PROCEEDINGS OF TIIK FARMERS' CLUB. 75 



I would rccnniniciul tliis :is :v ruic. aii<], liclioviiij^- it ()n,i;']it to l»c j^'ciicriilly 

 known, I place it at yoiir disposal." 



Mr. Solon Kobinson. — Another c.xccllrnl rcinrdy for tlic poison of ivy 



h'hiis tnxicodcmiron), is a strong" to;i made of ilio leaves of tlie sweet fern 



[Cowptoitia asjilt'nifoHa). with wliie'Ii llit; part aflected is washed a.s hot as 



it can be borne every lionr until (li(> pfiison is eure<i. Sometimes one appli- 



ifion eures. If tlie poison alVccts the stmiiacli of the person, drink IVeely 



<'[' the tea. 



Cause of Kust on Wheat. 



Mr. James Laurie, Chalmers, Wlntc Co., Intl. — I think that t])C nist on 

 wheat was caused by dew, or };'e)itle rain or fog", remaining' on the stalk or 

 leaf of the plant, and the hot sun coming' out immediately after and li(,'atinf^ 

 these mifiute drops and scalding the plant. I proposed a remedy, by dis- 

 turbing (when there i.s no wind to do it for you) the growing wheat by a 

 lonjr lint-, ^vith a man at each end, and drag-ging^ it over the top, bending 

 each 8talk over and causing the particles of water to collect and run down 

 in drops. 



Raising Calves by Hand. 



The Hon. Wm. C. Dodge writes from Washington city npo}i the subject 



f raising calves by hand, as follows: 

 " Thi; demand of the army, and tiic destruction of cattle to supjdy it, 

 iiavc rendered stock high and .scarce, there being now less in the country 

 than there was in 1800. llencc it ia an object to raise every calf we can; 

 but the high price of butter and cheese makes it more profitable to use the 

 'ow for those purposes than for rearing' calves, especially in this region, 



vhcrc they know nothing of our process of raising^ them by hand, the only 



.ethod in Maryland and hereabout being to let them run with the cow. 

 "Now, my idea is this: to make an artificial teat of rubber, mounled in 



1 metal socket that can be readily attached to the top or edge of a i)ail, 

 trough or other vessel, with a small llexible tube reaching down into tlu; milk, 

 BO that tlie young calf or lamb can feed itself witliout the trouble and 

 bother of teaching it to drink, which at best is an unpleasant and disagree- 

 able job, coming in the spring, when the yards and pens are muddy, and 

 when the farmer is in a hurry. They can be fed on skim milk porriilge, 

 Ac, and the use of the cow thus secured for making butter and cheese, and 

 the calves be raised at the same time. Oat meal jjorridgc is said to be 

 fully equal to milk for them, and I am iid'ormed that it is largely used in 

 ''.wiada and (treat Britain for that purpose. I'lease let me know what you 



;iink of the idea. Is it oi' any utility ? Will it be of benefit, and likely to 

 be adopted if made ?" 



There is already one patented utensil for this purpose. It is a pail with 

 an India rubber teat, the pail being suspended so that the calf reaches up 

 to 8Uck. We <lo not think that it has ever l»een extensively used. There 

 is no reason that we can see why it it will not answer a g.jod purpose. 



Chess in Wheat. 



Mr. .\. Jones, Lafayette, Van Huren county, Mich., communicated the 

 following fact to the Club, hoping to get correct answers to the two (pjes- 

 lions which close the communicution. He says: 



