davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

SAVING FODDER-TiIE PITu OF LONG
EXPERIENCE "A large stock and Il shCrl
supply of fodder have compelled us to
study economy in feeding. Our system,
as now fairly inaugurated, results in
saving everything, that is, every sort of
fodder is made and food is eaten up. The
breeding sheep are ted straw in the mon-
ing, and II gill of buckwlipat each at nom
they get another feeling of straw, AMI ut
night hay. In the morning the racks are
cleared and the pens rakcd out down to
the solid manure, and the entire quantity
taken to the stable and fed to the young
cattle They eat this readily, us they get
no other, and do Just rs well us if fed
fresh forage from the barn. Nothing is
wasted by the sheep. The horses are made
to eat the contents of their racks clean,
and they do just as well and better than
to have II lot of hay left in the racks after
each feeding. BY this manner of feeding
they are not allowed to gorge themselves
which is good foundation for heaves, and
common one, and their appettes are
kept keen, which improves digestion. Ar
empty manger is always good appetizer
and when stuffed poor one. An anina
can be fed too much as well as too little
The manure from the horse stable is kept
separate from that of tine COW stable, and
carefully thrown into Il pile by itself
When the cattle are turnel into the yard
in the middle Of the dav they eat up al
of the litter on this heap, so there is NJ
waste from the horse stable. The COW,
are all fed in the sable i'll they will eat
up clean, SO there is bat little refuse, anC
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

The members of the American dairy
mems association have been discussing at
their annual convention. at Syracuse, the
important subject of the cattle plague, its
causes and remedy. All our cattle raisers
and cattle dealers are deeply concerned
with the matter, and are naturally very
anxious to prevent disease which has
caused them SO great losses. The exact
nature, of the disorder its means of
communication, and best method of treat
ment are not yet understood and many
contradictory opinions are held on these
points. The best authority describe it rs
"a contagious, eruptive fever, affecting the
bovine species, but which sheep, goats.
deer and cognate animals may catch The
plague is indigenous TO the plains OF
Western Russia whence ii has ut different
times extended over most parts of the
astern hemisphere. The actual virus
from infected cattle is believed to be the
sole source of the disease, rs no amount
of filth, overcrowding or poor food has so
far as known, ever produced it. An
incubative stage, varying from 2 to 20
days, intervenes between the introduction
of the virus, either by incubation or
contagion into the system, and the mani
festation of the customary symptoms. The
distemper runs a definite course, which
cannot be materially altered by any rene
dies yet discovered. 1t is not at all
modern rs many suppose. 1t has been
known more than 1900 years, having
destroyed, it is thought, the herds of the
fierce tribes that overrun the Roman
empire during the fourth and fifth cen.
turtles. About $40 it marched with the
armies of Charlemagne into France, and
also broke out in Britain. 1t has spread
several times each century since from the
Russian steppcs over western Europe. In
1744 it destroyed in Holland 200, 900 cattle
later, in Denmark, some 100000, and in
Piedmont alone, during one year, more
than 100000 head. 1t has extended to
Egypt, China, Japan, and other lands of
the far cast, has everywhere proved a
dreadful scourge, and has always been
traced to Russia, the home of the infection.
where the dreadful virus would seem to be
spontaneously generated This abounds
in the blood of every stricken beast in the
discharge from the mouth, eyes, nostrlis.
bowels, and probably even in the breath,
A little blood or mucous discharge from
an infected animal, put under the skin of
healthy beast will develop the plague
in few days. The poison may be carried
to considerable distance in the air. for
the particles. though very minute, have
potent vitality. There is reason to believe
that it may get into the blood by the air
passages,by ABSORPTION through the mucous
surfaces, or even through the skin. The
only effective way to deal with infected
animals is to kill them. The plague is
already imported into this country, and
there is great danger unless we guard
successfully against it that it may become
tlron cherc.-NeW York Times.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11
TINE OF CALyING AND YIELD OF Milk

