234 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



time since, a statement was made that sheep to the value of $25,000 were 

 destroyed by dogs in that State in one year. 



Mr. R. n. Williams thought that we should improve the breed of dogs. 



Cranberry Culture. 



Mr. C. W. Ilartshorn, Jacobstown, Burlington county, New Jersey, 

 highly recommends South Jersey to cranberry growers. 



He says the mode of preparing the land tliere is to grub up the bushes 

 and roots and cart them off, and then plow the ground. It is harrowed 

 level, and marked in furnjws two and a half feet apart. Vines are set in 

 the row one foot apart, and cultivated the first season with a horsc-hoc 

 afterward with a hand hoe only, and by pulling out the weeds. The great 

 object is to keep them clean without disturbing the runners till the ground 

 gets completely covered over with the vines. Now as to the selection of 

 the ground for the garden, the best is along a good stream of water where 

 it can be dammed to overflow. Ditches should be cut at right angles to 

 back the water into in a time of a drouth, about every thirty or furty feet. 

 The cost of the land and preparing it, and setting out the vines, is from 

 $50 to $150 per acre. The yield per acre in this section of New Jersey is 

 about 100 to 200 bushels per acre. The price of the berries in the market 

 varies from $3 to $8 per bushel. The climate in South Jersey is as good 

 as any in the United States for the cranberry, if not the best, as the New 

 Jersey berries bring the highest price in the market. Thirty dollars a bar- 

 rel for cranberries is a great price, and should begin to open our eyes and 

 mouth to the discussion of the subject of the cultivation of the cranberry." 



Poison Ivy. 



Mr. James Bailey, Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio, says: " There are 

 two kinds of ivy. No one was ever poisoned by the five leaved vine; it is 

 only the three leaved vine that poisons, and but few persons are affected 

 by that or sumach. The five leaved variety is a perfect antidote for the 

 poison of the three leaved variety. After suffering indescribably from the 

 poison, T took a few leaves and chewed them, and rubbed some blisters on 

 the back of my hand with the juice. It stopped the itching at once, and 

 in less than twenty-four hours the blisters had dried up and become flat. I 

 have not had a blister on me since that time from poison, although I have 

 been frequently exposed to both ivy and sumach, and I have seen others 

 use it with the same good effect. The leaves of the five-leaved ivy, when 

 first chewed, have a pleasant, sour taste, but if chewed too long they have 

 a pungent taste like wild turnip." 



Hedges. 



Mr. John B. Wood, Great Falls, N. H., says that barberry will not thrive 

 as a hedge on dry soil, and he presumes that no farmer, after a few years 

 experience, would tolerate a honey locust. He sa^'s: " I think the apple 

 or pear is the best article for a hedge in any climate where trees are liable 

 to be killed by freezing. And I Avould suggest that a hedge of apple trees, 

 with a good mixture of tall blackberry bushes, would make a hedge through 

 which uo creature would be willing to risk his hide. And then only think 



