454 Transactions of the American Institute, 



about two cents per pound. The ice is formed by the evaporation 

 of ammonia. He was not aware that this process had been intro- 

 duced to any extent in this country. 



The Secretary. — I understand that Prof. Vanderweyde, of this 

 city, has an invention for making ice, by artificial means, which will 

 be soon introduced to the public. Adjourned. 



February 25, 1868. 



Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair ; Mr. Johk W. Chambers, Secretary. 



OSIER WILLOW. 



Mr. Smallwood, Warsaw, N. Y. — The ground on which I culti- 

 vated willow is a black loam, underdrained and well plowed. The 

 cuttings should be about eight inches long, planted in rows, thirty 

 inches apart in the rows. Cultivate two years, keeping the ground 

 free from grass and weeds, until they become strong enough to 

 cover the ground. They must be cut every year, and the fourth 

 crop with a full one. As soon as the snow disappears cut and 

 tie the willow canes in bundles, and set them in water three or four 

 inches deep. When the buds start they will peel, and we use a 

 machine for this purpose. Good willows yield about two tons per 

 acre, worth ten cents a pound. 



LANDS IN FLOllIDA. 



Mr. J. H. Sanborn, Fernandina, Fla. — From the thousands of 

 letters which I receive, I am convinced that many people are pre- 

 vented from coming hither through their inability to buy the good 

 land, while scores who do come, return North discouraged with the 

 poor lands of this State. I have made arrangements with the 

 Florida Kailroad Company to give away one-half of their lands, 

 some four hundred thousand acres, so that the poor and disheartened 

 may have pleasant homes and good farms. This offer is extended 

 only to actual settlers. These lands lie along the railroad, and may 

 be selected by the settler himself, anywhere between the Atlantic 

 Ocean and the Gulf or Mexico. I believe this is the only railroad 

 company in the whole world that gives away its lands. This will 

 of itself bring a large stream of emigration, but add to it our mag- 

 nificent climate, and no other portion of our country can oflfer equal 

 inducements. The western half of these lands has a rich sugar 