TINE OF CALvING AND YIELD OF MILK
"A note on this subject, from the pen Of.
nm eX perienced Dutch agriculturist, APP
pears in the columns of Biedcrmnnn's
Central6goU. In North Germany it is
generally arranged that cows shall calve
between November and February, under
the impression that the Target yield of
milk is thus obtained; in Holland, on the
other hand, March and April are consider
ed the most favorable months. In order
TO arrive ut some definite conclusions rs
TO the respective merits Of the systems,
the author kept careful record of the
milk obtained from one hundred and
forty-two cows about the same age ard
condition Of nourishment. One day in
each week he had the milk of each COW
weighed separately, and calculated the
weekly yield on that basis. Until the
beginning of March the cows were kept in
their sheds, and thence, to the beginning
of Novemver, were driven out to pasture.
The results obtained show clearly that
after the month of February, constant
decrease in the yield of milk and in the
duration of lactation occurred, in direct
proportion to the ateness of the date when
the COWS calved. The quality of the milk
was also inferior in the later calving ami
mails.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11
IraSbUrgh Meeting.

The meeting at IrasburgE, held Friday,
the 9th instant, was very good one.
j. E. Chamberlin was chosen chairman,
and u. Z. Jamison secretary.
Beside his usual assistance, the superin-
tendent had j. w. Sanborn. Esq, and
papers were read by the chairman, by
Mr.. Jamison on corn, and by Mr.. Allen Of
Derby on feeding grain to stock.
Mr.. Jamison gave a history of the prob,
able origin and habit of growth of corn
Mr.. Allen, in treating his subject, ad,
vocated feeding meal, but only when il
was raised on the farm. Grain could moi
be bought and fed on the farm with profit
Which is as circumstances may be. If q
man can buy corn, feed it to his COWS ant
sell the product, he can soon tell whether
he is at work at a loss or not.
Hon. E. P. Cotton read paper or
Rocks, and Their Relation to Soils.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

LEAVES AND OTHER COMPOST MATERI-
ALs.-There is no surer, and, in some To-
calities, no better way of restoring ex-
hausted lands to n condition of virgin fer
tility than by allowing them to be covered
with forests. The annual top dressing of
leaves and decaying branches will in n
few years rejuvenste the soil. In every
grove of deciduous trees there is reser-
volr of fertilizing material which can be
used without robbing the trees for top
dressing the meadows. 1t may not al
ways pay to haul the leaves to the barn TO
be used as bedding for stock and after
wards as top-dressing. though this is often
the best disposition that can be made of
them; but il certainly does not pay to cart
them to the compost heap after they are
rotted. Leaves are rich in potash and
phosphates, as is proved not only in anal
vsis, but by the fact that the wild animals
which feed upon them develop large bones
The objection to their use in = fresh state
is that the gathering involves too much
labor, and they are so bulky that largo
quantity makes only Il small pile of mat
nure. After they have rotted on the lee
ward side of hill, or in some gulch
Wu6l6 LiC Wluu lIto StliiClOu my
can be hnuled TO the neighboring fields and
made into compost with great eeonomt
There is no better base for compost than
this leaf-mould of the foresr.
The farmer who has a nose for fertilizers
will seldom be ut Il loss where to obtain
them, and this without going off his own
premises. The privy vault, the Stops of
the house, including the laundry, the pig
pen and the hennery will supplement the
supply from the stables. All the dead
animals of the farm, the refuse brine and
vegetables, the leached ashes, the wooden
rags, feathers Of the slaughtered hens and
bristles of the slaughtered hogs should be
scrupulously added to the compost heap,
and if this is done there will not be much
lack of top-dressing. If more is required
| buy eached or unleached ashes and COM
post them with muck or soil. These pay
every time. If on entering the village
grocery you smell old brine or putrid fish,
offer the merchant TO take these nuisances
off his hands. They will make n valuable
addition to the compost. If there is u
wooden or paper mill, or tannery in the
vicinity, these establishments will furnish
much refuse for composing. The dust
from paper rags and the shoddy of wool
en- mill are rich in nitrogen, and the man
ufacturer is often glad To get rid of them
without pay. One word as to the time OF
applying top dressing. September is The
month of months for doing this, and il
should be done before the fall rains. The
grass thus gets Il good growth before
winter, and in the spring starts early ant
| yivOrously and is ready for the mower il
June. -RurdL Sun.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

