268 transactions of the american institltte. 



Freezing and Thawing Kills Plants. 



Mr. Benjamin Giirvey wants farmers to institute a series of experiments 

 to prote what deg-ree of heat and cold plants and vegetables will beav. 

 He thinks if potatoes v>^ere graduall}' frozen, and the frost ^gradually ex- 

 tracted in the Spring, that it would not injure their vitality. 



Mr. Jolm G. Bergen thought it would utterly destroy theni. Turnips 

 will freeze solid and thaw without any perceptible change, but this re- 

 peated several times the turnips v/ill be destroyed. As to the potato, I 

 doubt if the tubcu' slKudd bo frozen whether it will germinate. I have dug 

 lip potatoes in the Spring that have remained in the ground all Winter. 1 

 should be sorry to see it go out as the opinion of this Club that it does 

 not injure potatoes to freeze them. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter thought not if left in the earth. He has known 

 apples frozen quite solid. Care must be taken not to move them in the 

 least, not even so much as rolling them once over in a barrel while frozen, 



Mr. P. T. Quinn said he had a barrel of turnips frozen through quite 

 solid. He buried them in the earth, mixing it through and through with 

 the roots, and they came out fresh in the Spring. 



Mr. Robinson said that the plan of improving potatoes devised by Mr. 

 Roberts, of Michigan, was to allow them to remain in the hills where they 

 grew, and cover the ground so as to prevent frequent thawing and freez- 

 ing, which was the cause of injury, and not a single freezing. 



Mr. John G. Bergen contended that the covering must have prevented 

 their freezing at all. 



Mr. Robinson could not understand how that could be possible, since 

 Michigan is colder than this city, and the frost is now three and a half feet 

 deep within a hundred feet of where Mi'. Bergen stands. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn corroborated this statement by personal (sxamination of 

 the depth of frost in New Jersey within a day or two. 



Farming in Minnesota. 



Mr. E. Evans, Rochestcn-, Minnesota, thinks "those in pursuit of new 

 homes should not all be sent to Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri and 

 Nebraska, each of which have been recommended by the Club." He wants 

 a good word said for Minnesota, as all places have their advantages, and 

 those of his locality he proves, by his experience, as follows: 



"Cost of 160 acres smooth prairie, $800; breaking 110 acres, $220; 

 fencing two sides of 160 acres, $260; house, $400; well and pump, $60; 

 grain bins and sheds, $100; seed, $160; sowing, dragging, &c., $110; cut- 

 ting, binding, stacking, &c., $400; threshing and putting in bin, $425; 

 conveying to market, §450; Avhole cost of iirst crop, $3,385. I raised 

 wheat, 2,'820 bushels; barley, 257 bnshcls; oats, 650 bushels. I realized 

 for 2,000 bushels wheat, $3,140; can sell balance of wheat to-day, $850; 

 sold the barley for ($2 per bushel) $515; oats worth 50 cents, $325; corn, 

 potatoes, beans, rutubagas, carrots, &c., $60; amount realized from farm, 

 $4,890; cost of farm, |3,385i diflTerence, $1,505. 



"You will see according to this figuring I have paid for my farm and 

 ha.ve $1,500 left, besides being paid for my labor. Land has advanced 



