Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-03-02
BOARD on AGRLcnLTnRE
wIndham County Meeting, at Putney,
Feb, "a and ~.

hall at Putney on Tuesday and Wednesday,
Feb. % and 2S. The meeting was called to
order on Tuesday at 10 A. NJ, by NJ. W. Da-
Wis Of Westminster, and G. W. Kimball of
Putney was chosen chairman. Mr. Kimball,
on taking the chair, made some appropriate
remarks welcoming the Board to the village
of Putney, and earnestly inviting all present
to take an active part in the discussion.
The subjects announced in the programme
for Tuesday, the first day, were "Wastes of
the Farm" by M. w. Davis of Westminster
discussion, led by T. h. Towle of Franklin
''rhe Dairy Product" by i. II. Pember of
Wells; Pasture Renovation" by e. II.
Towle of Franklin; Social Position of the
Farmer by L. M. Goodwin of Hartland
For Wednesday,, the second day milk and
its Treatment" by DIR. II. A. Cutting of Lu-
nenburgh; discussions "Rotation of Crops"
by Henry Lane of Cornwall discussion
ASSIMILATION of Food by the Plant, by DR..
II. A. Cutting Of Lunenburgh
There was good attendance on the fore
noon Of the first day, and it increased till
the evening session, when the hall was filled
with a large audience. There was a respec-
table number from out of town. and Rock
ingham, Westminster, Walpole, hummer
ston, Brookline, Newfane, Brattleboro, Gull
ford and other towns were represented.
After the conclusion of Mr.. Davis's inter
eBllng uuufeBB on Inc WhSLeb OF the fArm,
Mr.. Il. II. Towle of Franklin member of the
Board, led in discussion of the subject of
the address. He cassed as wastes the uses
of tobacco and habits of ntemperance. He
was glad that farmers here were abandoning
the cultivation of tobacco, because its use
was worse than useless waste, and il was an
exhaustive crop to the soil. He was opposed
to the raising Of hops for similar reasons
He would as soon sell beer as to raise the
hops to make it. Mr.. Towle disked cider
apples, and thought that cider apple trees
should be cut down if no better use could be
made of them than to manufacture cider.
He would as soon treat with whiskey as old
hard cider. The Board Of Agriculture was
composed of men who practiced what they
talked about whiskey and tobacco. None of
them ever used it, or almost never one using
a little tobacco for medicine.
Hon. f. NJ. Goodwin from Hartlaud, men,
Der of the Board, continued the same sub
iect. He said there was great waste for
the want of absorbents in the stable. Get
ting out manure in the spring he considered
kind of waste-a waste of time in the
busiest season, and waste of part of the
effect of the manure. He would get out ma
uure and spread it in the fall and winter. 1t
was waste to keep cows that wouldn't make
more than 1875 pounds of butter in year.
They don't pay for keeping. 1t would cost
more to winter them than that amount of av-
erage butter is worth. Farmers lost by not
reading and informing themselves about their
business
Mr.. Cuttingof Westminster was called and
responded in few remarks. The chairman
spoke Of the waste from the use of poor and
impure seeds Mr.. G.. b. Williams of Maple
Grove farm, Walpoe, being called upon,
made some humorous remarks in which he
/ displayed R keen wit.
Senator Goodwin spoke of criticism on
the Vermont Board in the Manchester (N H.
Mirror, in which it was said that if the heads
of every member of the Vermont Board of
Agriculture was appraised at the usual rail
road price for breaking them-that is, So
600 each-it wouldn't pay the damage they
had done by advising farmers to spread ma
nure in the fall and winter and on snow. He
defended the practice, and asked what that is
valuable evaporatesI Luther Osgood of
Brookline replied, Ammonia Mr.. Good
win said there can be no evaporation of am
monia without fermentation and there could
be no fermentation of manure spread in win
ter. In large piles under cover it might
evaporate.
Mr. Gorham told how he suffered from the
stencil of pile of manure half mile from
his house and thought it must have lost some
thing. Mr. Goodwin explained that a stink
was not necessarily fertile.
Mr. Cutting OF Westminster spoke of a
discussion in the Elmira, n. Y, farmers club
on the question whether manure spread on
the surface lost any valuable quality by evap-
Grafton, and it appeared that the doctors dis
agreed.
Mr. G. b. Williams of Walpole top.dressed
field i'll the fall partly after snow fell, and
another part of the same field in the spring.
He could the difference in the crop
through the whole season. That on which
the manure was spread in the fall and winter
was decidedly the best
j. G. Newton of the Bradley farm, Brat
| tleboro, thought there was little danger of
/ loss from washing and drainage of manure
| spread in winter he had spread it on a steep
side-hill and could see no effect six inches
/ below where the manure reached On a
| piece of corn which he manfred partly in
the fall and partly in winter by spreading it
on the snow, and the remainder in the spring,
the best crop was found to be where the ma
nure was applied in the fall and winter
Tuesday Afternoon.
The afternoon session commenced with the
reading of questions which had been handed
| in. A question in relation to rice food WAS
replied to by NJ. w. Davis and by Herbert
Myrick of the New England Homestead
Both speakers, though not protesting any
practical knowledge of it, thought it might
be valuable food considering its low cost.
In answer to aquestion, the best method of
destroying wild carrot was discussed. 1t was
advised by Mr. Barney of Guiford to pillow
to pull up and destroy before seeding. Two
instances We're related by different speakers
in which a person had been badly poisoned
by handling wild carrot.
Mr.. Myrick of the Homestead spoke of the
nature of farm accounts and the method of
keeping them. He announced the offer of
prizes by the publishers of that paper, for
the best kept farm accounts.
Mr. Towle OF Franklin, member of the
Board, followed with paper on The I'M
provement of Pastures" We had used for
generations the entire manurial resources of
the farm on meadows; consequently the
pastures suffered depletion to enrich the
meadows. There must be something done
to renovRte them. Where the surface of the
land would admit of it they might be re-
claimed by changing from pasture to mead
ow. He gave instances where unproductive
pastures had been made to yield abundant
feed. He would apply manure in small guam
titles and often, rather than great amount
at one time and then allow the land to re-
main unfertilized for years would use both
manure and other fertilizers. He knew a
pasture that was once covered with brakes,
and produced scarcely any grass, that had
been reclaimed and was now excellent pas
ture it should be kept up which might be
done by the application of such fertilizers as
the soil seemed most to need. Parts of the
pasture were sometimes made very produc-
tive by fencing out and yarding the COWS on
them. He related an anecdote of Mr.. Ma
son, the late president of the dairymens as
ISOLATION. Mr. Mason, when travelling in his
pasture, carried a peculiar cane it had a
ohisel at the lower end, with which he dug
or cut of at the root and destroyed any nox %
ious weeds or plants, as thistles, which he
CHANGED to see. He had one of the best pas-
lures in the state. Pastures had been re-
claimed by herding swine on them. On a
soil too tough to pillow and covered with
weeds, farmer had buried corn to teach the
swine habits of industry, and the land was
thoroughly worked over by them and put in
good condition for a crop of grass. Pastur-
ing with sheep was another means of i'm
proving pastures. Dry soils, if not excess
sively dry, were decidedly best for pasturage.
An interesting discussion, which we shall
report more fully next week, followed this
/ paper Among those taking part in the dis
cussion were Mr.. Corser of Dummerston,
Mr. Newton of Brattleboro Mr. PufTer of