Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-03-26
Corn and Sorghum Syrup, ETC., Etc.

r. G. Newton, Esq., of Rochester, VT,
writes as follows | appreciate your efforts
to elevate the farmers vocation to the dig
nifty of profession. l think no one who
reads your department can accuse you of
discouraging young farmers and making
them dissatisfied with their calling. fully
believe, as you suggest that it takes more
of a man to make good, thorough, success
full farmer, than to achieve success in almost
any other calling.
al raised Early Amber Sugar Cane (sor.
ghum) last season. think it not so good
for fodder as Sanford corn, or dwarf broom
corn. The stalks of Sanford corn make a
fair quality of syrup, smoother to the taste
than that from the amber cane.
al want to ask few questions, which
please answer in your department. O Is
fresh ground plaster better than old (2)
What is the manurial value of ton Of early
cut hay fed to farm stock, as compared with
present price of commercial fertilizers Z (O
l was interested in your corn-feld expert
ment, and would like to know how many
kernels you put in hill. (D Where can l
get some red kidney beans for seed see
they are quoted the highest in the market.
"The Pedigree corn is an excellent va
riety. 1t is early, and weighs over sixty
pounds to the bushel."
ANswERs.-O We know no reason why
plaster that has been ground some time is
not as good as that which is fresh ground,
provided it has been kept from dampness
and has not become lumpy. 1t is much
more important to have it finely ground than
fresh ground. Calcined plaster, which has
been deprived of its natural water by heat
(such as is used for hardfuish and stucco)
will injure by keeping as it tends to absorb
moisture and return to its original condition.
(2) We understand this question to be, in
substance, whether we can use artificial fer
tilizers to grow grass with any profit. If
this is what is meant, we should reply that
neither superphosphates, formula fertilizers,
(Stockbridge, Mapes, or any other) guano
nor ammonia salts can be proftably used as
manure for grass where hay will not bring
at least 800 ton in the barn. But plaster,
where plaster succeeds, ashes, and ground
or pulverized bone costing not over 500
ton for pure article, may, if used with
judgment, be made to pay as applications
to meadows or pastures. But before top.
dressing with any of these, or with manure,
let the farmer be sure there is grass enough
on the ground to grow and make crop.
Many make the mistake of thinking that by
topdressing an old field or pasture that pre-
sents growth of mingled sorrel, daisy, butter.
cups, mullen, heal-all, five-fnger and old fog,
with few starving spears of grass between,
a good growth of grass and clover will
"come in" That is not our experience. If
we want to grow grass, either the grass
plants or the grass-seed must be in the
ground, and have chance to grow, or ma
nuring is thrown away. When the grass is
mostly gone, and replaced by weeds, the
ground must be re-seeded before any manure
put upon it will pay. (3) We do not plant
our corn in hills, but in drills about forty
inches apart with two kernels of corn
dropped every ten or twelve inches. The
object of dropping two kernels every foot,
instead of one every six inches, is to give
the hoe passage between though, if we were
growing corn on as large a scale as many
would find it profitable to do in Vermont,
we should till it with smoothing harrow and
horseshoe, and not put a hand.hoe into it.
1t will take a good while to make most of
our farmers believe that corn and potatoes
can be narrowed without hurting them
Yet the slanting-tooth harrow will do it
every time, and take out the weeds between
the plants far better than hoe, at one-tenth
the cost. We can raise corn nearly as cheap
as they do in the West, if we will handle it
to the best advantage. az We have red
eyed kidney bean, but do not find it so pro-
ductive, so easily grown, or handled, as the
Oxford Yellow Eye. The recent high price
for these red kidneys as quoted in market,
is probably only temporary, owing perhaps
to short crop and an unusual call for them
for planting. Sometimes an article in a
widely circulated paper praising thing of
this sort, which is not much grown, will
start up an inquiry for it and put up the
price. Generally the yellow eyes lead the
market, taking precedence even of the pea
bean in the Boston market, and the Oxford
will lead every other yellow eye, besides be-
ing heavy cropper and very cheaply
han e
stacked, as they ripen all together. Since
we have grown them our two or three hun
bred stacking poles have been used for fire
wood. The beans are pulled, summed few
days, drawn in, and threshed at once.