"DUNGHILL " Fowls FOR PROFIT.-It
is noticeable that though so much atten-
ton has always been given by poultry
raisers to improving the different breeds
OF fowls, by importations from other
countries and by care in selections, that
some varieties Gas the Leghorns) which
never set have been produced, no variety
has yet been able to supplant what is
commonly known rs the "dunghill" chick
en-; and few people, except poultry fanciers,
who make it q regular business, raise
blooded fowls.
A recent writer in Land and Home
asserted that people who raise fowls solely
for profit would find it to their advantage
to raise some pure blooded variety because
they can be sold at prices that will more
I'm compensate for the extra trouble
Such has not been my experience, nor that
of any of my friends. But even if the
assertion were correct, | doubt if pure
blooded fowls would ever become profita.
BILE hens to the practical farmers and
others, who raise fowls purely from
economical motives, nor take the place
of the ordinary "barn yard" fowl. All
the different varieties possess some good
quality TO an unusual degree, but are
fatally wanting in others. The Leghorns
are great layers, but never set; some of
the heavy fowls, as the Shanghai and
Brahmas, have coarse flesh, while some Of
tile light weights, us the games, have a
very delicate flavor. A person by keeping
several separate tlocks, might profit by
these different qualities to certain extent,
but with the majority of poultry raisers
this would not be practicable. Still
another obstacle in the way of raising
pure bred fowls is, that by constantly
breeding from the same stock it is apt to
"run out" become unhealthy, and other
wise inferior.
The term dunghill usually conveys
the idea of fowl that possesses none of
the good qualities of blooded stock, and
all the poor ones. But in the "dunghil''
to which refer, it is directly the opposite,
the breed being composed of crosses from
all the most desirable varieties. This
plan | have tried for years, and it has
worked admirably. BY occasionally buy
ing or exchanging II rooster. or by getting
setting of good eggs now and then, it
is easy TO introduce any desired breed; by
judicious management the weight. size,
color, etc, of the whole flock can be
changed, with certainty of having good,
hardy birds. 1t has always been my aim
to keep the breed as thoroughly mixed us
possible.
In short, what l wish to assert is, pure
bred stock never has been. and never will
be able to take the place of the "dunghill''
or ordinary barn yard fowl, which, by
proper care in crossing the breeds, can be
made n most useful kind of fowl, and in
regard to hardness, beauty and other
desirable qualities, will compare favora-
bly, with the best blooded varietes.-C. p.
C. in Land and Home.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

One of the brightest, kcenest meetings
held this winter was that at South Rye
gate the 4th instant. The attendance was
excellent, and the interest, as shown by
the attention, questions and discussion was
equally satisfactory.
The superintendent had the assistance
of j. w. Sanborn, Esq, of the agricul-
tural college farm ut Hanover, N. H., who
spoke chiefly on improved and economical
feeding. Mr.. Sanborn advocated the
feeding of straw, bog hay and corn fodder,
which are SO often waste products, and
supplementing such food with corn, linseed
or cotton seed meal, and supported his
theory by record of various carefully con-
Quoted experiments, showing conclusvcly
a clear saving on every animal SO fed over
those fed on good hay. We would es
pecally commend this matter TO those
farmers who think straw or corn fodder
worth nothing except for bedding, and
whose barn yards are covered with straw
and corn stalks, which will severely test
the muscle and temper Of the man who
has to shovel them olt in the spring.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

To be n good shepherd, you must be
prompt. fla sheep wants anything, she
wants it now. We sometimes call Il
sheep an machine for converting grass,
hay. straw and grain into mutton and
wool" This is true; bat you must re.
member that she is not II machine that
you run occasionally. You cannot stop
the machine, and let it lie idle while YOU
attend To something else. 1t runs night
and day and must keep running. You
cannot let ii run down, and then wind it
up again, as II careless man sometimes
does with his watch. If the machinery
ola sheep once stops, all the kings horses
and all the kings men cannot start it
again. And so if anything goes wrong,
you must be prompt with your remedy.
But it is not here that men are generally
most deficient in promptness and energy.
Many man will give sick sheep good
care, but will not bcstow half the labor to
prevent sickness. 1t is in supplying the
daily wants of the sheep, where prompt
ness is so important and so rare.-Land
and Home.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11
PleurO-PneumOnia.

