No. 124.] 109 



Dr. D. P. Gardner, chairman of he committee on the analysation 



of soils, reported as follows : 



Report . 



Your committee beg to report the following propositions as there- 

 suit of their careful consideration : 



1st. That farmers who have stores of manures to apply to their 

 lands, shall furnish a specimen of their lands to ascertain if it will be 

 an economical addition. 



2d. That those who have tracts of lands which they desire to 

 improve, or wiiich are deficient in fertility, will find it advantageous 

 to learn by the analysis of specimens of soil from such tracts the ap- 

 propriate amendments. 



3d. That in introducing the culture of clover, &c., on lands which 

 will not produce them, the most advisable method is to have an ana- 

 lysis of the land made specifically to learn what mineial matter is 

 wanting. 



4th. In submitting specimens for analysis, all information of a 

 chemical nature should be sought from the analyser, and every con- 

 dition of drainage, position, subsoil, &c., furnished with the speci- 

 mens of soil. 



5th. The specimen of soil should be an average from the field, and 

 about 4 lbs. in weight to be forwarded to the Repository of the In- 

 stitute. 



6th. The analysis required is not quantitative, and should not cost 

 more than from $2 to $5. 



7th. We therefore recommend the members of the Farmers' Club, 

 and all other persons interested in the advance of correct agriculture, 

 to forward their specimens here for analysis. 



8th. That the Farmers' Club recommend all specimens to be sub- 

 mitted to a competent chemist. 



Yours respectfully, 



D. P. Gardner, ? ^ 

 Edward Clark, \ Committee. 



Gen. Clark moved that Dr. Gardner be appointed on behalf of the 

 Club, to examine specimens of soils which shall be exhibited by far- 

 mers, and to report their chemical qualities. Unanimously adopted. 



Mr. Wakeman presented a letter from Dr. Stebbens of Northamp- 

 ton, Mass., on the subject of Bark Silk, made from the fibres of the 

 young Mulberry tree. The Doctor has learned from a Frtnch pub- 

 lication that it has been done in France, but the modus operandi is 

 not described. He will be able this spring to report the effect of 

 winter frost. Has tried boiling water, soaking, &c., but has not ful- 

 ly succeeded. 



The French publication states as a fact that seedling mulberry 

 leaves will feed nearly double the worms that leaves will from old 

 trees — that the young leaves should be fed not only in the early sta- 

 ges of the worm, but the day before and after moulting — that it i« 



