PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 267 



Prof. Mapes. — The owner of the quarry is Mrs. Stuart, who charges fifty 

 cents per ton for the privilege of quarrying it. For agriculturol purposes 

 it is worthless, notwithstanding analysis gives it the same quantity of 

 phosphate as bones. It has been thoroughly tried in England and dis- 

 carded. 



The Potato Disease. 



Mr. Martin Metcalf, of Battle Creek, Mich., writes that his father thinks 

 that he has certainly discovered the cause and cure of the potato rot, and 

 wants to know if there is still a prize offered. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I have written to Mr. Metcalf that if he could 

 satisfy the public that he had discovered a sure remedy for this disease, the 

 prize of $10,000 was sure; and he wants to know if the Club would endorse 

 this assertion. This was fully agreed to. 



Growing Tobacco. 



Mr. Joseph McCoy, of Spring Mountain, Ohio, writes for information, 

 about growing tobacco. 



Prof. Mapes. — I raised tobacco last year. Its cultivation is similar to 

 the cabbage. From an experiment made upon my farm last year by Mr. 

 Quinn, he believes that 1,400 pounds per acre can be produced. It grew 

 upon a heavy soil, five feet high to the flower head, and some of the leaves 

 were te.n inches wide, and were soft- and silky, which gives value more 

 than weight. To make tobacco valuable requires skill and experience in 

 curing, as if well prepared it never sweats and mildews in store. Firing 

 destroys the value of the tobacco. The stalks are tied together and hung 

 over a wire, so that the leaves get nourishment from the stem, which gives 

 flavor to the ~leaf. In a damp day the leaves can be removed without 

 breaking; they should be put into a heap and allowed to sweat; a cloth 

 dipped in water and wrung out should be spread over the tobacco, and a 

 dry cloth placed over that to keep the air from it. 



Sugar Beet Culture. 



Mr. Hiram M. Spicer, of Edmiston Centre, Otsego county, N. Y., wants 

 information about the culture of sugar beets. 



Prof. Mapes. — There are so many articles from which sugar can be made 

 that are superior to the beet, I should recommend him to grow the Sorg- 

 hum. If any one desires to grow sugar beet he can get pure French seed 

 of the large seedsmen of this city, and by pursuing the same course that 

 he should with carrots, he will succeed. The great requisite to success is 

 deep tilth, upon a well drained, rich soil. 



The Secretary. — By the proceedings of the Illinois Board of Agriculture, 

 it appears that the farmers of that State use the juice of the Imphee for 

 making sugar. 

 f 



Improved Stanchions for Fastening Cattle. 



Mr. S. E. Southworth, of Jamestown, Chautauqua county, has made a 

 great improvement in the mode of building stanchions to fasten cattle. 

 They are hinged at the top, so as to have a motion at the bottom of about 



