Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 385 



which a record of all the bred hogs or families in this country may 

 be made, is, in the estimation of many farmers, required to protect 

 the buyer of thoroughbred swine. If we do not have a herd-book, 

 then we ought to have a record of the points and peculiarities which 

 characterize the different breeds, so explicitly and carefully prepared 

 that it shall be authority, and constitute a standard by which buyers 

 and breeders, as well as judges, are to be governed. We have at 

 present no such standard in print, and the whole subject of breeds 

 and what is thoroughbred, and what marks and features are neces- 

 sary to constitue a pure breed, and in several cases the correct names, 

 are almost wholly open questions. Under this loose system of breed- 

 ing and sale, grade animals are sold as thoroughbred, and inferior and 

 impure stock are made to increase our herds, bearing a fictitious title, 

 thus causing disappointment to the purchaser as well as loss, and 

 filling a neighborhood or a township with distrust and checking the 

 tide of progress. There is no remedy for this, except by the adop- 

 tion of a standard authority, which should be done by the honorable 

 and intelligent breeders of the different varieties in the several 

 States. In order to accomplish this desirable end, as a preliminary 

 work, I move that a committee of three be appointed to correspond 

 with swine-breeders, with a view, if thought practicable, of calling a 

 convention to consider their interests, and to take such action as may 

 be deemed advisable. 



This motion was carried unanimously, and the Chairman appointed 

 as such committee, F. D. Curtis, of Saratoga county, N. Y., Lucius 

 A. Chase and Mason C. "Weld, of New York city. 



Adjourned. 



December 26, 1871. 



Nathan C. Ely, Esq., in the chair; Mr. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



Flax as a Crop. 



Mr. J. S. Somers, Marshalltown, Iowa — Would it be profitable to 

 raise this textile in the west, and if so, how much per acre ? How 

 many bushels would be a fair yield per acre, and how is it threshed ? 

 Will a common threshing-machine break up the bowls? Ordinarily, 

 about what price should it bring at an oil-mill ? 



Prof. H. E. Colton — Growing flax for the seed only wouldi hardly 



be profitable in most sections, though it is done on some rich, lands. 



The seed should generally bring, per bushel, three times the wholesale 



price of the oil per gallon. A very large share of that used by the 



["Inst.1 25 



