Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-03-09

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what some represented it to be. lie always
found green corn-fodder poor food for milk.
When he began to feed his cows ensilagc,
feeding part hay at the same time, his cows
shrunk one quart in their milk, and when fed
on ensilage alone they shruuk three quarts
each. He could never discover any difference
in the quality Of the milk, but one Of his Gus.
toners sent him letter complaining of its
taste. When he stopped using enslage and
fed his cows as before, they again gave their
usual quantity Of milk. He thinks ensilage
may be of value in furnishing a means Of
keeping more stock, but does not like it as q
food for milk cows. lie had talked with Mr..
Clark of Bratteboro, who also has a silo. Mr..
Clark is a strong believer in enslage, but he
admitted with some hesitancy that his cows
might have givon less milk when fed on IT,
Mr.. Bennett of Putney suggested that Mr..
Newton's corn might have been cut and put
into the silo at the wrong time. II was near
ly or quite worthless If cut before tasseling.
Mr. Newton replied: Tho corn was ten
feet high and all tasseled. lie thought that
good dry corn-foddor and meal would give
good results if fed to cows in milk
Tuesday evening E. M. Goodwin spoke of
the "Social position Of the farmer" 1t was
once considered, he said, derogatory to labor
That day has happily passed. Ignorance de-
are open to the humblest laborer. Abundant
illustrations of this fact may be drawn from
our own Green Mountain state. If the agri-
cultural population occupies a second.rate po-
sition in the social circle, the blame in meas
ure rests upon themselves; for the greatest
opposition to measures which tend to benefit,
elevate and educate them often comes from
the farmer class They are discontinued with
their position, and encourage their children to
20 into other business by their complaints. In
spite of all that is said of the desirableness of
farm life, and all that the poets sing of it,
there is a disposition to get away from the
farm. A wider experience is desired by the
young. Their educational and social privi-
loges should be extended to meet this demand
and to remove the undesirable isolation of
farm life The standard of culture should be
raised and homes made attractive. The home
is the basis of society, and on the influence of
rural homes largely depends the destiny of
the country. Culture, books, art, taste-all
should be encouraged in farm homes. Labor
is compatible with the highest culture. Farm
ers have leisure enough to become acquainted
with the sciences most intimately connected
with their calling. Their minds are not in
ferior, though sometimes dormant The one
in hundred that achieves eminent success
does no more than others might do by using
Iue same means. FARMERS neglect 10 assert
their right to an equal consideration in the
distribution of the favors of the state. They
should qualify themselves to make their inhu-
ence felt in the decision of questions of state
that most concern them.
NJ. w. Davis of Westminster followed with
remarks. He said that before the war the in
huence of slavery in the southern states fos-
tered prejudice against labor throughout the
whole country but now manual labor should
nowhere be considered degrading and labor
orers on the farm may be the equals in intel
ligence, of other classes He believed there
was no need of farmers or farmers wives
spending their whole time Mt work, forgetting
all they ever knew of science or books yet
he had known educated and accomplished
young ladies to marry and commence life on
a farm, and in II years seemed to have for
gotten all their requirements and lost all their
intelligence. He did not believe the farm re-
quired any such sacrifice. Time might be
taken for reading and study, and added ac-
quirements made, instead of losing that once
possessed. He urged farmers to make them
selves the equals in intelligence of the pro
fessional classes When a professional man
meets farmer who can make botanical an
alysis of the plants that grow upon his farm,
point out the different organs aud explain the
Office of each, and unfold the mysteries OF
plant growth by the light of chemical science,
he will say Here is a man who is my equal
in intelligence, and more than my equal in
the intellectual requirements of his calling.
As to the talk about boys leaving the farm,
Mr.. Davis was glad that some of them did
leave it. 1t was not best that all should stay,
especially where there were five or six in the
same family. He gloried in the POO, 900 rep
reseLtatives that Vermont had abroad, and
their influence in other states.
E. r. Pember of Wells, a member of the
Board, read valuable paper on the Dairy
Product" He advised special attention tc
the selection of cows, and said that more
than one-fourth of all the cows in the state
were kept at a loss. Cows should be adapted
to the kind of pasturage on which they were
to be grazed. COW weighing 1000 lbs
would be poorly fitted for a steep, rough
hillside pasture. As a general rule small
cows give the richest milk and the best re
turn for the cost of keeping. He compared
the different breeds and favored the Jersey
as butter COW. The largest butter records
are now seven or eight hundred weight from
a COW. Over 800 lbs. of butter have beer
made from Vermont COW in one year The
milk of each COW in dairy should be tested
separately. The thickness of the cream may
be shown by setting the milk in glass tum
blers or in vials, but the churn is the only
sure test of the amount of butter. The COW
must have proper food to be converted into
milk and butter. The food that might be
best to produce the largest quantity of milk
might not be the best for the largest guam
/ tty of butter. Cows may be overfed. There
/ is a limit beyond which it is not profitable
to feed. 1t is not always the herd that gives
/ the largest record of production that is most
| profitable. 1t depends on the cost. The ex-
ira production above certain amount may
/ cost more than its value. He considered the
/ question of the danger of overproducton OF
| dairy products, and concluded that there was
no danger as far as the best quality of butter
was concerned.
Mr.. Newton inquired if milk left in the
stable during milking time would Absorb
odors, to which Mr.. Pember replied, "Yes
milk is most susceptible to odors"
Mr.. Davis-Nlr. Douglass of Whiting il
a manufacturer of fancy butter which il
sold in Boston at high prices. He once sent
a lot of which his customers complained. He
sought after the cause and found it in de
csying carcass in his pasture, which so af
fected the milk that the taste and odor of i
was carried TO Boston in the butter.
Queston-How should stables be ventl
ated? Ans.-By fiues extending to the barr
cellar.
Mr.. Davis said, as a test of the effect OIL
the atmosphere which COW breathes, you
may set peck Of onions near the COW 8 heaC
but out of her reach, and you will have the
odor of onions in the milk, and it will stitch
to it after it is made into butter.
Numerous instances were given by otheri
showing the effect of impure atmosphere
and of the food Of COWS on the milk and but
ter, Mr.. Newton of Brattleboro said wild
ow of his acquaintance made fancy article
of butter which was sent weekly to Boston
and sold to special customers. One weel
complaint was made of something wrong il
the butter. Investigation showed that
skunk had been killed near the COWS. The
flavor of the animal was sent to Boston il
the butter. Mr.. Goodwin of the Board haC
had butter favored in the same way, and had
taken it out by burying the butter in tine
earth. basement stable gave the milk
flavor of manure. Reuben Miller of West
minister once noticed a very pungent odor on
lifting the lids of his dreamer cans. He after
wards found that his COWS had eaten sweet
flag with their hay. There was very strong
flavor of sweet flag in the cream.
Mr.. NJ. W. Davis of the Board has milk
farm and sells his milk in Bellows Falls. In
reply to the question, "How much do you
water your milk ?" Mr.. Davis said, IAN il
will bear" The water all goes through the
COW. 1t is very essential that milk COWS
should have plenty of pure water. Milk is
81 per cent water. Mr.. Davis thought there
was great profit in keeping butter dairy and
making good butter. Good butter is brittle ;
\ L. 4. Il