We fear the dangerous character OF this
disease is not appreciated by most of our
farmers, or the danger to which we are
exposed from its presence. Highly con-
tagious in its character, its presence is a
standing menace in any community,
even remote. for it may be spread most
disastrously by animals from an infected
herd getting out and mingling with
healthy herds.
From a single diseased animal imported
in 1S43, and others since brought over, the
disease has spread till now it has reached
central Virginia. Should it continue to
spread till it reaches the great Texan
ranches or the cattle ranges of Colorado
it will be fixed on us past all relief.
New York has an excellent quarantine
law which isolates the imported animal,
coming from infected districts, for ninety
days-the possible period of incubation
for the disease. Bat states have no power
over Interstate commerce. and the COW
imported into New Jersey to-day may be
sold into New York tomorrow, and per-
haps the disease show itself the next day,
and there is no redress now possible.
There seems to he no remedy except by
federal intervention, and congress should
at once take the needful steps to insure for
us safety from fresh importation and
spread of this scourge which is estimated
to have cost Europe hundreds of millions
of dollars already; and 10 stamp it ont
where it already exists in our country.
This is now possible. The disease is yet
in limits where it can be controlled, and
the destruction of infected herds and care
full disenfection of the districts will insure
safety from that source.
The danger from this disease is not so
remote ass some may perhaps have thought.
We visited a few days since a herd in
North Havcrhill, N. H., which we fear
has this scourgc. The cattle were dying
aud the living ones coughing. The state
commission had taken the herd in charge,
and are still debating what shall be done
with them.
This is coming close home, and danger
at our doors seems more threatening than
when heard of at distance.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

BONE DISEASE IN Mich Cows For
more than half century there have been
occasional outbreaks of a peculiar disease
in New England, mostly affecting milch
cows, and commonly known as bone-ail or
stiff,joint lameness. Heretofore the trouble
has been confined chiefly to hill sections
but seems now to be approaching the val
leys.
The disease, technically called cacheria
oSSifragd, is not confined to the sti6e joint,
but frequently affects the hip and other
Joints also. In one case where the hip
Joint was affected, examination showed
that the articular surface of the head OF
he tibia or shank bone had been worn
through by its friction with the femur, or
high bone, by the absorption of the float
ing cartilage between the ends Of the
bones. Similar conditions were noticed in
other instances. AS it is believed this
cartilage cannot be regenerated, it was at
first n question whether the disease WAS
durable. Before Investigation, its cause
was attributed to the absence Of phosphat-
ic materials in the feed, and this idea has
been fully established. Where such ma
terials were supplied in the form of bran,
the disease was thought to be occasioned
by the excessive use of such feed, rs it
was known that such excess changes the
bone into sort of phosphate, while the
healthy bone is an insoluble phosphate.
In former outbreaks bone meal was
found to be an effective remedy, and in re,
cent instances it has been used with good
results. A Suffield (Ct.) man of consid-
cradle experience, says that two ounces OF
the meal in pint of bran, three times Il
week during the early summer and fall
feeding, will generally cure, if accompl-
MED with plenty of salt. In aggravated
cases, however, the free use of this mate
rial is recommended. Still, care must be
exercised lest it should be supplied too
freely, as an excess is sometimes Liable to
injure the butter, because the putrid. oily
matter of the bone is excreted by the udder
AS n sort of oleomarSarine. But if the
meal has been thoroughly clarified, this
trouble is less apt to occur, and it may be
avoided altogether by the use of cotton
seed meal, which is rich in phosphates
without containing the obnoxious matter
liable to be in bone meal. Bran is also
largely made up of phosphates, but it is
well to add corn meal.
The necessary mineral elements can
probably be furnished in hay that has been
MANFRED with superphosphates, which
finnish lime and phosphoric acid. that are
greedily taken in by the plant. Indeed
tho recent outbreak is accounted for by
the fact that where it occurs little. if any
mineral fertilizers are used. They are
now being applied more extensively, and
the gradual disappearance of the disease
will doubtless follow.-C0rreSPondent OF
Land and Home.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

