404 Transactions of the American Institute. 



tural point of view, and the ponds, and possible fish production, are 

 thus secured free of cost. The water reached by a ditch three and a 

 half feet deep is equivalent to spring water, and very suitable for 

 trout. Many people suppose they have no facilities for fish, because 

 their water is not lively and cool enough for brook trout. It is a 

 mistake. Nine farms in ten have the means for excavating and fill- 



6 



ing ponds, in which catfish, perch and eels can be produced. 



A Day's Wokk with the Ax. 



Mr. John P. Boyle, Bolton, Conn. — I consider your Club the best 

 authority on all questions relating to practical agriculture, and would 

 know of you how many cords of wood can or ought a man chop in a 

 day ; how much is counted a fair day's work ? 



Mr. J. B. Lyman — Very much depends on the age and size of the 

 timber. Probably the easiest wood to work in is slim young chest- 

 nut from ten to eighteen inches through. In such chopping, a man 

 who has his first kex cut by sunrise can lay up three cords, if he 

 works as long as he can see. That is the limit of what can be done 

 as a regular thing. If there is some oak and some hickory, and now 

 and then a black birch with the chestnut, two and a half cords is a 

 big day's work. In beech and red and black oak, especially when the 

 timber is young and quite free of knots, two cords will keep the ax 

 Hying till an hour by sun. If the wood is knotty, and must 'be split 

 the usual market size, a cord and a half will tire a man. The best 

 regular chopper I ever knew was a man who would take his ax after 

 breakfast, come in at dinner with a cord of wood between the stakes, 

 and go out in the afternoon and do the same, and keep it up six days 

 in a week. When chopping on a bet, a cord an hour has been cut in 

 very free timber, as slim chestnut. I knew a man to lay up seven 

 cords in a day, working in pine, where one blow would split a log. 



Land on Cumberland Mountain. 



Mr. Isaac Pittsford, Torktown, Ind. — Is that Cumberland county 

 land good for wheat, corn and grass ; is it right for stock ? 



Prof. Henry E. Colton — I have just returned from a tour through 

 those mountains; I do not call it a farming country proper; the soil 

 is thin aud soon wears out, but it is the healthiest country on the con- 

 tinent, and the most desirable as to climate. The business that will 

 prosper there is sheep husbandry, fruit growing, and the production 

 of two and three years olds for the farmers of lower lands to fatten. 

 A railroad is going right through it, and the chance is good that land 



