514 Transactions of the American Institute. 



them. Sumac is, howevgr, mainly used in the preparation of morocco. 

 The leaves are beaten or stricken off from the branches with sticks 

 in July and August. After a long period of dry -weather they are 

 much richer ; they are then suffei'ed to dry in the sun, and the deal- 

 ers prefer that they should be ground to a coarse powder before being 

 sent to market. Tlie value of the material varies very much accord- 

 ing to the locality where it is produced, that groM'n in New York 

 and other northern States being worth about forty-five dollars a ton, 

 while that from "Virginia and the southern States, sells for twice as 

 much. The market for sumac is mainly among the manufacturers of 

 morocco, of whom there are several in Lynn, Mass., Philadelphia, 

 Penn,, and "Wilmington, Del. 



Item in the History of Plows. . 



Mr. Charles Smith, Pinesville, Pa., writes to contradict the current 

 belief that Jethro "Wood was the first to introduce the cast iron plow 

 in America. He says : " This may be true with regard to New York 

 and New England, but I think that we in Pennsylvania can show 

 some claims to the introduction of good plows into this country. 

 My father, Joseph Smith, of Bucks county. Pa., made patterns of 

 plows during the revolutionary war, and some years afterward had 

 four cast from them, and it was with one of these that I learned to 

 plow. This was between the years 1796 and 1800. He obtained the 

 patent while Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, and made plows 

 for sale in 1798. Some years he made as many as 300 plows, which 

 were sold in Lancaster county, in this State, in New Jersey, Dela- 

 ware and Maryland. I attended the great plowing match at "Water- 

 town, N. Y., in 1820, where two of Smith's plows were entered in 

 competition with the New York plows and received the premium. 

 Jethro "Wood and my father had a correspondence about the improved 

 cast plows, after the expiration of my father's patent. I think this 

 -was in 1816. 



Cheese Making. 



The same correspondent mentions a method of making cheese fol- 

 lowed in his family ujDward of thirty-five years ago. According to 

 this plan, as soon as the milk was strained the rennet was added, and 

 the curd made. The curd was laid by in the milk i-oom until enough 

 was accumulated to make a cheese, when it was put into the press in 

 the usual manner. The writer says that the cheese made in this way 

 was of better quality than that now commonly oft'ered for sale. 



Adjourned. 



