682 Tl?AXSACTTOXS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Mr. F. D. Curti?. — If butter is what he is after, lie cannot substi- 

 tute any feed for corn meal. 



Mr. George Ayrault. — My experience in feeding for flesh is, that 

 corn meal is rather heavy. I like to lighten it up a little with ground 

 oats or wheat shorts. And I always give beets for dessert, nearly a 

 peck at a feed, and two feeds a day. A creature will eat more meal 

 and hay, and digest it better for having a peck of cut sugar beets. 

 The secret of fattening is to get a bullock to eat just as much as he 

 can without cloying his appetite, and make liim gain gradually right 

 along, summer and winter alike. 



The Chairman. — Mr. Ayrault can prove that he speaks from experi- 

 ence b}- four of the heaviest beeves the world ever saw ; cattle that 

 •weigh nearl}^ two ton apiece. They are now on exhibition, and I 

 would like to have a committee visit his animals, and learn the secret 

 of his astonishing success. 



Mr. Lyman, Mr. Reade, Mr. Crandell, Mr. Fuller and Mr. Bragdoii 

 were appointed said committee. 



Deep and Shallow Plowing. 

 Dr. Isaac P. Trimble showed a specimen of corn, and said : It will 

 be remmembered tliat at one of our meetings last summer, during 

 the very dry M'eather, Horace Greeley stated that " the mischievous 

 and wicked teachings of this Club would cost the country 1,000,000 

 bushels of corn this season." And Mr. Fuller said that David Petit 

 and a little knot of farmers in Salem county, N. J., were doing more 

 harm than this Club could do good in six months. Now, here is a 

 letter from Mr. Petit saying that a neighbor of his, Mr. Samuel P. 

 Carpenter, had this year 100 bushels of shelled corn to the acre on 

 meadow ground, with, plowing as shallow as he could, probably not 

 even three inches ; and that Mr. George Abbott had about as much, 

 and here are some ears of corn from the fields of some of those farm- 

 ers. When the theoretical farmers, who believe in such deep tillage, 

 can beat these practical formers two or three to one, it will be time 

 enough to make such serious charges. These Salem farmers have 

 learned by long practical experience, just how deep to plow to secure 

 the best crops ; and considering the drouth of last summer, their crops 

 of corn were wonderful. The discussions here on the subject of the 

 depth of tillage, have attracted more attention then we are aware of. 

 Individual, as well as farmers' Clubs, have been experimenting, and I 

 have much testimony to show that five inches or less have proved 



