The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-01-26

by A. w. CHEEYER, OF BOSTON, MAsS.
A growing demand for greater variety
and an abundant supply of the more per-
ishable articles of food, as milk, summer
fruits and garden vegetables, and for the
more bulky articles, as hay and straw,
which would cost heavily for transportation,
has done much to bring about change in
the popular style of farming.
Formerly if one farmer wished to convey
to another All idea of the extent of his
farming operations, he told how many acres
he planted, and hired men based their opin.
ion of the severity of the labor upon diff
ferent farms by counting the number of
acres to be hoed The hoed crops were
the main crops. The wheat, rye, oats
or barley which followed these were of
secondary Importance while the grass crop
took but third position in the estimation
of the majority of farmers. If one doubts
this let him recall the old custom--which
is, fear, still adhered to in some neighbour
hoods-of ploughing up old run-o,lt fields
which have been moved and pastured al
ternately for perhaps ten years or more
of preparing such land for corn and pota-
toes by putting Il single shovelful of stable
window manure in the hill for two or three
years, and then seeding down to grass with
some rank-growlng kind of grain and al
lowing it to ripen its seed.
By the time the grass was off, or as soon
as the feed in the pastures begin to fail, the
cattle were turned in and allowed to gnaw
down the young grass as closely as their
needs required. If the land was moist, the
season favorable, the natural fertility of
the soil excellent and the cows were not
left on too long, the first crop of hay, prin-
cipa1l, clnvar 1vnul1 ha q fc - ona tho Moot
of timothy, and secd-top little better, after
which the yield would grow less and less
every year till was again an old. run-out
moving field.
On the other hand, if the season was dry
or otherwise unfavorable for good catch,
the whole rotation as tar as the grass was
concerned, often proved serious failure.
Occasionally such fields would be re-
ploughed and re-seeded, or grass seed would
be sown on the surface in the following
spring but oftener these fields were al
lowed to take their chances of swarding
over with natural grasses, or by the spread
ing of what few plants escaped death from
tie seeds of such as were sOwn. Does not
such a system indicate that those who
adopted it considered grass for hay an in
inferior crop, holding a secondary or infer
ior position among the farmers produc-
tons Nor was its relative position adj
vanced at harvest time. The corn must be
cultivated and hoed the usual number of
times, and the wheat, the barley and
the oats must be cut and secured when in
their best condition but the hay could be
cut at almost any time from early blossom
ing until the seed dropped to the ground
from over-ripeness. With such hay as this,
and with large quantities of dead ripe grain
Of no nd fnlIar 10 &
the coarse swamp hay which Is perhaps, not
as plenty with you as in my own part of
the country, it is not surprising that the
dairy interest until within few years has
also held an inferior position among the ag-
ricultural industries CT Vermont
The pride of Vermont has been in her
pastures. These newly cleared hills, fertI-
lied by the ashes of the lumber and wood
burned upon them, and seeded with little
or no previous cropping, have produced
feed in summer of excellent quality and in
great abundance but without such winter
forage as we have described, it often took
the best part of the early summer for the
cattle to regain the flesh lost In winter, SO
that the gross products of the dairy were
much less than under the improved system,
which is now being adopted by the best
farmers, of keeping cows well all the year
round.
Formerly but little account was made of
the milk of our COWS for butter-making till
June. During the hot weather of July and
August it was made into cheese. When
the cool weather of September and October
arrived, butter was again made, but as soon
as cold weather set in and the cows were
put up aud fed corn husks and grain straw,
they rapidly fell away in their yield and
were soon dry. This was the fashionable
style OF farming in my own state years ago,
and believe, also, in Vermont before the |
railroads brought the markets to your doors,
and before the organization of your Dairy |
mems association but now with your in |
creased facilities for placing your products |
in the market, with your excellent grazing |
lands and your abundant springs of pure |
water you have the opportunity for becom.
ing the leading state in the manufacture of |
larry products. And under the present |
competition in the production of grain by |
our Western brethren. is it not acting the |
part of wisdom tor us to yield to them the |
supremacy In this department, while we |
strive to hold an equally honorable position |
in the production of dairy goods !? If we |
would do this We must give up some of our |
old notions, and must abandon many of |
our old practices. We must keep our cows
well, not only during summer when the
pastures are good, but at all times through |
the year. II dairying is worthy of any |
special effort. II is worthy of our best ef- |
forts. If we attempt to serve two masters |
we shall fail TO faithfully serve one.