4G0 Transactions of the American Institute. 



Dr. Isaac P. Trimble. — I imderstand, tlien, that yoii would apply 

 tlie plaster on the dry uplands, as, for instance, where clover is 

 adapted for growth, and the lime you would put on the damp, low- 

 lying soil. 



Mr. James A. Whitney. — Yes, lime in its operation on damp soils 

 is, to some extent, a substitute for drainage, and lime and drainage 

 together will convert our swamps into the best farming lands M^e have. 

 Lime is not, properly speaking, a manure. Il iifty bushels are spread 

 upon an acre, the quantity of lime removed in ten successive crops 

 may not be two bushels. It operates not by furnishing plant-food 

 directly, but by taming and sweetening a wild and sour soil, fitting it 

 to be the seed-bed of the most useful plants. 



Yoking Oxen. 



Mr. Pierce, in the same letter, speaks of a discussion had at a former 

 meeting of the club, about the common ox yoke, which some of the 

 members had stigmatized as " a relic of barbarism." He prefers the 

 ordinary yoke to all other devices, and says that if properly made it 

 will cause less pain to the animal. 



Mr. W. S. Cai'penter. — There is no danger of chafing the shoulders 

 of oxen unless they are worked in wet weather. 



Mr. S. Edwards Todd. — I have made cat yokes, calf yokes, and ox 

 yokes, and my long experience in the use of oxen warrants me in 

 saying that oxen will work more easily and perform more service 

 when wearing the old-fashioned Connecticut yoke, if it be correctly 

 made and properlj^ fitted, to the neck of the oxen. I have seen illus- 

 trations of yokes in some of our agricultural papers, attached to the 

 heads instead of the necks and shoulders. To show that the old way 

 is the best, let a man attempt to lift a heavy weight with a handspike 

 on liis shoulder, or resting on his head, and he will perceive at once 

 whether an ox can draw most Avith a yoke attached to his head or to 

 his neck. 



Fish Manuke. 



Mr. 11. Hammond, Augusta, Georgia, writes : " I would be glad to 

 have the opinion of the club on the value of ' fish guano ' as a fer- 

 tilizer, as compared with genuine Peruvian guano. The ease with 

 which it can be handled and transported to a distance (as for instance 

 to Georgia or South Carolina) being taken into consideration." 



