PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 127 



placed in a leaden coffin, soldered up tight, and that placed in a 

 wooden box, which is sent to San Francisco. There it is encased 

 in a still stronger box, in which it is shipped to China ; but the 

 females, for some reason, are not included in this arrangement. 



I am makini; every effort to make such collections of seeds of 

 flowers, fruits, vegetables and trees as I thought might prove 

 of interest, besides various curiosities. I have obtained some 

 already that are deemed valuable, but the sending of them by 

 express — the only safe mode from here — will be attended with 

 some expense, that, to an individual, might soon prove too bur- 

 thensome, I would respectfully ask if the Institute could devise any 

 mode whereby I could be relieved of expense in their transmission. 



With best respects to my old colleagues of both Clubs, 

 I remain yours, truly, 



JOHN BRUCE. 



Mr. Carpenter remarked, with reference to the statement in 

 this communication that cattle do well upon dry grass, that he 

 had adopted the practice of preserving a piece of grass into 

 which the cattle could be turned in case of drought, and he had 

 found that the cattle did well upon this dry grass. Another 

 method is to plant corn for soiling. Sweet corn may be cut up 

 and fed to hogs, who will eat the entire stalk and thrive upon it. 



Mr. Adrian Bergen had tried the plan of feeding cattle upon 

 dry grass, and they kept in good heart. They might fail in their 

 milk with this feed. Any kind of corn may be cut from the 

 ground and fed to hogs, who will eat it up clean, and do well. 

 He remarked that he had lately been down upon the " barrens " 

 of Long Island, and was confident from his own observation that 

 they could be cultivated to advantage. They were growing as 

 good crops down there as anybody need to grow. 



On motion of Mr. Gore, Mr. Carpenter was requested to reply 

 to Mr. Bruce's letter. 



Mr. Fuller remarked that the Sequoia Gigantea stood the cold 

 of last winter, and might be called perfectly hardy. He con- 

 sidered it worth four times as much as the Cedar of Lebanon. 



Mr. Carpenter did not consider it perfectly hardy. Mr. Reed, 

 of New Jersey, lost his best specimen last winter, a tree about 

 eight feet high, one of the largest in this neighborhood. He 

 had learned that Mr. Gore was about to leave soon for Honduras, 

 and would suggest that he should write to the club. 



