davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Breeding and Feeding Pigs.

Mr.. Joseph Harris, of Rochester, N. Y,
stated in an address at the meeting Of the
Massachusetts, Board Of Agriculture last
fall, which we find reported in the Nelo
England Farmer, that he believes in having
fattening pigs grow larger all tho time.
Food consumed by hogs that only hold their
own is all wasted, except what is saved in
the manure. Much depends upon good
breeding. We should breed out all poor
points, and then breed in good, digestive
apparatus. lie would have pigs eat and di.
gest more food than they do now; the more
the better. He related an experiment in
running threshing machine. One horse
being disabled, he tried to make its mate do
the work. He found that it took all the
power Of one horse to keep the machine 90.
ing without threshlng particle of wheat.
When the other horse returned, he saw he
was really getting his wheat all threshed by
one horse, although two horses were at work,
A third horse being hitched in, the amount
of wheat threshed was just doubled. Fifty
per cent more power gave one hundred per
cent. increase. 1t was the same with pig
feediDg-give pig just enough to run the
machlne, anu the power Is all lost. Nhat
is added, after that, is all gain. So wo want
pigs that will eat, digest and assimilate a
large amount Of food The number Of
pounds of corn required for pound of pork
depends largely upon the breed of hogs fed.
Experiments have been tried. which show a
difference equal to the difference between
eighty five per cent. and iIty-seven per cent,
as the cost of supporting the present con-
dition.
The economy of cooking food depends up
on circumstances; as, for instance, the abili.
ty of the hog to assimilate more or less food
than he can digest. Cooked food must be
given more frequently than uncooked food.
The value Of the manure made from bush.
el Of corn does not vary greatly, whether fed
to one animal or another Hog manure is
rich, because hogs have rich food to eat.
There is nothing in the manure except what
was in the food. He believes that he can
obtain phosphoric acid, nitrogen and potash
cheaper from animals than from commercial
fertilzers
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Drilled VS.. Hill Corn.

The New York Tribune instructs an in
quiring correspondent after this fashion -
Drilling corn, i. E., raising it in continuous
rows about 81 feet apart, and stalk once
in about six inches in the row, undoubtedly
gives more corn and more stalks to the acre
than planting in hills three feet apart each
way, for the very simple reason that it is
practicable to raise more plants in drills
than in hills. If the plants are six inches
apart, we will have as many on an acre as
we would if we planted seven kernels in hills.
Seven kernels are too many in one hill, but
when six inches apart in rows, the roots have
a much better chance to find food, particu-
larly during the early growth of the crop,
and this is important. Where the land is in
good condition, and few weeds or foul plants
are expected, drilling is the best method, and
will give GO bushels about as often as hills
will give 30 bushels to the acre. There is
machine for planting in drills, which will
plant about eight acres in a day used by one
man. If the ground is filled, or much m
tested with foul plants, such as quack-grass,
hills are more convenient as being suscepti-
BILE of cultivation both ways by horse power;
the land can be much more perfectly titled.
High farming admits of drills, and two of the
best farmers this country ever had John
Johnston, near Geneva, and A. B. Dickin-
son, formerly of Steuben Co., N. Y,-both
practiced raising their corn crops in drills.
But they were in the habit of planting corn
on clean land, preierring to kill weeds while
raising crops that required less manual labor
and admitted of more horse work.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Setting Fruit Trees,

