PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 303 



homes, carry on a conflict with the savage flock-tenders of the pau- 

 pers of South America. 



If Congress wants madder raised in this country the only induce- 

 ment they can oflfer is a duty or a bounty which will make the busi- 

 ness profitable. Nothing is more absurd or unjust than the attempt 

 of the freetrader to make the wages of a savage or ignorant peo- 

 ple equal to the wages of a civilized people. 



Dead Animals for Food. 

 Dr. Trimble stated that some people were accustomed to pur- 

 chase dead horses for feeding their poultry, and sometimes the 

 eggs of their fowls were ofieusive in consequence of their eating- 

 large quantities of such unwholesome food. He thinks no offen- 

 sive food should ever be fed to laying hens, as bad food is liable 

 to afiect the quality of the eggs of the fowls that eat it. 



Committee on Pears. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn, Newarl?, N. J., requested that a committee be 

 appointed to examine a variety of winter pears which he presented, 

 and to report at some future meeting of the club, whereupon W. 

 S. Carpenter, Dr. E. Ware Sylvester, of Lyons, N. Y., and John 

 Crane, New York, were designated as a committee, with unlimited 

 authority, to report on the merits of that kind of pears. 



Exterminating Brakes. 



Mr. H. P. Smith, Westfield, Mass., gave his experience in exter- 

 minating brakes by draining the land thoroughly, and afterward 

 sowing broadcast twenty-five bushels of quick lime per acre, which 

 efiectually exterminated these noxious plants, and brought in other 

 plants that made the best of hay. It is still a disputed point 

 whether good grass would or would not have appeared on that 

 ground in the same abundance, without the application of lime, 

 after the soil had been relieved of its surplus water. It is doubt- 

 ful whether a thin sprinkling of lime will kill any kind of growing 

 giants. 



Culture of Roses. 



Mr. J. S. Burgess, New York city, gave the following directions 

 for raising roses: 



Gather the hips when red, about October 25. Lay them in the 

 sun in a window for ten days. Take out the seed and rub it well 

 in the hands with moist sand, and be careful not to loose a seed, 



