davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Fancy Farmers.

No class of men have been ridiculed so
much and none have done 80 much good as
those who are denominated fancy farmers.
They have been in all times and countries
the benefactors Of the men who have treated
them with dorisiou. They have been to far
mers what inventors have been to manufac-
turers. They have experimental, for the
good Of the world, while others have simply
worked for their own gain. They tested
theories, while others have raised crops for
market. They have given dignity and
glory to the occupation Of farming it never
had before.
Fancy farmers have changed the wild boar
into the Suffolk and Berkshire; the wild
bull of Britain into the Shorthorn; the
mountain sheep, with its lean body aud hair
fleece, into the Southdown and the Merino.
They have brought up the milk
of COWS from pints to gallons. They
have heightened the sirloin Of the bull
lock, deepened the udder of the COW, en-.
larged the ham Of the hog, given strength to
shoulder of the OK, rendered finer the wool
OF the sheep, added heetness to the speed of
the horse, and made beautiful every animal
that is kept in the service of man. They
have improved and hastened the develop
msnt OF oil domestic animals, till they hardly
resemble the creatures from which they
sprang.
Fancy farmers introduced irrigation and
undertaking, grinding and cooking food for
stock. They brought guano from Peru and
nitrate Of soda from Chill. They introduced
and domesticated all the plants we have OF
foreign origin. They brought out the theory
of rotation OF crops as a natural means oi
keeping up and increasing the fertility ol
the soil. They FIRST ground up gypsum and
bones and treated the latter with acid to
make manures of peculiar value. They first
analysed soils, as q means Of determining
what was wanted to increase their fertiltys
They introduced the most approved methods
of raising and distributing water.
Fancy farmers or fancy horticultursts
have given us all our varieties Of fruits, veg
etables, and flowers. A fancy farmer il
Vermont, few years ago, originated thu
Early Rose potato, which added millions o
dollars to tho wealth of our country ant
proved to be most important accession il
every part of the world where it was intro
duced. Another of these same fancy mel
originated the Wilson strawberry, an,
another the Concord grape. 1t was fanc.
farmer that brought the Usage orange frOu
Texas to the Northern States. - ChicGg
Times.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Advantages and Disadvantages of Lime.

One would suppose that by this time the
uses and disadvantages of lime on land
would be tolerably we'll understood. Ger
tainly we have explained its operation to
readers in time past. But it seems to be
necessary to bring up old things once in a
while in order to view them over again in
the light of new experience.
The occasion at present is an article in an
intelligent Canadian paper on Pennsylvania
farming. The article does justice to the iu-
tclligent and profitable system pursued by
our farmers, but We hardly think under.
stands correctly the prisciple on which lime
is used. 1t speaks Of lime as being gen.
orally used on light soils as material to
bring them up to good condition, but We
think this is wrong.
Soils that are light and deficient in vegc-
table matter are made worse by lime. Let
one for instance take piece of Jersey land
light enough to satisfy anybody-and limo
it, and he will have as poor piece OF land
to operate on as anyone could desire to ex.
pertinent with. A piece Of sand saturated
with iron rust or oxide Of iron, could not
possibly be poorer. And this is true Of
lime on any kind Of light land. Lime tells
to best effect on heavy lands always, but
only here when in connection with vegetable
matter.
Indeed taking practical view of things,
irrespective of any chemical language or
chemical theories, we should say that lime
simply acted as an agent in preparing vege-
table matter to be food for plants. In farm
language it seats" the vegetable waste and
half digests it, and it is then in better con-
dition to be made use of by the roots Of the
regular farm crops. Thus, if we are about
to plow up piece Of old sod, We lime it
a little before we plow it down, or We lime
q piece of stubble for the same reason. The
lime affects the vegetable material in the
soil, and the plants feeding on it are able tc
get as much profit from it in one year as
from the unlimed land in two. Lime in.
deed adds nothing or but little to the rich
ness of land, but makes the natural richness
more available. In other words it is an ex-
celent aid in land already rich, but the poor
est thing possible for light land, if by light
is understood poor land.-GermantO'on Tel
egraph.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
The Grow the Farmers Friend.

