davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Not an Exceptional Case.

From "Farm Talks" in N. II. Mirror and Farmer.l
We know man who owns and tills
farm which would sell under the hammer
for FIVE thousand dollars. He has been a
farmer from his boyhood, and never earned a
dollar at any other business. He is proud of
his fertile acres and would resent an intma-
ton that he did not cultivate them well.
The other day we overlook him as he was
driving from the pasture flock of half
dozen COW kind, none Of which bore any evil
dence of having contributed this summer to
fill the milk pail. Four of them were sizable
two. .year-old heifers, and the other two we
Judged were dry cows. After awhile we
said 10 him, but where are your COWS 2"
and in reply to this aud some other ques-
tions, this five-thousaud. dollar farmer stood
straight up in the road and told us that the
only COW he was milking this summer was
one Of the two we thought were dry; that
she was iarrow aud gave less than four quarts
at milking, and that upon her depended the
family store of butter and cheese for next
winter as well as for present use. OF course
we asked the reason, and he told US that he
always raised his COWS, aud last summer he
began to milk three heifers. They all proved
to be little better than sheep for milk, and
as they all turned out to be farrow he sold
one in the fall, another dried up during the
winter and was now fatting for beef, and the
third one, which it would have been dam
age to any dairyman to have accepted as
gift, is the one he is milking, not because her
owner don't know that she is worthless as
mixer, nor because he don't know that the
most profitable stock for him to keep, living,
as he does, close by village, are COWS, but
because, as he said, he happened to have her,
and next year is going to have a number of
heifers come in which he hopes will be good
ones, but which we suppose will be kept
whether they are or not.
We make note of this case, because it
illustrates by an extreme case a conviction
we have that the farmers of New Hamp-
shire keep too few and too poor cows We
hope there are few who with the means to
keep dozen good ones are content with one
that is good for nothing but there are very
many who keep half dozen, and get no
moro milk than they should from three.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Fertilizers.

The great problem for our New England
farmers to solve, is to ascertain which, in the
long run, is the cheapest kind Of fertilizer,
farm-yard and stable manure. commercial
fertilizers (such as Peruvian guano, super
phosphates, German potash salts) home-
made composts, or clover and plaster. TAX
ing the more than sixty years practice on
the farm Of the Hon George Geddes, of On
ondags, N. Y, and thousands of other good
farmers elsewhere, it appears, beyond all cavil,
that wherever clover, with the aid Of plaster
or wood ashes, can be successfully grown, it
is cheaper fertilizer than any of the above
named, providing the farmer has to purchase
them. Now, know for certainty that
heavy growtbs of clover can be, and are
grown on our New England alluvial soils
our uplands and sandy soils. More than
twice forty times "I've seen this days glo-
rious sun to this same place return, and
during this long period l have never seen
no many as four acres of clover turned under
for green manuring in New Hampshire. In
this manner the Granite State farmers are
behind the times
Levi Bartlett in Country Gentleman.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

The communication on farmers summer
diet copied from the New York Times is one
relating to subject which receives too little
attention among farmers. No man has the
opportunities for good living within the com.
mand Of the farmer and yet few know how
to make the most Of what is within their
reach. Mr. Hydes advice is mainly good,
but we think needs some qualification aud
some very essential things appear to have
escaped his attention.
If his recommendation of wheat is TO be
taken in the common form Of boltcd -four
we should take decided exception to his adj
vice. II is true enough that graham bread,
as commonly made. is a most dry and un-
palatable diet, and will receive very little
attention when placed on the table by the
side of good article OF white bread.
Most people will nibble little from sense
of duty. We never knew but one woman
who made graham bread that would disap-
pear by the platelul at every meal, day
after day. in mixed company, while good
white bread was neglected. She possessed
the art Of making most delicious loaf Of
wheat from which the most valuable parts
had not been removed in grinding TO be used
as cattle food
Then the matter Of garden vegetables is
too much neglected. The asparagus, the
peas, the beans, the lettuce, the tomatoes,
beets, carrots, onions, celery and others, all
so healthful and palatable, and last, but not
least, the turnip, so much abused and so
valuable Aud again we differ with Mr.
Hyde, in theopiniOn that to farmer Of
correct training and good taste these things
are never so luscious aud sustaining as when
partaken in company with a moderate allow
ance of fat pork made from clean and whole
some food and beef that is not all lean
These things the farmer can supply to his
own table, in addition to summer fruits, with
little seasonable labor, for which he is paid
hundred fold.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

