No. 144.] 157 



houses, people of easy fortune, and some of rank.) They are done 

 away with speaking of weeds as farmers do. They ought to know 

 the names of those that are most noxious. Botanists do not have 

 weeds, all are plants to them. There is one value in weeds 

 (plants I should say), not so much noticed as it deserves, and that 

 is, their indications of the qualities of soils on which they have 

 established themselves. This remark leads directly to a valuable 

 conclusion, that is, by amending our soils with some constituent 

 not agreeable to the weeds, they all die out. The farmer ought 

 to take note of this, and he can rid his fields of his most trouble- 

 some weeds completely. 



Professor Mapes, referring to Mr. Waring's observations on the 

 excrement of plants, said, that if we take a cabbage, wash it as 

 clean as possible, then put it into perfectly pure water, and let It 

 remain there for some time, there will be found excrementitious 

 matter produced, which, it poured upon a growing cabbage, will 

 kill it, but if poured upon a beet will feed it well and add to its 

 vigor. 



Professor Waring made some remarks on the subject of the 

 adaptation of soils to plants. On the succession on oak forests 

 cleared, by pine trees and others. 



Professor Mapes proposed for our next club the subject of 

 " Summer management of farm manures." 



Mr. Solon Eobinson — "And what weeds are noxious." — 

 Adopted. 



Mr. Stephen Knowlton, of Clinton avenue, Brooklyn, presented 

 to the club a bunch of Egyptian corn, grown by him last season. 

 It was one of the finest ever seen by the members, and the grains 

 were taken by numbers of members for cultivation. This Egyp- 

 tian corn has several names. It is a bunch of grains quite close 

 together, and in such numbers, that the Romans gave it the gene- 

 ral name of m?7/e, or millium — thousand ; hence millet^ or the 

 thousand grains. — Meigs. 



Subjects for next meeting, " Summer management of farm ma- 

 nures," and " What weeds are noxious." 



