Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-03-03
Meeting Of the State Board Of Agriculture
Manufactures and Mining,
AZ Rochester, Tuesday and wednesday
February g and o, 1879,

AZ Rochester, Tuesday and wednesday,
February and o, 1879.
On motion Geo A. Cushman Of Rochester
was voted president of the meeting, and r..
j. Flint Of Granville vice president.
Welcome by DR. A. Richerson Of Roshes.
ter Members Of the board aud fellow citi-
Gems We are glad to see you. We hold il
to be good omen that there is such board
as this within reach, aud that so many have
cope out to-day We rejoice in the work
you have done, and are anxious to participate
in aud be benefited by what you are doing.
We congratulate you on the success you
have achieved. cannot help going back
one hundred years, to the time when a much
greater distinction existed between the Labor
ing class and men Of science than we have
to-day. Nov farmers are getting to be sci.
enti6c men, and there is growing harmony
between the laborer aud the scholar. The
/ plodding toiler used TO be looked upon as of
no more consequence than the cattle. Now
all is changed and labor is respected. Now
the farmer is calling all the researches Of sci
ence to his aid, and by the use of improved
machinery his labor is rendered compara-
lively easy aud attractive. | now bid you
welcome to our midst which is cordial, large.
and sincere
Paper by v NJ. Hubbard of Rochester
on Care and Management Of Horses"
live would raise good horses, it is very
important that the sire and dam should be
well selected. We should breed for the fol.
lowing qualities Good round foot not Fat,
a quick, elastic step with smart and equal
gate, good, wide, full limbs they should be
deep under flank full, round chest, high over
withers, head well set up, with full eye. A
horse with narrow head sees everything, and
will not remember what it is taught. A
great deal depends on the FIRST year. If it
is taken good care Of, it will not stop grow
ing till we'll matured, aud will be worth
nearly as much as two colts poorly managed.
A colt half fed and half sheltered will be
full Of pin-worms and covered with lice,
which will cost more to support than the
growth Of the colt, and such horses are more
liable to be unsound. The colt should be
dropped the first of june, and turned off to
pasture till winter then weaned and fed with
bran and perhaps a little milk. 1t should
not be kept on hard floor. Too much
money is paid for speed. If we take our
mares to 2.30 horses, what per cent should
we get of fast horses perhaps ten but more
likely five, and those not speedy would not
be as we'll of in other qualities. A horse
weighing ten or eleven hundred is heavy
enough. am informed that fast horses are
not as salabc as formerly, and bring a much
lower price. We do not wish to say too
much against speed, but fas. horses tend to
immortality in men. If we have smart colt.
we are apt to take it to the track to improve,
and then to our horse fairs and to trots,
which are little better than gambling places.
You may say like COW for horse but
like n good, smart, easy traveller, and if we
breed from our best mares, we are likely to
get speed enough and valuable horses in other
respects.
Mr. Sumner Of Brandon What has been
said in regard to keeping colts will apply to
all kiuds OF stock. If [ had the money that
is lost in not caring for stock properly u this
town alone, | should be we'll enough off
When we wean colts, we should consider that
they require some substitute for the nutri.
tious milk they formerly had, and supply it.
If kept constantly growing, they can be as
large at three years old as others not so
cared for at four or five. We should not
try to breed for all purposes. Strength and
endurance is what we farmers want. Few
men understand the management Of horses,
aud what are the most valuable qualities,
but We should all keep and patronlze those
we know to be good rather than those some
interested man may recommend to us.
G. q. Pringle; We should not pay too
high price for horse because it is popu.
ulAr, but there are many who use kind of
short-sighted economy in patrouizing horse
because it is cheap. 1t is preferable 10 EN-.
ploy good sires in all kinds of stock, though
it may cost little more.
A. Chapman OF Middlebury; l am iu-
formed by prominent dealers in horses that
tall horses are not in good demand sixteen
hands high is considered too much; they are
more valuable at fifteen hands or PERHAPS
little less.
q. IL. Hubbard Of Springfield then read a
paper on the "Grass Crop" in which he
strongly recommended seeding down immsd-
atsly after manuring, without grain, which
can be done in the fall if more convenient,
even as late as November. Clover should
be sown in spring, as it will net stand the
winter. lie also favored saving manure for
top-dressing meadows that are not too dry,
aud where the grass is not too much run out,
using manure that is we'll pulverized.
Mr. Stockwell asked what depth he turned
the sod for seeding down
Mr. Hubbard replied that it depended upon
the kind Of soil some might be plowed
deeper thaH others. He usually plowed FIVE
inches deep. We should turn the sod deep
enough to make mellow bed for the seed.
Mr. Chapman On soil that was adapted
TO deep blowing | used double Michigan
plow, put on twelve loads Of manure to the
acre aud narrowed we'll, then stocked with
Ons-half bushel herdsgrass and one bushel Of
rSdtop to the acre with excellent results.
MIR Mead Top-dressing is a very impor.
tant subject, and it is practiced very success.
fully in Pomiret My father used to sell
hay and buy manure to top.dress with good
results. knew an instance where orchard
grass was used under favorable circumstan-
ces; six crops were cut in one season with
total length Of los inches.
Tuesday Afternoon.
MIR Chapman read paper on "The Mer-
its OF the Different Breeds of Horses" 10
which he strongly favored the Morgan horses
not only for strength and endurance, but
produced statistics to show that they will sell
for higher price than any other, aud are
full as liable to make fast horses.
Rev L. S. Hubbard: A great part of the
wealth Of Vermont is in horses, but fear
the best qualities of our horses are dsgeuer.
ating. While would not advocate horse
races, | would not lower the speed. We
want those that can endure aud bO gentle.
We should cultivate that blood that will give
the most of these good qualities, aud there
will be speed enough.
Col Mead We should raise the kind of