PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 103 



have never known either to succeed when undertaken upon a grand scale. 

 A factory like that of the Messrs. Beatty, for tlie collection and preparation 

 of poultry for market, would be profitable in every county in the country, 

 and would induce farmers to prodnce poultry in much larg-er (quantities, 

 and at a very considerable profit. 



I.MrROVEMENT WaNTED IN CARRIAGES FOR FARMERS. 



Mr. G. W. Stebbins, Portland, N. Y., makes the following sensible sug- 

 gestions upon a very much needed improvement : 



" Will it be proper to suggest to the Farmers' Club an improvement ia 

 pleasure carriages, so that farmers and their wives, after the exhausting 

 labors cf the week, may be spared the acrobatic feat of climbing into a 

 high buggy preliminary to the ride to church ; so that aged people may 

 ride without the fuss of carrying out a chair, and without requiring a boost 

 from tilt' entire family? (1.) How we ever came to have such elevated 

 vehicles I do not know, unless the;y were first used for their convenience. 

 in driving over stumps (2) when the -country was new, and are to be, 

 retained until some great genius like that spoken of by Charles Lamb,, 

 who taught the people of China how pigs could be roasted without burning 

 down the sty, shall arrive to show us we can ride just as well nearer the 

 ground. If it should be thought advisable that the members of the club, 

 including 'outside members,' should each have built a carriage after a 

 plan of his own, and then at a grand carriage show a premium should be . 

 awarded to the best, I should like to be counted in (3). A broad sofa-like 

 seat, that might be reached by an easy step, would be- the main feature of 

 the one I should offin- (4). I sometimes dream of riding in such a one, in 

 the 'good time coming,' when roadside fences shall disappear, and every 

 road shall be like a gravel walk throughout the entire garden of America 



(5.)" 



Mr. Solon Robinson — I answer the questions in this order : 



(1.) Yes, very proper, and urge it upon all the wagon makers in America, 

 and keep repeating it until somebody has gumption enough to make the 

 improvement. Our present fashionable stj'le is simply ridiculous — that is 

 all. To this there is not a single exception. The Russian drosky comes 

 the nearest to what is wanted for "old people," but the wheels of that are 

 ridiculously snuill. There is no need of small wheels to bring the body of 

 the carriage near the ground. That should be done by crooked axles. We 

 have seen carts for moving heavy burdens, with six feet wheels, the body 

 of which swung only six inches above the earth. Why not have go-to- 

 me( ting carriages upon the same plan ? 



(2.) If such was the origin, it will probably continue as long as a stump is 

 to be seen. You might just as well expect a wagon wheel to make for 

 itself a new track, to escape the old dec-p rut, as to expect a wagon-maker 

 to vary the pattern of his respected grandfather. Besid(!S, if you, Mr. 

 Stebbins, had a new carriage built after a common-sense pattern, have you 

 independence enuugh to use it? 



(3.) And so should I. And I think that any agricultural society tliat will 

 offer a prize large enough to bring out such a desirable inq)r(>vement iu 



