Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 291 



Mr. J. B. Lyman — They do not drink the water from these large 

 cisterns. They have a drinking-water cistern which is filled in win- 

 ter, and being kept covered often keeps cool quite into the summer. 



The Chairman — "Well, here at the north it won't do to have cisterns 

 exposed to the action of the frost, unless you want them to burst. For 

 my part, I should prefer to drink filtered water. 



Galls on Maple Leaves. 



Mr. M. W. Stevens, Swansville, Schoharie county, JST. Y. — About 

 twenty years ago I planted street shade trees of the Eup. silver 

 maple (A. dasycarpum) ; they are now lofty trees and a splendid shade ; 

 but for two or three years last past they have been attacked in the 

 month of June b} 7 some disease which produces a multitude of small 

 lumps upon the leaves (like the one inclosed). Some of the leaves 

 turn black upon the tree and drop off, while from others a substance 

 falls which produces a stain upon the fence and walk under the trees ; 

 this stain is dark* green and remains a long time. When the leaves 

 are most covered, and in damp, warm weather, a bitter and disagreea- 

 ble smell comes from them, and later in the season an insect makes its 

 appearance in colonies of three or four inches diameter upon the trunks 

 of the trees. These insects are half the size of a house fly, brown 

 in color, and very active when disturbed. Between the dropping off, 

 turning black, stains and unpleasant odor, this tree family is very 

 much lessened in value. Can it be prevented ? 



Mr. A. S. Fuller — There is no connection between the galls on the 

 leaves and the insects on the bark. The galls on the leaves are the 

 work of one of the gall flies, genus sinox. They are so small one can 

 hardly see them. A little lime dusted on the leaves might do them 

 some good. 



Chinch Bugs and Crops in Iowa. 

 Mr. E. Wellington, Eiverton, Fremont county, Iowa — Fremont 

 county is the southwest county of the State, and one that has the best 

 soil of any in the State. During May and until the middle of June, 

 the weather was dry and hot, making it quite favorable for killing 

 weeds and ploughing and cultivating corn. It also hatched out an 

 innumerable amount of chinch bugs that destroyed all of the spring- 

 wheat in this section of the country, and to some extent damaged the 

 oat and barley crop, and the first rows of corn that were next to wheat. 

 But about the time that they got all of the wheat destroyed, we had 

 some severe storms of hail and rain that to a great extent stopped 

 their ravages. I never saw the corn crop look better here at this time 



