Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-01-29
Board of Agriculture,

Friday morning according TO adjournment
the meeting was called to order by Mr..
Wright.
G. l.. Fasset, of Enosburgh, member of
the board, read paper upon the
Butter Dairy.
Great advances had been made in the art
of butter making in Vermont in the last de-
cade. 1t would seem that such advance
had been made, that it would be unneces-
sary to say anything to the dairymen upon the
subject, but the old cry of "poor butter" 4"
white butter" "rancid butter" soft
butter" "bitter butter" in short, every ad-
jective of badness is called into requisition
to describe the butter that floods our city
and local markets. No new principles
were necessary. If decayiug vegetable mat
ter is always TO poison the air Of our dwell
ings until some scourge Of fever desolates the
family circle, this criminal neglect should
bear the blame and not be aseribed to the
inscrutable dealings of Providence.
1t Is sin to pray for the health Of our
selves and household and then violate all
natural hygienic laws. That farmer is little
better than a heather that neglects his stock
until starvation nearly kills them.
Every farmer should become in a great
measure a naturalist and thereby acquire a
fund OF information to guide him 10 his oper.
ations and prevent his violation of natural
laws. The pursuit Of agriculture implies the
constant study of the book of Nature. All
her phenomena are beautiful and interesting.
Those by which the vegetable growth appro-
pirates the virtue of the soil to its own de-
velopment and growth, are beyond superb
oial observation, but science will reveal to
us the natural laws by which these processes
are accomplished. We may not know the
original source Of all these laws Of nature,
but we can observe their operations and de-
termine their effects, and get thorough knowl-
edge Of the principles and their application
more than in any lack of good COWS, good
feed, or good utensils. Pure milk will make
perfect butter every time, and of uniform
appearance if properly manufactured.
There is great difference in products Of
COWS 10 different da!rIes. Some are making
from 100 to l25 pounds per COW of poor
qnalty, aud some with the same appliances
are making l50 to 200, and some even 800
per COW. 1t costs about the same to keep
the cows Of each, therefore the difference in
amount OF product is nearly the difference in
amount of profit while the COWS that pro-
duco 100 to 1876 pounds of butter no more
than pay for their keeping the others pay a
profit in proportion to the amount they pro-
duce more than the minimum amount. 1t is
the aim Of this paper to discuss how this diff.
ference in quantity and quality may be re.
allied from the dairies in the state. One
object of this board is to serve as a sort Of
pack horse to carry information from one
meeting to another. In the management OF
their farms and dairies, most daiTymen do
the same az to use post auger to cut of
logs with. Careful experiment has often
found in many dairies that what was consid'
cred the best COW was the poorest, and Uict
Uersa. One dairyman found he was keeping
five COWS at loss Of s. per year, and five
more at profit of So, thus the labor, keep
ing aud expense of ten COWS had returned al
profit, nothing. A set Of glass tubes that
would cost but fifty cents TO dollar, would
prove an excellent investment, and prove