328 Transactions of the American Institute. 



in abundance, and is -worth more than any other, except stable 

 manure. A good deal is sometimes said on deep plowing that 

 might as well not be said. There are thousands of Southern fields 

 so worn, red and dusty, that deep plowing will not add a kernel 

 of corn to the acre. The best use for deep plowing in the South 

 is when the soil is good, so as to prevent the surface from wash- 

 ing away in heavy rains. Such is the case with many fields at the 

 North, when the hard pan comes near the surface. It is loamy and 

 clay lands which are benefited by deep plowing, and, in particular, 

 grass lands. When a hard pan is near it is to be brought up by 

 degrees. What much of the South wants are fields of gi-ass and 

 clover, which are to be obtained by using muck and manures. 

 First, have something to plow, then go deep. There is no good 

 work on farming in the South, and that is what is the matter. Nor 

 is there any for the North, as a whole, that will do to tie to. A 

 man must use judgment, study his soil, experiment, and believe 

 only a small part of what people may tell him. 



LARGE EARS OF CORN. 



Mr. J. H. Coffin, Frauklinville, Gloucester county, N. J,, sent a 

 lot of Indian corn to the Club, the ears of which were twice the 

 size of the ears of ordinary corn. It was the twenty-rowed dent 

 variety, which is exceedingly prolific, and very nice. 



Mr. N. C. Meeker. — I think that is the most remarkable corn in 

 the world. I was through that section of New Jersey, where this 

 corn grew, in August, and it appeared there as if there would not 

 be a quarter of a crop. Such ears as these surprise me. 



Dr. Trimble. — I have traveled all through Illinois, and I saw no 

 such corn in all ray journey through that famous grain-producing 

 State. The land where this large corn grew was worth twenty 

 dollars per acre. 



PRESERVED FRUITS. 



Mr. Wm. S. Caq^enter showed some pears in prime condition, 

 preserved in a fruit house in which he has an interest. But the 

 most remarkable fruit was peaches in a perfect state of preserva- 

 tion. Prof. Nyce, the originator of these houses, had stated before 

 the Club, that, owing to the thin skin of the peach it could not be 

 kept. It remains to be seen whether these si^ecimens were saved 

 accidentally, or by a new process which can become general. 



Adjourned. 



