PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 51 



8uli\ The bark of this jihint, to<:^i.'tlier with the woody p;ut, whicli is very 

 white, I doubt not might he nuulo into pood paper.' 



" As an enemy tu the farmer, the Indian mallow is seetmd only to the 

 Canada Thistle, which somebody, not long ago, reeommended as a paper- 

 making plant. The man wlu) shall devise pj-aotieal mt'ai\s of e.\t<'rminatirig 

 both plants will be a public benefactor. The 'rank, siekeiiiiig odor ' of the 

 Indian Mallow is so ofl'ensive that no animal will cat it. Though an annual 

 plant, it is abnost impossible to extirpate it. It will llonrish and ripen, 

 and spread its seeds in the wrll traveled highway. It is so tenacious of 

 life that you eaiinot traniple it to death. Someb(»dy has also been trying 

 to revive the memory of the ' Urtica Whitlowi, or Whitlow's Nettle,' as a 

 fibrous plant. I reineinlK.'r ' Pr(»fessor Whitlow' very well, and the favor- 

 able report which Citizen Genet and some other men made respecting the 

 professor's nettle. I resided at Albany, N. Y., when the professor was 

 trying to bring his nettle into public notice. This was a great while ago; 

 yet I trust there is yetsulficient common sense am^ng the people t<j prevent 

 them from cultivating thistles, nettles, or hulian mallows — at least so long 

 as they ran raise flax and hemp." 



Mr. Wm. It. Prince. — It is "AhuUlon Aciccnna of Torrey and Gra}- — Sida 

 AbutUon of most previous authors. It is an annual weed of ver}' repelling 

 appearance, throe or four feet high, much branched, found wild along our 

 liighways, in numerous waste places and more especially where there arc 

 manure heajis, or where the manure has been removed, leaving the soil 

 cnriche<l. It is a native of the East Indies, and pr(»duces abundant seeds. 

 As it appears ta be such a pest in son»e parts of Illinois, I will suggest a 

 very sure mode by which it may be nearly or quite extirpated, if all the 

 neighb(»rhoo<l will adopt the same means of riddance. At the commence- 

 ment of its blooming, mow down or cut down with a sickle every plant. 

 Do this for three years, and the seeds which may still remain in the earth 

 to be germinated will be few and easily subdued." 



The view of the question expressed in the closing sentence of the above 

 letter is that of every member of this Club — that is, that no ])lant has yet 

 been discovered that can compete with tlux and hemp, and all the talk 

 about substituting this weed or that is worse than idle talking — it is mis- 

 chievous. 



Sorgo Begasse — Its Use. 



Geo. L. Dinsmore, Eagle V. (>., Lasalle Comity, III., says: Sorgo Be- 

 gasse i.H verj' useful for .nnilching fruit trees; and for bedding cattle, horses 

 and hugs, there is nothing better. 



Blackberries — Selecting A\'ild Ones. 



Mr. Dinsmore also writes as follows, and we recommend others to do as 

 hr has done: " I am trying some of our wild blackbi'rries, which I found 

 last season in ratnbling through our barrens; they were the largest I ever 

 - iw, I marked them, and this spring I transplanted them to my garden, 

 and the most of them are now doing well. I am not very sanguine in pro- 

 ducing another liawton, altlDUgh I have faith in sonie inqirovcment. We 

 have abundance of the black raspberry from the wild, transplanted to the 



