The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-03-02
DISCUSSIONS AT WORCESTER.

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interesting meeting of the farmers o
Worcester County. which was held fol
two days at Worcester, and where The
most intense interest was manifest.
ed in the various subjects discussed
On the morning Of the first day, Col d
Needham made some congratulatory
remarks, in which the comparative advan
tages of the East over the West, as O
farming section, we're alluded to. Ii
seemed to be generally conceded that
taking the advantage of ncarness of mar.
ket, price of land, and especially the
much greater social enjoyments to be de.
rived at the East, il was far preferable
for young man to locate in the eastern
than the western States.
10 the afternoon, an address was given
by j. G. Adams, Secretary of the New
Hampshire State Board Of Agriculture,
upon some Of tho more practical means Of
restoring our exhausted farms among
the more important Of which were more
capital, more frugality, greater industry
in the employment of brains and less in
that of the muscle. The address com.
manded the closest attention, and was
followed by Gen. Oliver, of Salem, upon
the training of young horses He was
very severe upon the too common practice
of forcing young colts to their greatest
value.
The next speaker was Mr.. B. p Ware,
Of Marbehead, whose remarks upon the
soiing Of mich cows upon fodder corn
and early.cut grass or rowen, elected the
mos: interesting discussion of the day.
Mr.. Wares system of raising and feeding
fodder corn is as follows: He spreads
ten cords of manure to the acre, plows it
in, harrows and marks cut with plow
about eighteen inches apart - sowing
thickly, covering with harrow, and
smoothing the land off with drag made
Of plank. This is constructed about eight
feet long, and three or four feet wide,
turning up little in front, and having a
strip Of board two inches wide upon the
bottom to drag the soil into the tracks
made by the horses. This is run sidewisc
across the field. the driver riding upon the
drag, leaving the land as smooth as hall
floor. The mechanical action Of this was
described as being much superior to the
roller for all crops, as it grnds the Jumps
of soil to atoms rather than pressing them
into the soi--besides being much cheaper
than the roller in cost. Mr.. Ware passes
through the corn once with scufile hoes;
this completes the labor upon the crop.
When the corn is two feet high, he com.
menoes by feeding the cows (sx in
number) all they will eat until noon; they
are then turned upon pasture of two
acres until night, when, if they are not
full, he sees to it that they are filled with
oil the fodder they will eat. Mr.. Ware
stated that the yield of milk and the
quality Of tho butter were entirely salts.
factory where cows are thus fed. There
seemed to be no marked difference it the
quantity Of milk when feeding corn so
green than later when it had become
more matured.
Although there were some strong OBJ.
fections to the feeding of fodder corn, |
think the majority of those present land
there we're some of the largest milk pro.
ducers for the Boston market) agreed
with Mr.. Ware upon the great value Of
fodder corn, and Of coming as near this
feed as possible in winter by early-cut
hay and roots, with some grain.
In the evening the people listened to
an address by DR., Geo. b. Loring, in
which he urged the great Importance Of
farmers striving to get at the reason of
things by scientific investigation, rather
than taking isolated facts and traditions
tor their guide in their occupation.
The second day was first occupied by
an address by F. d. Douglas. of Whit.
ing, VI, upon the dairy, in which he ad-
vocated the deep can system Of reducing
the temperature in summer to about GO
degrees; and the testing Of the cream of
each cow, by which method he has been
enabled to get an increase of so pounds
per COW within five years By dscarding
those cows which did net come up to his
standard and replacing them by those
which did
MIR. Douglas was followed by j. f.
G, Hyde, Of Newton, upon the apple. and
Geo. b. Angel upon the prevention of
cruelty to animals. He gave the start
iiog fact that over 100000 animals are
destroyed annually 10 the United States
fer want Of proper means Of transporta
ton.
The institute closed on the evening of
the second day with an address by Presi-
dent W. s. Clark, Of the Massachusetts
Agricultural College, upon the pressure
Of sap in the different trees aud vines ex-
perinented upon on the college farm. He
also gave all account Of the growth of the
celebrated squash which shows by expert
ment growth force equal to the lifting
Of nearly FIVE thousand pounds, when the
iron bands which surrounded it becoming
bent, it caused the squash to become
crushed, and further experimental of course
was at an end. The roots and the root
lets at the seed end Of the squash vine to q.
gether with the roots which strike down
at the joints (there were forty in number
Of the lsst) were carefully measured by a
number Of the professors at the college
and found to measure the enormous length
Of nineteen miles and seven hundred and
twenty feet, showing that some days there
must have been a growth Of over two
Thousand feet in the roots alone. Accord.
log to the late Prof, Agassiz, the facts
alone that have been already attained by
the experiments Of President Clark have
more than repaid the State of Massaobu.
sets for all her outlay in establishing
this truly noble institution.
Thus has ended one Of the most inter.
esting FARMERS experience meetings" ever
held In Worcester County, and which. if
continued. cannot fail to have a marked
effort upon the agricultural interests Of
the country.--[G. d. f., Country Gentle
man,
2anatnr Thura man lonks and unovaa lii a