Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 437 



Colonel M. C. "Weld — The presence of organic matter in the soil 

 is an almost certain indication that the application of lime will be of 

 valne. The quantity which it will pay to apply cannot be determined 

 without experiment ; but if the vegetable mould is present, the soil 

 will be benefited by lime. 



Dr. Trimble — By all means try it ; lime is useful anywhere except 

 on wet meadows — there it is no use at all. In the country where I 

 have lived, lime is used as a top dressing for corn and grass, and its 

 use has made the farmers rich. But this man must experiment. 

 Perhaps his soil is not suitable for it ; and some limes — those con- 

 taining magnesia, for instance — are injurious to vegetation. For the 

 first experiment, twenty, thirty, or a hundred bushels per acre may 

 be tried. Yery large quantities are sometimes applied to rich, allu- 

 vial soils. On the flats of the Delaware, lime has been spread on the 

 soil and mixed to form a compost for other land ; and after this com- 

 post has been removed, the fiats have given very great crops. 



Mr. Hauser — There are some wet meadows upon which lime 

 should most certainly be used. Some wet soils contain organic acids, 

 which are corrected by the action of the lime. 



Transportation of Milk. 



Mr. Augustus Skeen, Montgomery county, Pa. — In an impromptu 

 gathering of about fifty farmers, the question was agitated, whether 

 carrying milk warm from the cow three quarters of a mile, a little 

 more or less, in a common spring wagon, and then setting it for the 

 purpose of creaming and butter-making, would injure it for that 

 purpose at all, or in the least. The majority thought it would not; 

 a few said positively it would. If you have any definite knowledge 

 on that point let us know. Also, you are aware, doubtless, that 

 milkmen who send their milk to market always take out the animal 

 heat before sending it. All such milk gives less butter if set for it. 

 Many of the Club appeared to think it would not, though I believe 

 the contrary opinion is generally advanced. 



Col. M. C. Weld — Milk transported warm will be somewhat 

 injured, even in going a mile. The action of the air on milk is much 

 more rapid when it is warm than after it is cooled to the tempera- 

 ture of spring water, say fifty or sixty degrees. At this lower tem- 

 perature the action is very slow. First cooled milk may be carried 

 far in close cans, and smell sweet when the cans are open. If trans- 

 ported warm from the cow it will have a very bad odor. Whether 

 or i no less butter will be made from such milk I do not know, but 