II is only few years since almost every
body was down on {" the crow. The man
or boy who killed the largest number Of
them was hero Of the hour. People are
learning to take more rational Wow of this
bird, and he finds many defenders. Our
Dumb Animals has the following words in
his behalf:
The poor crow finds every mans hand
against him, Notwithstanding the service he
does to those who till the ground. If they
do not kill him on sight, il is only because
he is usually match for even the most sharp
sighted gunner. lie is quite as fond Of
bugs and worms, and little field mice and
young snakes, as he is of farmers COL He
is a good policeman about the farmhouse
and drives away the hawk, who can do twice
twice the mischief he is guilty Of He hunts
the grass fields and pulls out the caterpillars
and all manner of pests, and probably saves
many other crops, il be is hard on the corn
A gentleman had a tame crow who trot-
ted out after him as be went out to wage his
annual war on the squash bugs. His sable
attendant put his head on one side and
watched him few minutes, as if to see
how he did it. Compromising the business
at last, he went for those bugs with will,
and cleared the patch in 6no style. He
took il for business tho remainder Of the
season, insuring n fine crop.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Pasture Grasses of Great Britain.

Vermont farmers are beginning To inquire
what, if anything, can. be done to .reStore
and sustain the fertility Of pastures. The
following on the subject, from Professor w.
j. Beal is of Interest:
One objection often made to keeping land
permanently in grass is that weeds come in
and crowd out the grasses This is only
true in neglected fields, as is shown by the
following:
In report Of Lawes and Gilbert, the
most celebrated English experimsaters, they
arrive at this general result that those
manures which much increased the produce
of hay at the same time very much increased
its proportion of grAminaceous herbags, often
changing the relative quantity from 76 per
cent. to 81 per cent. BY the AbSve they
mean that the true grasses crowd cut the
weeds when the land is highly manured.
There are few weeds that are not dimin-
ished by manuring; but the most Of them
are diminished. LAwes and Gilbert made
some very interesting experiments with diff.
ferent manures on permanent meadow.land.
In addition to the above, l wish TO briefly
refer TO another remarkable point. At great
labor and expense they tried similar pieces
of meadows with different fertilizers. The
change in relative proportion Of plants in
the meadow was very striking.
BY irrigation, in England, it has beer
found that some grasses Increase, others de
crease that large and innutritious herbs il
pastures are destroyed by irrigation, theiI
place being supplied by the best grasses.
Docks and few others are an exception
to this rule.
Again and again the best English farmer
have proven that it pays to drain wet LAM
for the grasses. We have often seen tn
same thing done in different parts Of thi
state always with good results. SucI
fields stand the drought better and yiel
more and better feed. The sedges die out
There is always an improvement, notwith
standing the fears and cautions expressed be
fore ditching. cannot hear Of q pastur
anywhere which has been injured by tilinl
never expect 10.
Two other customs may now be added
the treatment of English pastures. III
droppings of cattle are often broken up an
scattered, to prevent rank spots, which al
not eaten off by the stock. 1t takes le
time than might be supposed. They al'
NOW off small patches Of grass at tin
where it is found running to seed. III
small quantity at time is readily eaten
the stock, as it wilts and partially cure
. Thistles and many other weeds are treat'
in the same manner. In place Of the wee'
t, and Seeding grasses will often spring up
fresh bite, very agreeable 10 stock Of 4
kinds. In pastures in this country we Off
see June grass and other grasses seeding ea
ly in the season, thus weakening the root
The dead dry tops are Jeff all summC
where, If cut off in time or eaten off, the
> would be good supply Of fresh herbags I
the season.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Ashes.


