388 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



March 25, 1861. 

 Mr. Edward Doughty, of Newark, N. J., in the chair. 



CLOTHES WRINGER. 



Mr. B. Dickerman, of the Metropolitan Washing Machine Com- 

 pany, of Middlefield, Conn., exhibited the " Universal Clothes 

 Wringer," a machine of his own invention. He explained its 

 adaptation to the object designed. It consists of small elastic 

 rollers through which the clothes run, and the water is thus 

 pressed out of it without any straining of the fabric. The elas- 

 ticity of the rollers makes it suitable for garments of all sizes. 

 It will wring four times as fast as can be done by hand. By 

 placing a tub on each side, and running the fabric through the 

 rollers backward and forward, it can also be used for washing. 



PRESERVATION OF APPLES. 



Mr. Lawton said, that in consequence of the remarks at the 

 last meeting, in reference to the sweating of apples, he had been 

 induced to inquire into the principles of atmospheric action. He 

 read, as pertinent to the subject, extracts from an article in the 

 Farmers' Magazine, of March, 1861, showing that water does not, 

 as once supposed, exist in chemical combination with atmospheric 

 gases, but in a state of steam. There is an insensible evapora- 

 tion from the earth, taking place under all circumstances and in 

 all weathers. It is seldom interrupted, but continues even when 

 rain is falling or the ground is covered by snow. In the coldest 

 weather a block of ice will grow porous from this cause without 

 any signs of liquefaction. The sweating of apples he considered 

 the result of this imperceptible evaporation, and however dry 

 they are put up it must take place. After being taken out and 

 wiped dry, they become sweaty a second time. This evaporation 

 will always go on independent of the evaporation in the air. 



RENOVATING OLD ORCHARDS, AND SURFACE MANURING. 



A letter was received from Mr. P. Whittier, of Chesterville, 

 Maine, upon the subject of renovating old orchards. This gen- 

 tleman recommended the mulching of the roots of the trees. He 

 had successfully treated a small orchard of very old trees in this 

 manner : He had hauled about the roots of the trees all the coar-se 

 vegetable substances that he could get. His trees had leaped 

 into new life, they had put on a deeper green and larger leaves, 

 made a large growth of wood, and had been loaded wdth fine fruit. 



