proceedings of the farmers' club. 315 



Osier Willow. 



Mr. Isaac Trombly, of Lee county, 111., thinks osier would be a profitable 

 <;rop, if it were not for the expense of peeling by hand, and wants some 

 member of the Club to inform him whether there is a machine for the pur- 

 pose, and where it can be obtained. 



Mr. Solon Eobinson replied. — There is such a machine, which does the 

 work cheaply and eftectually, and if the patentees of the machine contrived 

 for peeling osiers were possessed of a particle of business acumen, they 

 would not only let Mr. Trombly know, but all the rest of mankind, where 

 such machines could be obtained. 



Is Mule-Breeding Profitable ? 

 Mr. Wm. E. Haughton, of Fulton county, Ohio, wants to know if mule- 

 breeding would be profitable. If he is a man or ordinary intelligence he 

 might have discovered that it is so, and is extensively practiced in Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, and nearly all the States adjoining. Fine^horough bred 

 mares, and jacks worth $1,000 each, are used, but the progeny brings such 

 high prices that the business is profitable. 



The Potato Disease — Once More. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I do not know which would be the greatest aiSic- 

 tion upon the country, the potato rot or the printing of all that has been 

 written upon the subject. Here is a letter from Mr. J. R. Plumb, Fulton, 

 Jackson county, Iowa, one of the thirt}^ Fultons with which the country is 

 blessed, covering three mortal long pages, and undoubtedly containing a 

 sovereign remedy for the disease. I have not read it, and if I should, and 

 it contained ever so much valuable information, I would not print it; first, 

 because it is written upon both sides of the paper — will correspondents 

 take a liintfrom this? Secondly, because I have done printing matter that 

 is as efiete as the disease itself. I therefore bequeath the letter, Avith many 

 thanks to the writer for his good intentions, to any member of the Club 

 who will undertake the task of reading it, which I am unable to do until 

 my eyesight improves. 



Apple Pomace for Manure. 



Mr. John F. King, of Olcott, Niagara county, N. Y., writes: "What 

 will be the best way to dispose of a quantity of apple pomace? Some of 

 it has lain for three years, and been worked over by hogs. Is it worth any- 

 thing for manure ? I should like to hear the opinion of the Club." ; 



Here it is in brief : 



Mr. Solon Robinson said he would not give sixpence a load unless to use 

 in a compost heap to produce fermentation. The most of the manurial 

 value is in the straw. 



Mr. John G. Bergen. — I have had a good deal of experience with pomace. 

 We used to make a great deal of cider, and preferred to throw away the 

 pomace and buy manure; yet I believe after it has lain, as this man de- 

 scribes, till the acid is gone off, it has some value, but not enough to pay 

 for hauling a long distance. On some soils it may be good '^-"nnnro 



