Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 589 



the swell of the graft, then replace tlie soil, and new roots will come 

 out on all sides, and the tree is therefore less liable to be upset by 

 lieavy winds. It may be remembered, as a rule, that by putting 

 four inches of soil over the junction we change the dwarf to a 

 standard, but if the dirt is only an inch or so in depth, the result will 

 not be certain. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — In reply to the question about distance I would 

 say that twelve by sixteen feet is, I find by long experience, the best 

 interval for pear trees. Being thus near, they protect themselves to 

 a certain extent. As regards the concluding question, I adopt the 

 practice of having the fruit as near the ground as it can be well 

 induced to grow. I prune to a cone or Lombardy poplar shape so as 

 to get a slim, tapering tree with fruit near the stem, and near the 

 ground. The only objection to this style of pruning is that you can- 

 not use your pear orchard as a pasture. But that is seldom desira- 

 ble. If the trees are twelve by sixteen they will tax the ground 

 heavily enough without requiring it to grow grass. My success has 

 come from four practices ; rich manuring, close planting, open top 

 pruning, and mulching. 



Cows Eating Boni:s. 



Mr. I. Marlow, Chester, Vt., has cows that show a special fancy 

 for chewing bones, and asks : 1st. " What is the probable cause of 

 this morbid aj^petite?" and, 2d. "Will bone-mealfedto them, mixed 

 with shorts, do any good ?" 



Mr. F. D. Curtis. — My cows have always been addicted to the 

 practice of chewing bones, just as other animals chew opium and 

 tobacco. It is thought by some that bone-dust increases the flow of 

 milk, and a firm in Utica have lately established a mill for putting 

 bones in a proper condition for mixing with other feed. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — In course of a recent conversation with Prof. 

 Cook, this subject come up, and he spoke of having lately met a gen- 

 tleman from one of the dairy districts of England, from whom he 

 learned tliat hogs fed solely on whey were quite unable to stand fur 

 want of sufticicnt strength of bone. This fact would seem to show 

 that there is a demand in the nature of animals for the material in 

 question. I have noticed that this taste for bone shows itself mainly 

 in New England and Xew York, on old land, and especially on pas- 

 tures that have never been manm'ed. It proves the want of phosphate 

 in the grass, it having been exhausted bv generations of dairy farm- 



