AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 179 



I have tried with success the following remedy for restoring the sap 

 vessels when they had by neglect thus become too small : Pour boiling 

 hot water upon the twisted straw. This will swell them out again, and 

 restore an apparently dead tree to life. 



Mr. Burgess recommended covering the trees with a mixture of lime 

 and clay as very beneficial to prevent the sun drying them up when trans- 

 planted. 



Jlr. Fuller. — I am totally opposed to daubing trees with anything. I 

 would as soon daub a sick man as a sick tree. 



T. W. Field. — Still we bury our trees to keep them moist, and that acts 

 the same as coating them with clay. 



Mr. Fuller. — Not at all. The eflfect is very different ; in one case we 

 want to retard growth, and in the other induce it. I believe in wrapping 

 the straw around. 



E.. G. Pardee. — In cities, where straw may not be convenient, some old 

 Manilla matting will answer a good purpose, or any old waste straw sack- 

 ing from the groceries, cut up in suitable strips. 



CANADA THISTLES. 



Solon Robinson. — Here is a letter from a Mr. Goodsell, of Lawrence, 

 111., in proof of what I have asserted here about the difficulty of eradicating 

 the Canada thistle in such a soil as that of the prairies. 



At first he found only three or four stalks, the product of one seed sown 

 with grass. He says : 



I at once commenced an attack, by spading the earth to the depth of a 

 foot or more, and taking up at least two feet square, and carefully handling 

 the earth so dug up until I was sure there was not a root left that could 

 be discovered, but two or three weeks showed me that the enemy was not 

 dead for it sprouted not only in the portion spaded, but also the young 

 shoots appeared outside of the spading. Again I pursued the same course, 

 and again they appeared, until, in the course of the three following months, I 

 dug the ground over five or six times, and extended it to ten or twelve feet 

 square. I conquered at last, and to this day am happy to say my premises 

 are free of the vile weed. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



R. G. Pardee exhibited a basket of very large and beautiful strawber- 

 ries, from George S. Schofield's garden on Staten Island. The Peabody 

 was very large, but Mr. Pardee says he does not like it as well as tho 

 Wilson seedling. 



John G. Bergen also showed some very fine specimens of Wilson's seed- 

 lings, and several others. The crimson cone is the one most common in 

 market, and is very prolific. 



T. W. Field also exhibited some fine Wilson's and lowas, and other 

 varieties. The latter is thought much of at Cincinnati as a market berrj. 

 It is hard to say which is the best variety for all purposes. 



