PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 277 



tried the plan as you state it the last season, and lost my beans. In a 

 discussion of the subject of "Harvesting" before our Farmers' Club, a few 

 weeks since, a plan similar to that which you suggest was recommended 

 and generally approved. It differs from yours only in this — that stakes 

 should be used with branches left on them, long enough to prevent the 

 vines from settling down into a compact mass, as they will do if the stakes 

 are smooth. Perhaps the branches are a part of your plan, though it is not 

 so stated. I am satisfied the smooth stakes are not safe for a wet season. 



Transferring Plants from the South to a Colder Latitude. 



Mr. Alex. Robeson, of French Mountain, Warren county, N. Y., writes 

 for information upon the above question. He wants the opinion of the 

 Club as to whether plants will do as well when moved northward as when 

 moved on the same parallel. 



Prof. Mapes replied that he should prefer pears from the same parallel, 

 apples from the north, and peaches from the south. As a general thing, if 

 a man is establishing a nursery, he will do well to obtain a stock from his 

 own vicinity. 



Flax. 



Mr. Carpenter said that farmers were much more likely to go into flax 

 culture than beans, as a staple crop the present year. He has lately been 

 a good deal among them, and finds a perfect furor about flax growing. He 

 thinks that more will be grown in Westchester county than has been grown 

 before in forty years. The price of seed has advanced very largely already, 

 on account of the demand all over the country. 



Mr. Smith said that when sown for a seed crop in Connecticut, half a 

 bushel per acre was enough. If for lint, a bushel per acre. The late H. \i. 

 Ellsworth grew one hundred acres for the seed one year in Indiana, and 

 thought it a very profitable crop. 



Mr. Robinson. — Flax will only produce about twelve bushels of seed 

 per acre. 



Prof. Mapes. — The high price of seed at the present time is caused by 

 the high price of exchange, as most of the seed is brought from Odessa, on 

 the Black sea, and from the East Indies. 



Marble Head Cabbage. 



Mr. Redmond asks whether the Marble Head cabbage is a good variety to 

 cultivate. 



Prof. Mapes. — Yes, it is a good variety, and not a humbug, but no better 

 than the Flat Dutch, which is the kind that the market gardeners grow 

 mostly for New York market. 



Mr. S. Carpenter. — I prefer the Drumhead Savoy, particularly for domestic 

 purposes. The heads are large and solid, and keep sound till spring. 



Pruning Old Grape Vines. 



Mr. Robinson. — We are frequently asked for information in relation to 

 pruning old grape vines, which have been allowed to grow several large 

 stems. Will Mr. Fuller give us information on this subject? 



