Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 55X 



FRUIT BASKETS. 



Mr. David Lyman, Middlefield, Conn., being introduced, said 

 that at last he had become acquainted with a process by which 

 a good, strong, handsome, durable fruit basket can be made for 

 one cent — ten dollars a thousand. He had none for sale, and the 

 invention has not as yet been applied to such an extent as to fur- 

 nish the article for marketing the present crop. The basket is 

 made by cutting a thick shaving or veneer from a circular block. 

 The section of the tree is dressed sloping, so as to have the shape 

 of a frustrum, or of a thimble, and set in a lathe, where it makes 

 120 revolutions in a minute. A groove is at the same time cut in 

 the lower edge, into which the bottom is slipped, the joint being a 

 dovetail. The upper rim is made thick for strength, and for fruit 

 baskets, small slits are cut in the sides enough to admit air, and not 

 enough to weaken the dish. By taking large blocks a half bushel 

 peach basket may be cut almost as cheaply a& a quart vessel. By 

 another jeav Mr. Lymau engages to supply fruit-growers with a 

 better dish than they ever used, and at a lower price. It is not 

 likely to warp and crack, because it is cut aslant of the grain. 

 Green timber may be used, and a log cut into baskets, and shipped 

 to strawberry-growers within two days, from the stump. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller said he knew of no better basket, none nearly 

 as good, for the price. He had known a small fruit-grower to get 

 seven cents more a quart for his berries simply because they came 

 to market in clean, handsome baskets. The two best baskets now 

 in use are the Beecher and American. He thought this equal to 

 either of them, and a hundred per cent cheaper. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — This seems a great invention. I have 

 had experience with most of the various styles, and I like this the 

 best, for a cheap article. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I have been watching a long time for just 

 such a package as this, and I predict its success. 



CHALLENGE CHURN. 



IVIr. John E. Cryer exhibited a chum worked by a lever that 

 runs up and down on a screw of very sloping thread. The raising 

 and dropping of the handle causes the paddle to revolve vertically, 

 in the cream. The merit of the invention is the ease with which it 

 is operated. The churn was referred to Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter, to 

 whom the inventor will furnish one, and he will upon trial report 

 on its utility and practicability. 



