Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-03-19

ernl share OF the premlumS OHereu LOT supe-
rior dairy products, utensils, and the like.
splendid exhibition was made of the dairy
products of the world After looking over
the implements to render dairying easy one
would even suppose there would be no more
necessity for hand labor. There were many
different breeds of cattle on exhibition, and
if he tried them all without finding any to
suit, at the end Of the season he could drive
them down TO the slaughter houses at the
foot of Forty-secoud street and there put
them into the machine-horns, hoofs, hide,
hair, bones, meat and all, and they would
come out at the other end of the machine
fine golden butter, called olemargarine.
However, do not be concerned in this mat
ter. People who hatter themselves they are
going to carve out fortunes by any combina-
ton except hard knocks, and lots of them
during many hours OF the long day, are sim
ply mistaken. Such laborers as expect to ac-
complish in eight hours day all that is ne
cessary FOR their support are wrong; for few
men can make enough out of eight hours dali
ly labor to support their families and create
a comfortable home. No scheme was over
yet devised to enable people to get money
honestly without working for it, The sim
pie principles of industry and frugality are
all that are required to produce capital and
credit, while nothing else will command these
enobling sinews Of prosperity. The decree
went forth long time ago in the sweat of
thy face shalt thou cat bread
II this meeting is able to settle the question
why we have so much bad butter, it will ac-
complish important work for Vermont II
all the butter of the country was of good
quality it would be a gain OF millions of dol
lars per annum to the producers. What
comfort and enjoyment might be purchased
with these vast sums of money while. on
the other hand, what misery is imposed on
the suffering consumers of the poor article
Experts whose lives are made miserable by
reason of the bad butter they are compelled
to taste or smell assert that large proper.
ton of the butter brought to market is classi-
fed as grease, and sells at n low price. If it
were just fairly good it would bring twice as
much as is now secured for the wretched stuff
on sale as material for slushing down the
masts of ships or filling other plebian uses
in the worlds economy First-cmss butter
is wanted in large quantities, and is quickly
taken ut figures which head the list in market
reports, or retailed privately at prices far in
advance of these quotations
Butter dealers inquire what they can do
with the white, streOky, badly smelling but
ter to render it fit for sale. What Gun they
do with it? Not all the spices Of Araby
could sweeten it. Disguise cannot cover up
its iniquty. 1t comes in such a questionable
shape, after all the vain attempts to recon
struct it, that it is suspected at once and
butter, like Caesars wife, should be above
suspicion. The fact must be confessed that
a large share of our butter is below the stan
dard of frst-class and unfit for its intended
use.
With abundance of material wealth, vet, ms
,la. fn-,,
happy to believe, honest in their dealings
with the world, they are not honest towards
themselves, since they inflict upon their own
interests yearly loss, to which they would
not submit from other sources. A hundred
million dollars annually slip through their
fingers in consequence alone of bad butter.
Sour, bitter cream from dirty vessels Yields
butter diseased from the churn. We should
bear in mind that there is such a virtue As
cleanliness. Poverty is no disgrace, but mas
tiness must be SO classed. Think of these
things, brother farmers, and institute PROMPT
and efficient reforms.
Why are the sons of farmers fleeing from
their paternal acres to villages and towns. de-
sorting the calling of their fathers, and seek
ing q livelihood in the professions. and in
clerkships: How painful it is for us who
cling to our homes in the country, and who
look to agriculture rs the prop and stay of
our land, to hear so many say they are only
awaiting the period in their fortunes when
better times will enable them to dispose of
their lands at living rate, and desert their
present business What humiliation to see
so many who have devoted their previous
years to the noble calling of tilling the soil,
ready at the first opportunity to change their
pursuits, and devote their future to even a
petty huckstering of merchandise If this
tendency is not checked, who can predict the
sum of evils which will result to our country (:
Not only must our peculiar interest dwinde
and die, but all subordinate interests must
naturally suffer and decline with it.
If, when fairly tried, farming cannot be
made to yield needful provision for our daily
and memorable wants, have no quarrel with
that farmer who deserts it. But are we sure
of our objections; Indeed, let me ask if We
are not mistaken in our premises, and badly
deceived i'll our conclusions: Is not the sum
and substance of the argument met by the
fact that the farmer must not only make
living for himself, but for the rest of the
world ? Is it not true that, while Il merciful
and bountiful Providence sends the early and
the later rains upon the land, the well-regu-
lated farm must be a sustaining empire in
itself nay, more, it must share its album
dance with the producing classes.
An audience at once so intelligent and
practical as that which | now have the honor
to address, need not be informed that it is no
more difficult to cultivate an acre of very rich
land than it is to tend one of very Door
character, while frequently the expense is
less Again, the yield from
the former is double or treble that of the lat
ter. What a vast difference it makes in the
fortunes of the farm, whether the given mum.
Der of acres which its proprietor is cultivat-
ing are rich or poor in fertilizing elements.
In addressing you, many of whom are
teachers in the noble art of agriculture. it is
scarcely necessary for me to call your atten-
ton to consideration of the fact, how little
of tillage, how little even of fertilization, it
requires to increase crop by One-fourth, yet
let us consider what an addition to the ma
terial prosperity, to the general welfare,
would How from such proportionate in
crease of all our farm productions. Who
does not see that the single question of ma
nures is the greatest and most important of
all for the farmers investigation and study?
Who does not see that his success as a pro
Queer depends almost entirely upon the Skill
and knowledge he can bring to bear upon
this subject?
So little progress has been made by the av-
erage farmer IN solving the great problems of
agriculture, that the prevailing ignorance on
the subject places us all upon an equal foot
ing, In the operations of the farm, so great
is the waste and misapplication of power and
opportunity, that prices are really based up
on the general average of cost rather than
upon the actual possibilities of production.
In conclusion, We must feed the land if we
would have it feed us. The more generous
~ we deal with Mother Earth, the greater
will be our material gains. We must learn to
depend mainly upon our home resources for
fertilizers and general farm Improvement
To make success of our calling or to make
our broad acres more valuable, we must first
fit ourselves to grapple with the important
problems in the economy of the farm, then
We may expect the outcome of agricultural
labor to be in proportion to the amount Of
intelligence and persistent effort We bring to
bear upon its daily prosecution.
Cattle Disease.