84 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



sun, by Mrs. Hite, some of which had been kept three years. 

 There is no necessity for importing so much dried fruit, when 

 every family can so easily prepare so excellent an article. 



Mr. Pardee said that it -was much better than the imported 

 fruit, and suggested that it could be mixed with dried apples for 

 pies, &c. 



Mr. Pardee exhibited a specimen of the Kirkland seedling 

 apple, perfectly sound, although it had remained all winter in a 

 warm room. The flavor remained un'injured. 



Mr. Hite stated that the cherry currant has too large seeds for 

 drying ; that the small red Dutch currants are the best. 



Mr. Pardee suggested the Versailles currant, as having small 

 seed, and being well flavored, w^hile as large as the cherry cur- 

 rant. It is a new French variety. 



GAPES IN CHICKENS. 



Mr. Carpenter inquired the cause of gapes in chickens. 



Dr. Trimble stated it to be a worm in the throat of the chicken. 

 If chickens are not hatched until July, they are not so liable to 

 the disease. 



Mr. Bergen had never lost a chicken from the gapes. He could 

 only attribute his exemption to the fact that he always kept grain 

 within reach of the chickens. Whether that was the cause or not 

 he could not determine. 



Mr. Doughty had observed that when feeding chickens on In- 

 dian meal, they had been troubled by the gapes ; and upon being 

 fed upon dry cracked corn, they ceased to be so troubled. 



Mr. Carpenter. — I am in the habit of keeping grain constantly 

 by my fowls, and I also have fed them on cracked corn. Yet 

 they have the gapes. As soon as they are large enough to eat 

 corn they are safe. 



Mr. Gore, finding his chickens troubled with the gapes removed 

 them from the house to a place where they could get fresh water, 

 and they were no longer troubled with them. 



Dr. Trimble was of opinion that the cause was the deposit of 

 an egg in the mouth of the chicken by a fly. This is hatched 

 and becomes a larva, like the bot fl}' in horses, and the insect in 

 the heads of sheep. 



Dr. Waterbury suggested the importance of a large supply of 

 fresh air to all fowls. 



