352 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



EGG EXAMINERS. 



Mr. Cloiigh exhibited a little contrivance, called the eoniscope, to detect 

 bad eggs. The egg is placed in a hole of a box, and the light reflects on a 

 mirror inside, and tells unerringly the true condition of the egg. A little 

 practice enables any one to discover whether eggs are fresh or not. 



A NEW FLY CATCHER. 



Mr. Clough, who appears to be a genuine Yankee, exhibited a new con- 

 trivance for catching flies. A wheel is wound up and runs by clock-work, 

 and cages all the flies that light upon a molasses-covered surface The 

 caged are used to feed hens with, being valued as high as corn by the 

 bushel. 



THE JENNY LIND OR WOOD'S POTATO. 



Solon Robinson. — Here is an interesting letter from John C. Policy, 

 dated Dewitt, Clinton county, Iowa, April '2, 1859, giving the origin of the 

 Wood's potato. The writer says : 



" In reading the report of the American Institute Farmers' Club, of 

 March 21, I noticed in a letter of S. W. Brown nf Brimfield, Hampden 

 county, Mass., that the potato known in market as the 'Jenny Lind ' is 

 Wood's seedling. I have often seen the Jenny Lind potato advertised, 

 but did not know it was only another name for the Wood potato. Perhaps 

 your Club will take an interest in the history of that potato, and as I am 

 intimately acquainted with it, I will give it in brief. Isaac N. Wood, a 

 farmer, living in Holland, Hampden county, Mass., in the fall of 1845 or 

 '46, gathered a few potato balls from the vines of the Peachblow potato, 

 and the following spring planted some of the seeds. They grew feebly the 

 first year, the tops bearing very little resemblance to those of potatoes. In 

 the full he harvested about two quarts, varying in size from that of a grape 

 to a crow's egg. There were throe distinct varieties in this first crop. 

 The following spring he planted them in a sandy soil, and raised from one 

 kind about ninety pounds, most of them of large size. The two other va- 

 rieties yielded very little, and were not preserved ; the former were care- 

 fully stored for seed. Their appearance the second year, from the original 

 seed, was the same as it is to-day ; and it seemed as mature then as it was 

 after years of cultivation. It had the same rough appearance then that 

 it has now ; the eyes were numerous and deep set. The next year, he cut 

 these ninety pounds of seed in such a way as to leave but one eye on a piece, 

 and put three pieces in a hill. The hills were li feet apart one way, and 

 3^ the other. Seeding in this way, he had enough to plant one-fourth of 

 an acre. The ground was dry and sandy, and highly manured. I saw 

 them several times during the season, and have never seen a greater growth 

 of tops than on that piece. It was impossible to tell, by the tops, which 

 way the rows went, even while they were standing up, and before they were 

 thrown down by the wind and their own weight. He harvested from that 

 piece 130 bushels of potatoes ; some of them were remarkably large, weigh- 



