AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 369 



ture is composed of one pound of blue vitrol to twenty pounds of water. It 

 should be twenty quarts of water or forty lbs. It is important tbat this 

 correction be made, as with only twenty lbs. of water the liquid would 

 destroy cordage and many fabrics that are preserved by this process, as 

 well as wood. 



Mr. Pardee stated that he gave the proportions as reported, from a let- 

 ter of Mr. Fairchild ; it was, probably, an error or oversight of his, and 

 the correction should be made. 



The next question for discussion, at the meeting next Monday, will be 

 " How much seed per acre ?" This will embrace everything that is grown 

 as farm crops, and will involve thick or thin seeding. 



11. MEIGS, Secretary. 



Monday, March bih, 1860. 

 Present, 80 members. Edward Doughty, of New Jersey, in the chair. 

 The Secretary read the following extracts from foreign and domestic 

 articles received by the Institute, since the last meeting, viz : 



FUCHSIA SERRATIFOLIA. 



This plant is deemed a fine variety. Mr. G-ordon says it is readily grown 

 from slips, provided it be done about the beginning of April; in a light 

 soil, mixed with much sand ; in a box lightly warmed, until roots 'are 

 developed. Keep clear of cold ; in summer, re-pot the plants twice, in 

 larger pots ; leave them there the following winter. About the middle of 

 the next May, trim them, and set them in the garden borders. The soil 

 must not be very rich, for then the flowering is small. In good, decom- 

 posed stable manure, added to the soil, I have seen a flourishing plant 

 produce only one flower. About the middle of September, lift the plants 

 and pot them in pots, twenty centimetres (about 8^- inches,) in diameter, 

 with the same soil in them. Keep them in a shady place, and before 

 spring, or a short time before, they will cover themselves with flowers. 

 They want free watering while flowering, and the pots must be well drained. 

 With these precautions, they last several years, and bear better than when 

 younger. 



LOBELIAS 



Are interesting in the garden — some think very much so — although, 

 some of them are of low stature. Lobelia splendens, L. fulgens, L. car- 

 dinalis, and another, have been fashionable, for some time, in our gardens 

 — so has the L. serratifolia ; but generally, only L. splendens and L. 

 fulgens, exclusively almost. Generally, the lobelias grow readily from 

 seeds, or slips : but the English gardeners prefer shoots to all other modes. 

 They usually take shoots from old plants, in October, and put each in a 

 little pot, and transplant, in February, into larger pots, with all about 

 them ; and early in April, into still, larger pots. Keep them moist ; the}' 

 will flower in July, and do so the rest of the summer. If they show only 



[Am. Inst.] 24 " 



