Connecticut western news., 1873-04-11
Farm, Garden and Household.
A New England Farmers, Club.

A New England Farmers' Club.
 A new organization in the interest of agriculture Is proposed and convention for the purpose of discussing the matter will soon be held In Boston. It 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, as 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 at 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 feeced of the just rewards of their labors by middlemen." The exploits of the latter class are pretty generally the re- suit of the possession of reliable infor- nation on their part and lack of it 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 ln 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- tident 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, ii 1t come at first hand and be circum- stantially stated, may be of much value; otherwise not. What use is it, for ex- ample, to publish in the newspaper, even if it be true, that man in Canaan, N. H., has raised thousand bushels of onions to the acre, having sowed on the 10th of May the King Richard or
 
 Another man 8 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 the date, but the soil, the weather, the cultivation, insects, and, if present, how they were f0nphf in fon1 4Io Io4o
 Now If 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 & unit, as the lumber in- terest, the lime interest, the coal inter- est, or the like. The expense would be chiefly if not wholly the salary of a secretary, who, of course, would be constantly kept busy at head-quarters, watching the agricultural aspects of New England and reporting the proba- bilities or the certainties, as the signal officer at Washington watches and re- ports the state of the weather for the benefit of the whole country.
 Views of Feeding.
 l have tried various experiments in feeding both cooked and uncooked feed. and am satisfied it will never pay a far mer to cook food for any kind of stock unless it may be hens. If I desired hens to lay in winter should want them to eat potatoes, and variety of other feed of similar nature, and would cook a part of the feed, but should rely most ly on raw corn and oats, and shouldf feed the cooked food the same day it was cooked.
 The best success I ever had in feeding a hog was to get B pounds of pork from 10 pounds of corn in the ear. This was 8 stag hog, four years. old, of the Suf- folk breed, one remove from the inn ported stock. He was shut up in close pen on the ground and fed 10 pounds of corn day, 100 days. I had a SOW of the same age shut up on a floor beside him which considered a better hog and larger. She was fed in the same way, and got about 3 pounds of pork day on this one, and. have no doubt but l lost 100 pounds by her being on a floor. also think that both would have done better by having larger quarters on the ground. My experience of 50 years in this line teaches that farmers often make three grave mistakes in the hog business 1st, In not having good enough hog. 2d, In feeding too heavy. 3d, In confining in too close quarters. l would never feed hog, weighing under 400, over 10 or 12 pounds of corn day. I would never shut up a hog if l could let him have 15 acre field with water in it, alongside of corn field, with dry ground to feed on.-C s. Thompson. ..t ...-s....-. ..-.
 How to Choose a Good Cow.
 The crumply horn is a good indica- tion; a full eye another. Her head should be small and short. Avoid the Roman nose; this indicates thin milk, and but little of it. See that she is dished in the face-sunk between the eyes. Notice that she is what stock men call good handler-skin soft and loose, like the skin on the dog. Deep from the loin to the udder, and a. very slim tail. A COW with these marks never fails to be good millzer.
 One Hundred Thousand Buffaloes Killed.
 The Danyer OGo1 \ No,yo sto4os 4loL