PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 205 



business. From twenty years' experiencx^ and observation in Iowa, I find 

 tliat corn and grass are the best paying' and snrcst crops that can be raised 

 with little labor. To be sure, sorgo, onions, tobacco, and many other things 

 might pay greater profits on the land, but they require more labor. As I 

 see from the market reports, pineapple cheese sells higher than any other, 

 I should like to have the particulars of the process of making. 



Flowers — Change of Color. 



Mr. D Williams, Fly Creek, Otsego county. New York, says : "I have 

 a dwarf geranium, the Tom Thumb, three years old. The color (jf the 

 blooms has always been salmon red until this winter ; now the flower is 

 pure white, with a pink eye. I have shown the fl<jwers to several of the 

 best florists in Cooperstown; they cannot account for it. Can you, or some 

 of the members of the Club, do so? The plant has been occasionally 

 watered with a solution of sulphate of ammonia, one ounce to a gallon of 

 water. The change is a decided improvement, if it will remain as it is 

 now." The writer also says : " One of my neighbors has a Garnctt Chili 

 potato weighing four pounds seven ounces. Can any members of the 

 Club, inside or out, beat it?" 



A lady present stated that she had frequently seen the color of hydran- 

 gea changed by the use of different kinds of manure. 



Mr. Solon Robinson stated it was reported a few years ago that ex-Mayor 

 Tiemann, who is a color manufacturer, had used the refuse of his factory 

 upon his garden, and the result was a very remarkable change in the color 

 of various flowers. I believe it is a well known fact that the use of* char- 

 coal darkens the cohu* of many flowers. 



Mr. Wm. S Carpenter called attention to the great improvements that 

 had been made within a few years in growing hollyhocks. The}^ have be- 

 come quite fashionable among cultivators of flowers in Europe, and several 

 of the members expressed themselves favorable to their extended cultiva- 

 tion in this country. 



Hedge Plants. 

 A farmer of Penn Yan, N. Y., Avants the Club to discuss the question of 

 hedging, and what is the best hedge plant, because, whether we like it or 

 not, we shall soon be driven to the necessity of making live fence, not only 

 on the prairie but in all the Eastern States. It costs more now in the old- 

 est settled portions of New York for tlu; fence of the farm, than the land is 

 worth without fence. Rochester nurserymen r.re selling and recommend- 

 ing h(»ney locust for hedge. What says the Club; is it a good hedge plant? 

 Is it as liable tt) be destroyed by the borer as the common black locust, 

 and how about its tendency to spread over the ground from the roots? 

 There has been much said lately about making a fence with the Barberry, 

 but I am not aware that it has ever been tested. This plant, I believe, 

 does iH>t grow over seven or eight feet high, and consequently would not 

 need the constant pruning which vther hedges require. Are any members 

 of the Club well enough acquainted with the habits of this shrub to tell us 

 whether it would be likely to succeed as a hedge plant, and, if so, where 

 the seed can be obtained aud how should they be treated? 