disadvantage IL on a farm Of l25 acres
a man had accumulated sufisicnt TO add 25or
80, would 1t be advisable7 / woald here
ask few questions. Is the farm we'll
stocked which you already havef How
about The cattle. horses and shespf There
are several different kinds Of blood, and have
you the best avaiableH OF course fancy
breeds are not meant, but genuinely superior
breeds. The second or third rate styles Of
farming are altogether too common, and the
first rate too rare. The second thought viii
convince a man that not only the large
farmers, but those OF smaller resources may
look for first t-class agricultural methods. The
same may be as true Of him who has not q
whole hundred-acre farm as Of the largers
The difference is in degree, not in kind.
Again, are there good buildings and out
housesf Is the house snug and cOuvcbient !
Until man has q suitable house--one where
he may live and where the housework may
be done without waste Of labor--abd until
such house is on the farm, he has no right
to query about the expenditure Of his sur
plus capital. The same may be said regard
ing suitable barn, or more than one, il
needed for the proper protection Of cattle,
hay, &c.
Then, has that cold, wet meadow been
drained How about that two.acre bog
down in the hollow ? Have you good pas
ture, and what have you done with the
brake knolls in it2 In what condition is
that stony si1e-hill? Why, my good friend,
don't you bring up the whole farm you now
have to its possible produCtiveness, and save
skimmiug over as much again surface 7
Then remember that capital--money boarded
or nvested-is not the great need of your
self, or of your children. You must know
on a second thought that you are not Of SO
much value to society for what you have, as
for what you are.
Now, if after supplying the fair needs Of
yourself and family, you use what is neces-
sary for genuine culture of mind, we shall
see the farmers life steadily increase 10 re-
spectabiity in the eyes of the farmers sons
aud daughters. rhe young men aud young
women will no longer despise the occupation
or style of living of parents. The farm
honses will not present the appearance, SO
frequent in many parts Of the state, of a
dilapidated barn, while the third or fosrth
is almost palace, but the style will be more
of small proprietors who are of some culture,
manly aud independent. D.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Chicken Cholera.

The Beecks County Iuteligencer gives a
report of discussion by the DoylstOD. Pa,
farmers club on poultry cholera. DR. A.
M. Dickie, the leading breeder of poultry in
that section, who was appointed to address
the club on the subject, said
The cholera 10 sometimes sporadic and
sometimes epidemic. When it is epidemic,
there is some special cause for it. The Ash
attic cholera in the human species follows
certain lines Of travel, and is apt to occur
most frequently IN thiekly populated sec
tions. The primary cause Of the disease is
not certainly known, but it most likely exists
in the air. Poultry cholera is doubtless
similar in its nature. We find that it is
most prevalent where large numbers are kept
together. While we do not know the essen
tial causes, there are immediate influences
that are pretty certain to produce this disease
in poultry, and which may be removed. For
instance the houses where chickens are kept
should be clean, all filth removed frequently,
and their quarters kept clean and nicely
whitewashed. The next thing to be looked
after is the food. Chickens should not be
fed whole corn, especially in hot weather.
They should be watered frequently, as they
become very thirsty when it is warm, and
will even drink manure water when they can
get nothing else, and this will produce chol-
era. A proper diet is very important in
keeping of cholera. Chickens should be fed
twice day, and the younger ones oitener.
Cracked corn or other grain with wheat bran
should be the principal food. He did not
think the disease contagious, and instanced
the case Of his neighbors having sustained
great losses Of poultry from the cholera
while his own were entirely free from it, al
though thoy had run together in some cases.
These all had breathed the same atmosphere
as his own, but they had been allowed to
run in barn-yards and had partakeu Of i'm.
proper water, and had been hudded together
too closely. To avoid cholera, therefore,
chickens should be kept in clean quarters,
fed regularly, but not too often; let them
have plenty of pure water, and do not keep
too many together. The preparation known
as the Douglass mixture, composed Of So
luton Of copperas in water in the proportion
Of an ounce Of copperas to half gallon Of
water, was recommended This should be
mixed with the food at the rate Of one gill
to % chickens of all sizes.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Farmers Summer Diet
ny ALEXANDER HYDE.

