Proceedixgs of the Farmers' Club. 619 



forest. It "vras customary for farmers having land to clear to let jobs 

 of chopping, &c., stipulating in the contract that all timber must be 

 cut in the summer months or in September, so as to prevent s})routing 

 from the roots of the stumps, and also to greatly hasten their decay. 

 In an orchard which I put out more than twenty-live years ago one 

 tree had its entire top broken off the next spring after setting. In 

 three years after, it had as large a top, and was much more symmetri- 

 cal than the average of the other trees. But if that had occurred in 

 summer it would have been fatal to the tree. Trees derive much of 

 their nutriment from the air ; therefore their bark should be kept thin 

 and soft in spring and summer. A wasli of lye will soften the bark 

 and afford some of the natural stimulus, as the lye is an extract from 

 the wood by the process of burning, ifec. It should be applied strong 



to large trees and weaker to small trees. 



Adjourned. 



March 16, 1869. 



Mr. Xathajs' C. Ely in the chair ; Mr. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



Scab in Sheep. 



Mr. A. B. Sullivan, Lindley, Sullivan county, Mo., asks for a remedy 

 for scab in sheep. 



Mr. T. C. Peters said, in answer to one of the gentlemen present, 

 that it is nothing but the itch, caused by a little insect of the same 

 species as that from wliich mankind suffers. If the gentleman in 

 Missouri would take the trouble to dip liis sheep in a solution of 

 tobacco they would be cured very quickly. 



Chairman. — That's good use to put tobacco to. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman said that he had discussed the subject with 

 Professor Gamgee, and asked him what they did in England. The 

 Professor had stated that they cured there with tobacco. But he said 

 that dipping them in it was not always enough, for sometimes the wool 

 would be greasy and prevent tlie tobacco from getting in. He 

 thought that warm tobacco juice sliould be poured from a tea-kettle, 

 or the like, and the part should be rubbed with tlie hand. 



Mr. T. C. Peters. — I have cured more than thirty with the decoction 

 of tobacco. 



Peofit from Westerx FARinXG. 



Mr. Yincent Colyer, curator of the Cooper Union, now traveling 

 at the west, writes from Kansas city, Mo. : 



