Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-09-17
AGRICULTURAL.
GOVERNOR SMITHS DAIRY FARMS.

the depot for nearly half mile, une
when at the house you are about 800 fee
above Lake Champlain. From the from
door of his dwelling house you have one
of the finest landscapes in the United
States. At the foot of the hill lies the
town of st. Albans, beyond to the North,
the West and the South stretches out
Lake Champlain, with its numerous is
lands, and to the West of the lake is the
State of New York, to the Southwest are
the Adirondack mountains, while In the
shadowy distance arise peaks almost III
Vulnerable. 1t is scene which, once en-
loved by any true lover of nature, will
never be forgotten. The treasures of art
within the house become insignificant
when compared with natures rich dis
play without At the rear of the house
are barns and stables, erected on ground
sloping towards the east to a ravine, from
whence arises another hill to the eastward,
whose summit far overtops the house.
On this hillside is the pasture land. On
this farm, with an area measuring between
300 and 400 acres, Mr.. Smith has a herd
of 3S cows, three bulls and number OF
calves and heifers. There are % Jerseys,
many of which are imported, and five
Guernseys, all OF which are imported.
He has also four grades. which are prohn-
bly, given place in his herd to show tie
difference between pure bred stock and
what are commonly termed scrubs.
Mr. Smith has a decided love for the
farm, and certainly is in full sympathy
with the farmer, particularly with him
who tills the soil in Vermont There is
nothing about his place, apart from his
residence, to which any Vermont farmer
may not aspire, unless it might be his
valuable imported stock. About his farm
order and neatness prevail, and he has
been very fortunate in obtaining a fore
man who has great love for animals.
A stranger can go among the herd, walk
or run around and meet them, and yet
they pass along needless of his presence
He has two very fine Jersey bulls, both
imported, one three years old and the
other six months, dropped by an imported
COW soon after she reached the farm. His
Jersey cows are nearly all squirrel gray,
with black points, and all give indica-
tions of being good milk and butter pro-
ducers The Guernseys dispense entire
ly with the services of Wells, Richardson
4 Co., who, when they do their very best
at coloring, are only imitators of the
Guernsey COW.
Mr.. Smith has a pair of Normandy
animals, a horse and mare, which he has
imported. The horse is fine animal,
stands not less than 16 hands high
and weighs about 1850 pounds. They
are both bay, with black points, clean
limbs and are remarkably fast walkers.
The mare, which weighs, perhaps, 80
pounds less than the horse, is by no
means poor trotter. This breed of ami
mails is entirely different and distinct
from the Percheron. This is the kind of
horses the Vermont farmers need to work
their hill farms and draw the manure up
the hillsides. They are only allowed to
leave France by special license, and then
are obtained only through special favor.
Mr.. Smith has also upon this farm a small
flock of Shropshire Downs. He has quite
a number of young Jersey and Guernsey
heifers. If these were allowed to run
upon a lawn or park, the owner could dis
pense with fawns.
The foreman has in his kitchen an in
cubator heated by warm water. A per-
son passing i'll and out would suppose it
to be piece of kitchen furniture, until
his attention was called to it. 1t was i'm
ported by Mr.. Smith, and his foreman's
wife takes great deal of interest in the
incubation and raising of poultry, while
having the machine i'll the kitchen gives
her an excellent opportunity to watch
and care for the young tledglings
Standing at Mr.. Smiths front door,
looking over st. Albans, down near the
shore of the lake are seen a large house
and a number of outbuildings. Here is
another of the governor farms, com !
prising nearly 400 acres, SO level that |
you can stand upon it at almost any |
point and overlook the whole. Here are |
a herd of 6S Shorthorns and their grades, |
with three well-bred Shorthorn bulls |
This farm is drained into the lake, and
in the barn is large cistern, about %
feet deep and Is in diameter, into which
water from the lake, for the cattle and for
use at the house, is pumped by steam
power. Upon both farms, in addition to
hay, roots, corn, oats and barley are
raised. At both farms butter is made by |
the use Of one of the deep-setting cream
cries.
Not long since one of those gentlemen |
who have made recent improvements in |
this department, positive that he had a
superior creamer with which he could ex-
tract more butter than any other, asked |
and obtained leave to put one of his |
alongside the one already owned by Mr..
Smith. The result WAS that he fell three |
pounds below the old one in single trial. |
At the lower farm there are quite a num-
Der of Shorthorn calves, which giveeverv
indication of making good cows and !
here too, the greatest neatness prevails. |
The tools are all well housed, hoed crops |
well taken care Of but what was little .
surprising is the fact that the lower farm,
situated on the banks of the lake had |
suffered more from drought than the farm |
upon the mountain. On these hills the |
clouds are condensed and much rain falls |
which never reaches the plain below, al
though only some three miles distant.
1t is not surprising to hear of farms in
the far West numbering their thousands |
of acres, but it is unusual to find far !
mer in New England counting his acres |
nearly by thousands. Mr. Smith is fully |
impressed that Vermont is, and must be, |
from the nature of its land, a dairy state,
and is doing all that he can to advance its |
interests in that line !; and not being de- |
pendent on the farm for his daily bread |
he imports and breeds animals for the
purpose Of improving the dairy stock of !
his native State. CuttjrufOr. !
SELECTING DAIRY COWS.