378 Transactions of the American Institute. 



put a little salt and lime that the top may be as strong as the bottom. 



If these are kept at sea and in different climate, wh}'- not keep tliem 



on land and in a cool cellar. Should you wish to keep to transport, 



dissolve sufficient gum shellac to make a thin varnish in alcohol, let 



them dry, then, after giving each egg a coat, pack them in bran or 



sawdust. When wanted wash off the varnish, and they are ready to 



cook or to set for liatching. This is not fr-om hearsay, but from 



experience. 



Adjourned. 



October 6, 1868. 



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



Pkunixg Ixstet^ients. 



A correspondent inquires what tool is best for pruning. 



Mr. Wni. -Lawton. — I can do three times as much work with an 

 ordinary, old-fashioned sickle, than with the best garden shears. 



Mr. Horace Greeley. — I am glad that this question has come up. 

 Though much progress has been made in gardening and fruit grow- 

 ing, still much remains to be learned. Our gardeners work with poor 

 tools and at a great disadvantage. We cut up our land into small 

 irregular sections, so that animal labor cannot be applied. Our gar- 

 dens are not established with a view to aid, but rather to embarrass 

 labor. 



Mr. Henry T. Williams. — I have fifteen acres, laid out in such a 

 manner that the rows may be plowed or cultivated both ways. My 

 garden took the prennum last year for being the best kept garden in 

 the county, 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — We need better hand-cultivators than we have 

 now. Some are adapted to sandy land, and will not work at all ou 

 stiff soils. The cutters should be so adjusted as to suit various con- 

 ditions of surface. Much progress has been made in gardening. 

 Onion culture was formerly the most laborious and exacting of root 

 crops, and it took from seventy to eighty days to raise an acre. Xow 

 only fifty days are required, and with improved instruments, less time 

 would do. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller. — By making long, straight rows, you destroy fine 

 effects. A curve is the line of beauty. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — A garden can be laid off in such a way as to 

 look well and still allowing long rows. The more turns a horse 

 makes, the better he works and the less he is fatigued. 