Many farmers have no convenient place in
which to store their ashes, and consequently
they put them in barrels out Of doors. Too
often these are left uncovered, or the covers
blow of, leaving tho ashes exposed to the
damaging inAuence Of rain and dew. Evil
IDENTIFY they do not realize the great value
which ashes possess as fertiliEing agent
II they did they would never allow them to
run TO waste. On the contrary they would
apply them to their crops. If man has
4 good place in which TO keep them, one in
which they cannot be injured by rain aud in
which there is no danger from fire, it is we'll
enough to let years stock accumulate aud
then apply them in the spring. This, how
ever, in case part Of them are not needed for
crops in the summer. Some of our readers
who have ashes which they think they
ought to dispose Of in order to prevent loss,
may here inquire to what special crops they
should be applied at this season of the year
Wereply that for onions, ashes are among
the very best of fertilizers. For this crop,
if applied now, they should be strewed along
the rows iengthwise, and the cultivators
should then be run between them or else they
should be hoed by hand. Applied to Indian
corn, handful to each hill, Immediately be-
fore rain, or just before the crop is hOed
they give good returns. They are also very
good for vines IN the garden. In moist sea-
sons the application Of ashes TO grass land
Immediately after the first crop of hay has
been removed, has a very fine effect and in
sures a good crop Of rowen. There arc ways
enough in which all the ashes that are made
can be prOhtably used on the farm and they
certainly ought to be saved aud used to the
best possible Advantage.-N. Z. Homestead
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Mixed Farming.

In seasons like the present, when wheat
and corn and oats are greatly injured by
heavy and continued rains, we see the advis-
ability of putting more Of our farms into
pasture, which suffers from no such cause.
Is it not better to have plenty of pasture and
raise few hundred head Of sheep than to
trust to our main crop and perhaps lose that
by wet weather7 You will have the wool
to sell, which always commands money.
You will double your flock nearly every year,
and can thus sell large number Of sheep
yearly, which always command money. You
will have nice, fresh meat for the family
and mutton is healthier and better diet than
pork. You can have your farm kept clean
Of weeds aud brush, and no other animal can
gil their place in this particular
II is true, you may say the dogs will
kill them. Well, you must kill the dogs, or
keep your sheep in an enclosure at night that
dogs cannot enter This is cheaply made Of
pickets. The sheep will become wonted to
this enclosure, and boy can easily attend
TO enclosing them at night.
But the pasture land that We have spoken
of will answer also for cattle and mules and
horses and hogs, and all these or any of them
can be raised and generally there will be
found more money in them than in putting
everything to wheat and corn or oats. In-
deed, mixed farming, where the farmer has
help in his own family, is the most pro6ta-
BILE farming-not running deeply into anything
but raising little of everything to which
the farm is adapted-so that if there is q
| failure of one thing there may be success in
other things. Where markets are available,
good orchard is . valuable acquisition, to
farm, frequently bringing in more ready
money from few acres than oil the rest Of
the farm will make.
Intelligence and enterprise must go hand
ia hand, and everything must be done to in
crease the revenue Of the farm.-Coleman'S
Rural World.
doubling the number Of the flock nearly
every year, except by purchasing, is more
than most breedees expert to do.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Exhibition Of Live Stock.
Organization and Duties OF the judges.

Organization and Duties OF the Judges.
L. Awards shall be based on written re-
ports, attested BY the signatures of their
authors.
Ii. Reports will be based upon inherent
and comparative merit, the elements ofmerit
being specifically mentioned.
Ill. The Judges assigned to each group
will choose from among themselves a chair
man and secretary. They must keep reg.
ular minutes Of their proceedings Reports
recommending awards shall be made and
signed by judge in each group. stating the
grounds Of the proposed award, and such
reports shall be accepted, and the acceptance
signed by q majority Of The judges in such
group.
Nv. The reports of the judges recon.
mendng awards, must be returned to the
chief Of the bureau of awards not later than
ten days after the close Of the exhibition, in
each group. u 4
Y. Awards will be finally decroed by the
United States centennial commission, in COM
pliance with the act Of congress of June l,
1872, and will consist Of special report Of
the judges on the subject of the award, to-
gether with diploma, and uniform bronze
medal.
vi. In addition to reports on tho merits
Of individual exhibits, the judges of each
group will be expected to render q report
general in its nature, summarizing the ex-
hibition in their group, and indicating the
recent progress noted in breeding, rearing or
training
VII. Vacancies in the corps of judges
will be filed by the authority which made
the original appointment. No exhibitor can
be judge in the group in which he is a
competitor.
VIII. The chief of the bureau Of awards
will be the representative Of the United
States centennial commission in its relations
to the judges; upon request hc will decide
all questions which may arise during theil
proceedings in regard to the Interpretation
and application Of the rules adopted by the
commission relating to awards, subject tc
an appeal to the commission.
- A. t. GosHoRN, Direotor.G General.
FRANCIS A. WALKER.
Chief Bureau Of Awards.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28

