No. 216] 657 



Alderman Hall then invited Judge Van Wyck to take the chair. 



Governeur Morris. Mr. Governeur Morris states to the Institute, 

 that an insect has made its appearance in his orchards the present 

 year, not hitherto seen by him. It is an oval insect, about half the 

 size of a seed of flax, having six or eight legs, of a dark flesh color. 

 It attacks and destroys the leaf, upon which perhaps will be congre- 

 gated from one to two hundred of them. The leaf curls up, turns 

 black, and is covered with a gluten, which adheres to the fingers, and 

 is difficult to remove. From appearances, the entire leaves will be 

 destroyed. The glue is in great abundance, without color. The 

 question is, Is this a new insect or not? If not, the remedy to des- 

 troy it. 



Mr. Bensen, of Westchester. To defend some of my plants from 

 insects, I planted onions first. When they were up 1 planted cab- 

 bage seeds near them; I had no difficulty with insects. I tried the 

 same plan, with the same success, with radishes. Perhaps alternate 

 rows of onions and turnips would answer well. It will do for cu- 

 cumbers, melons, &c., planted in hills with some onions growing 

 around the hills. This plan will do for a farm. The cost of plant- 

 ing some onion seed may well be borne, if we can save a whole field 

 of turnips by it. 



Roswell L. Colt, of Patterson, New-Jersey. A letter from him to 

 Mr. Wakeman, Corresponding Secretary of the Institute, was read. 

 Mr. Colt presents to the Institute one hundred dollars, to be expend- 

 ed in procuring a perfect analysis of Indian Corn — its grain, stalks, 

 leaves, cobs — in order to determine their true relative values in nu- 

 trition, and the salts contained in the ashes. Mr. Colt observes that 

 he tried some Jersey white corn, shelled a heaped bushel of the ears, 

 and found half a bushel and six quarts of shelled corn; he weighed 

 the cobs and found it seven pounds. He remarks that if we raise in 

 the United States fire hundred millions of bushels of corn, the cobs 

 must weigh three and an half millions of tons. Now, if there is nu- 

 triment in these cobs, we throw that away — if there is potash in it, 

 as all our women say, what amount ? 



Mr. Colt observes, that he has more potato blossoms now on half 

 an acre, than he had last year on 45 acres, and the plants look more 

 flourishing. 



Mr. Wakeman called for the reading of an extract from a letter 

 from the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn, Mayor of Roxbury to him. 

 [Am. Inst.] RR 



