PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 153 



The opinion of those present appears to be in favor of wood, in prefer- 

 ence to any other material. If a cement floor is made of broken stone, 

 grouted with cement, it will be more durable, but more expensive than 

 wood in the first outlay. A very good flooring may be made of gravel, 

 clay, fresh cow droppings and cut straw, thoroughly mixed, and not made 

 soft with water, but beaten hard when laid down, at least a foot deep. 

 Coal cinders are good to mix in the compound for an earth floor. 



SwARD-BouND Meadows. 



Mr. Beardslee also asks whether "sward-bound" meadows would be 

 improved by thorough harrowing, and at what season it should be done ?" 



This question is easily answered. They would be materially improved, 

 and pastures also. The best time to do the harrowing is when the surface 

 is thawing, after a hard freeze. Grass seed should be sown at the same 

 time. Winter wheat is benefited by harrowing in the spring. 



Does the Appearance op the Moon Indicate Wet or Dry ? 



Mr. N. Smith of Delphi, Ind., gives the opinion of an old farmer upon 

 this subject: 



"I have said he is a knock-down argument against the theory that the 

 new mooit ia any indication of the weather for the ensuing month, as it 

 presents the same appearance to the beholder in Indiana and Kentucky, 

 yet we often have a drouth here, when Kentucky is almost deluged, and 

 vice versa. If I had had any faith in the doctrine before, it would have 

 been entirely dispelled by this view of the subject. As the world once 

 believed that men were ' fools by Heavenly compulsion,' ' thieves, murder- 

 ers, and scoundrels by spherical predominance,' let us rejoice that these in- 

 fluences are now believed to be confined to plants, and the lower animals, 

 and tliat only a very limited number believe even this, and that the last 

 lingering absurdity of moon theorists and astrologists will soon die out." 



Virginia Cotton and Melons. 



Mr. Wm. Bartlett, a Massachusetts Yankee, had a plantation near Big 

 Bethel, York county, Virginia, before the war, from which he was a refugee 

 two jJ'earR, but moved back last spring, and planted 12 acres of cotton, 

 which bid fair to make a good crop, September 15th, the bolls being then 

 opening, and many of them mature, proving that cotton can be grown in 

 Virginia. In the cotton field, Mr. Bartlett found a volunteer watermelon^ 

 which made 1,G14 feet in length, and bore 30 melons, most of them large 

 size. 



Mr. Pt. G. Pardee. — This letter is exceedingly interesting, as it assures us 

 that in freed Virginia free labor may produce cottoTi, and land that is capa- 

 ble of making such a growth of vine is rich enough for any crop, and the 

 riches of that soil we hope to see developed when it falls into the hands of 

 men who know how to develop its resources. 



The Patent Cow-Milker. 



Mr. Joseph Morrison, Pontiac, Michigan, says: "1 have cows that are hard 

 to milk. If the india-rubber cow-milker is not a humbug, but an improve- 

 ment, I want to know its size, cost, cost of transportation, where and how 

 to get it, Vv''ill the Chib say a few words about it, and oblige many V 



