PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 227 



hunger, rather than touch it, and will feed on nothing thereafter 

 but the ailanthus. This is an encouraging fact, and proves that 

 it is not essential that the worm should feed on one tree alone, 

 but that it may feed on any that will suit its appetite. The 

 capacity to deposit the silk does not depend on the food the worm 

 eats, but is a quality inherent in the worm itself, and it makes 

 no difference what the food may be, so long as the worm eats it, 

 and is satisfied with it. 



Mr. Gale read accounts of several experiments in the food of 

 the common silkworm, which demonstrated that the worm would 

 feed on lettuce or blackberry, currant and other leaves, but that 

 the leaf of the mulberry was best suited to its wants. 



The same subject was continued to the next meeting, and the 

 Club adjourned. 



January 13, 1862. 

 Prof. Nash in the chair. 



ICE AND ICE-HOUSES. 



Mr. Carpenter said as it was the season of the year when people 

 were providing themselves with ice, he should like to inquire 

 what thickness was best, and what was the best manner of pack- 

 ing. His plan had been to lay it flat, preferring it about eight 

 inches thick and ten or twelve feet square. Some of his neigh- 

 bors, however, packed the ice upright, and claimed that this plati 

 had advantages over any other. 



Mr. Bergen said that some persons adopted the plan of break- 

 ing the ice into small pieces, and say that it keeps better when 

 thrown into the ice-house in this way. It is, of course, more diflS- 

 cult to get it out in the spring, and it cannot be taken out in any 

 regular shape. The speaker had always packed his ice in cakes, 

 horizontally. The only argument which he saw in favor of pack- 

 ing it uprightly was that, possibly, it might be handier to. take 

 out again. He had packed ice when it was not more than five 

 inches thick, and it had kept very well. Undoubtedly the best 

 time to fill your ice-house is in cold and freezing weather; firstly, 

 because the ice is easier to handle then ; and secondly, because 

 it will keep better. 



Dr. Trimble said it was not necessary to build great ice-houses, 

 at much cost, to keep ice during the summer. Hundreds of tons 

 will keep well, piled up in the open air, with no other protection 



