AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 379 



I believe that those plants and trees which are indigenous with 

 lis, and have of course gone through all the changes of tempera- 

 ture for probably about 4,000 years, have so adapted their habits 

 as not to become developed prematurely, by even these warm 

 winter months, but wait until due spring time. While other 

 trees and plants, which have been brought here, and generally 

 from Southern Europe, since Columbus, are more apt to become 

 developed, and be afterwards killed ])y frost. 



From Messrs. Parsons, from their nurseries at Flushing, Long 

 Island, January 29th, 185S : 



Wliite oak, Norway maple, sugar maple, white birch, white ox- 

 heart cherry, Damascus rose, Baron Cuvier, canoe birch, black 

 walnut, black birch, Cerasus Virginiana, (wild cherry,) yellow 

 birch. 



From Dr. Stark, of Bedford, Long Island : 

 Ox-heart cherry, natural peach. 



From Mr. Oddie's garden, Bedford : 



Lawton blackberry, weej^ing willow, raspberry. 



From Henry Meigs, Jr., corner of 7th avenue and 13th street: 

 Wistaria, trumpet creeper, tree cranberry, of Lake Winnipis- 

 siogee, prairie rose, Isabella grape. 



The regular subjects of the day were then called up : 



THE POTATO. 



Solanum Tuborosum, or Fihcous rooted JYightshade 

 Mr. Pell remarked, the varieties of potatoes that can be pro- 

 duced from a single seed ball, may truly be said to be almost in- 

 numerable. All differing in the sliape and color of the leaves, 

 time of ripening, color of the interior of the skin, the taste, farin- 

 aceous, watery, and glutinous principally, soil required, and time 

 to plant. No vegetable production has proved itself so essentially 

 important to the world as this native of Soutli America, which 

 two hundred years ago was neglected, little used, and really con- 

 sidered unfit food for human beings. Since then it has been mul- 

 tiplied, and improved, so as to form the chief subsistence for many 

 millions of people, and is destined to maintahi its inlluence on all 

 successive generations of men, from the incontrovertible fact, that 



