Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-07-20
Farm TOPICS


Two thousand sheep have been ship
ped every week since 1871 came ~, to
Europe, These had to be the very best
specimens Of tho very best kind Of sleep
for mutton,
The iilbert is scarcely grown At all IN
the United states, but IN one Of the
southern counties of England Hilbert
orchards occupy hundreds Of acres,
The large supply always to be found In
tho London market IL almost entirely
kent M from this district IN Kent, One
acre alone las been known 10 produce
$3.50 worth IN one season, Immense
care Il bestowed upon the culture OF
these valuable trees, and the pruning NY
the Kent growers II said 10 DO the most
perfect Of the kind IN relation to the
peculiarities Of the soil and climate,
II matters not how many or how few
COWS there are on tho farm, iarnera
should make good butter, There II no
excuse for 10 much poor butter being
made In the state. The water II good
that the COWS drink, tho food ~ good
that they cat every facility abounds
that h necessary to make the very best
article, Neatncss should be observed
In all the operations Of producing It,
Whether at The milking Of the COWS, or
at the setting Of the milk In tho pans,
Rkimming tho cream, chuning it-ob'
serve every rule of noatness, always fe'
mcmbcring that II costs no moro to
make u pound Of good than II docs q
pound Of inferior. poor butter Market
II while II IL fresh, Good butter always
sells at any season Of the year ut good
prices There Is no danger about that,
Tor the demand il always In excess OF
tho supply
Some farmers are guided In haymak'
ing by the meteorological reports, but
they cannot got them far In advance,
and, although good enough for n dis
trict, thoy are not always trustworthy
for certain parts Of II, Every farmer
should have barometer, an upright in,
strumcnt with n good sized column OF
mercury, the top Of which you can see
That top tells u weather tale instantly
When 1t swells and sparkles, fine wealth.
or IL coming. When 1t is depressed and
does not shine, expect gloomy weather
The glass must bo set three or -four
times day, il tho mercury moves, and
It's action up and down carefully noted
II IL not NO much where the top Of the
column is, as which way IL moves, and
at what rate. The instant IL gets to
thirty inches and shows bright top,
and tendency TO go up, down with the
grass, The probability is that in three
or four days hay will be carried, well
made and without drop Of rain.
Are short horn cattle hardy? Yes, rs
hardy as any other breed in existence ;
and il properly reared with abundant
feed, not even tho common scrubs OF
the country are moro so. Whatever
slight delicacy is ever found is owing to
keeping them up in cold weather in too
warm stables, in too close yards, and
feeding too high, especially with Indian
corn. TO make bullocks this will ans
wer, but breeding animals, both male
and female, should have no more grain
or meal than is necessary to keep them
in full, steady growth. Oats, wheat
bran, or shorts, mixed with not over one
fourth Indian meal, is best for this pur-
pose, together with little oil or cot
ton.seed meal. Roots also of various
sorts are excellent, MS they tend to soft
en- the hay and straw in the stomach,
and render it moro easily digestible,
like grass in summer. During this
time they should have ample open air
space for exercise, except in cold,
stormy weather then alone need they
be warmly sheltered. 1t is proved that
if the dams of all kinds of domestic
stock, from horses down to pigs, are
reared as above, their offspring from
birth up are harder than such as are
dropped from those more tenderly kept
and more highly fed. 1t is especially
necessary that bulls designed to be sold
and turned out among the wild cows OF
the great Western plains should be
hardly bred and ed.-Lire Stock
.jOmWM
Men of intelligence, who have pursued
agriculture on the far Western plains,
where the average rainfall is not more
than twenty inches, have for years pre-
dicted that the dry climate and warm
lands of the arid belt being eminently
suited for breeding chinch bugs, they
would ultimately increase to such an
extent that profitable agriculture would
not be possible. With an honesty to be
commended they have repeatedly
warned the public, intent on attempting
agriculture, against entering the arid
belt. Their prediction seems to be on
the point of fultilment. The dread ex-
pressed by farmers tilling lands, con-
tugious to the arid belt about chlnch
bugs, fills the far Western press. 1t is
asserted that thousands of acres OF fall
sown wheat have been greatly injured,
and other thousands of acres are
threatened with serious injury. The
Western harvest is later than usual on
account of the backward spring, and
this accounts for the greater damage
wrought by the chinch bugs. 1t is not
generally known, but it is truth, that
west of the ninety.eighth meridian al
most all the corn planted on uplands,
and much of that on the valley lands
was killed by chinch bugs last year
Publicly the loss of the corn was as
signed to the drouth, but all men
living there knew that the chinch bugs
were the active destructive agents.
MANY well-informed men claim that the
corn crops of 1878 and 1S79-almost q
total failure west of the ninety. eighth
meridian - were destroyed by chinch
bugs, instead of being blasted by the
droughts, us stated by the Western press.