Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-08-01
AGRICULTURAL.
For the Free Press and Tnnes.l
THAT OTHER SPINE OF GRASS.

For the Free Press and Times.l
THAT OTHER SPINE OF GRASS.
For every spire of grass that is raised
III Vermont there should be another
spire. Wherever we get one ton of hay
!, the soil is capable of producing another
ton. We ought to raise two tons where
we now get but one. Not that We are
ashamed Of the amount of produce raised
in Vermont it compares well with other
States and. Vet, it has been demon
strated over and over again. that the soil
is capable of producing at least tricc as
much as we now produce There should
! be twice rs many tons of hay, twice AS
many head of cattle, twice as many
pounds of butter twice as many bushels
of corn. wheat, and of every other item
of produce The elements are in the
soil the ram, the sunshine, the warm
breeZes, are all sufficient to produce an
other spire of grass by the side of every
spire that now grows i'll our State What
then is lacking? The dHcRtioR Of the
farmers to this subject that is all. And
when the farmer sees that the farm that
barely keeps twelve cows could in six
wears be made to keep twenty four, that
the farm that is now worth two thousand
dollars would he worth four Thousand,
the three Thousand dollar farm worth SIX
Thousand, the ten Thousand dollar farm
come up to twenty Thousand, and So on,
when this great truth is once clearly per
ceiyed, when once We give our attention
to this subject, Yankee ingenuity will
soon find out the WAYS and means to bring
If to pass. Fred how is it that your tie
is always So faultless, | can't tie mine to
look any way?" Don't you know?" says
Fred :. why, | gre my WhOlc dttcttiOH
to it" A little attention to this subject.
and no man would rest content to hav,.
his manure STEPPED by the rains and
bleacheI 10y the elements until it was
nearly worthless before being put upon
the soil. 1t was IA tall Nermonter to whom
/ he general said : Captain, cal: ::you take
that battery on the top of the hill Won
der ?" 'I'H try sir" said the captain.
and away he sped never stopping until
he had complete possession of the guns
Hence the maxim. when the Yankee says
he will t.H, the work is done.
Ii is not because the Chinaman is supe-
nor to the American farmer that his land
has been kept in such high state OF cul-
tivation for thousands OF years; it is be
cause that necessity has compelled the
Chinese, and they very well understand
that III order 10 get provisions to maintain
their existence they must preserve every
scrap of manure as more precious than
gold. Ii they neglect the soil they must
starve. They cannot ''clear new land,
like IA Vermont farmer. for they have no
new land to clear. Nor can they sell ont
and go West, as Nermonters heretofore
have done whenth ''old land WIS worn
on" and there was no more woodland to
clear, so they have been competed to
give their closest attention 10 tie soil
Likewise in Germany, France, England,
and other European countries, the land
that has been cultivated for ages shows
no falling of in the amount of annual
produce Vermont farmers may not now
tion to this subject, but ii certainly is for |
their interest SO TO do More money |
could be made by doubling the products |
of the old farm in Vermont than by sell |
ing out and going on 10 the prairie. And |
besides, He that makes two spires Of |
grass grow where only one grew before is /
a bonefacior TO the human race.
Well how lis it TO be done? 1t is done .
10y trying. When once the intelligent /
Vermont farmer is convinced that he is !
raising but one half the crop that God has !
provided him means 10 produce, and he .
gives 1T his earnest thought and careful .
attention, he will know better how io I
double the produce of his lands than any
newspaper writer can tell him.
But as a leading principal ! will affirm
that it never can be done by buying com
mercial fertilizers. If man is deter
mined to spend money III some way or
other and he gets little amusement by
burying his treasure in fancy farm, that
man may, if he chooses, buy clay, vitrol,
and ashes, sailed with little bone /
meal at forty dollars the ton, but Captain
Kidds ninety bars of gold will be far
more easily recovered than the first cost |
of this outlay. No regular farmer can |
afford to thus throw away his money. Ii /
it was all pure and genuine no farmer 1
could afford to buy it. But the tempta-
tion to adulterate is too strong for pool
human nature. Moreover, commercial
manures are not "a complete fertilizer" "
They are not good for all kinds Of soil /
like the produce OF the barn-yard Where |
the products of n farm have been doubled .
in six years it was not by ''phosphates
1t was done by carefully preserriRg,
and judiciously using the mdH1ircS from
The statute. 1t must be kcIt ahdtr cOrcr .
Let your tea, or your coffee be washed in
the rains, and exposed to the sunshine.
and then try the strength thereof for
your supper after a hard days work, and .
you will then begin to realize why it is .
that your neighbor who has cellar I'M
der his barn is SO much more ''forehand-
ed than the one where the pyramid .
shapes whiten the boards under his stable 1
windows to show where the dung heaps" /
have been carted to the field after two .
thirds Of the strength had been washed .
AWAY by the clements This is no mere /
theory, it has been proved time and again. .
And n careful attention to these facts will
double the produce of any Vermont farm
in six OF seven years. Careful expert /
ments show that the waste that is annual
| ly washed from the barn yards of Yer /
mont is a loss equal to more than five dol
lars for every COW in the State, amount
ing to from two millions 10 three millions
of dollars. Let this be saved and how
long will it take 10 double the value Of the
real estate in this commonwealth
/ Another leading principal is dTdiaagC. |
There is more or less land on every farm
TINT produces nothing, when by little
! dItchlnp and blowing m ridges ms if Is