184 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



excess of lime upon their land, so as to render it partially unproductive. 

 A dressing of salt restored the fertility and made tlie soil better than ever 

 before. I used salt to such an extent upon fence row bushes as not only to 

 kill them, but to stop the growth of all grass and weeds for one year. A 

 dressing of lime restored fertility and made the land very productive. 



Cultivation of Madder. 



Mr. Jasper Manlove, Shawnee Mound, Tippecanoe county, Ind., wants 

 information about growing madder as a crop, as he thinks the soil of that 

 part of Indiana suitable. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — Who has had experience enough to give him and 

 others trustworthy information ? We think, as a general thing, growing 

 madder has not been successful in this country. 



Prof. Mapes. — A Mr. Naught, a few years ago, wrote a very interesting 

 account, in The Working Farmer, of his experiment in trying to grow 

 madder in New Jersey. It was valuable, because it was the detail of a 

 complete failure. I believe all attempts to grow madder in this country 

 have failed. 



Value of Corn Stalks for Forage. 



Mr. J. C. Collins, New Albany, Ind., asks the Club to tell him "the 

 cheapest and best way of preparing corn stalks for forage for horses and 

 colts, and what value does it bear to timothy hay, pound for pound V . 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — The best way is to feed the stalks whole, because 

 they are not healthy food for horses when cut. The sharp edges of the 

 stalk are dangerous if swallowed, as they sometimes are by colts, without 

 being fully masticated. We should estimate the value of clean top stalks 

 at more than half that of timothy hay. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — I have had a good deal of experience in feeding 

 both cattle and horses with corn stalks. I have a machine that not only 

 cuts them fine, but breaks, splits and crushes the pieces between corru- 

 gated iron rollers. With one horse-power I can cut a ton per hour; and 

 thus treated, I consider it almost as valuable as timothy hay. 



Prof. Mapes. — I would not only chaff the stalks by passing them between 

 rollers as described, but soak them soft in water or steam, adding meal to 

 make them more palatable to stock,' If fed dry, when cut in long pieces, 

 they are certainly injurious. 



Early Samaritan Potatoes. 



Information is wanted of the value of this new variety, or else old variety 

 with a new name. The answer to this question, given by several members, 

 is that the potato advertised under this name is an old variety, and the 

 attempt to sell it as a new one is a cheat. Mr. Carpenter said that he had 

 tested the potatoe called Early Samaritan, and finds it possesses no advan- 

 tages whatever. 



Sleeplessness in Moonlight. 



Mrs. Sarah R. Fen-is, Ionia, Mich., says she is satisfied by experiment 

 that sleeplessness in moonlight is all occasioned by the light, and not by 

 any other influence of the moon. Of its influence upon plants, she also 

 proved, by sowing radishes at all ages of the moon, that it was not neces- 



