no 



02 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



gank'ii. Yt>t it was luit (ill tlir tliinl yaw afti-r lrans|ilaiitiiiy: lliat tliey 

 bore any. I was alxmt to juill tlicin up, Imt (ttlit'r lal»or prcvcjitid and 

 iiuw iiiuiicy would hardly Imy tliciii it 1 roiild not vcplaco theni." 



FuuiT AT Tin: West. 



Mr. William (Jray. wiiU'S May '2'.], IVuni Uavcnport, Iowa, tlial lie lias 

 resided tliere twenty years, and has never seen a greater promise itf fruit, 

 peaehefi exeept* d. " Notwithslaiiding" the sevfic winter, the ias|tl)erry 

 ]dants never did lietter. 1 (diserve lliat fpiite a numlier of the IdikIs on the 

 grape vines lifive failed to pM.sh out, still there are enough to g:ive us a 

 larg-e trup. I have ahout 2W vines of eig;ht or ten varieties, all of whicli 

 are kept low, and prnne(l on the long'-cune systom, and laid down and eov- 

 cred with earth during- winter, e.xcept the C'lintoJi. This place is in latilndo 

 4U,", and exposed to severe/- noitli-west winds during: winter (excepting- 

 siiine sheltered spots). What do the vine-growers of your Club think of 

 leavii g' unprotected during* winter such vines as the Delaware, Concord, 

 Ilarti'ord rrtdific and Diana in such a locality as this? How can tLoso 

 who g-row grapes here give eounse; to grape-growers in Iowa, where all 

 the circumstances arc so ditferent? The vine g-r<twers of Missouri an- 

 much more competent to g'ivc advice. The n)t>st interesting thing is to sec 

 the growing- interest iu the culture of the vine." 



Moles. 



Mr. \V\n. 11. r.cnhain, Wrig^litstown, Fa., says : "The discussions be- 

 fore your Farmers' Club are very interestinj^. May I ask you to j^ive us 

 some information, aboi^t getting' rid of moles in the •garden. Is 

 there any remedy other than trappiu}:^ ? Is there ajiy poison to extermi- 

 nate them, or is there anything known so impleasant to them, which if put 

 into their holes or routes would drive them away ?" 



Mr. Solon Ivobinson. — I have st)metimes hdt in need of the sajue informa- 

 tion, yet I am not sure if I knew how to drive the n)oI(!s away, whethirr 1 

 shouhl do wisely if 1 did so. 1 know that they never live in g-mund that 

 is not infested with worms. 1 have used salt to such an extent tluit it 

 killed the worms and then the moles left, but a year or two after they came 

 back aj^ain. Tln-y have done me some damage, but I am not certain i)ut 

 they are like the birds, f»f more advan(a}^(! than damage to the farmer. 



Dr. Trimiile. — If the g'entleman will dissect Kome moles as I have birds, 

 to leain what their food is, he will l)e betl(!r able to satisfy hims(df whetln'r 

 it Ih worth his whih; to try tf> pret rid of tluMii. Soiik? folks would g^et rid 

 of toads, not knowing that their food is bugs and beetles, whose prog^cMiy 

 woidd < at up all the crops if not destroyed by toads, frogs, moles, skunks 

 and binls. 



.^!l. .\diiaii IJerg-en. — The moles arc so troublesome on Long' Island, that 

 ihey sometimrs root up a row of corn. J'erliajis if thi'y ilid not the worms 

 would eat it up. I lind that plowing' the field (d'leii, or .•*|)ading and booing- 

 the garden, will drive them away. That is the only reme<ly that \\<' know 

 of for nudes. 



Mr. Wm. H. Prince. — Nature has arrangeil that we have enough birds to 

 keep the insectH under; if the binls are destroyed, then tin; insects increase 



