280 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
mals, manuring land, what crops paid best, what 
implements were best, the best mode of making 
butter, &c. Mr. Williams, Mr. Smith, and Mr. 
Hudson, offered similar remarks. Mr. Smith said 
it was well known that Mr. Seymour got the best 
crops in the neighborhood, and had the best ani¬ 
mals, and he did not see why they could not draw 
out of him some of the particulars of his mode of 
farming which would benefit all the others. He 
therefore proposed that they should form a Farm¬ 
ers’ Club on the spot, and hold weekly meetings 
to talk over matters of this kind. They could try 
it at least. Without waiting for any opposition, 
it was moved and carried to form a Farmers’ 
Ci.ub. With no delay, Mr. Williams stated that 
he had prepared a draft for a Constitution, which 
he would proceed to read : 
Article 1. This Association shall be called the Farm¬ 
ers’ Club of District No. 7, of Clinton Township. Itsob- 
'ect strati be to promote improvement in the modes of 
Agriculture pursued by its members, by such means as 
shall seem most feasible to the members, to be directed 
by them from time to time. 
Art. 2. Any person over 12 years of age may become a 
member by giving his name to the Secretary and paying 
the sum of 10 cents. 
Art. 3. The Officers shall be chosen by a vote of the 
majority of members present at the first meeting in each 
month, and shall consist of: a President, to preside at all 
meetings during the month, keep order, Ac.; a Secretary, 
to enrol the names, keep records of the proceedings, is¬ 
sue notices of meetings, Ac.; a Treasurer, to collect and 
take care of the funds, and expend them as directed by 
vote of the Society. 
A rt. 4. The exercises at the meetings shall consist of 
discussions, or familiar talks upon some agricultural top¬ 
ic, or topics chosen for the evening. 
Mr. W. stated that he had drawn up these ar¬ 
ticles in the simplest form possible, and he 
thought they were all that were necessary for or¬ 
ganization. They did not want a long list of 
rules, regulations, by-laws, &c., to wrangle about. 
If anything more was needed it could be added 
when desirable. 
The adoption of the above Constitution was 
moved and carried; officers were immediately 
nominated and appointed, twenty-three names 
were given in to the Secretary, and in less than 
forty minutes from the first calling of the meeting 
to order, the Club was fully organized, and the. 
whole thing under way. 
Mr. Morris immediately rose and stated that he 
had a large quantity of manure in his yard, and 
was very much in doubt whether he should cart it 
out now upon the fields, or leave it in the yards 
until Spring. He would like to know what Mr. 
Rogers thought about the matter. Mr .Rogers 
was a successful farmer, who was dead set, in 
words at least, against “ book-farming,” and from 
him most opposition in the formation of a Club 
had been expected. But he gave his opinion very 
freely, in a familiar way, in answer to the ques¬ 
tion of Mr. Morris, and really communicated much 
useful information drawn from his experience. 
Mr. Morris asked several questions of him, and 
proposed several objections, and these were talk¬ 
ed over by at least a dozen others. Indeed, the 
talk was so lively and interesting that the meet¬ 
ing held on to nearly ten o’clock, and the farmers 
1 hen went home in companies of two, three and 
four, talking over this matter of manures. No 
vote was taken, and none was needed, hut many 
were set to thinking, and at least some gained 
new ideas. 
Before the meeting was dismissed, it was pro¬ 
posed that they should come together in one week 
and talk over the best time to cut timber for fen¬ 
cing and other purposes. At the appointed time, 
a large crowd came, and almost every one had 
something to say of his experience. 
At this and succeeding meetings no strict for¬ 
mality was observed, but everything was done in 
a social, familiar manner, and the whole neighbor¬ 
hood, in time, became acquainted with the suc¬ 
cessful or unsuccessful experience of nearly eve¬ 
ry other person in the place, upon almost every 
department of farm labor. The farmers’ wives 
and daughters soon took part in the meetings, and 
they are kept up to this day, with no diminution 
of interest. In Summer, they hold their meetings 
around, from farm to farm, and examine and talk 
about the modes of culture pursued by each one 
visited. We will here name some of the various 
topics discussed at the successive meetings of 
the society, as they are recorded in the Secreta¬ 
ry’s book: 
QUESTIONS TALKED ABOUT. 
Is lime good for our soils, and when and how to be ap¬ 
plied 1 The same of plaster. The same of ashes. Shall 
we sell ashes for 10 cents a bushel, or use them on our 
land? Is Barley a profitable crop? Can we produce 
Honey profitably, and what are the causes of failure ? 
Are Beets and Turnips worth raising in the field, what 
kinds are best, and when and how should they be culti¬ 
vated? Does Buckwheat pay to raise for grain, and to 
plow under ? What is the best form for a general farm 
Bam. How are calves best raised, with the cow or by 
hand ? Are field Carrots worth our cultivating for feed- 
ing'stock? Is Cheese or Butter-making most profitable, 
and the best modes of making each? What varieties of 
Corn are best for our soil and climate, and what is the 
best mode of culture. How shall we drain our wet lands 
in the cheapest and best manner? Are fowls profitable? 
What Hogs are best? What Fencing is cheapest? Does 
Fruit-raising pay, and what kinds of apples, &c., are best ? 
Is a large garden profitable or not ? When shall we sow 
Grass Seed, and what kinds are best here ? Should Com 
be “topped?” Best mode of treating Manures in the 
yard, Ac ? Plowing in Clover and other crops for ma¬ 
nure. Has the Moon any influence on crops, sowing, Ac.? 