A friend gives the following mode for set
ting out fruit trees, which will perhaps come
in very we'll here, as the season is at hand for
planting orchards. Mark out the ground
the distance you desire to set your tree
take the tree you desire to set, and stand it
upon the ground, mark with your spade,
tracing each root remove the tree, and dig
away the dirt as traced while the tree was
standing when you have finished this, with
a sharp knife cut away three or four inches
Of each root, and turn the end SO cut down
into the hard ground, and force as far down
as you can get it-this will hold the tree in
place, and will require no stake the place
for the tap root should be dug out aud the
ground made loose around it do not set
deep, this is not its natural way of growing.
You will find your toes will live better,
and are more thrifty, aud your orchard will
be at least twelve months ahead Of one set
in the ordinary way. The reason is very
clear that when fastened in this way, the
blowing of the tree by the wind can never
break the feeders that are making out from
the roots.
The many farmers that l have talked
with upon the subject, all agree that in the
ordinary way of setting, that Of digging a
square hole, and filling with compost or
other manures that the tree will do we'll for
two years, after that it will commence
dying, and upon examination you will find
the roots have grown and filled up the square
hole you have dug, and being unable to pen'
citrate the hard ground, return to the rich
mould around the tree until solid mat oil
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Vol. XIV American Herd Book.

The fourteenth volume Of the American
Short Horn Herd Book is now ready for de-
livery.
1t contains 9l7 closely printed pages,
with nearly 5000 independent pedigrecs,
(asidc from the tables Of produce under COW
pedigrees,) contributed by more than 1900
living breeders and owners, and upward Of
80 6ne cattle portraits.
Price to adOance subscribers, $500 by
express, or $3.50 by mail, postpaid. To
nOn.subscribers, $500 by express, or $3.50
by mail, postpaid. When more than 300
miles from BufFalo, il is cheaper to go by
mail. Remittances to be sent with order
for the book. When sent for delivery, q.
o. d. by express, the charge for remittance
by the express company is added. AT the
price named, the book, according to its con-
tents, is cheaper by 80 per cent than any
work of the kind ever published. Entire
sets of the ii volumes, together with " Re-
print Of English Bulls" and " History Of the
Short-Horns," should be owned by every
considerable breeder, and every county, dis
trict or town society, where Sbort-Horns are
bred, for general reference. Price for the
16 books, when taken together, 500 by ex-
press single copies of either Of the separate
volumes will be furnished Vol. l, SO;
IL, IL and 13, averaging over 1000 pages
each, $40 per copy Vol. 10, near 1000
pages, at SO, when taken separately. Vol.
I is now out of print, but will be reprinted
this year and sent to order as soon as ready.
1t is unnecessary to remind breeders of
Shorthorn cattle Of the value of this standard
work. Orders should be addressed to the
editor, Letois F. Allen, Buffalo, N. Y.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
BREVITIES.

The Canada Farmer advises its readers
to raise barley instead of wheat.
If striped bugs trouble the vines dust
them with ashes and hen manure thoroughly
beaten together and pulverized. 1t does not
kill these pests but checks them and then
forces the plants forward, so they get into
the rough leaf before they are severely in
jured but worms if they appear must be
hunted at daylight in the morning and killed.
They will thus be found either on top OF the
ground, or else Immediately below, and may
be easily traced.
West Tinmouth claims to have the cham-
pion cheese factory Of the state, in respect
to netting for its patrons the largest per-
centape on cheese and milk. The following
are the figures; The capital invested is
81 800; length Of season, 233 days, from
April Ia to November 23 average number
of cows, 100; whole number of pounds Of
milk, 54S,201 number Of pounds of cheese
made, 81 $685. amount Of money received
by patrons, s6,90992 net receipts per 100
pounds cheese, Sll.934 per 100 pounds
milk, Sl.26.
A strange and fatal disease appeared some
time since among the cattle Of John w.
Eastman & Brother, Meredith, N. ii. All
the cases, seven in number, have bailled the
skill Of the doctors and the animals died.
The members of the New Hampshire Board
Of Agriculture have visited the spot and ex-
amined the cases but have arrived at no con-
cluson as TO the nature or cause Of the dis
ease or remedy.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Sulphur, Salt and Ashes for Stock.

