PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 205 



it is manipulated, and discharges it through the spreader upon the 

 ground to dry. The machine thus prepares peat as fast as two 

 men can dig it. In one hour and a half I saw 750 superficial feet 

 of ground spread with condensed peat six inches thick. A cubic 

 foot of the condensed wet peat weighs twenty pounds when dried ; 

 and at the rate I saw it manufactured enough can be spread in one 

 day to make twenty-five tuns of fuel. The cost would be : 

 engineer, two dollars ; shovelers, three dollars ; boy, one dollar ; 

 fuel, two dollars ; besides maintenance of machinery. Mr. 

 Eoberts estimates the total cost of condensing at fifty cents per 

 ton ; and haking and piling at fifty cents more. I think I have 

 seen it demonstrated to-day that peat can be prepared ready for 

 the stove with less labor than chopping, sawing and splitting 

 wood. The engine is twenty-horse power and locomotive. Mr. 

 Eoberts expects to drive an excavator by the same engine that 

 does the other work, and thus greatly cheapen fuel to farmers." 



Mr. Jonathan Bundy, Spriugdale, Cedar county, Iowa, says : 

 " The peat question is agitating the people of this State. I know 

 of more than 500 acres discovered within the limits of six or seven 

 counties, some of it 20 feet thick." 



Blackberries. 



Mr. Freeman Baker, Coventry, R. I. : "Will" the large canes 

 that come up from the ground this year bear fruit next year, and 

 more than one year ; if so, how many ? Where many large canes 

 come up from the same root, how many of them may be allowed 

 to stand together ?" Blackberries are always produced upon 

 wood of the previous year's growth. Some old canes may throw 

 out shoots which will be fruitful a second year. As a general 

 rule, most of the canes which have borne fruit this year may be 

 cut and burned as soon as the fruit is gathered. The new shoots 

 should be stopped at four feet high, to induce them to send out 

 the side shoots which bear fruit. You may let as many canes 

 grow as you have room for, if your land is rich enough to bear 

 them. 



Mr. E. Smith, Pontiac, Mich. : " Blackberries are very abundant 

 in this State distant from market. I have heard of condensino- the 

 juice, which I should like to do, if I understood the process. 

 Can it be made to advantage on a small scale ? Does it require 

 much machinery and is there a patent right for it ?" 



Mr, Solon Robinson— The patentee is Gail Borden, Brewster, 



