Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1872-11-01
Correspondents.
For the VERMONT FARnnR.
THE SEASON AND CROPS AT
HOME.

yer as Timothy. bought sixty pounds Of
rs clover seed and half bushel of Timothy,
and this quantity, mixed, seeded about six
acres. | sowed, toward the last of May
nine bushels more Of oats. was told, dur
ing the summer and at harvest, that my oats
was the best piece in town, in the observers
Judgment. l harvested my wheat the first
week in August, Il Graded the acre in four
hours) and as the weather was fine got il
very soon after binding it. II kept well in
the barn, and yielded twenty bushels at
thrashing. 1t was of the Scotch fife variety,
and the seed was raised by Thomas Baker,
OF Barton. My oats were injured by wet
weather while harvesting them, so that they
were dark in color, and some Of them were
damp when thrashed There was a loss Of
probably twenty bushels by shelling in the
field, yet the thrashers measured me out
three hundred and eighteen bushels of oats.
Most Of these are the white Shonen variety,
imported by the Department OF Agriculture
from Hamburgh, and distributed throughout
the country in small quantities. This is the
third year have raised them, and l consid.
er them perfectly satisfactory. They weigh
thirty-two pounds to the bushel Some of
them near the road probably yielded seven
ty.fve bushels per acre. have sold about
sixty bushels for fifty cents per bushel.
In justice to the department of agricul-
ture l ought to endeavor to persuade others
to sow them and make them the common oat
of the country.
My thrashing was done by a machine
made by A. W. Gray & Sons, Middletown,
w., and it is very excellent machine 1t
separates the grain from the straw and chaff
so that there is but little wasted. 1t seems
very durable, as this machine has been 10 use
two seasons before the present and no lags
are worn out and no new ones have been re- |
quired, or are likely to be required for two
or three years to come. In this respect il is |
different from the machines used here in |
years past, in which lags were continually |
coming off and hindering the work while re-
pairs were being made. The first day twen.
ty bushels of wheat and 167 bushels of oats
were thrashed. Full half Of these were
damp, and therefore hard to thrash. The
second day before neon we tbrashed Isl |
bushels Of oats, and loaded the machine.
My bill was nine dollars for | l.2 days
work Of two men, four horses and the ma.
chine.
During my thrashiDg neighbor farmer
criticized my management very freely be-
cause in filling my bay with. oats filled in
at one end when expected to pitch out to
the machine from the other end. He was
about right The bay should be filed so
that the grain can be pitched out where it
was pitched in; then the forkfuls
are easily lifted as we come to them. 1t is
easier to move pile OF boards by taking the
top one first, instead Of the bottom one.
Yet | think got my grain in easier by stor-
ing it as | did, but it took au extra hand to
get it out.
My corn, on l30 square rods of ground,
was the so-called "improved Canada" that
received premium Of 80 for the best 100
ears raised in 1871. expected that in
about ninety days should have ripe corn,
but it was certainly l05 days after planting
before | cut it up, and then it was not fully
ripe, and many ears were not glazed, but as
the hills were but three feet apart each way,
it may have been too close, and its early ma.
turity prevented somewhat As cut it up
l put it in stocks or shocks each containing
sixteen hills, and those that are we'll bound
stand and cure we'll and are in good condi.
tion.
My potatoes, Il l-2 acres,) are yielding a
small crop. The Breezee prolific do not
lack in numbers or soundness, but in size.
My other varieties,-Jackson white, early
rose, Chill, and California,-are taken the
same way the tubers are small and mostly
sound. The appearances are that the price
Of potatoes will advance so that perhaps a
small crop will be profitable, yet it is not
satisfactory. The student of vegetable
growth must seek the reason for a small crop
of potatoes when every other crop, grass and
grain is above the average
l share the good fortune that is enjoyed
by all the farmers in having abundance of
fall feed. The growth of clover is rank and
we do not seed the admontions of those
who say "keep every hoof out of the now
ing fields" We let them in and the COWS
give fine mess of rich milk.
If snow keeps of there will be but little
fodder given to cattle from the barns and l
feel sure we shall have good crop of hay
next year,-probably quite as good as if
the aftermath had rotted upon the ground.
The wet weather has prevented my now
ing about two acres of new rough meadow,
~hich had intended TO make useful as soon
as possible. 1t has been recently cleared
and never mown, but it eases the self.re-
proach Of this failure to see the uncut hay,
and the swaths, windrows and cocks left rot
ting in the fields OF my fellow farmers.
So, considering the summer campaign end
cd, we plan to do better another year.
z, e. JAMESON.
E.oeI,,4oI M ia