AS general rule, says Ne'O England
Farmer correspondent live stock, when well
fed and cared for, will eat only what their
system needs, or what appetite Graves.
When cattle gnaw the boards and shingles
from the barn, the hair from each others
sides, and even the ground where soapsuds
have been emptied, when they eat old boots,
bones and woolen rags, in preference to
their food, there is something out of sorts
with them, and, as corrective, L have nev-
er seen anything equal to plenty of ashes,
salt and sulphur. My usual mixture is four
quarts of ashes, two quarts of salt, and one
half pound of sulphur. When the stock
have corn cobs frequently, l find they need
ashes less. l can stop the gnawing of wood
by feeding cobs, every time. Sulphur is
good for the blood as preventive of disease,
and also makes the hair look well. 1t is
also preventive of mango in swine, and
tends to keep their issues open. Sheep that
have sulphur frequently will not be troubled
with humors, and will never pull each others
wonl
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
The Railroads and the Farmers.

The Western railroad laws, if they ac-
complished nothing else, were supposed at
least to favor the agricultural interests, and
benefit the farmers. They were enacted by
legislatures under granger influence, and
gave definite shape and expression to the
general complaints Of extortionate rates Of
transportation. Recently, however, the Min
nesota State Grange has formally declared
that the existing state law for the regulation
of railroads is expensive and useless to the
people and vexatious to the roads, and its
repeal is accordingly demanded. In its
place, law is asked for which shall guar
antee cheap transportation for the products
of the farm, especially wheat 1t is little
curious that the very trainers Of this law,
and those who were most clamorous for its
passage, have come at length to see that it
is ill-devised and impracticable, and works
injustice all around, without benefting any
one. The grangers do not yet understand
just what it is they want, and the legislature
is therefore left to bungle away at it again,
without any new light or information to help
them. The law which the grangers now re-
pudiate was closely modelled after the Hi
nois Standardization Journal.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
The Second Working of Butter,

A correspondent of the Mirror and Farm
er says it is a very difficult matter to give
on paper directions for the second aud last
working of butter. If not worked enough,
the butter will not keep sweet. If worked
too much it is already spoiled. Good judg-
ment, skill, and experience are the three es-
sentials TO determine when the butter is
worked just enough. Butter should not be
too warm when worked, nor should it be so
cold aud hard as to crumble or make the
working hard aud laborious.
When ready for the second working, the
butter should be just warm enough 50 that
the ladle will 60 through the whole mass
without difficulty and without crumbling,
still hard enough to cut clean and smooth
and not adhere to the ladle. In twenty-lour
hours from time Of first working the butter
should be in the above condition and all
ready for scalding the table, the lade and
the sponge, then all should be thoroughly
cooled in the cold water. The butter should
be put upon the table, and in small lots at q
time, well worked with ladle aud sponge,
with careful but telling pressure. Do not
mash, and jam, aud grind it with the ladle,
or on the table, but handle 1t, work 1t, and
pressit with the sponge, with care, 50 as
not to break the glObules, but leave it with
its clean solid individuality. II should
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
shorthorns for Batter.


H." Of Montgomery county, Nd, after
expressing his pleasure In reading B. n.
Cambell's account Of the Smith6eld show Of
fat cattle, asks "Why is it that none Of our
Shorthorn breeders have tried to breed for
milk aud beef both in the same herd ?" Aud
further on he says, "If any one has pure
Shorthorn cattle Of real milking strain,
bred with that view for years, would they
not do well 10 advertise and tell US what
they can do
For the information Of your many read
ers, | will say that Aubrsy Hoffman IL
years ago bought Shorthorn heifer coming
two years old, which did not prove to be
with calf He spent some time looking for
a mate for her, aud when he found one that
suited his notions, they were mated. Their
first calf was a heifer; they were mated
again, the second calf was also q heifer.
The mother and her two daughters when
the second daughter was 5 or 8 years old)
made in one year 1043 lbs Of butter The
youngest COW making in Z days, % lbs. Of
butter. The trial began the 9th of March,
1865, and ended the 9th Of March the
next year. The old COW had been MIXED
5 months when the experiment began, the
oldest daughter had her calf just taken away
from her, and the youngest daughter did
not calve until the last Of May. What they
would have made, had they all been fresh
mixers on the 9th of March, when the ex-
pertinent began. cannot be told. The expert.
meut was continued the next year with the
same three COWS, with the addition Of two.
year old heifer, also from the old COW, which
resulted ia their making 1911 lbs. wei ghed
out in pound prints for market. This strain
Of cows is very prolific, bringing a calf
every year. Three.fourths of her calves are
heifers tho heifers have all been raised, and
are all good mixers and good butter cows.
The old COW is 10 years old, and will soon
have her 10th calf, never having missed
once and last year she made in one week 10
lbs. ofbutter weighed in pound prints for
market. The first three cows, on the day
Of the October election, in the year Of the
first experiment, we're weighed on the scales
in the presence Of the people there assem-
bled, tho old COW, Red Rose weighing 1880
lbs. the Oldest daughter, Hoffman's Star,
1920 lbs, and the youngest DAUGHTER,
HofFman's Dolly, 1850 lbs.-Chas C. More,
of Chester Co. Pa, in Country Gentleman.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04

