194 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Linnaeus called It " Chcerophylhim bulborum.'' It is expected to become 

 a very useful member of our root crops. 



Doctor Sace says that the '^ Lappa Edulis,'^ of Siebold, may furnish 

 forage and a very good root, — that as a table vegetable the Japanese are 

 very fond of it. Lindley puts it among the Asteracese, (Chamomiles) as 

 the bardana or burdocks. This eatable lappa is a much larger growth 

 than most of the family. The leaves are very tender, of a very lively, 

 beautiful green ; its double flowers purple ; is a biennial. Flowers in July, 

 go to thousands of gray seeds as large as those of turnsole. The seed 

 must be gathered as soon as ripe, and sowed immediately, on account of 

 the larvte of a large coleopter having deposited its eggs at the base of the 

 flowers. The grovfth is very rapid, so that by October the leaves are as 

 large as your hand, and the roots as large as a quill. It should not be 

 sown broadcast, for it needs hoeing, «fec. The plants should be some seven 

 inches apart. The root is rather difficult to dig, for it runs down more 

 than three feet, and is tender ; two fingers thick, and weigh six or eight 

 ounces each. Cooked they are very wholesome, and taste something like 

 the artichoke. The root grows much as the dioscorea batata does in depth. 

 Cold does not injure the root. For forage it has that advantage in dry 

 soil. Its top is cut three times a year. 



Henderson, of London, proposes Spergula, Spurry, for grass plots (the 

 Spergula pilifera, of CandoUe). Its roots run deep, and therefore the 

 leaves resist drought. It makes a very fine turf of a beautiful green, and 

 in July is covered with great quantities of small white flowers. The seeds 

 are very small — are sown in pots, &c., in shade. They are transplanted 

 (the young plants) into larger pots, and lastly to the plot, in bunches of 

 two or three plants, some ten inches apart or more. These will soon make 

 one uniform carpet, which does not require mowing ever. 

 ' Lachaume has improved Spinach wonderfully. He sows English seed 

 in nursery in August, transplants and waters them very carefully. In 

 October he pulls ofi" the leaves. Next May, at a time when Spinach gene- 

 rally goes to seed, this yields remarkable leaves. Four of them weighed 

 half a pound, and measured fourteen inches in breadth, and from eleven 

 inches to fifteen inches long, and the taste of it delicious. Gardeners 

 should grow this, as saving labor in the gathering as well as quality. 



We planted laurels around the tomb of Humboldt, who died on the 6th. 

 He was one of the most glorious men of the age. Ninety years devoted 

 to science, greatly in botany. The beautiful Cassia, of South America, has 

 received his name. 



J. S. Titus, of Flushing, Long Island, exhibited his patent double mould 

 board plough, for cultivation of corn, potatoes, or other crops having space 

 between rows wide enough for a horse. 



Members asked whether it is to hill the corn, 



Solon Robinson. — That is an operation that I specially object to ; it is 

 about the worst practice that ever prevailed to hill up anything. 



