372 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



mine the purity or value of milk. The olemeter might determine the rela- 

 tive proportion of fatty matter in different specimens of milk; it would not 

 determine how much water it contained. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — There is an instrument called a lactometer, that is 

 used to determine the relative value of milk of different cows, for butter. 

 A case containing a number of glass tubes, or long vials, each graduated 

 alike in degrees cut in the glass, is filled with milk, and the thickness of 

 the cream is measured by the marks, and that of each cow compared. If 

 one is found to give but a small yield of cream, she can be discarded as 

 unfit for a butter dairy. She maybe the most valuable in the lot for a city 

 milk farm, or for a cheesemaker. 



Remedy for Melon Bugs. 



Mr. D. K. Emerson sends the following from Stoughton, Wisconsin: "I 

 tried a remedy for melon bugs with success last season, which I have not 

 seen noticed. It was simply a strong decoction of aloes, applied with a 

 stiff brush to sprinkle it with, or a small syringe. It coats the leaves but 

 does no injury. It must be renewed after a shower or heavy dew." 



Mr. Belden Shepard writes from Wheatland, Hillsdale county, Michigan, 

 that he is eighty-four years old, yet he still feels much interest in agricul- 

 tural improvement, and reads the reports of this Club with so much satis- 

 faction, that he desires to contribute his mite. He says: "If you will 

 plant a few poppy-seeds in each hill, and let one stalk grow till bug time is 

 over, you will not be troubled with their company. I found this out by 

 accident, and have followed it for seven years, and the bugs do not trouble 

 my vines. It would be well to plant the poppies so that they will be up 

 or nearly so before you plant your cucumber and other vine seeds." 



American Tea. 



Mr. Emerson also writes: " AVith regard to the tea plant so called (Cea- 

 nothus Americanus and its varieties), it grows in abundance in this 

 vicinity; but can any one give us any account of its having ever been 

 chemically analyzed? Does it contain a single particle of thein? If it 

 does not, it should be known, as it will save much useless speculation." 



Dr. Trimble. — There is no plant known that yields thein beside the true 

 Chinese shrub thea viridis, or thea nigra, and it is useless to try to find any 

 substitute. 



Several others thought not — that if we can have something that will sat- 

 isfy people, whether it contains thein or not, it will be so much gained — so 

 much in favor of American productions. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter said that he had lately tasted a very palatable tea 

 made of raspberry leaves, and learned that they were used to considerable 

 extent among the poor people of West Maryland. 



Clothes-Drying Machine. 



Mr. N. Gale, Boston, thinks that farmers' wives would be greatly benefited, 

 for they read the reports of the meetings of this Club, if we would tell 

 them something about Howe's clothes-drying machine. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I can speak favorably of this machine, several of 