work clear from the table, and not stick in
the least TO it, the ladle or the sponge.
Overworked butter with the globules jam
med and broken will be sticky, salvy, greasy,
and will stick to all the utensils, and stick
worse when offered for sale. AT tho second
working, butter should not be worked per-
feotly dry, as at the first working. If it
was properly worked the first time, it now
contains no water, or buttermilk, but good,
clean brine, and little of this is Just what
should be left in the butter. When ready
to put up it should have a slight moisture
left ina little Of the clear brine, so that
when the trier is thrust into the mass, little
Of it will ooze out around it, and when the
trier is withdrawn it should be covered with
a little moisture, just like light dew. A
great deal of judgment and discretion are
requisite iD order to tell when butter is
worked just right. To know when to stop
working, is one of the secrets Of making fan
cY butter.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Working Barren Cows.

An experienced Kentucky breeder, Mr..
Vanmeter, writes to the Lire Stock Record
giving the results of his treatment of cows
that had been deemed to be hopelessly bar
ren. This specida as remedy for barren
ness is-work. At the famous New York
Mills herd sale he purchased, for an old song
-SlOO-the Duchess OF ThOrndale, then
deemed hOpelessly barren, as she had not
produced a calf for three years. His mode
Of management is simply to reduce the flesh
without producing inflammation. Starving
the animal he thinks injurious, and adopts
the plan of giving severe exercise with Oply
moderate feeding. In most cases he works
the supposed barren COW under the yoke.
In the case Of the third Duchess Of Thorn
dale, he had her led or ridden four miles
daily. and fed on limited quantity of hay
and fodder She is now in calf.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Medicine for Poultry.

In ordinary cases il will not pay to give
medicine to sick fowls. In the first place but
little is known of the diseases of poultry, and
again there is an equal dearth of knowledge
respecting remedies. Besides, the value Of
an average fowl is so inconsderable that
treatment will not pay unless very simple
and very successful. The best course re-
specting poultry ailments is prevention.
Try to secure such vigorous breeding stock
and such complete sanitary conditions for
all the birds at all ages, that illness will be
rare. Then the strength Of constitution will
be such that any ordinary disease can be re.
sisted without the aid of medicine, it good
nursing is given. What we mean by nursing
is this Place sick fowls in dry, sunny
place, out of the wind and safe from distur-
bance. Then give them food easy of diges-
ton, such as mush, potatoes and meat, every
article cooked, and warm milk for drink. If,
after all, they can't make out to live, say to
yourself, by way Of congratulatiou, "there
are SO many birds, not disease-proof that
have been weeded out Of my stock at any
rate, ,"-CountrU Gentleman.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Bees on a Small Scale.

