134 TRANSACTIONS OF THE,AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Concord, Hartford Prolific, Diana, Delaware and Clinton. But the fact 1 

 wish to bring to your notice is, that the Clinton is preferred in my family 

 above all others. If so, why not place it in the foremost ranks as a good 

 grape for hardiness and prolificness ? But it should hang upon the vine 

 till frost, in order to mature its good qualities. We have also succeeded 

 in cultivating most of the small fruits as well as apples, but peaches are 

 uncertain." 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I would recommend Mr. H. to try Norton's Vir- 

 ginia, as that succeeds admirably in Missouri, and is preferable to Clinton, 

 particularly as a wine grape. 



The Chess Question. 



Mr. Egbert Cowles, Farmington, Connecticut, relates his experience at 

 some length upon the chess question. He says that sixty years ago he 

 assisted to clear oif the forest and sow a field of wheat, in which were two 

 hollows where the water stood during winter. "In the spring the plants 

 in these hollows in this stage of growth could not be distinguished from 

 wheat, yet to my surprise, when we came to gather the crop in one of the 

 spots indicated, so far as the water had stood the crop was entirely chess, 

 without intermixture of wheat, while the surrounding crop was clean 

 wheat, and the line between the wheat and chess was as distinctly marked 

 as the boundaries of our field, and all OA'er the remainder of this field of 

 some ten acres there was not one head of chess to be found. Now the 

 answer to the question, ' how chess originates," is of no practical import- 

 ance, because it is rarely troublesome or injurious, yet it is interesting as 

 a question of science, and we ought to be able to answer it; and I confess 

 I can come to no other result in my case, from the facts I have given, but 

 that the water standing upon my wheat plants so far changed their nature 

 as to produce a bastard seed called chess. If any of your experienced cor- 

 respondents can give any facts that will enlighten us, or that will explain 

 the fact^ I have given so as to show a different conclusion from mine, I 

 shall feel thankful for the information." 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — And so would a good many other persons who 

 have had the same experience. No member of this club will offer to in- 

 dorse the heresy that wheat turns to chess, but some of them have seen 

 chess grow where nothing but wheat was sown. 



What Ails the Bees ? 



Mr. William G. Tritt, Meadville, Pennsylvania, answers T. B. Whipple's 

 inquiry why bees leave the hive, that it is the want of ventilation. Mr. 

 Tritt asks the following question : What is honey-dew, or from whence 

 does it result ? He is respectfully referred to Webster's dictionary, 



Substitute for Coffee. 



Mr. Egbert Cuwles, Farmington, Connecticut, says that he has tried 

 nearly all the articles recommended as substitutes for coffee, and finds 

 nothing that equals beets, prepared in the same way as directed for chicory, 

 that is by drying and roasting and afterward mixing with coffee in such 

 proportion as may be desired, or as experiment indicates may be palatable. 



