AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 607 



as poor crops. He then related an anecdote of a neighbor who 

 practiced upon this rule, by using twelve bushels per acre of this 

 mixture : Four bushels of wood ashes, one bushel of shell lime, 

 one-half bushel of plaster, one-quarter bushel of salt. The result 

 was an excellent crop, while, right along side, a crop without this 

 mixture was not worth digging. 



Solon Robinson — Here is an important little item if true, which 

 I cut from The Homestead. It is stated the following process is 

 practiced in Scotland to preserve potatoes for food : 



" Diluted ammonical water in the proportion of an ounce of 

 the liquor of ammonia of the druggist, to a pint of river or rain 

 water, has of late late years been successfully employed for check- 

 ing the vegetative power of potatoes, and prolonging their suitable- 

 ness for food. Potatoes immersed four or five days in this liquid, 

 retain all their edible properties unimpaired for a twelve month," 

 improved in flavor and mealiness. The effect of the liquid is to 

 consolidate their substance and extract their moisture. After 

 immersion the potatoes should be spread so as to dry, and will 

 then keep good for ten months ; contributing in this way not only 

 to the comfort of families, but also to the health of mariners ex- 

 posed to long voyages at sea." 



The regular subject of the day, " The cultivation of the Straw- 

 berry." 



Solon Robinson — To open the discussion upon this subject, I 

 ask leave to read the following letter, from Mr. L. A. Brown : 



West Haven, Conn., April 9, 1858. 

 I see at your last discussion that Mr. Pardee makes the asser- 

 tion that strawberries can be grown for fifty cents per bushel. 

 Now, as I have had some experience in that line, having raised 

 them so as to make the receipts over $1,300 to the acre, at twenty 

 cents per quart, and having come to a different conclusion, I 

 want the proof to accompany such statements, as I believe they 

 can never be fulfilled. Now, if Mr. Pardee can do it, let him 

 publish another book detailing the process, and I will give five 

 times as much for a copy as I did for his other work, and thou- 

 sands more will do the same. As your next discussion is about 



