PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 281 



mor throuf^h miles of stalwart corn, its tassels almost brushino- him on 

 oitlior side, or when the road is but a dividing of tlie waters of a sea of 

 wlicat, ajid all perfectly defenceless, a great peace shall come over him, 

 and lu! shall realize that millennium when the cattle, and the hogs, and the 

 corn shall lie down together, and a small boy shall tend them. The subject 

 is exhaustless. But I have written too much already. 



^[r. Solon Robinson. — We don't think so. The subject can never be 

 written about too much. We wish a hundred men would each write a hun- 

 dred letters, just such letters, every daj--, until the very weight of their ar- 

 guments would overwhelm the barbarians who turn their cattle loose to 

 prey upon honest men who are disposed to dispense with the foolish fashion 

 of fencing such a country as the Illinois prairie. 



Adjourned. John W. Chambers, Secretary, 



March 28, 1865. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair. 



Nyce's Fruit Preserving House. 



At the request of the Club, Prof. Benj. M. Nyce, Cleveland, Ohio, gave a 

 description of his Fruit Freserving House. He also brought with him a 

 quantity of Catawba grapes as fresh and good as when they were stored 

 last autumn. Also, several varieties of apples quite out of sea; .on. These 

 are eamples of largs quantities Vv'hich will not be opened for sale until next 

 Jcne cr July. 



Ths house at Cleveland is the sixth which has been built, all of which 

 , \J7Sr3 ezpcriments, and each an improvement upon others. This one has 

 piiO^ed entirely successful, and, of course, profitable to the builders. 



This house consists of two apartments, -one above the other. The upper 

 one contains ice, put in every winter, in depth usually five to six feet. This 

 is separated from the fruit room below it by a floor of galvanized iron, the 

 sheets of which are closely riveted and soldered, so as to be perfectly wa- 

 ter tight. The walls atre made of two casings of sheet iron, 3| feet apart. 

 . The ed^es of these sheets are painted and closely, nailed to upright stud- 

 ding, the intervening space being filled with chaff, sawdust, or short shav- 

 ings, or other non-conducting substances. The floor of the fruit room is 

 also made of galvanized iron. Below this are placed shavings, three feet 

 thick, on a coating of tar and pitch, spread one inch thick upon the ground, 

 to prevent the entrance of moisture. One or more wind-wheels are placed 

 above the roof, geared to fans in the fruit rooms. On the floor of the fruit 

 room was spread formerly, in its dry state, the chloride of calcium, a sub- 

 stance which has great power of absorbing moisture; but now the waste 

 bittern from salt works' (absolutely costless,) after being dried, is found to 

 be equally as efficient as the former chloride. 



The elements of a complete preserving atmosphere are coldness, dr3'ness, 

 purity, eqnalit}' f»f temperature at all times and in every part, absence of 

 light, and if possible the exclusion of the great agent of decimtpositionjthc 

 oxygen of the air. This plan secures all these elements in great perfection. 

 The thermometer shows a uniform temperature of 34 deg. in all parts of 

 the room, and is found not to vary a single degree from Bi*^ even from April 

 till October. 



