244 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



may have introduced new modes and methods. To make it pay in this 

 country, Yankee ingenuity would have to introduce a quicker mode. The 

 price at which it is retailed at present in New York would entitle the grocer 

 to about 4 cents a pound from the coflee-roaster. I think there is 2^ or 3| 

 cents per pound duty on the same, which alone would pay a large price per 

 acre. I have often heard the remark that it paid well at about 1| cents a 

 pound, and I know that before the tariff it was imported in New York for 

 less than 4 cents a pound, dried. It is retailed now at 12| cents a pound. 

 About 10 per cent, will, if added to almost any good cofl'ee, improve its 

 flavor, and more so with coffee of inferior quality. It is the best substitute 

 for coffee as far as my taste is concerned, and is by many considered much 

 healthier." 



We find by reference to the tariff act, that the duty is 3 cents a pound. 



Insects In.jurious to Farmers, and those not so. 



Dr. Trimble, of Newark, N. J., gave the Club a most interesting lecture 

 upon this subject, illustrated by colored plates, without which we could 

 not make a report interesting. One of the most instructive points was the 

 description of insects that are beneficial, not injurious, to farmers. In 

 this class are the common "lady bugs," which some people try to des- 

 troy. Almost every destructive worm has its parasite. Even the small 

 plant louse is destroyed by a smaller insect that deposits its eggs in the 

 body of the doomed apples. He said that all insects, although many of 

 them appear to be great pests, seem to have a purpose in the order of 

 nature. Some one asked him of what use are musketoes. He replied, let 

 us see. If you take two pails of rain water, that are stagnant enough to 

 breed musketoes, and cover one with gauze so that none can get in to 

 deposit eggs, and leave the other open until it is alive with the young 

 musketoes, you will find that the water grows purer and more fit for use 

 every day, while that in the other is growing less and less so. May we 

 not then conclude that the insects serve a purpose in keeping the water of 

 marshes from becoming stagnant, putrid, and a cause of sickness. 



It was the unanimous desire of the Club that Dr. Trimble should continue 

 the subject at another meeting. 



Subjects for discussion at the next meeting, " Winter Care of Manure," 

 and " Insects Injurious to Crops." 



Adjourned. JOHN W. CHAMBERS, Secretary. 



February 3, 1863. 

 Mr. Edward Doughty, of New Jersey, in the chair. 



Chiccory. 



The Secretary. — Since the last meeting of the Club I have received the 

 following letter from Mr. Pierpont Phillips, of Pomfret, Conn., in reply to a 

 communication I sent him, asking him to give the Club his experience in 



