PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 181 



fcrving level land for wheat, as stated in a former letter, is, bccauso that 

 smartwecd which abounds here grows more upon level than upon rolling 

 land. All the weed seed that matured amonjj the corn lies on top of the 

 ground, and can come up earl}' enough to be one of the causes to prevent 

 the damage of the bugs. I now calculate to sow wheat next spring on 

 corn stubble ground, where the bugs came from my neighbor's field and 

 nearly destroyed my corn for ten rods wide. My experience teaches me 

 that there will be no more bugs there than anywhere else. 



A New Disease op Poultry. 



Mr. D. I). Hamilton, Clarence, Eric county, New York, gives an account 

 of u new disease of poultry ; wants to know if it prevails otherwhere, and 

 if any one has a remedy. The disease is worms in the intestines, sufficient 

 to produce death. In one laying hen that died he found ninety worms, 

 from a quarter to half an inch in length, somewhat hairy, the size of wheat 

 straw. 



To Remove Rocks. 



Mr. Joseph Green, Jay, Wayne county, N. Y., recommends burning in- 

 stead of burying rocks. lie says: " I dig a trench around the stone nearly 

 to the bottom: a foot wide or more; fill the trench and cover the stone with 

 old wood, broken rails, pieces of stumps, roots, etc., all of which are an in- 

 cumbrance, set fire to tliis, and, when burned down, take an iron bar to see 

 if it is not cracked, which is generally the case; get off all I can; if not 

 able to get it all out, fill up again with rubbish as before and burn again- 

 I once burnt one three times; it was eight feet across it, three feet thick in 

 the center, half the thickness above ground, I got it in pieces of 150 to 

 300 pounds, put them on a boar, tlience to th(^ wall. Stones that are clouded 

 with dark green, or black, with white and copper color, are very hard to 

 drill, but leadil}' crack to pieces when exposed to the fire. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — Where wood is worth six and eight dollars a cord, 

 it would be too expensive. It appears to mc that burning is not suited to 

 all localities. 



Chess or Cheat — Bromus Secalinus. 



!Mr. Wm. R. Prince says: "There is not a botanical publication in any 

 language that does not explain scientifically the distinctive characteristics 

 of this plant and of wheat. Tiiis is an annual plant, and trilicum hyhernum 

 is a biennial one, and their specific attributes are as plainl}' defined by 

 nature as are those of our oaks and our hickory trees. There is, conse- 

 quently, no excuse for any man to remain in a state of ignorance, as to the 

 marked distinctions between chess and wheat, any mru-e than between any 

 other grass or grain. It is a native of Europe, and did not exist in America 

 until it was intr(-duced here, mingled with wheat or some other foreign 

 grain. It has been a common pest of the grain fields of Europe from ti.Tic 

 immemorial, and it h)ng since attained the name of cheat, because of the 

 disappointment of the husbandman, who so often found in some portion of 

 his fi.-M :i crop of chess in place of wheat. It is natural to humid locali. 

 ticfc; and, when any portion of a wheat field is winter killed by the wet- 