PRUNING TOMATOES. - The Germantown
Telegraph has the following on the subject
Of pruning tomatoes;
Many persons 6nd much profit in pinching
back the branches Of the tomatoes; and it is
q good practice when judioiously done. 1t
may be overdone, however, and injury result.
In the first place it is of no use to attempt it
after the flowers have fallen. The idea is to
force the nourishment into the fruit at the
earliest start for it is at that time that the
future fate Of the fruit is cast. A few
leaves beyond the fruit is an advantage. 1t
is only the growth that is to be checked.
And then much damage is done by taking
off the leaves as we'll as the fruit. The
tomato plant needs all the leaves it can get.
1t is only the branches that are to be checked
in their growth.
No ono who has not tried il can have any
idea of how valuable the leaves are TO the
tomato plant. One may for experiment take
of most Of the leaves Of a plant, and he
will find tho favor inspid, and 10 every way
poor.
OF course 1t is the peculiar aoidity of the
tomato that gives it SO much value to all Of
us but the acid from tomato that has
ripened on an insufficient amount of foliage,
is disagrOeablo to most tastes.
The same principle has been found 10
work In managing grape vines. The mar
who judiciOusly pinohes back the branches
does we'll but he who strips of the foliage,
to " let in the sun and air." generally finds
that be has made bad mess Of il.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Where to Buy q Farm.

A correspondent at Hyde Park, who writes
in commendation Of the FARMER saying, at
is just what a young farmer, like myself,
needs" inquiries where the best place for is a
young man with small capital to buy farm.
If we were y locate again we should
look for no better field for the young farmer
with small capital than the state of Vermont.
If the young man has barely enough To
buy pair Of horses and harnesses, . plow
and few other tools, and is willing to live in
house and put up with fare that Ver-
monter would regard none too good for pigs,
with few, if any of the privileges and enjoy
ments free to all 10 the society and institu-
tions Of New England, let him "go west and
"squat" on the government land. Unless a
young man is willing to take such . chance
as that, it is our belief that he will do better
In Vermont. The west is hard place for
poor man unless he is miserably poor, and
expects that his life and surroundings shall
be compatible with that condition.
The selection of the right farm without
running too deeply iu debt is a question of
more moment than its location, although
that is not a matter Of indifference. The
young man who buys run out farm with
dilapidated buildings, because it is cheap,
finds too late that it is far from cheap.
This is favorable time TO buy farms
so many are for sale at prices greatly reduced
from those of ten years ago. 1t is the
opinion of many good judges that farming
has reached its period Of greatest depression
and that better day is at hand. We be-
lieve there is good reason for this faith.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28
Prevention of Disease in Animals.

