Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-03-27
INTERESTS OF AGRICULTURE IN
ORANGE COUNTY.
Read ny Bon. John Lynde, OF Williams
town, before the Fnrmars Nesting OF
the Beard % ARrIcsalture a Randolph.

| trust shall not be charged with ego.
tism If IN the commencement speak Of the
opportunities have had to know the truth
Of the suggestions may make, and the
weight to which my opinions are entitled, for
claim NJ positive knowledge upon the SUBJ
ject Of agriculture but that derived from 40
tual personal experiment aud observation
not claiming to teach in regard to the scien-
ces as applied to that subject, apart from ex.
perimental knowledge. have been farm
er all my lite. was born in Williamstown
on one Of the most elevated farms in the
State, near the old homestead Of Hon. Elijah
Paine, and attending district school and la
boring on the farm until fifteen years Of
age, and from that time until | was twenty
FIVE aboriug on the farm in summer, and
teaching district school in winter. | then
removed to u farm in the same town, one
mile and halt west from the village, on
less elevation. aud cultivated that thirty
years. From that removed to a small farm
in the village which have cultivated eight
years aud up TO the present time.
That the farms in Orange County are not
as well cultivated az they were before the
war | think every farmer sees and is ready
to acknowledge. Several causes have COM
bined to produce this state of things. the
most prominent Of which is the scarcity and
high price Of labor. With the price of many
Of the products OF our farms but very little
higher than they were then, and labor and
the expenses Of living nearly double is it
surprising then thai many farmers are com
PEELED to reduce their working force? And
another and more alarming reason is the
growing desire Of our young men to leave
the farm for the store, the workshop, or the
far West. How are we to find remedy for
these evils, for the soil Of good old Orange
County will produce only in payment for
good, liberal, judicious cultivation? In
part offset to the scarcity of hired laborers
on the farm, comes IN the improved machin-
cry introduced since the war, which very ma
terially lessons the amount Of labor required
to produce aud secure crop. The balance
of the remedy think should be found IN re-.
ducing the size Of our farms, or the area of
our cultivated land and turning our atten-
ton to dairying or the keeping of some kind
Of stock.
Let US cultivate no more land than we
can cultivate WELL Let US seek to econo-
mize in everything that serves to enrich our
lands, and so apply our fertilizers as to de-
rive the greatest possible amount of benefit
from them. Many of us lose by exposure
nearly or quite one-haf the value of our barn
manure. 1t is either thrown from the sta
hle windows out under the caves of the barn,
to be dronched by the water falling from the
roof. or lies scattered over the yard to be
dried in the sun and leached by the rains
and SHOWS. We do not think our house ash
es as valuable after teaching as before then
why allow our manures to go through that
process which nearly destroys the value Of
our ashes In travelling through this coun-
ty what proportion of the farm barns are so
arranged as to afford shelter for the manures
dropped in and about them think may
safely say not one in ten, although most OF
the barns built within a few years are con-
structed with a view to more economy in
that direction. Those who use their old
barns built by their fathers when the necess-
ity of manure was not felt and realized as at
this day, can with little expense erect tenn
porary sheds which will answer as a protec-
ton from evaporation and drainage.
There is still another material loss of the
Nbluc vi uccOulpOottlOu. II Is u
point not yet decided by practical farmers
whether manures shall be applied to the land
in green or decomposed state. But on two
questions, or two parts Of this question, there
seems to be but little disagreement. One is
that it is far better to apply manure in its
green state than to allow it to remain ex-
posed to the sun and storms, while as we ex.
pose it it is rotiiRg. The other is that il
applied in that state, it should 10 some way
be covered underneath the soil Those farm
ers who hold that manure should be thor
oughly decomposed before it is applied
should see to it that they do not lose large
share of its value by heating. What prac.
tical farmer is there who, on removing his
heap Of horse manure, has not found con.
siderable proportion Of it so burned that it is
very little better than chaff2 Then how
shall we remedy this evil The best remedy
have ever found is to keep my hog or hog:
upon it and if they do not work it sufficient
ly, scatter little dry corn among the ma
nure az it is thrown out, and my word for it.
they will do the work. The stirring and
exposing of it to the air and then compress
lug it together by the hogs travelling upoI
it seems practically to effect the object de
sired.
There is another branch of this subject
which relates to the best method of apply
ing manure to the soil. Upon this question
there are various opinions among practica
farmers. Writers on this subject, who hav,
had no practical knowledge, almost univer
sally advocate blowing manure under, and
am Of the opinion that on large majority
of our tilage land farms can be kept in
higher state Of cultivation by blowing unde
barn manure than by applying it on the sur
face; still my experience convinces me tina
there are exceptions to this rule. | said il
the beginning that had cultivated thre
different farms during my HE, and that the,
were differently elevated, and | now say, al
though in the same town, there is great diff
ference in soil, and that different crops coulc
be successfully cultivated on them. Will
corn is one of the most profitable crops oil
my farm near the village, it would not pa,
on the first farm | cultivated and Will
wheat was profitable crop on the first, i
is 30 uncertain on the last that | have givel
up trying to cultivate it. Different soils re
quire that manure should be differently ap
piled. On cold and wet lands, think ma
nure shou d be left near the surface, Will
on dry and warm soils recommend that ma
nure be covered, though not to a grea
depth.
The idea that the same manner OF apply
ing manure, and that the same crops are L
be raised on all lands unfortunately, with
out regard to soil and climate, is very errone
GUS aud causes serious loss on the part Q
the cutivatOr of the soil He should fir.
study the nature of the soil he cultivatei
and then apply manure and crops adapted t
his farm. Experience teaches that there
great variety Of soil in Orange County, a