannot apple trees in want of lime be supplied in sufficient 

 quantities by the application of unleached ashes ? If they can, it would 

 seem to be the best application, inasmuch as you get other necessary ingre- 

 dients at the same time." 



Thos. W. Field. — The analysis of ashes given is one from pear wood ashes, 

 which a farmer can never get in the ashes he biiys for manure, and hence 

 the advantage of adding lime. There is a luuch larger amount of lime 

 needed on trees and their fruit than of potash, when used as a fertilizer. 



Solon Robinson. — Of the use of lime for trees, I would say that the very 

 best application I ever saw for peach trees, both to give them vigor and 

 stop the borers, is half a bushel of lime placed around the crown of the 

 roots. 



Prof. Mapcs.— In New Jersey we get a good many ashes that are not 

 leached, and these contain lime that is far more valuable than that from 

 limestone. The principal value of leached ashes is the phosphate ef lime, 

 and that can be obtained from other sources much cheaper. The potash of 

 ashes from a burnt haystack is more valuable than potash found in any 

 mineral that contains potash. So are the ashes of any tree containing pot- 

 ash worth more than potash, lime or soda in a mineral condition. The 

 higher the organism from which we derive plant food, -the more valua- 

 ble it is. The blood of a man is of far more value than the blood of a 

 lower order of animals. Now the top of Bunker Hill monument is com- 

 posed of the ingredients that in a decomposed state would grow cabbage, 

 yet who would think of trying to grow a crop on the top of that monument ? 

 You must look at plants as the crystallization of the ingredients of which 

 they are composed. Millions of dollars are wasted every year by pursuing 

 false theories. Now, it is a fact that the ashes of a rose bush are worth a 

 hundred times more than the ashes of an oak tree to grow roses. They 

 are all ready to assimilate into a new growth of rosewood. Leaves and 

 grape-vine pieces laid about the roots of a grape-vine form its best fertilizer. 

 The potash of ashes from a fire that has been much burned, in an air-tight 



