The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-06-22

Martin.
The first exercise was u discussion of
the last question considered by Prof.
Collier last evening, "The General
Principles of Fertilization"
Mr.. Putnam Of Grafton asked Prof.
Collier how farmers were to know what
their fields required, of what constitu-
ents they were exhausted? The Prof.
replied, the best way to determine was
by an examination Of the history of the
fields, what crops were raised, and
from that determine what had probably
been removed from the soil. Some
crops did not exhaust the soil in the
least, among these are maple sugar and
butter; they are composed entirely of
constituents that come from the atmos-
pherc. Hen manure and ashes should
not be mixed together, as the potash re-
leases the ammonia, and that Is i'm a
great measure lost.
Tile drained land Is pcrmcated by the
cold, damp atmosphere, through tiles,
that then are diflused through the land,
thus in very dry weather preventing
the land from drying up as much as it
would if the same land was not drained.
The advantage of air in land in place of
the water that has been drained, is that
the land warns up earlier, and sends
the crop forward much earlier.
Manure buried too deep will remain in
cold, undccomposed state. If the land
is drained, this decomposition will take
place much earlier than in land that is
wet; in the latter case manure plowcd in
deep is total loss, while we would not
,.ono,x-a ha G,1l ln,aEt
plowcd in deep in drained land. A very
large amount of this vegetable matter
in the soil deep down may sour and
poison crops; this is the modern cxpla-
nation of clover sickness.
Manure spread upon damp land as a
top-dressing gives better results than
upon dry land.
The application of plaster is often
very beneficial; if il was used as o di-
rect fertilizer. little may be enough,
but il probably acts in most cases as an
indirect fertilizer, and more than a
bushel will probably prove profitable.
Mr.. Jaquith had derived great bene-
fit from an application of ashes to clo-
YER; if this is so, why is it that this ap-
plication benefits so deep rooted plant
as clover2
Prof Collier would say that the clo-
yer roots, although running down deep,
do not make it impossible for the roots
to receive benefit from surface applica-
tons. In blowing in clover, it is best
to cut the crop off and pillow in the stub
BILE; that and the roots will furnish a
vast amount of fertilizing matter, and
the nearer to the clover being matured,
the more mineral matter these will con-
tain.
Prof Collier was asked if he had any
objections to removing all the small
stones from the land. He replied, as q
boy he had.
AT the close of this discussion, Mr..
A. Z. Cudworth, of South London
derry, read all excellent paper upon
"Theory and Practice
The next exercise was an address by
Prof. Seely, the secretary of the Board,
upon vermont, its Promises and its
Demands"
Vermont is land that is literally
flowing with milk and honey, truly q
favored land. What does this land of
fer in promise to us? First, its beauty
in mountain, in valley and beautiful
fields. 1t offers a soil of remarkable
and lasting fertility. Had this not been
so, our soil would have been robbed of
all its fertility by its mismanagement.
We have no Nile to enrich our soil, but
we have mountain rocks that are grad
ually becoming decoinposed, and sliding
down into the valleys and fields, and
thus constantly renewing the fertility
of our soils. Thus they are practically
ineXhaustible, and in this respect DIFF
fercnt from the prairics of the west,
that are quickly exhausted of their fer
tility, and then are practically value
less on account of the great expense nec-'
essary TO be incurred in fertilizers to re-
cruit them.
Vermont offers great inducements in
nearness Of markets. Another great
advantage that Vermont offers. is its
great variety of soils, that enables us to
raise nearly every crop that can be
raised in temperate climate. 1t offers
great inducements to fruit raiscrs. The
lake on the west makes the air of more
equablc temperature, and its soils fur
nish fruits Of great excellence of flavor
and good keeping qualities. Its soils
give us great crops of most excellent
potatoes; they also give great crops of
most excellent and nutritious grasses,
that enable us with our fine climate and
air, to raise cattle, horses and sheep Of
the finest and best qualities and that are
everywhere in demand al the highest
prices.
We should not lightly prize our good
ly heritage; we should not run away
from it or depreciate its value. Vast
numbers of the sons of Vermont have
gone from her to beyond her borders.
Two hundred thousand of her sons
have sought homes elsewhere. What
would not these have done TO develop
the capabilities of Vermont, had they
been fully aware of the great advanta-
ges Vermont possesses! He would not
be understood as wishing to retain every
sen of Vermont within the state, but
vast numbers, he felt assured, would be
in better condition here had they staid
at home, and had they fully realized the
advantages offered by their native state
1t is the duty of all residents of Yer
mont to improve and develop her re-
sources by improved methods and i'm
proved agriculture. We usually know
better than we do; we ought to couple
with our intelligence, enterprise; by
these we can not only double but quad
ripple the products of Vermont.
After the address Of Prof. Seely, Mr..
Ora Paul of Pomfret, and member of
the Board, made an address upon
"Young Stock and its Care the First
Year"
Vermont is eminently a grazing and
dairying state. The value Of the whole
live stock in Vermont is in round num-
bers over $4,000, 900; what great in
crease of the property of Vermont
would it be, if we could only add dol
lar per head to each horse, COW and
sheep in the state. We give our young
stock far too little attention, we stunt
them while young, and they rarely re-
cover from 1t and make animals of max
imum value. This practice has been
great damage to the farmers of Yer
mont, and is gradually being displaced