The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-04-07
Farm, Garden and Household.
a Nsw England Earlner., club.

will soon be held IN Boston. 1t is pro.
posed to give the organization the name
of the New England Farmers Club.
The aim is to form sort Of farmers
exchange, in which information respect
ing the condition and prospects OF the
crops, the yield of the harvest, MS
respects particular crops, the condition
Of soil, Of weather and OF cultivation,
etc, under which specially notable
crop may have been produced, shall be
gathered Mt n central point, and having
been collated and put in proper shape
for publication, shall be distributed by
circulars or through the newspapers
from week to week or month to month.
The anticipated utility Of the scheme
has variety Of phases, one Of which is
to prevent farmers from being Aeeccd
Of tho Just rewards OF their labors by
+" middlemen." Tho exploits Of the
latter class are pretty generally the re-
suit OF the possession OF reliable infor.
nation on their part and lack Of II on
the part OF the farmers. For example
the speculator in hay will take pains to
post himself up respecting the actual
yield and the condition, whether well
cured or otherwise, of the great hay
crop OF the State of Maine. Ascertain.
ing in particular season that that crop
has been unusually small, or having
been equal or more than the average
gathered in bad weather, he feels con.
fdent enough to make raid up the
Connecticut valley, buying right and
left at the farmers prices. The hard
handed producers, lacking explicit in
formation from Maine, sell out their
surplus crop, and find out, when too
late, that these nimble gentry, who
come and go by railroad, have been
practically picking the farmers pockets.
Another year the farmers Of Maine may
be the victims. This is only one point,
however. Information respecting the
modus operandi Of particular success,
If it come ut first hand and DO circum-
stantially stated, may be OF much value;
otherwise not, What use is it, for ex.
ample, to publish in the newspaper,
even il it be true, that man in Canaan,
N. H., has raised n thousand bushels OF
onions to the acre, having sowed on
the 10th OF May the King Richard or
some other notable variety OF seed T?
Another man hundred miles away,
next year, puts in the same kind Of
seed on the corresponding day, and his
crop proves not worth gathering. The
information wanted, TO be OF value, is
not only of the seed and tho date, but
the soil, the weather, the cultivation,
the presence or absence OF destructive
insects, and, il present, how they were
fought of, and, in fact, all the details.
Now II thousand farmers, more or
less, scattered over New England be.
come members OF the club, agree TO
contribute regularly exact information,
getting their recompense in the process
of reciprocation, the farming business
may become n unit, rs the lumber in.
terest, the lime interest, the coal inter.
est, or the like. Tho expense would be
chiefly If not wholly the salary Of n
secretary, who, of course, would be
constantly kept busy Mt headquarters,
watching the agricultural aspects Of
New England mud reporting the proba.
bilities or the certainties, rs the signal
officer at Washington watches and re-.
ports the state OF the weather for the
benefit of the whole country.
Views OF Feeding.
I have tried various experiments in
feeding both cooked and uncooked feed,
and nm satisfied il will never pay far
mer to cook food for any kind Of stock
unless it may be hens. II desired hens
to lay in winter / should want them 10
eat potatoes, and variety Of other feed
Of similar nature, and would cook a
part Of the feed, but should rclymost.
ly on raw corn and oats, and shonldieed
the cooked food the same day It was
cooked.
The best success I overhad in feeding
n hog wRs to get 81 poundsof pork from
10 pounds OF corn in the ear. This was
q stag hog, four years old, of tho Suf-
folk breed, one remeve from the i'm
ported stock. lie was shut up in close
pen on the ground and fed 10 pounds OF
corn dry, 100 days. / had SOW Of
the same ago shut up on floor beside
him which / considered n better hog
and lRrger. She was fed in the same
way, and got about pounds OF pork
day on this one, and have no doubt
but l lost 100 pounds by her being on
floor. also think that both would have
done better by having larger quarters
on the ground. My experience OF 90
years in this limo teaches that farmers
often make three grave mistakes in the
hog business LIST, In not having good
enough hog. ID, In feeding too heavy.
Sd, In combining in too close quarters.
I would never feed hog, weighing
under 400, over 10 or - pounds of corn
day. I would never shut up hog il
I could let him have a 10 acre field with
water in it, alongside of corn field,
with dry ground to feed one s.
Thompson.
How 10 Choose Good Cow.
Tho GRUMPY horn is n good indica.
ton; full eye another. Her head
should be small and short. Avoid the
Roman nose; this indicates thin milk,
and bnt little OF it See that she Is
disled in the facc-sunk between the
eyes. Notice that she is what stock
men call good landler-skin soft and
loose, like the skin on the dog. Deep
from the loin to the udder, and very
slim tail. A COW with these marks
never fails to be good mixer.