Diet is too much a matter of habit.
There is reason in all things, but custom and
appetite are wont 10 control at the table
when logic should exert guiding influence.
We desire to call the attention of farmers to
one Of the most obvious, but much neglected,
rules OF physiOlOgy-that the diet should
correspond in measure with the climate
and with the season. The Esquimaux, sur
rounded by snOw.banks and glaciers the year
round, can feast on bubber both summer and
winter, and suffer no great inconvenience
from dyspepsia or biliousness. The fat is
required to keep up the heat of their bodies.
If a Cuban should live on this greasy food,
bilious fever would soon put an end to his
life, The inhabitants Of the tOrrid zone re-
quire but little meat, but an abundance Of
fruit, aud this nature furnishes them lIbcr-
ally. We Of the temperate regions need
hearty food iu winter, and are too much
inclined to keep along with the same diet in
summer, till the system becomes bilious, aud
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Marshield, August, 1875.
City Bee Culture.

The Scientific American says, and the
Country Gentleman copies without COM
ment:
A manufacturer Of a summer drink, which
seems to be quite popular during the present
heated weather, has taken Il store in the
neighborhood of our Office, and placed in the
show window beehive, in which, in full
view Of the crowd which constantly gathers,
the busy insects make the honey which, it il
asserted, is mingled with the cooling bever-
age The window is open at the top, and
the bees are allowed to collect their materials
from the street refuse The honey seems to
be Of excellent quality, aud the bees require
no further care nor attention than if forag-
ing among their iavorite clover fields.
At the fair of the American institute last
fall, very fine case of honey was exhibited,
the contents Of which, we were informed, had
been obtained by the bees entirely from the
swil barrels, the sugar.house waste. and the
flowers in the public parks Of the city
There was nothing about the material to dis
tinguish it from the best honey made from
clover, and it undoubtedly should and prob
ably did find market just as readily. The
quantity OF such honey. yielding refuse wasted
in the metropolis is enormous. Why theI
should it not be more widely utilized through
the bees2 Private agriculture can be carried
on just as we'll Ou house top or in back
yard as upon farm, aud any one with such
space at his disposal might easily manage a
few hives aud build up a paying business,
and it would afford amusement TO the exper
mentor aud his friends.
We would like to know how the Ameri-
can Grocer would like some Of that honey
on his bread to go with his OleOWargariue
cheese.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Summer Luxuries.

About these days our friends in the
country are enjoying the pleasure of having au
abundance Of garden vegetables for the table.
If they are not, more's the pity, for good
garden is an indispensable requisite to com
Portable, aud even healthful, living in our
terribly warm summers. The system needs
more moisture than it is safe to give in sum
mer drinks, and hence change Of food from
meat aud bread to garden vegetables and
fruit, purges the body, carrying off deeteri'
Gus matters that would otherwise accumulate
and breed fevers 1t is providentially ar
ranged that the season of small fruits. begin
ming with strawberries, does not close before
apples, plums and peaches are ready Tor use,
and Just IN the hottest of the weather eucum,
bers aud melons become abundant. II used
properly and eaten at or directly after meal
times, none of these will hurt anybody
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Value of Manure from Different Forms
of Food.


