t 

 284 Transactions of the American Institute. 



centrated tincture of say one ounce of the same steeped in a pint of 

 their aqua callicote or proof spirit. It is a very pleasant perfume for 

 man, used mostly for flavoring ice-cream, chocolate, etc. ; but must be 

 quite the reverse to animals or insects ; and, as vanilla consists of a 

 resin, wax-fixed oil, brown resinous matter and tannin, it is, therefore, 

 difficult to discover the rationale of its action upon the organs of the 

 insects, nor can we trace any relationship with the action of the 

 insect powder, which has long been extensively used by the people of 

 "Western Asia for the destruction of all vermin, the constituents of 

 which rememble that of the German camomile. 



Harvesting Hay Eaklt. 



Mr. H. L. Eeade read the following paper : In 1859, the hay crop 

 in the United States amounted to 19,129,128 tons, worth at least 

 $191,291,280. Eleven years has increased this by at least one-third, 

 so that the crop in 1870 was at least 30,000,000 tons, worth 

 $300,000,000. Making a low estimate, one-sixteenth of the value of 

 this crop is lost by late cutting. And yet the practice, so costly, is 

 surprisingly common. "Were argument necessary to convince farmers 

 of their mistake and loss, attention might be called to that wonderful 

 and most suggestive provision of Providence, that in almost if not all 

 sections of the world where cattle depend upon wild grass for winter 

 as well as summer food, sudden and great heat, and a correspondingly 

 dry atmosphere, combine to change the grass into what civilization 

 calls hay, while in the fullness of its growth, and always before its 

 maturity ; and thus it is that when for months not a green thing is 

 eaten by the herds of roving animals, they are found to be in better 

 flesh at the end than at the beginning. If the grass reached com- 

 pleteness in its growth, and seeding before being dried, cattle eating 

 it would die of starvation, rather than thrive. 



Science, as well as observation, demonstrates the necessity of an 

 early hay harvest. Grass is the natural food of animals, and before 

 the plant reaches its maturity it contains all the elements needed to 

 make a perfect aliment in the best possible combination, and in the 

 best possible proportion. Afterward the nature of the plant changes, 

 and reproduction, not force — if we may put it in this phrase — 

 becomes the ultimate object. If, therefore, farmers would secure the 

 best and most valuable hay crop, grass should be cut while the seed 

 vessels are forming, and never after they are formed. Haying, there- 

 fore, should be commenced, on an average, ten days earlier than it is. 

 There may be a little loss at the beginning in the bulk, possibly in 



