Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-07-18

shorthorn characteristic Of fatteninR of we'll
and quickly when dry. But Mr.. Douglas
is after milk, and it is plain that he is get.
ting It. He is now milking 81 head. Last
year they gave him "a large proportion be-
ing heifers) very close to 200 poundsOf but
ter apiece, and he is expecting to make a
better show hereafter
His farm (of about 400 acres) is one that
ought to make any dairyman happy and
successful. One hundred acres is Otter
Greek meadow, overlooking every year and
giving upwards Of ton to the acre without
any manure. This is usually chiefly fine
grass, fowl meadow being abundant in il,
but occasionally an unfavorable season or
late food temporarily causes prdominance
Of coarse grass for a season or SO, the fowl
meadow soon coming in again of itself. The
uplands are strong clay loan, very produc-
tive under tillage, and in meadow give a
heavy burden Of hay, or as pasture are rich
in white clover and other choice grasses,
forming close sod that continually i'm.
proves.
Mr.. Douglas, before he became a dairy
man, was largely interested in merino sheep,
and, before that, in horse breeding. He
still keeps up small but very choice flock,
and is raising some nice colts, thus not aban-
dcning his old loves, though finding the new
one more to his mind. We noticed a mum.
Der of minor points in his management that
would be interesting to our readers, had we
space to give them. Thought is put into all
the details of his farm work, and everything,
from the milk-room down to the milking
stools, made of ash knurls,) denotes the
fact. One thing we will mention, because
it is an exception to some cases we have
seen,-the COW yards aud the paths thence
to the house are thoroughly grsveled,
drained, and kept clean, SO there is DO chas-
ing the cows around the quagmires at milk
ing, nor any dirt or filth to gather upon
them for Transmission to the milk, or to load
the boots of the mixers.
On Monday Mr. Douglas drove us, with
his little son and two other friends who we're
visiting him, through Whiting and the ad-
joining towns of Shoreham, Addison, Bird
port. and Cornwall to Middlebury, where
we took the cars for home. On the way we
stopped first at the fine farm of
e. h. Douglas, Esq.,
(brother # our host,) in Shoreham, who is
also dairyman, but manufactures his milk
into cheese at the Shoreham cheese factory,
of which he is one OF the proprietors. We
were most Hospitality entertained here, and
taken to see the cheese factory, which is one
of the best in the State. 1t uses the milk Of
some 400 cows, turning out from sixteen to
nineteen cheeses day, which stand high in
the market and are sold and delivered to
purchasers at a month old, bringing full
prices and saving the labor Of storing and
handling, as well as the shriukage. Every
thing about the factory indicates thorough
ness and a mastery of all of the details of a
difficult art on the part of Mr.. Cook, the
cheese maker.
From the cheese factory a pleasant ride
brought us to the famous
Cream Hill stock Farm
Of Messrs. Bates 4 Harris, where we had
an opportunity Of few minutes to look at
Lambert, and such other Of the stock as were
in the stables AS we hope before long to
give full account of this fine herse.breed
ing establishment, where capital and skill
have been happily combined to produce re.
suits that demonstrate the undertaking to be
already well past the experimental stage,
and upon the firm basis Of assured pecuniary
success, we will not refer further to it here.
Our programme for the day included the
ascent of Snake Mountain in Addison, Ia
more southerly member than Mount Philo
Of that Champlain coast range" spoken Of
aboye,) and on our way thither, through
Bridport, we stopped at the residence of
j. Il. Crane, Esq,
whose excellent paper on Bee Keeping re-
Gently appeared in the FARMER, and who is,
we believe, easily ut the head of the apiari.
ans of New England in the extent aud sue
cessful results of his practice in this branch Of
rural industry. We found Mr.. Crane among
his hives, Of which some 1875 form a little
village under the trees of small eminence
near his house. The party, though unex-
pected, were cordially welcomed, and it be.
ing noon entertained with delightful lunch,
into which the melliAuous treasure Of the
hive entered abundantly and was, with the
other delicacies Of the table, we'll appreciated
by the palates of hungry tourists Mr..
Crane regards the present as very favora.
bic season for honey, and expects his bees to
make about 10000 pounds. Most of it is
sold in boxes in the New York market, but
portion is removed from the comb by
means of simple machine called honey
singer" the particular form of which used
by Mr.. Crane is of his own devising, very
simple, cheap and effective. When this ma.
chine is used the comb is saved and replaced
in the hive, to be again and again re6lled,
and as the bees are not compelled to make
comb the product is doubled. Yet such is
the prejudice against strained honey, on &C.
count of frauds, that it brings only hall
price, SO that the great advantages of this
invention are neutralized by the dishonesty