Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-01-29

In reply to questions, Mr.. Skinner said he had
five cows, and two heiiers which in the last yea
of record were MIXED four and five months. Th'
whole yield Of butter was two thousand two hun
dred and fifty pounds nearly which sold at from
thirty to thirty-elght cents. lie does not rework
but packs at once. Uses Higgins Eureka salt
churns in Nutting's box churn sets in large pans
the milk from two to three inches deep, salts three
fourths Of an ounce to the pound His stock s Grade
Jersey.
| REMARKS ny DR. CREssy.
DIR Grassy filed the last hour of the session
in speaking Of breeding for special purposes-ir
cattle for beef quantity of milk, or proportion o
butter, as represented in the Shorthorn, the Ayr
shire and the Jersey In the Jersey there Is a
deficiency of water in the milk, thus making the
relative proportion of butter greater The sur.
plus Of water is excreted through the urinary or.
gans As vegetables need full supply Of all ele.
ments Of plant food, so cows require a full supply
Of all materials Of animal growth. The same ma
terial that makes fat and muscle in one animal
| makes milk and cheese in another. II this ma
teria goes mostly one way, in the other way there
will be but little. In the secretion of milk the
milk Is produced by the actual destruction and
replacing OF the very substance Of the milk gland
itself. The milk is an elaboration OF the elements
Of the gland, which reach certain stage Of de-
velopment, and then separate from the main
substance of the gland, rupture, and their ma
terals are found in the uddcr in the form of milk
The rpening Of the tissue Of the gland is the
source Of the milk
The Doctor spoke of cattle eating bones, and
said it was indication that the land needs phos-
pilates, or that the cows should be fed phosphate
food, such as bran
In the discussion of this subject the question Of
sending off bone from Vermont at ten dollars a
ton and re-importing ground bone at forty dollars
n ton, instead of burning and pulverizing at home,
was mooted 1t was the general opinion that
freight profits and grinding were too great n
charge in proportion to actual value received by
the purchaser. DR.. Cressy spoke ertempOre, and
was, by questions, drawn away from his subject,
thus destroying the unity of the lecture; but
much desultory information was drawn ont not
easily reported.
Afternoon Session.
Ex-Governor J. G. SMITH opened the meeting
with an account of his impressions in regard to
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE,
received during his recent trip to that continent
In regard to the much talked OF superiority of
English farming, the Governor saw nothing there,
and he visited many FARMS in various agricut.
ural districts that implied any secrets that out
side barbarians cannot learn. Order and system
are the sole basis Of English superiority The
English farmer does not think to extract labor or
milk from his animals without care and without
suitable nutriment. So with his soil. Thorough
ness in cultivation and ertilization-draining
when needed, and rotation as an incident of cul-
tivation-on these rest all his success Out of
these principles come the results that we admire
it is the basis of all success in English agricut-
ure and the drains must be thoroughly made
This promised, the soil is thoroughly worked
with pillow and harrow, until perfect tilth is ef-
fected. Following this comes the feeding of the
land, and how best to do this is made study by
every farmer. 4 great variety of methods are
resorted to. Vast sums are invested in artificial
fertilizers. They cannot afford to dispense with
these; without them they would make no profit
With them they raise as much as forty-three
bushels of wheat to the acre. They aim to get
two crops year making the land lcork Wheat
is followed; after burning the stubble in heaps
lightly covered with earth and spreading the
ashes, other crops, clover or turnips, are sown.
Clover is cured in that damp climate by cooking
as soon as wilted the cocks capped and every
dry day it is handled over and re-cocked and
covered. This is repeated until curing is com.
pleted, and the hay is much better than that
which is sun cured here The Swedish turnps
nd a.. L.
full size, but furnish much feed. They are fed
out before the same roots that were planted
earlier
In regard to cattle, they are never allowed to
cease growing. From calfhood To the butcher
the feed is carefully adapted to the wants of the
system, so as to promote the best growth The
Governor saw Lord Cheshorns stock farm and
in his granary he had just put one thousand bush
els of American corn, besides large quantities of
barley, oats and oil cake These are fed in mix
ture, and with various changes, according to the
needs of the cattle at various stages of growth
and fattening, The Governor did not see one
creature in England in the condition in which
the cattle OF Vermont generally appear in spring.
The yearlngs are equal to our three-year-olds
1t costs no more than the starvation method The
rich manure goes back to the fields to return
again in great crops Of feeding material.
In Ireland the southern portion is far more fer
tile than England, and is almost exclusively de-
voted to dairy farming. The Governor visited
the butter market in the city OF Cork. He used
to think the Franklin county farmers made a
large amount of good butter, but the sight in that
market was far superior There are three kinds
of butter: first, the unsalted for immediate use,
for which there is great demand. Then there
is the salted butter, in oak ferkins OF one hun
dred pounds. This is all taken out by knocking
down the ferkin, weighed and inspected by the
market inspectors, who grade it into three quail
tiles with the name Of the inspector branded in
the wood Of the frkin. 1t is then replaced in the
firkins and is ready to ship. The average is from
eighteen hundred to three thousand firkins day,
all from within small distance of Cork All
this land is under the highest cultivation in grass
The average price of the first quality Of butter i.
thirty cents per pound. The saddest sight wa.
the despair and hopeless look of the people Not
solitary smile was seen on any peasant woman
face in all Ireland They live in mud novels
The rich proprietors all live in London in riot ant
luxury, on the money drawn from this rich terri
tory, The roads of Ireland are perfect kept up by
the peasantry under compulsion of the landlords
In Belgium the system was similar to that o
England, though not so perfect, and the farm
much smaller, something like those of Canada, il
long narrow lots. In Switzerland the cultivation
is high, but owing to the mountainous characte
of the lard the farms are small. Much of thu
hill land is in vineyards on terraces. The cow
there are used for plowng The Governor saw
COW and a woman yoked together to plow Tn
woman had the long end of the eyener Tn
men are drafted for military duty to a great ex
tent. They live on black bread, and the mea
goes to England. Some American bacon is con
sumed there. The product OF the land Is i'm
mense high manuring is pmcticed The manur
is all composted in heaps made like the chees
of a cider press. channel is made around tn
heap and the juices are all caught and taken ou
as liquid manure. The manure is carried up tn
hills for the vines in baskets ON women's back,
The fruit and milk is brought down in like manner
The Governor wound up with strong appef
for more undertaking, better cultivation an
higher manuring He said he had used lime yer
extensively, aud with great success lie used til
lime hot from the kiln, half bushe To u squar
rod. This was plowed in, left two or three week
then narrowed well. cross plowed, narrowed, an
plowed again. Then It was sowed with whea
The crop was very fine when t first came up, bl
was crowded out by an immense growth of pi,
weed The seed wheat WAS perfpctIv free fro,