Hon Joseph Harris said in an elabora te
paper on the pig as manure and meat max
ing animal, read at meeting of the Massa-
chusetts board of agriculture last December I;
On my own farm, keep on an average
about one hundred and fifty pigs. :
l keep twenty or thirty pigs in each of these
cellars; dry earth is freely used, aud we
wheel out the saturated earth from time to
time and use it as manure. | am
now feeding my own pigs on malt-coombs, bran
aud corn meal. The malt.coombs costs Sl2
per ton the bran cost S22 per ton the
corn meal, S3S per ton. We mix about one
hundred pounds Of malt.coombs, fifty pounds
of bran and fifty pounds of corn meal, with
eighty gallons of water, and steam till cooked,
Pigs from six to eight months old eat about
twenty pounds Of this mixture each per day,
and gain about eight pounds per week.
The food, therefore, costs thirty -seven
and half cents per week. | think the in
crease of live weight eight pounds) would be
equal to six pounds of dressed weight car
case, so that each pound Of dressed pork costs
me six aud q half cents. The
manure from seventeen and one.half pounds
of malt-coOmbs is worth twenty.six and one
half cents; from eight and throe-fourths
pounds of bran ten and one.half cents from
eight and three-fourths pounds Of corn meal,
four and three.tourths cents-total, forty
one and three-fourths cents. In other words
| am getting forty-one and three-fourths
cents worth of manure from each pig pei
week, the food of which costs me thirty.
seven aud one-half conts.
Mr. Harris bases his estimates of the
value of the manure on the commercial
value of the nitrogen, phOsphOric acid and
potash they contain.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
WHOLE NO. 244.
High Farming in England and its Re-
suits,

At the monthly farmers club meeting,
held during the Smith6eld show week, in
London, the Canada Farmer says, the subject
under discussion being, "T'he Future Of
Farming" Alderman Mechi said that, "on
his own farm. and many others which he
could name, the amount of produce was such
that he was convinced that, if the whole Of
the land Of England was farmed as it ought
to be, taking the present rate Of consumption,
not one-half Of the produce could be con-
sumed, supposing there was no foreign i'm
portation whatever" At which the farmers
present laughed irreverently. The alderman
continued, and said he could produce plenty
Of men connected with Norfolk and Lincoln
shire who would beat out that statement.
"If the farmers Of England, as a body, pro-
duced what was produced by some of the
farmers Of those two counties, the people Of
this country would not, at the present rate Of
consumption consume one-half of the total,
without any foreign Importation" The re-
port does not state whether the laughter was
repeated.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

One reason why some farmers never pros.
per is, they do not push things or if they do
show any decent degree Of enterprise in farm
ing work it is only periodical or in certain
seasons like haying time. Aud then it is
"easy goes the world" with them until work
ia crowdiDg so that there 10 no way to turn
five days work that ought to be done to-day,
then they wake up a little, 1t is not in-
tended to be understood that we charge such
men with absolute laziness or that they spend
their time in corner groceries. But it is the
easiest thing in the world to lot day slip
by and not accomplish anything that would
pass for days work. Farmers, except the
few who get out lumber or wood for market,
have in winter long period of comparative
relief from labor. 1t is in reality almost a
half gears resting spell. Aud when the time
comes in which they can work on the land,
every day should be made to count until
winter again closes the campaign.
II farmers wish to makelarming pay, there
must be a continual effort to devise ways for
increasing the quantity and quality of the
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13
Eradicating Bushes.

