298 TRANSACTIONS OF THK 



La R,'vue Horticole. Parisj 1859. 



LES RAISINS BAEBUS. {Bearded Grapes.) 

 A short time ago we gave an account of this phenomenon, and we now 

 give a note from F. Boncenne, a judge of the civil tribunal of Fontenoy- 

 Compte (Vendee), stating that this wonderful beard, gazed at as an ap- 

 proaching old age of grape, denoting the end, is, after all, an invention 

 entirely human ; pardon me the saying, " a little horticole recreation " 

 which the greater part of our gardeners have done to make merry those 

 who come to look at the gardens. 



BLACK SWEET CORN. 



Wm. Lawton. — I present some curious specimens of dark-husked corn. 

 All the leaves and stalks are purple, and so is the cob, while the grains are 

 white. Now, this dark color may have some effect upon the ripening of 

 the seed, on account of the color absorbing the rays of heat more freely. 

 Other ears were exhibited, the grains of which were dark, which grew 

 upon white cobs and white stalks. 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORN. 



Mr. Doughty exhibited specimens of the corn with every kernel covered 

 with a husk, and also ears from the same seed, grov/n on the same stalk, 

 entirely free from these surperfluous husks. 



Secretary Meigs. — I grew the Jersey sweet corn, of shrivelled grains, 

 more than forty years ago. I found the growth very uniform. The ears 

 small, and quality for the table when green, very fine. I procured some of 

 the Mandan corn, brought by Lewis & Clark, and first made known to the 

 Atlantic States. It was white, ears quite small, not more than seven 

 inches long, and the earliest we had seen. I had ears fit for table by the 

 fourth of July, on this island. 



R. 0. Pardee. — I grew the black sweet corn ten years ago, and found it 

 much sweeter than the old sort. I don't know that it has any other advan- 

 tages, and its color is objectionable. 



TANNERS' WASTE FOR MANURE. 



Solon Rohinson. — I hold in my hand a letter from Samuel R. Eells, of 

 Northampton, Penn., who wants to know if tanners' scraps (skivings) are 

 good for manure, and how to use them. Also, if horns and horn piths are 

 or can be used to advantage ? He says : " I receive a great many good 

 ideas from your club, through the columns of the Tribune, hence my appli- 

 cation." 



Now I say, that the information that may be given here to this individu- 

 al, may be beneficial to a great many other people. 



The Chairman. — When I first used these tanners' scraps, I found that 

 they injured the crops. Now, I consider a ton of these scraps, properly 

 decomposed by the aid of the oil of vitriol, and composted with swamp 

 muck, worth as much as three-fourths of a ton of Peruvian guano. The 



