PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS CLUB. 57 



nlKtiit Diir elms, in this |>;irt (»!" tlic State? At this Hcasoii [he seeds fall 

 IViiiii tlie trees and are carried in Utth* chtuds dl' IhiUcs in the air, il" there is 

 a light wind partieularly, and they st-tlle on the ground and in a few daya 

 they co(ue n|' in hundreds and grow rapidly. If our IVicnds out on the 

 j)rairies could see the (|UantitieH I pull up each iSjiriufj;-, and tlieir rapid 

 };ro\vth, he would know wliat to g"et to plant upon his lands. 1 don't 

 know as this letti'r will reach the distinct person, as I hardly know how to 

 direct, hut 1 must niaki^ anotlier ell'ort to get some ailauthus seed, as I wish • 

 tt) go into the silk worm business if I can procure the re(iuir(,(l matc'iials. 



Mr. \Vn». li. I'rince took the address of the lady and promised to furnish 

 her with some ailanthus seed. AVe fear it is a little too far north, thougii 

 the tree is decidedly hardy here. Mr. I'rince states that a few years since 

 he hud an order from I'aris lor 15 barrels of ailanthus seed, which he pro- 

 ennd readily by hiring boys to gather it from the trees growing in city 

 : reels and along the country roadside. A great number of acres arc now 

 ; overed with ailanthus trees in France, and rapid progress is making in the 

 business of producing* silk from worms fed upon their foliagv. Ue thought 

 it full time that a patriotic elfort should be made to revivify the silk busi- 

 ness in this country and stop silk importation. It is an ascertained fact 

 that nearly all the silk of Japan is i)roduccd from the ailanthus tree; and 

 imiloubtedly the same material c.-uld be as well produced in this country 

 as in Japan. The trees are kept cut down so that they formed shrubsj and 

 were abfiut si.x feet high. 



Mr. Georg-e liartlett said that he had observed in stjme of tlie French 

 papers, statements that the Japanese silk-pvoducing- ailanthus was of a 

 iitferent species fvom that commonly grown in this country. 



Mr. Win. R. I'rince ve[)lied to this statement that the French writers 

 must certainly be mistaken. He had read descriptions and seen draw- 

 ings of the trees, which fully acci^rded with those to be seen so common 

 in our streets. 



Gapes in Chickens — Cause and Cure. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — 1 will read the following letter I'roni a gentleman 

 who has had great experience in raising chickens: 



" I'erha|>s 1 can add a litth.' to the intormation of the gentleman from 

 Franklin upi>n the subject of gapes in yonn<^ j)onltry. 



"His description of the worm in the trachea is correct, except the part 

 he desci-ibes as a proboscis appears to me to Ite a lind) with a true foot. I 

 Urteil a glasH of I«»\v power, Init the iiart in (lUestion appeared muscular, 

 and tli(.' fringed extremity like a claw, by which the parasite proj^ressed 

 diiwMWHrd and fixed itself to the lining of the windpipe. The mouth ap- 

 ■ like that of the leech, and I thought I coidd discover a piercer in its 

 : . but am not sure. It moves, I think, by fastening its month to the 



de of iho trachea, then stretching out its arm and claw to a new place, 

 iiius drawing it.self along, sucking the l)lood of its victim for its nnurish- 

 nient. 



" The diitken dies with the animal fdled witii eggs in it. These must 

 hatch and become m.^rc or less developetl in the decomposed remains, then 

 remaining in the dust attach themselves to the living chickens or the old 