DIR Wakefield, of Monson, Mass, superin.
tendent of the almshouse, gives in his report
an account Of his method of clearing out
bushes and brakes in pastures. He hitched
two yokes of oxen to an instrument, some.
thing like stump-puller and ripped out the
bushes. The hard hacks were pulled by
hand, in the spiing when the ground was
soft. Then he set the 400 boys in the in
s'itution to pulling the heads off Of the brakes
in the. month Of June. 10 July and August
the process was repeated, and he says, those
brakes are disappearing. He mows the
bushes every year. Ia this way he has in-
creased the capacity of the pasture from "a
to 40 COWS.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

Farmers who contemplate draining wet
lands this fall, and have no better material
at hand, can make very good drains Of small
stones. Our custom is to dig the length Of
a common shovel in depth, and wide as the
shovel blade on the bottom. II the bottom
is soft, boards or slabs should be laid down
to lay the stones on. If water is always
present in sufficient quantity to keep them
moist, they will last indefinitely. 1t is inn
portant to lay water course at the bottom.
If the flow of water is not expected to be
large, this may be small, two or three inches
each way, covered with fiat stones, or even
round ones. Then fill in the chinks careful
ly, covering with small stones, the smaller
the better Do not Gil too deep with stones,
for the sake Of getting them out Of the way.
Then layer Of straw, old hay or brush, be-
fore filling in the dirt. There should be at
least Is inches of dirt and two feet would
be better, pounded in solid. There is hard
work in draining, but it is work that pays
well in wet land.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

most his capital sides and good quality. He
only used the bull single season, however,
who was returned to Killerby on the expira-
tiou Of the period Of hiring Shortly after.
wards Mr. Eastwood discovered, by the supe-
riority Of the calves, what prize he had
drawn. He at once took horse for Killerby,
aud on going round the yards with Mr. John
Booth, inquired for his shabby friend, and
learned to his intense modification that the
animal had been fed of, and was just gone
TO the butcher. II came to buy him. How
could you think Of sacrificing such a bull ?"
exclaimed Mr. Eastwood. An express was
sOnt of to avert, If possible, Jewellers fate,
but il was too te.--[Londou Live Stock
Journal and Fancier's Gazette.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

Farmers who design to feed either pigs or
cattle for market or home consumption are
reminded that bushe Of meal fed before
the weather is uncomiortably cold is worth
two fed after that time for putting on fat.
Now is the time to begin. Feed moderately
and regularly, and keep the animals as COM
Portable as possible, and quiet A hundred
pounds Of meat will cost a great deal less
money. A steer or COW intended for the
shambles can digest more food than it is
likely to get in the pasture now. There are
various sources from which supplementary
feed may be procured without the use of
grain. Fodder corn, fresh mown rowen,
turnips or other roots may be used to good
advantage. If nothing else is available, it
is better to begin feeding meal.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

for picnics. This is a mistake. The farmer
can have picnic almost every day, certainly
every pleasant day, with his family 10 the
field. When he is hOeing or moving let his
wife and children bring out to him his dinner,
and let all be seated under the shade of some
wide.spreadiug maple, and Ttyrus could not
be more happy. If the bread, milk, and
cheese do not taste better 10 this open-air
dining-room, then we are no judges.
IN. Y. Times.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

contains scarcely any fatty substance what
ever. IL is comparatively cheap aud easy
10 declaim at wholesale against "adultera-
tions" If any kind, but the more important
reconstruction Of humsn nature needed to
do away with cheating is less frequently re-
ferred to. 1t is certain that oleomargarine
cheese must, for long time at least, be
sold upon its merits. Consumers will prob
ably Rnd so long as this is fact that it is u
better guarantee Of quality titan can be had
in cheese whose strong point, sometimes very
strong, is that only fat from cows milk is
used 10 its composition.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-13

While we of New England are enjoying
season unusually favorable to the growth of
all farm crops, and not on the whole unfavor-
able for their harvesting, our brethren Of
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana Missouri Kansas and
Kentucky, after seeing their grain mature
and in some parts after it was cut and stocked,
have suffered from unprecedented rains Of
weeks duration. which has caused the wheat
and oats not housed to grow in the field and
has carried millions Of dollars worth down on
the bosom of the swollen streams. tits reported
at this time august 4th), that an overflow of
the levees by the great river is inevitable,
which will destroy the entire crop on mil
lions of acres in Mississippi and Louisiana.