PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. Gl 



inflicted upon Illin<)i^^, tlicic is nothing' l»iit Cojipevlic'iids that can ho worse 

 for its intliistrioiis fanners. 



Wild Flowers from Iowa. 



.^hs. Mary Treat of Hhiirstown, Iowa, sends some specimens of grasses 

 g'rowii ill Iowa — one a pretty flowering" grass witli wliito bh)Ssoms, otliers 

 with lilue, antl still anoliier with a pinkish or <h'sh-coh)red tinge. You 

 can form no idea of tlieir hi'aiily from tlie dried specimens, except you 

 have seen it growing in masses as I have found it this spring. Its botan- 

 ical name is Lisi/rinchiinn Aun'pfs; tlio next is u little bulbous plant, 

 familiarly called star fjrcsa, frequently abundantly intermixed with the 

 al>o\ I'. It is about the same hight and blossoms with the List/rinchium, 

 so that by blending the four colors, it would be pretty for borders. Its 

 botanical name, Ili/poxis Ereda. At the left is a plant far more elegant 

 than many of our cultivated flowers; I infer it has nevcn* been cultivated 

 as I have not found it in any of the catalogues. It coidd be easily grown 

 in almost any soil. The specimen I send is small, the flowers Hot so many 

 nor perfect as in larger plants. The leaves are all radical, two of which I 

 inclose. Scape usually about a foot high. It is found in order, Primulaccfv; 

 name, Dodecatheou media. There are some three or four colors, but I should 

 call them only varieties of I), media, seeds of which she would forward to 

 any lover of flowers wiio would be willing to exchange rare sorts with 

 her. 



Mr. \Vm. 11. I'rince. — one of these flowers, known as " Shooting Star," is 

 the Docafhan Meaili. It is also called American cowslip — not the one 

 that grows in marshes. It is very abundant in California, and is occa- 

 sionally fotnid wild in the Atlantic States. It is grown as a fine orna- 

 ment t(» gardens, and sold by florists. 



3Ir. A. S. Fuller. — I have it — two varieties, from Wisconsin. Another 

 f the plants in the letter is very common at the west, where it is known 

 as " blue-eyed grass." It is the Ci/.-<rrinclium. 



City Sewage. 



Mr. .Solon Robinson. — Alderman Mcchi says: "I consider the sewage of 

 liOiidoii worth more than £2,000,(100 sterling annually to British farmers 

 delivered on their farms. Probably' the rate|»ayers of London may ulti- 

 mately fairly clear JE2">0,000 <»f this anujunt, th(! rest to go to those compa- 

 nies which may undertake; to convey it into the C(»untry. The wlxde 

 matter is wonderfully simplified by our Metropolitan Hoard of Works. 

 Their two great covered tanks, of 1.5 acres each, at Balking and at I'lum- 

 'ead will receive all the sewage of the metropolis. From those tanks it 

 may be made to flow buck to the fields from which it came. Katepayers 

 must take care that their representatives at the Metropolitan IJoard of 

 Works do not part entirely with the control of so valuable a treasure, 

 -Mthough not at this moment sufHcientl}' appreciated, the tim*; will come 

 when it will yield a large revenue to towns, as well as to the companies 

 which convey it and the farmers who use it. Hut then, say others, how 

 are you to get it on the farmers' lands? The engineering difliculties of so 

 doing arc insignificant in comparison with our railways. It is a simple 