There are many householders whose means
will not enable them to buy COW, or pro-
vide keeping for her, were they in possession
of one. But they may be equal to the Pur-
chase of a colony of bees and provide hives
for the swarms resulting therefrom. Bees
like other stock, require pasturage, but, un-
like horses, cattle, aud sheep, they are free
commoners, ranging at will in search OF
stores, nor can they be arrested and punished
for their intrusion upon premises alien to
their owners. A single colony of bees, in
good condition in the spring, may be counted
upon to double or treble their numbers 10 q
single season, securing ample stores for win
ter consumption, while supplying gratliy-
ing surplus each autumn for household uses.
This accumulation will prove most accepta.
BILE in families, especially while the price of
butter rules 50 high as to place it beyond
the reach Of those not blessed with elongated
and plethoric purses. Try colony Of bees
as an experiment.--FarHlers UliOn. "a Z
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Thoroughbred or Grade Bulls.

The question of breeding from thorough
bred or grade bulls presents itself to the
farmer at this season. Tho improvement Of
cattle BY breeding should command the at.
tention Of every farmer. 1t is one of the
most important matters to which his atten-
ton can be given. Those who have not
given special attention to the subject do not
realize how much difference there is in the
operation Of the machinery by which cattle
convert forage aud grain into beef or milk.
One COW draws all the nourishment from the
food she consumes, and after using . moder-
ate proportion for sustaining the temperature
of the body and operating the various fuuc.
tions Of the system, converts all the residue
into milk of good quality, at a handsome
profit. Another wastes at every stage OF
the process and makes poor quality Of pro-
duct at last, at a loss to the owner Now
this matter can and should be controlled by
the farmer. 1t must be if he would make
farming pay. The farmer should use the
bull that will get calves such as he desires
to raise. He will find it necessary to take
some pains in selecting, and it will pay to
use much care. The bull should be from
families on both sides having the qualities he
desires to produce. The greater the uni.
formity of those qualities in his ancestry and
the longer they have been transmitted from
one generation to another the greater is the
certainty that he will communicate them to
his get. Wherever such bull is found
and whatever his breed, and whether thor
ough-bred, grade, or native, that is the bull
to use. Where thoroughbred stock has
been bred and trained with the view of de-
veloping these useful qualities bull from
that stock is much to be preferred, because
the qualities have been so intensified by
breeding that they are communicated to sue
ceeding generations with great certainty and
uniformity, and the number Of disappoint-
ments will be few.
OF course the first question In regard to a
bull is whether he is well developed, of good
shape and strong constitution himself. II
he is faulty, especially if he is not so formed
that the vital and digestive organs have
room to play and above all if he is not
strong and hardy, he should be avoided as a
breeder. No greater mistake was ever
made than to breed from mean animal be.
cause his blood is good" However fine
the bull may be otherwise, and no matter
how good his lineage, if he is not deer
through the chest and "thick through the
heart" he should be let severely alone.
After all, the question of geuerative power
in bull is one which can be determined
with certainty only by actual test. The
most promising animals frequently fail
When bull has proved that he is capable
OF getting just such calves as farmers wish t.
raise, he should be kept.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-04
Mani toba as an Agricultural Country.

According to the New York Independent
Manitoba which has hitherto been esteemed
chiefly on account of its fur business, has
fine agricultural capacities. 1t is said to be
one of the finest wheat growing countries in
the world, tho soil being a black, alluvial
mold, rich in organic deposits, and resting
for depth of from two to four feet on a
tenacious clay soil. Some of the fields on
the Red River have produced forty success
sive crops of wheat without iallow or ma
nure. The yield has reached as high as fifty
or sixty bushels per acre, and the average is
forty bushels, even under the farming Of the
natives. Last year oats averaged sixty
bushels to the acre, weighing over forty
pounds to the bushel. One farmer raised
$50 bushels of potatoes from seven bushels
Of seed, and the root crops generally were
good. Among the vegetable products sue
cessfuiy cultivated are mentioned turnips,
parsnips, carrots, cabbages, melons, beets,
pumpkins, squashes, celery, lettuce, spinach,
oauIaoWer aud oucumbers.