246 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



on the end toward tlie east the grapes mildewed very much, until I picted 

 off about half of the bunches, while the west end, which hung equally full, 

 escaped without any mildewing. This spring I took down the frame, and 

 set four posts about eight feet apart, north and south, and nailed slats 

 upon them, and tied the vines to the slats. The vine does not hang so full 

 this season, but has made an extraordinary growth of new wood, which I 

 have left untrimmed. On the side facing the east, the grapes have been 

 affected with mildew, while on the west side but very few have been affected. 

 Can a reason be given ?" 



The chairman inquired what was the prevailing course of winds at Car- 

 bondale ; that might account for the difficulty. 



Wm. Lawton thought all vines shoi;ld be trained and trimmed to suit 

 their particular location. 



Several other person spoke upon this subject, and it was thought to be 

 a matter of a good deal of importance to have the vine so exposed as to 

 avoid danger arising from di.-ease, want of sun and air, 



PRESERVING APPLES IN WINTER, 



Solon Robinson — The same gentleman, Mr. Joslin, communicates the 

 ollowing information about preserving apples. He says : 



" Mr. G. W. Browning, a respectable, well-to-do farmer in Abington 

 township, Luzerne county, told me that, some few years ago, his trees 

 hung exceedingly full of apples, and the limbs were bent nearly to the 

 ground. He made his orchard a hog pasture, that they might pick up all 

 defective fruit as fast as it fell. He had a sow that learned to pick the 

 apples from the recumbent branches, and as they swung higher, she would 

 rise upon her haunches and pull a limb down in her mouth, and shake off 

 the apples. His fruit was all of good varieties, and hundreds of bushels 

 would be destroyed if he did not pick it, or take the hogs out of the 

 orchard. It was then five or six weeks before the usual time of gathering 

 and he was afraid they would spoil. In the midst of his troubles, however, 

 he concluded to pick them out of the reach of the hogs, and leave the 

 others on the trees a while longer. When he came to market his apples, 

 his late-picked were ripe, and must be used in the winter, while his early- 

 picked kept sound until late in the spring, and brought a high price when 

 other apples were all gone. Since that time he has picked his apples early, 

 has had them keep until spring and early summer, and consequently they 

 brought him the best of prices." 



CURING POISONED SHEEP. 



Mr. Joslin communicated another valuable fact. It is the earth remedy 

 for a poisoned sheep. A pet sheep, poisoned with laurel, lay down upon a 

 pile of fresh earth, where its owner was digging a cellar, and he was par- 

 tially buried, and in half an hour got up cured. Having known deer and 

 other animals to dig into and lay doAvn in the fresh earth when bitten by 

 snakes, and now witnessing this earth cure, he was satisfied of its reme- 

 dial effect, and has since practiced it upon other poisoned sheep, by cover- 



