PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 371 



them. Locust seed can be made to vegetate at anj'^ age by pouring boiling 

 ley upon it to soak the hard shell. Nearly all kinds of seeds may be pre- 

 pared in autumn to sprout in boxes and planted in nursery rows in spring. 

 Transplant at one year old, cutting off tap-roots of such as grow them. 

 Set them where they are to grow, twice as thick as natural in forest, and 

 cut out the surplus from time to time. 



From ten to twenty-five acres should be planted for each farm. The 

 timber-planting that has so far proved most successful on the prairies is 

 the common yellow locust {Rohbia pseud- acacia), and the white willow 

 {Salix alba). 



L. P. Noyes, Springville, Iowa. — I will give my experience of nine years. 

 I have found nothing will compare with white or soft maple that grows 

 upon most of the large streams and low lands in the northwestern 

 States; for a vigorous grower and a beautiful tree, it has no equal. I have 

 trees that are six years old, that are six inches through, and from sixteen 

 to twenty feet high. The seeds ripen from the 10th to the 20th of June; 

 the ground should be prepared as you would for corn; tlie seed should be 

 planted as soon as convenient after picking from the tree, and should not 

 be exposed to the sun long before planting. Mark your ground five feet 

 apart, and plant in drills six inches apart, and cover one-half to one inch 

 with well pulverized earth. 1 should recommend a location that was 

 shaded with trees, as the rays of the sun are apt to injure them for the first 

 few days; tend as you would corn. I have set out thousands, and have 

 never known anj' to die if properly cared for. The timber is valuable for 

 fence rails and mechanical purposes. 



Mr. Solon Robinson said it was necessary that the hickory, butternut and 

 chestnut should be gathered and packed at once in moist sand or wet moss; 

 unless this method is pursued, there is very little chance of their growing, 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — My experience differs from Mr. Robinson. I 

 have kept the horse chestnut over the winter, and they have grown the 

 following spring. I place them in a box with earth and bury them; in a 

 short time they will be found to have sprouted; they are then taken and 

 planted. I have be6n very successful in their propagation, " 



Measuring the Quality of Milk by a Hydrometer. 



Mr. Geo. Adams, Hopkinton, Mass., says: "I have an instrument called 

 a hydrometer, which professes to indicate the richness of milk and to detect 

 the presence of water. It is a simple instrument eight inches long, and 

 marked with a scale allowing forty degrees between pure milk and water, 

 I have no doubt, from trials made, that this instrument will show the spe- 

 cific gravity of any liquid, but is it true that the quality of milk is indi- 

 cated by its specific gravity? Is not the specific gravity both of water and 

 cream less than that of milk?" 



The Chairman. — The man is mistaken, I think, in the name of this instru- 

 ment. The hydrometer is an instrument in universal use among distillers 

 and liquor dealers to measure the percentage of alcohol. There is another 

 instrument in use among oil merchants to measure the purity of oil. I do 

 not believe that either of these instruments would be of much use to deter- 



