Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-02-05
Reported for the Free Press and Times
State Board Of Agriculture.


N '-Au Nlnler meeting OF tne olat
board oil Agriculture was held at Esse!
centre. commencing at p. m. Thursday
Jan. 2sth, and was called to order by thu
Secretary. The attendance was not large
bat composed of the prominent farmers O
Essex and the adjacent towns.
Hon. Josiah futile, of Essex, vas chosen
chairman Of the meeting. A B. Halbert
OF Essex, welcomed the board in very
neat and appropriate speech.
The first paper presented was that OF Mr..
c. G. Pringle, member of the board His
subject was the " Liberalization of the Ce-
reals" After alluding to the Importance
and the benefit Of crossing the cereals, he
proceeded 70 detail some experiments which
he had made in hybridizing various kinds
Of wheat. lie had not always been sue
c5s-fal, nor had his results always been
what he expected. In his experiment with
the Black Sea wheat and the Gold Drop he
had produced q regular gradation Of vari-
cites, ali hardy and productive He ex-
hibi:oi sJmc specimens Of the wheat thus
/ crossed, from which the improvement in
quar- tity and quality was very evident. He
Lad c5aunael these experiments for four
year bat tie harvest is not reached yet.
| lie showed samples Of white wheat produc-
ed lY cross Of Gold Drop with White
Hamburger. lie also gaze an interesting
description of the manner in which he per
formed the process Of crossing.
Ia answer 20 an inquiry he said varieties
OF Wheat as found in different localities, are
no. different varieties in fact, bat are a
Trick Of the trade, sometimes honestly made
4, doubt. hut calculated to deceive the
baycr
Ia answer II another question, he re
csrdcd smut in wheat as Q parasitic growth
Of afuugoid nature.
In answer to other inquiries, he did not
think tie popular belief correct that wheat
turned 10 chess. Microscopical examina-
ton shows tina. chess IL attached in some
artificial manner 10 wheat, but has no re-
scmblarce 10 il in fact. There IS a stand
ing oiic. of one thousand dollars to theman
who proves chess to be wheat or that it
changes 10 chess. Mr. Pringle gave also
an Interesting account Of the anatomy of
the wheat plant. Mr.. Pringle is an inter
esting speaker and seems well posted on the
subject of liberalization Of cereals. which
be regards As only yet in its infancy, ana
from which he thinks the most astonishing
results viii yet be reached.
The furious snow storm OF the afternoon
prevented many from attending the even
ing session, Thursday. Some fifty or more
were present with sprinkling Of ladies
which was quite pleasing.
Tie paper read Wa by ). q. Butler upon
the Mistakes Of Farmers" Taking as
his tex. the words Of the wise man, There
Is that CGstrlycth for lack Of Judgment"
he proceeded 10 mention and comment upon
several mistakes, among which were
/. Not approaching the dignity. honor
and usefulness Of his occupation The
man first made was farmer, but his rest
lcs>neS- and internal desire to 90 into other
business destroyed him.
>. Not seeking and attaining a better
education. One may raise good crops with
ont understanding Greek OF Latin. but the
more education he has, the better will he
perform his daily work, and the better work
he will 90.
3 In the waists of the farm, among which
he mentioned eyil habits. As OF spending
money loo.ishly , loss of manure hy want
of care or cure, loss OF crops. loss Of nu-
triton by late OF careless cutting or curing
of hay. l0ss Of hay fed out, by being trod-
den under foot or moulding. loss for want
OF proper care OF buildings, etc, etc. In
al. these ways and many others, mistakes
gra made in waste
Z Nj I..-,.- f.,..., ~ 81,
attractive.
,. In running largely mo debt for landed
property
Statistics show that farmers make only
three 10 four per cent Of the capital invest
Cd. and the Increase OF their land. which
they do not own, because Yet unpaid for, Is
only an increase OF the burdens of taxation
Very few farmers in this town pay taxes on !
their personal property. Their debts exempt
10. Mr.. Butler paper gave rise to quite
an animated discussion, which was narticl- I
rlsed IA quite generally. Prof Collier, in
al-usiJn 10 the paper Just read, spoke of the /
ismeurable lack OF education among farm /
er-. they should 60 into business with /
the same intelligence they now have, they |
w9u.d fail at once. Vermont f. almost ex- |
c.lsiyc.y a dairy State and viii be for some /
time 20 eOme. II the dairymen knew what /
stock To select, they might knock fifty per !
cent of their present stock IN the head,
and be vastly better of than they now are. F.
Not five per cent. of them could tell which /
OF their COWS yielded the most profit. Aiiud- /
ing % the opposition 10 the STATE Board Of /
Agriculture, which he thought was wrong I
and unjust. he said il II shall accomplish /.
what Il ought TO II Will be worth a hundred /
thousand dollars per annCm 20 the state .
The value OF the butter produced may be in /
creased eight OF nine millions without in
creasing thenUmber of COWS. The object Of 7
the STATE Board l. TO increase the value Of .
farm products by furnishing the informa-
ton 90 the farmers necessary 10 accomplish /
that end. 10 looking over On Old file Of an /
agricultural journal of f.tysYears ago, he /
found articles which indicated that the /
farmers OF those days could instruct the .
farmers of the present day. lt was the OBJ
ject o. the Board to keep these matters be-
fore the people til the results We aim g.
shall he produced. 1t is a work closely al
he'd TO that OF education in other branches.
Il cannot be wrought IN q moment. Ii Is
the work of time.
The subject of value of cows for dairy
purposes was then discussed by various per
sons IN allusion to the statement OF Prof.
Collier that some COWS were hardly worth
five cents for that purpose
Ar. fassett of the Board urged the in
portanco OF testing the cows By setting the
mix. and churning the cream also by itself.
and mentioned instances where BY such test
10 was found that some cows aid not pay
for their keeping, and were hence worth
less tor tie dairy and Others showed . large
profit.
Mr. Chapman gave statistics Of several
imported cows kept by him for their milk
and butter, one of which did not pay for
her keeping and Others paid. from one to two
hundred dollars per season. The discussion
tended 10 show that the best investment
IN COWS IS for those that viii pay the hest
profit
The discussion was INTERRUPTED for the
paper Of Mr.. Peter L. Pease, of Burlng-
ton, on The Mission Of Friends of Agri-
culture No abstract Of Mr. Pease's paper
will do 1t Justice, and We only briefly saw
OF II tina; 1t was good and that he urged
the Importance ofeieyating the social moral
and intellectual position Of the rural and
agricultural population Of the State, both
Young and old. In this way. the friends
Cf agriculture woGlt faliii their great mis-
sion.
FRIDAY.
The morning session 81 Friday opened
wita larger attendance. In the absence
Of other papers on the programme, Mr..
ta-sett, member OF the Board, read very
practical paper CA the Jutter dairy Mr.
FAS--- discussed the obstacles to success,
how We nay improve upon what means are
ut hand, and how add To our facilities. In
his opinion the time l. not far in the future
when the work in the dairy and on the
farm viii be conducted Is tho chemist con
duets his work in the laboratory, instead OF
the present hsphazard process. Among
the obstacles he mentioned the clam0r
agains. butter dealers, because they do no.
always pay the maximum price for butter
They 90 not get rich rapidly and they some
time would lose money on the article we
offer, L they should pay the highest price
for i. Dairymen get jealous of each other
some times. Then again there is a prsiu- |
dice against special breeding Of cows Tor 4
the dairy There may be cause for il bnt