PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 263 



"wheat killed by corn shocks. 

 " I sowed wheat one year among- my corn ; and late in the season for cut- 

 ting up corn, I cut up that and stacked it on the wheat eight hills apart 

 each way, thinking as the stacks were small the wheat would live under 

 them ; but every stool of wheat died where the stacks stood, although the 

 air could pass through or between the stalks, and the sun shine in or under 

 them in many places. This fact has led to the reflection: 



"vegetation requires the direct rays of the sun. 

 " How far can vegetation succeed where there is a total absence of the 

 direct rays of the sun ? I can say I know of not a single instance where 

 there has been a healthy plant produced, of any considerable size, nor of a 

 sickly one either, tree or plant, to arrive at a state of maturity in the 

 absence of the light from the direct rays of the sun. If this view is cor- 

 rect — is founded on a law of nature, which is unchangeable — what becomes 

 of the theory of the learned Hugh Miller, in his " Testimony of the Rocks," 

 where, after describing tlie first and second days of creation, dividing 

 them into periods of many thousand years, he speaks of the third day as 

 a day of extraordinary flora — a day corresponding to the carboniferous 

 period which formed our coal beds — ere the sun first broke through the 

 clouds (which had through all previous time of creation hung as a thick 

 mantle around the globe), and shone on sea and land ? Then, after de- 

 scribing the other days of creation, he adds: ' I know of not a single scien- 

 tific truth that militates against even the minutest or least prominent of its 

 details.' " 



Keeping of Winter Pears. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — I have brought to-day a number of varieties of 

 pears, to show the perfection in which they have been kept. The Vicar of 

 AVinkfield is as green as when they were picked, and I think will keep until 

 May. 



Mr. John G. Bergen. — I wish Mr. Carpenter would inform the Club how 

 he keeps them in this state; mine have been ripe some time. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — My method is to let the fruit hang on the tree as 

 long as possible, and then carefully pick and carry in baskets to the barn, 

 and take out the fruit by hand and lay it upon straw on the floor without 

 bruising. The pile may be one to two feet deep, and is to be covered with 

 straw, to exclude light, and the room should be a dark one. Keep the fruit 

 here as long as possible without freezing, and then, on a cold, dry day, pack 

 the pears in barrels with oats in the chaff, and put them away in a dry cel- 

 lar, as cool as it will be safe. 



Mr. Steele. — There is something in the flavor of these pears that I do not 

 like; they have imbibed a slight musty taste from the material used for 

 packing them. I have placed pears in the center of barrels of potatoes, 

 and found them in good order when the barrels were opened late in the 

 season, and free from any unpleasant taste. 



Mr. Pardee. — The remarks of Mr. Steele are very pertinent at this time. 

 I have known pears packed in the center of barrels of hard apples, and 

 they kept well. 



Mr. Geo. H. Hite. — I obviate this by using cheap soft straw paper, and 