The color of the butter and flavor were
very much improved by the cotton seed
meal. The last mentioned yield OF butter
is still maintained.
After very thorough and long-contlnuedi
tests of every kind of feed attainable.
prefer the following rations and kinds for
The production of the best quality of butter;
Ten pounds of meal made OF corn OATS
and wheat bran or middlings. with Tour
pounds Of cotton seed meal, given hall IN
the morning and half in the evening, WIN
cut and wetted hay; at noon a feed ii dry
hay If roots are at hand. would give
peck of these instead of the hay ut noon
A handful of salt daily, sprinkled on the
feed is Indispensable; the want OF II
will be discovered in the churninS.-
american Ddirgindn.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11
The Dairy in New England.

The Jersey COW is making steady prog
ress in popular favor in the east, especially
in New England, where the feeling is that
the dairy is what the keeper of cattle must
look to for profit, and not to the production
of meat In this the New England people
are correct They cannot compete in beef
production with the west, where land is
cheap and where the pastures are so
abundant. This, indeed, is true even ia
tue older western states, and it is largely
owing to the recognition of this that has
led TO the overriding of the dairy business
But one thing is sure, and that is that the
dtiry must be the chief reliance of every
community where land is high. Some of
our western people have gone to New
England, purchased farms, and are raising
Jerseys. A correspondent of the Interior,
writing from Stockbrdge, Mass, says: A
number of wealthy gentlemen have pur-
chased farms in this county, and are
making q speciality of raising Jersey COWS.
1t is said that they have succeeded in rails
ing some as fine cattle as those upon the
island. Hon. Thomas Allen of St. Louis
has a large herd of Jerseys on his farm at
Pittsiield; many OF them are direct im-
portations. When Jerseys were first i'm
ported to this country they were parti-
colored-light fawn and white spotted.
But it became mania with some of the
stockraisers in England and in this coun-
Try to run their cattle into solid colors, and
the consequences have been that they have
produced cattle of solid dark bronze and
black, which gives them the appearance of
common cattle. The really good points
were lost sight of; but experience has
taught wisdom. and now they are going
back to the original colors-lig ht fawn and
squirrel gray, with the great, rich butter
qualities The most admired of thes e
cattle, and those that bring the highest
prices, have black tongues and heavy black
switches,-Dauenport Democrat.
We believe that we can raise better
COW in Vermont than they can in the
island of Jersey. Our yields are as good
and our animals are larger.
The improved Vermont Merino put far
in the shade their ancestors from Spain.
But this can never be done by breeding
for "pojntS." Where the breeder makes
the yield of butter the secondary object,
his aim is diverted from the object which
has made the Jersey COW flmous-her
large yield of butter. Those sections
which bave bred for butter first and chief v
have achieved the most marked success +.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

While the agricultural products of the
country for the year, including the cereal
and commercial crops, show the enormous
increase briefly noted elsewhere, the fact
has become patent that the falling off in the
hog crop, as compared with the previous
year, will reach the vast number of ono
million animals, averaging perhaps two
hundred pounds each that is, the sum of
pork products, including mess pork, bacon,
ham, ETC., amounts 10 something near two
hundred millions pounds. The Importance
of these facts will not be likely to reach
consumers until the hog crop has passed
from farmers hands; but after that. let
them look out for war prices for every AZ
ticle of pork product, from mess pork to
pig s feet.-Land and Home.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

In illustration of the fertility of the soil
of Essex county, Mass, DR.. Loring says
| have seen one of the records kept in this
county, less than century ago, in which
it was stated that, under ordinary cultiva-
ton, seven hundred and fifty bushels of
pototoes had been raised upon an acre of
land. six hundred and fifty bushels OF
carrots upon another and ight hundred
and fifty of rutabagas; while upon ten
acres of land for thirty years there has
been produced an average OF three tons of
hay to the acre This land had not been
broken by the plow in all that time, but
had received II fair and proper top-dressing
from year to year.