The old adage that IAN ounce Of proven
tion is worth pound Of cure, is empbatically
true when applied to the diseases Of domestic
animals. AS a class, farmers, who own
nearly all the live stock in the country, are
not acquainted with the methods Of treating
the diseases Of animals. They do not know
what remedies to give, and the great major
ity live some distance from skillful veteri-
nary, so that medical attendance is difficult
to be secured. These facts render il very
important that preventive measures should
be understood and applied. l say these meas
ures are important, because overy year an
innumerabe multitude Of animals die Of dis
case which proper preventive measures would
either have kept entirely away or else so
modified that the animals might have been
saved. There can DO no doubt that many Of
the diseases TO which our animals are sub
ject are not known where proper care is
given, and consequently il may be laid down
as q settled principle, that care is q sure pre-
ventive Of their approach. Others may be
so modified by careful preventive measures
as to lose their deadly power; and all dis
eases, Of whatever type, may be much more
readily managed VIXEN common sense efforts
have been put forth for their prevention.
just now. one OF the diseases of which
farmers and dairymen ought to bo very
watchful aud take careful measures TO pre-.
vent is milk fever. This disease annually
carries off great many COWS and causes q
great loss to their owners, aud in almost all
cases an attack could have been prevented
by careful treatment My own experience
with this disease has not been very extensive,
but l have seen enough TO teach me TO be
very careful with my COWS at calving time.
In one case l paid veterinarian fifteen dol.
lars, besides paying for the medicines, to
cure Q COW Of this disease, when all the
trouble was due to my own carelesSness. |
let her into an open yard where there was a
supply Of cold water. She drank too much
and brought on an attack Of the milk fever
which came very near proving fatal, made
me great deal Of trouble and some expense,
and also proved an injury to the COW for
more than a year. If had kept her in the
barn a day or two longer and warmed the
water which 1 gave her to drink, she would
probably have been we'll all the time And
in multitude OF cases little care in this
direction would prevent sickness Of animals
and loss To their owners.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28

THE GERM THEORY TO BE INVESTIGATED
The st. Adams Advertiser, of recent date,
contains the following 1t is with much
pleasure we learn that during DR.. Cressy's
recent visit to Vermont, Mr.. Bliss, whose
guest he was over the Sabbath, perfected an
arrangement with him to prepare especially
for the next winter meeting Of the Vermont
Dairymens Association, an exhaustive paper
upon the germ theory. DIR. Cressy has made
the subject of disease germs a special study
for many years, and has, ut much expense,
collected for his library every known work
upon the subject. 1t has become SO common
thing for tyros and quacks in dairy prac actice
to charge every undesired result to some hid.
den germ, that thorough eucidation of the
character and effects Of germs has come to be
one of the urgent needs Of the times, and the
dairy public are to be especially cOngratu-
lated that the Secretary of the Vermont
Association, who seems on the alert for the
development Of truth and the dissipation Of
every obscurity OF doctrine, has been 80 for
tunate as to enlist in this cause so able an
investigator as DR.. Cressy. We are reminded
| in this connection that we should have noticed
before the fact that Mr.. Bliss secured, some
time since, the services Of Prof. X, A Viii.
lard, A. NJ, the wel.known writer and lect-
urer on dairy and agricultural topics, as or
ator for the annual meeting Of the Associa-
tion, which will be held in Montpelier,
October 25th, next.
Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-07-28

NECESSITY OF NITROGEN HN THE SOIL
Prof. s. w. johnson, in bcture on. "Guid-
ing Ideas in the Use of Fertilizers" pub
lished in the report of Connecticut board of
agriculture for 1873 says: 1--WE do not
know positively, as yet, all the processes
or arrangements by which nitrogen is made
accessible to our crops. We have got a
great deal of valuable knowledge, but there
is still much to be learned. The atnos-
phere contains an immense store of nitrogen
gas-four.f of its bulk and weight-but
this free nitrogen is, so far as our present
information enables us to decide, of no
use as food to vegetation directly. 1t is only
capable Of feeding plants after it has been
brought into combination with other ele-
ments as nitrate, or as ammonia. The
atmosphere will furnish limited but vari-
able supply Of these compounds, enough to
be of essential service to well developed veg
citation, having great absorbent surface Of
leaf and root, but not enough to bring an
uual plants to great development, so that
agricultural plants, if planted in q soil des.
titute of available nitrogen compounds, can
never make crop without the help of ma
nure containing suitable nitrogen compounds
Nitrogen is the most costly element of our
ordinary fertilizers, because it is the most
generally and strikingly useful, and because
it is the most difficult to obtain, or in other
worls, the demaud is great and the supply
small The soil, if it contains little nitro
gen, must be enriched by that element.