PROCEEDINGS OP THE FARMERS* CLUB. 283 



superior cultivation escaped injury from frost, while adjoining fields were 

 destroyed. 



Turpentine from Northern Pine. 



Mr. A. Woolston, Lisbon, N. H., wants to know, "if spirits of turpentine 

 can be manufactured to advantage from our common sapling pines, such as 

 grow here in New England ? And if so, can you give me the necessary in- 

 formation concerning the process of manufacture to enable me to make an 

 experiment." 



Mr. Solon Robinson — Spirits of Turpentine can be made from any tree which 

 yields pitch in suflScient quantity to pay for gathering. The only question is, 

 whether the price will warrant the undertaking in New Hampshire, wherelthe 

 trees yield pitch so scantily, compared with the yield of southern pine. The 

 southern mode of collecting it is by cutting a box in the bole of the tree 

 near the earth,Which will hold from a pint to a quart of the liquid. During 

 the season the bark above this cavity is gradually cut away, which causes 

 a new flow of the pitch, that trickles to the box, which is emptied, when 

 full, by dipping it out with a little paddle into buckets. This process of 

 barking is continued as high as a man can conveniently reach. Next year 

 the tree is boxed on the other side, and the process repeated, leaving just 

 sufficient bark to continue life in the tree during that season. Of course, 

 in time, this works a total destruction of the forest. 



To Prevent Bark Blight on Apple-Trees. ^ 



A correspondent in Illinois recommends nailing or tying a piece of 

 board three or four feet long to the boles of young apple-trees upon the south 

 side, to protect the trees from the effect of very warm days in winter, 

 which he thinks the cause of the bark blight. He also recommends great 

 care in the selection of scions for grafting from sound, healthy limbs. Those 

 grown upon the outside near the top of the tree, are generally the best. He 

 thinks it would be a good plan to put marks upon limbs while in bearing, 

 which produce the soundest, handsomest fruit, from which afterward to cut 

 scions for grafting. He also recommends the propagation of gooseberries 

 from the top limbs instead of young suckers. 



Adjourned. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



February 16, 1864. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair. 



Grape Cuttings as a Fertilizer. 



The Chairman asked what is the value of grape cuttings as a fertilizer 

 for the vineyard, and how should they be utilized ? He stated that he was 

 induced to make this inquiry because he had lately seen a nurseryman of 

 Norwalk, Conn., throwing away a large quantity of this material, and he 

 wanted to know whether he could afford to do so. Mr. Ely said that he 

 was so impressed that it was valuable as a fertilizer, that he had ordered 

 his farmer to haul it home. The question now is, what is the best mode of 

 using it ? 



Mr. R. W. Holton, a vine culturist of this vicinity, said that it was his 

 practice formerly to chop up and bury all of the cuttings ; now he burnt 



