108 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



June 9, 1863. 

 Mr. Martin E. Thompson in the chair. 



Northern Spy Apple. 



The secretary laid on the table some specimens of the Northern Spy 

 grown by Mr. Thos. Frothinghani, Kochester, N. Y. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter.— The specimens of frnit on the table are very 

 fine specimens, showing the keeping qualities of this apple. I would not 

 recommend it for general cultivation, although in certain localities it is an 

 abundant bearer. Mr. Hicks, of North Hempstead, L. I., has discarded it. 



The Cliairmun. — I must give my testimony in favor of the Northern Spy 

 on my daughter's farm, at Glen Cove, it was tlie only apple last year that 

 came up to the standard. 



Does the Quality of Seedling Potatoes Improve? 



Nelson Case, of Granville, Ohio, asks this important question. It is 

 one which many others would like answered. To many it may be well 

 known that it requires several j'ears for a reedling potato to fully develop 

 its character. Mr. Case says: "I have ! ome seedling potatoes which 

 look well and yield well, but when cooked are heavy. AV ill they probably 

 improve, and in what length of time ?" 



Wm. S. Carpenter, who has had as much experience a s any member of 

 the Club, answered: They will improve, if in the start they appear worthy 

 of further trial. It sometimes takes years tc bring a a?edling potato to 

 perfection, and sometimes, after years of triil, it is found that the new 

 seedling is not worth propagating, and it is thrown a\^ ay. It requires a 

 great deal of patience and perseverance to obtain anj real improvement 

 in potatoes. Pi'obably not one in a thousand cf all the seedling potatoes 

 ever grown hag stood the test of cultivation a. id been approved by the 

 public. 



Insects Infesting Potatoes m Jowa. 



James Vincent writes from Tabor, Fremont cou:^tv, Iowa, that he is in- 

 terested and instructed every week by the reports of proceedings of this 

 Club, and is as tired as the reporter is of the repetition of the nonsense of 

 letter writers about the cause of potato rot. Some of these causes remind 

 him of the opinion of a man as to the cause of the gradual submersion of 

 a tract known as Sandwich Flats. He replied " that he Avas an old man, 

 and he thought he ought to know, for he had known the flats when they 

 •were far enough above watei', and that was before Tenterdon steeple was 

 built, and it was his opinion that the building of that was the cause of the 

 sinking of the flats. If it was not that, then what was it?" 



This, says Mr. Vincent, is just as sensible as many of the potato theories. 

 I have no theory; I only know that potatoes have declined in quality for 

 twenty-five years, and that the same old-fashioned potato bug that was 

 found upon the vines long before and ever since that, does not, in my 

 opinion, cause disease. Of late the old potato bug, which is three-fourths 

 of an inch long, black, with a yellow stripe, has given place to another 

 (samples of which I send you), which is very destructive to the leaves, 



