Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-02-04

The morning session opened with an eS-
say by C. q. Prlngle, of Charlotte, on I" Err
got" Ergot Is fungus which attacks the
seeds of all plants, and which exerts most
bane;ul influence on animal lille. Ii some
times produces gangrene ana class OF dis
eases known to physicians as "ergotlsm.
There are various kinds OF ergot the
blunt" of wheat the smut which at
tacks wheat, barley. sorghum and some
other grains the maize smut which at
tacks corn: and the ergot OF rye and all the
common grasses except herdsgrass, which,
although troubled by ergot IN Eng gland, Is
as vet tree from it in this country. Ergot
fastens on the grain late in July or August.
and after various stages of growth (all mi
nutely described and illustrated By the
speaker drops TO the ground to grow up
next season IN the form of a tOatstoOl. la
the next July or August the seeds are MP
cned, ready 10 fig on the wings of the wind
seeking ripening heads of rye or any grass
on which 10 light; for ergot which has
grown on rye will propagate itself equally
well on any OF the grasses. and rice rcrSd,
taking a different color and appearance on
each different kind OF seed. " e; weather i
necessary for the rpcning OF erEot, and dry
weather to scatter 1t. Grass which IS cut
early has no chance to catch ergOt and cat
tie fed on it are safe.
The next essay was By Mr.. \ D. Forbes,
of Orwell subject. viii it fay?' There
are several things which we thought would
not pay. Among them the cultivation of
more land than You can I'LL thoroughly
leaving bayIng ill the grass has turned to
wood fiber. pastaIins meadows 20 the
Fall allowing crops TO be oveTrln by
weeds; working withoutthe best machinery;
leaving machinery halt cared tor winter
ing stock IN cold shed- on poor fodder and
making dirty butter
The next paper was by j. +. Crane OF
Bridport. On Bees a Related To Fruit
Raising" There has been and lsyef wide
spread prejudice against bee "a injurious
to fruit II being asserted ny many thai
they mako the fruit sour by sucking honey
from the blossom. So far as this being
true, bees are, on tho contrary, agents
to bring about the iecundat;on OF fJwers.
la IVA Count Anthony, o. BiTaria, re-
cords that at a time when all bis tenants
kept bees. fruit was eabundant, but that
after a long series OF years but lew were
kept when there was a corresponding dim
mutton in the fruit. noted German lady
tried raising fruit in green house. from
which bees were excluded Her trees thriyed
and blossomed a5unias:ly, but no fruit
grew. After time bees were esta hiished 10
the green house and fruit became abundant.
Darwin records an experiment where twenty
heads of white cloverwere raised unprotect-
ed from insects and yielded 1000 seeds a;
twenty heads were protected from insects,
and though they blossomed abundantly they
Welded not one seed. White clover was
originally indigenous to New England, and
the advance West kept such pace with the
advance of the honey bee that the Indians
had saying that when the white clover
and the white mans fly come the land Is
his.' He next reviewed the evidence pro
and Goa Is to whether bees punctured the
skin of grspea, pears and peaches. The evi-
dcnce that they do is all Of an indefinite
character; no one ever pretends to have
seen a honey bee puncture SCUM grape or
pear. On the other hand he gave expert
ment after experiment where grapes had
been hung for days together in front OF and
egcn 10 bea hives, and remained untouched
till punctr1eG 9Th knife. when they
were Instantly SUCKED dfy.
The afternoon session We Segqted to dai-
rying, there being two able address,, one
By Hon. Alexis 7. Smith, of New Haven.
and tie other by Mr.G S. Fassett, Of Enos-
ouYgh