The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1881-03-11
Agricultural Meeting at
Townshend.
A HIGHLY PRA CTICAL AND PRO
FITABLE GATHERING.
0uggesIiOns wns~.sEyery Far
mer ought to Adopt.
PAPERS AND DIeCUseI0Ns FROM THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURh AND WELL
KNOWN AGRICULTURIsrS.
Remarks Of Gov. Farnham.

from the REFoRMsR's Special Correspondent
The meeting was called to order at
o'clock Tuesday by the secretary, DIR. Gu
ting, and organized by choosing r.
Rutter of Townshend chairman, and ].
Putnam of Grafton local secretary. Messr
Cutting, Lane, Goodwin and Davis of Il
State hoard were present.
The morning was spent in discussiC
upon butter making. Col. Franklin sal
that everything else being equal as goc
butter can be made under the old systel
as under the new. There must be plent
of good feed. The nearer we can get
the conditions of good June pasture th
better. Cleanliness Is prime requisite
Windham County is below the standard c
he State in butter making. Mr.. j.
Newton Of Brattleboro gave some yer
practical suggestions. TO make good but
ter one must have good cows and plenty 0
good feed, either good grass or hay AM
grain. He uses the Cooley creamer. Tn
quality depends veiy much upon the man
ner OF making. Cleanliness is absolutely
necessary. For the best results one mus
have strain of the Channel Island breeds
He prefers the Guernsey to the Jersey be-
cause the cows are larger, more gentle and
hardy, and butter of better color. Market
partly in pound stamps and partly in square
holding 10 lbs. each. Use the Davis
swing churn. Salt one-half ounce pei
pound, color short time in winter with
Wells & Richardson's butter color, work
Just enough to work the water out. He
says part of his COWS feed corn meal ground
with cob, has changed from corn and cob
meal to the same quantity of Western meal
and perceived no increase in quantity of
milk. Mr.. Holbrook of Brattleboro keeps
a one COW dairy, is now milking a three
year-old heifer which gives II quarts of
milk per day. He has made 100 pounds
Of butter during the past four months be-
sides selling quart Of milk per day.
Feeds plenty of good hay aud one quart
Of corn meal and one quart of cotton seed
meal per day.
The first paper Of the afternoon was from
E. M. Goodnow of the board, who COM
menced by speaking of the great value of
the grass crop and our dependence upon it.
Success in farming has its foundation on
the production Of the hay and grass. For
merly the soil contained all the elements Of
fertility, but this is changed and we must
change our mode Of farming and adopt
those adapted to the times. Owing to COM
petition with the West the Vermont farmer
must cultivate the crop which will give the
highest return and also keep up the fertility
of the soil. This crop is grass IS the guam
titles Of butter, cheese and live stock ship
ped from the State indicate. The census
reports indicate that the production Of hay
is increasing in the State. The value of
the hay crop for 1880 at $40 per ton will
be nearly $l4,000,000. Vermont produces
more hay in proportion to population than
any other State. In the production OF any
crop the profits increase in the ratio of the
increased amount produced per acre, there
Tore we should endsavor to make two
blades of grass grow where but one grows
low. The diversity of soils precludes the
dea of laying down fixed rules applicable
0 all, but this truth will apply in every
ase. Continual cropping without an equiv !
lent return of plant food will exhaust the :
vii. Some soils are adapted to the growth ]
I certain crops more than others. The
armer should study this adaptation and
Earn what crops are most profitable and |
he best methods of fertilization. his can
e done by trying upon certain plots of
round specified amount of the different
ertilizers. The several plots should be OF
quail size and sep rated from each other
y narrow strips of land, and every par
ocular noted The results thus obtained
u furnish sufficient data for estimating
benefits of each. Three kinds of
te all that are suitable for general
IA, timothy, red clover and red-top.
kker gave = description of each of
M and recommended the three being |
owed together at the rate of ten pounds of r
lover, ten pounds of timothy and six : !
'ounds Of red-top per acre. Seed in the
pring with oats or barley upon corn !
hubble plowed late the fall before. In the +
pring fit the ground for seeding with the
ARROW. After the hay is secured feed it
lpon the farm.
In the discussion that followed the read
ng of this paper, DR.. Cutting SAID that he
rot his maximum crop the third year from
eeding He keeps up the miximum crop
or long series of years by using 25 or 30
bushels of ashes yearly. Do not use a per-
ect fertilizer, soils seldom require but one
'lement. Find out by the plot method of :
Experiment what this one is and apply in +
he winter when the ground is covered with j.,
now 80 it will not run off. Three inches
4 soil will take up all there is. A lively
discussion arose upon this point, some /;
laining that there must be loss by wash
ng 1t was generally conceded that timo- !
by and red top make better hay than clo- ,
Ter, though clover should be cultivated. !,
Carly cut hay was pronounced best for the !
PRODUCTION of milk, while for the feeding b,
# young stock, that cut a little later is |,
,est
Tho next naner was from Henry Lane
=, tbe hoard and he discussed at some :
,ngth tbe n,estion .TS II economv for tho
Jermont farmer to use superphosphates2n :
nd arrived at the conclusion that four
lines in every five thew do not nav. No
ne formula can he given that will apply
q avery soil In the commercial fertilizers
s sold. are MANY ingredients. but perhaps
,nlv one ia necessary for NV soil Then /
vhy sbould nae ali these for the sake of
,etfino the one needed. 1t is a question
yith The chemists as TO the manner in which I
he corn crop obtains its nitrogen. A large I
lumber of experiments have shown that t
orn is able to gather a fair supply of nitro i
ZEN for itself and 10 not much helped by a
itrogenous fertilizers. To derive benefit 1
rom fertilizers, the soil must be in the best $
condition, not saturated with water and
veil pulverized. Laws are needed to reg !
llate the sale of commercial fertilizers. To !;