New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-11-10
TALK WITH PROF. VENT. 4.
Correspondence of The N. Y. Tribune.

| Correspondence of The N. Y. Tribune.
BoSS, Oci. 3, 1890.
Oct I.-Caned upon Prof Wentz. he is man OF
middle size with very finely cut features snd besut-
| fully clear, gray eye. / take him to be aoout my
wears Of age lie has heretofore had places in Siberia
and Prussian Poland whence he was transferred 70
Bopn His title here is Administrator" be admins
terpa" the farm operations. He lives in the building
whi;h may be called the farm house, the lower story
Of which is the extensive chemical laboratory. Ihs
house il upon the street and ia on one side Oh court
which ia ncosed by cow-stal the tool honse, and
| third which is now filled with wheat aud wherein
| thrashing machine ia at work.
The first part of the talk" was devoted 10 general
explanation of the objects aud plan of the Institute,
embodied in my last letter during whih be conducted
me into the lecture of the large buidi0g-upon
| which, however, nothing special 10 to % said. n
smaller room adjoining is devoted TO the purposes OF
resd groom where the various agricultural psriodi-
Gals of the day lie upon the table ready for use dnrng
the quarters Of hours which eapss between the lec-
lures plan hung upon the wall became the topic Of
| explanation.
Prof W-Tbis ia the plan Of our accommodating
garden divided you zee, into six grand divisions,
these again into beds, and these in turn into small
squares. The whole occupies but about morgen "a
from thousand plants in culture As the Dane indi
cates it is not general botanic garden in which
| eut learned botansts can find instruction and
pleasure but strictly confined to economic products.
The principle ia to cultivate in everything which in
any part of Germany lie, should be, may become
article of culture large scale. Hence also many
plant ia here introduced for trial and experiment In
! many cases single plant few specimens Of Is
wcud be sufficient for other purposes but give every
one TRIAL upon the entire extent Of Ct the mail
squares very small they are that is true bat Iuf
cent for the purpoee-in order that the student sha
zee, though upcn small scale, the mode Of cul-
ture adapted to it. OF courte in this garden, which il
separate nclosure there is necessity Of ntroduc
ing any Of the plants which the subjects Of our
common farming operations The student, therefore,
sees here only such s in general are or may be new to
| him. The general divisions are:
! /. Grans-Winter and Summer of kinds and species
| not universal in Germany.
III. Plants of the bean and pea tribes.
III. Plants for fodder.
". Root crop plants.
V. Plants cultivated for manufactures and commerce,
subdiviied into
Plants for oil.
Plants for spinning.
Plants for manufactures
Plants aromatic
Plants oficins medical.)
VI For the kitchen.
One side Of this garden is planted with large mum.
| Der of different wine grapes.
Visit0r-But how is The student TO find IL all thece
small beds any particular plant, especially if unknown
! to bmi
Prof W-You zee this manuscript Cat aloeue, II
contsics s the plants in the garden In the first col
4 the generic in thA aernnd tina
name $50 thst the student becomes familiar with
their pames), and then the more common appeaa,ion
by laying the book fiat open you will zee that the
columns correspond to dates 1857 1885,
&c, which arc placed along the margin of the cover.
On the plan, the small squares all numbered. In
the catalogue the number Of the square occupied by
any liant in aIy particular year is inserted in the col
umn Of that year As, even on this small ale, rots-
ton Of crops observed the plant comes in differ
en places az different times This plan, simple enough
when devised but which cost no small amount Of
thou ehs has this inestmabls advantage The sudent
hesrs in The lecture references to certain plant which
he does not know or fast in regard to il which he
wishes to verify. During the fifteen minutes inter-
mission by the catalogue he finds II in moment upon
the plan if is 10 caltvation il not the catalogue
it, and the plan sends him at once to the right
| spot
Vi'Hor-Another advantage Of this must be that
the student not being bothered with hunting up and
then remaining Undecided whether Of half dozen
varieties he bas found the right one soon acquires the
habit of verifying statements Of the professors and Of
examining for himself Moreover the professor is
relieved Of the necessity Of enttrn into long dsscrp-
tons. the botanic name enabling the student in mo
meDt to find the plant.
Pref W.-Yes, this 10 90. think You cannot do
better than 10 pretty full notes on this point for
the pan IL ons founded upon experience, aud your
coontymen cannot do better than 10 adopt it. At all
events, no other agricultural college in Germany has
an ecOpomicbotanc garden, which, in practical valas
| for the student, comes near il.
| Visitor-Ws have plant in America Of great eco
nomic value for manufacture, which never saw In
Germany, either growing manufactured, except, pos
Gbly, IN Bremen or Hamburg.
Prof Wand tba. 10 ,
Vs,ter--Whst We call broom.Sorn, or broom maize,