Pboceedijygs of the Farmees' Club. 631 



wool a brown color and a harsh character, while in the chalk districts 

 the wool is of a white color and rather dry, harsh fibers ; but the 

 "Wealdon clay counties produce a wool which is softer, cleaner and the 

 most valuable in that country. Digestion forms the most important 

 vehicle whereby the sheep is sustained in proper condition, and the 

 wool thereby improved. The organs by which this function is per- 

 formed in the higlier animals are the mouth, pharnyx, sesophagus, 

 stomach and intestines, with their accessory salivary glands, pancreas, 

 liver and mucous follicles. The first act to which food is subjected 

 is the mechanical division by the teeth. So important is this, in 

 order that it may be influenced by the salivary secretions, that it 

 may be said as an axiom that food well chewed is half digested ; but 

 the golden rule, however, is constantly neglected, for which we have 

 to pay the penalty of dyspepsia. All good wool growers are par- 

 ticular about the food of sheep. They should be fed in such a way 

 that they will eat slowly and masticate perfectly. Wool abounds in 

 potash, and all food well adapted to sheep feeding should be rich in 

 this important substance. 



Dwarf Apple Trees. 



C. L. Lawrence, of Plain Grove, Kew York, has an orchard, 

 planted four years ago. He has pruned them each summer; the 

 ground is in grass, and not cultivated, and he has never yet had any 

 yield of fruit. What sliall he do about it ? Also, what is the com- 

 parative value of corn and potatoes as food for stock ? 



Dr. E. W. Sylvester. — I should think he might help his orchard by 

 thinning the trees and putting a plow in now«and then. If the sod 

 is allowed to hug tlie trunks he cannot expect much harvest. 



Dr. J. V. C. Smith. — I have seen orchards of dwarf trees in the 

 west growing close together, and still the yield was large. 



Mr. W. S. Carpenter. — I have had a good deal of experience with 

 dwarf apple trees, and think, as a general thing, that they are 

 budded too low. Also that cultivating the ground increases the 

 difficulty. Tliey will not bear until they reach certain conditions,, 

 which may not be until after a series of years. 



Mr. N. C. Meeker. — I think a word should be dropped here 

 to caution people from looking for large returns from the dwarf 

 apple trees. They have generally been very little better than the 

 fig tree in the New Testament. 



Prof. J. A. Whitney. — In answer to the cpiestion about the com- 