Are Mowing Machines profitable, and what kind does 
best? Ox-yokes, Harness, &c. The best Plows, time 
and mode of Plowing. Does “ Pork ” making pay ? The 
culture of Potatoes. Best season for Pruning Fruit 
Trees. Tobacco Culture. Are shade trees injurious to 
pastures ? Will root crops pay ? What culture, various 
modes, time of sowing, best soils for, Ac., Ac., (discussed 
at three meetings.) 
These are some of the topics already discussed, 
or talked over, and a large list of subjects are yet 
untouched, such as selecting Seeds, Broom Corn 
culture, Birds and Insects, Clover Seed, Flax, 
Sweet Corn, Swamps, Muck, Gang Plow's, Har¬ 
rows, Cultivators, Hay Caps, Leaves, Saw-dust, 
Oats and other grains, Pumpkins, Strawberries, 
Sugar-Cane, &c., &c. 
Now, who cannot see that the getting together 
of a company of practical men, from time to time, 
and the relation of their varied experiences, will 
result in mutual benefit 1 Said a farmer to us, 
once, “ I never met even the poorest farmer and 
talked with him four minutes without getting, 
some new idea, or being led into some new train 
of thought.” We doubt not this is the case with 
every thinking man. How much more useful 
then to meet a dozen, or a score of men, engaged 
in a similar occupation, and listen to an acount of 
their experiences, &c. 
Let us, then, have such agricultural gatherings 
all over the country. The Agriculturist goes into 
nearly fifteen thousand neighborhoods,—in some 
only a single copy, in others from six or ten, and 
from that up to forty, fifty, and a hundred copies, 
and we shall certainly feel that a good work is 
done if the above account should be the means of 
starting a Farmers’ Club in one half or one-fouith 
of these neighborhoods. 
KEYSTONE CIDER PRESS. 
J. Holt, of Pittsburgh, Penn., writes : “ I have 
read your article on the Cider Press. I have 
worked one, and I believe their good qualities are 
greatly exaggerated. .1 found it difficult, with 
my two boys, to make one barrel. What kind of 
barrels your correspondent uses I cannot tell, but 
if he means 36 gallon barrels, he would need to 
shovel in the hopper from 120 to 150 bushels, 
then grind them, then shovel them out of the box 
into the press, and then squeeze them. I think 
it is a thing impossible, even with horse power, 
but it would be well for you to make a calculation 
and let them judge for themselves.” 
Rewrites.— Mr. Holt has either made a large 
error in his figuring, or apples in his region must 
be very dry affairs. The correspondent referred 
to (see page 227) put the capacity of the Mill, 
worked by himself and two boys, at Jive barrels a 
day. We have found 8 bushels of good, or 9 to 
10 bushels of poor apples, enough for a barrel ol 
cider. Mr. Holt calculates upon 24 to 30 bushels 
of apples for a barrel of cider. We think it not a 
hard job for a man with two boys—if at all size¬ 
able fellows—to grind and press 40 bushels a day, 
that is about as many as would fill a common 
two-horse wagon-box one and a half times.— Ed. 
HOG CH0LEEA. 
We have, as yet, been unable to respond to the 
anxious inquiries of many of our Western readers, 
respecting the causes, preventives, or cure of this 
fatal disease. The following report on the sub¬ 
ject is from Dr. Jas. Higgins, of Baltimore, the 
State Agricultural Chemist ofMaryland, which we 
give without being qualified by our own experi 
ence, or observation, to endorse or gainsay the 
conclusions, or practice recommended : 
“ The public attention has been for a longtime 
directed to the existence of a fearful malady 
amongst hogs, under the above name. It has pre¬ 
vailed for more than a year in the large distiller 
ies of the West and South, as well as in the small 
pens of country farmers in the East and North; 
it has committed serious ravages in the Southern 
and Middle States, and early in the Spring I was 
called on by the owner of a large distillery here to 
attend to his hogs, which were rapidly dying. I 
went at once to see them, and obtained for exam 
ination the blood of many of the hogs in perfect 
health, for the purpose of comparison with that ot 
those in the act of dying. 
These examinations, carefully made, revealed 
the fact of a high inflammatory condition of the 
system, as the subjoined analysis shows : 
Healthy Hog Blood .—Clot firm, not large, scar¬ 
let colored; solids, normal; fibrin as 2.33 per 
1 , 000 . 
Diseased Hog Blood —Clot not firm but large, 
brown colored; solids less than in the healthy; 
fibrin as 5.60 per 1,000. 
The blood in each case was taken from the ar 
teries. 
This condition of the blood evinced a high de¬ 
gree of inflammatory action, but did not show in 
what particular organ or organs, structure or 
structures, the inflammation was located. To dis¬ 
cover this I made numerous post mortem examina¬ 
tions, and found, 1st: The brain, healthy ; the 
heart, do.; the stomach, do.; bov/els, including 
the greater or lesser intestines, do.; kidneys, do.; 
liver, do.; melt or spleen, do.; lungs intensely dis¬ 
eased ; in the upper part they were engorged with 
dark, grumous, bruised-looking blood, and in the 
lower lobes the inflammation had proceeded to 
suffocation, being filled with purulent bloody 
matter, and entirely incapable of carrying on the 
process of breathing. The left lung was gener¬ 
ally more affected than the right, and in every in¬ 
stance the inflammation had proceeded to a great¬ 
er extent in the lower than in the upper parts ol 
the lung—in some eases the peculiar structure ot 
the lung could not be seen, so entirely had it be¬ 
come disorganized. In no cases were well-de- 
