No. 4. Officers of the Keiccaslle Ag. Society. — Ed. Notices. 



133 



IMiiladelphia, had solved that difficult pro- 

 liloin in which European gardeners had 

 tailed, of hyhridisinn- tlie Alpine strawberry 

 with the larfjcr cultivated kinds, and thus 

 producinof a perpetual bearer, the hcad-gar- 

 diMier, Mr. Ingram, expressed the strongest 

 interest; said he had not succeeded in his 

 various attempts, and begged that I would 

 endeavour to forward him a few plants, in 

 order that he might serve the royal table 

 with this delicious fruit, at unseasonable 

 periods. I have promised for my friend, Dr. 

 13., that the Queen shall be gratified ; she 

 iias already eaten canvass-back ducks from 

 America with gusto, from a parcel sent over 

 to the late Granville Penn, who forwarded a 

 portion to his neighbour at Windsor. I little 

 thought, when going to England, that I could 

 susrgest any novelty for the Queen's table! 

 B}-^ the frequency with which the subject 

 was mentioned, I was impressed with its im- 

 portance, and have written to Dr. Brinckle 

 to induce him to fulfil my promise made in 

 liis name. You shall be carried in my next 

 to Windsor interior, and see the gold! — 

 Smilli's Weekly Volume. 



Officers of Ncav Castle Agricultural 

 Society. 



At the annual meeting of this Society, 

 held in Wilmington on the 25th ult, Dr. 

 Thomson, who has been its efficient presi- 

 dent for these eight years past, designing 

 hereafter to give his time more exclusively 

 to his profession, declined a re-election, and 

 the following officers were chosen for the 

 ensuing year : 



President — James Canby. 



Vice Presidents — George Maxwell, Jos. 

 Lloyd, Eli Wilson, C. P. Holcomb, Jesse 

 Gregg, Wm. Rothwell, C. J. Du Pont, John 

 R. Latimer, Edward Tatnall, John Jones. 



Corresponding Secretary — C. P. Hol- 

 comb. 



Recording Secretary — James Webb. 



Treasurer — Edward Tatnall. 



Counsellor — Edward W. Gilpin. 



Directors — John C. Clark, Samuel Canby, 

 Joseph Lloyd, M. B. Ocheltree, John W. 

 Andrews, Bryan Jackson, Jos. Carr, Henry 

 Latimer, James N. Cleland, Henry Du Pont, 

 Wm. Robinson, J. S. H. Boies, James J. 

 Brindley, Philip Reybold, William Tatnall, 

 \Vm. S. Boulden, John Richardson, John 

 Higgins. 



Directors of the Horticultural Depart- 

 ment — John R. Latimer, Samuel Canby, Jas. 

 AVebb, Wm. Tatnall, James V. Emlen, Ziba 

 Ferris. 



Fifteenth Meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion for the advancement of Science. 



Germination of Seeds. — " On the Influ- 

 ence of Galvanic Electricity on the Germi- 

 nation of Seeds," by Prof. E. Solly. In a 

 series of experiments, in which the seeds of 

 barley, wheat, rye, turnips, and radish, were 

 exposed to tlie influence of a feeble current 

 of electricity, the plants came up sooner and 

 were healthier than others that had not been 

 electrified. On the other hand, a number 

 of experiments on other seeds had given 

 opposite results — proving, either that the 

 germination of some seeds was retarded, 

 whilst that of others was facilitated by elec- 

 tricity, or that the effects observed in both 

 cases were accidental. Out of a series of 

 .55 experiments on difterent seeds, 21 ap- 

 peared in favour of electricity, 10 against it, 

 and 25 showed no eftect whatever; and in 

 carefully counting the whole number of 

 seeds in the entire series, there were found 

 1,250 of the electrified, and 1,253 of the 

 non-electrified. In conclusion. Prof Soily 

 stated that he felt doubtful whether the ef- 

 fects observed were really due to the influ- 

 ence of electricity. 



Queen Bees. — Mr. Westwood made some 

 remarks on Entomology. After shortly no- 

 ticing the general economy of the hive bee 

 as to the production of queens and the 

 swarming of casts, he contended, from the 

 analogy between the circumstances con- 

 nected with the latter event and those 

 which accompany the swarming of ants, 

 gnats, white ants, mayflies, &c. 1st, That 

 the swarming of insects has for its principal 

 object the union of the sexes; 2nd, That, 

 from analogy with other insects subject to 

 swarming, it is to be inferred that that spe- 

 cies does not differ in this respect from other 

 swarming species; and, 3rd, That it is the 

 newly hatched, and not the old queen which 

 leads off" the swarm. — Living Age. 



THE FARMERS' CABINET, 



AND 



.A-MHRICillT HERD-BOOK. 



Philadelphia, Eleventh Month, 1845. 



The Annual Meeting of Itie Bucks County Agricul- 

 tural Society, was held at Newtown on the IGth ult.^ 

 and was largely attended by the farmers and others of 

 the vicinity. 



The stock exhibited, consisting of horses, cattle_ 

 sheep and hogs, manifested great attention to its im 



