500 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Prof. Tillman agreed, and offered a resolution, wliich was carried, 

 tliat Mr. Powell be invited to furnish the Club with any new facts 

 he may have obtained in relation to the influence of the alkaline 

 deposits from the upper plains on the soil of the lower basin of the 

 Missouri, and such other information regarding the productiveness 

 of that region as, compared with others, may be of general interest 

 to agriculturists. 



Adjourned. 



October 5, 1869. 



Nathan C. Ely, Esq., in the chair. 

 ITow TO Ship Apples. 



Mr. E. Hill, Clio, Michigan, would like to know whether apples 

 keep best when transported in tight or ventilated barrels. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — It depends entirely on the distance. I live 

 twelve miles from New York, and send pears in flour barrels. It 

 generally takes about three hours to efl"ec.t the transportation, and I 

 have frequently observed that, even when shut up no longer than 

 this, the paper with which I line the barrels becomes quite damp. 

 It is easy to understand that this dampness would soon generate 

 mould. In sending to Cuba, as I do to a great extent, I bore holes 

 in heads and sides of barrels. 



Dr. Isaac P. Trimble. — In the west it is the practice to leave 

 apples to season, or sweat, before putting them in contined quarters. 

 Even then, however, the boring process is found advantageous. 



CoNcoED Grape. 

 Mr. Alexander Palmer, Modena, Ulster county, N. Y, — Fruit- 

 growing in this country is assuming a position worthy to be classed 

 among the most profitable and important branches of husbandry. 

 "We, as a people, are changing our meat-bating propensity for that 

 more healthful and refining diet of vegetables and fruit, denoting a 

 higher civilization and a movement onward in the right direction. 

 The strawberry, peach, apple and the grape, are the four standard 

 fruits of our market, each supplying in their season a demand that is 

 annually increasing. It is becoming evident that we can never grow 

 these fruits in such abund^ince as to glut our market. Their excel- 

 lence and healthfuhiess will alone cause them to be " gobbled " up 

 by the masses and generally at fair prices for the producer. The 

 Concord grapo is becoming the standard in its class, like the Green- 



