Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-02-21
Farmers Meeting at Orwell.

Il Farmers Meeting at Orwell.
q A meeting of the Board of Agricultur,
y for Addison county was held in the Tow
a Hall at Orwell. February 13 and IA, com
y mencng Tuesday at 10 A. NJ. Fl. T. Cutt
was chosen chairman and II. d. Branct
:, secretary. The meeting was held BY
:, invitation of the Farmers Club of Orwell
: After prayer by Rev. l.. T. Calhoun, Mr.
, II. A. Kimball, in a few fitting words
), welcomed the board expressing sympathy
and interest in their work, and feeling
sanguine that much good must result from
meetings Of this kind.
Mr.. Lane. of the board, gave his address
on the" Rotation of Crops" followed by a
discussion which was participated in by
Al'ssIs. Douglass, Of Whiting, Bascom,
branch and Ward of Orwell.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
"A. E Stanley, of Leicester, gave an
admirable paper on /" The Moral Influence
pf Agriculture. As this will probably
Nc published entire mo abstract will be
given
llo" w L. Howard of Fair Haven gave
which he seems to be q great admirer.
Ihls called out lengthy discussion from
Bascom, Douglass, Goodwin. Wright and
oilers.
| TUESDAY EVENING.
Mr., Bacon, of Orwell, gave an ad.
dress on " Corn Raising" detailing some-
thing of his own experience; has become
| nnn hat ,Y,;th tI,o
machinery he can raise corn much cheap
er than formerly, and cheaper than he
I can buy it, and regards it as his most i'm.
portant crop. Mr.. Goodwin followed on
the same topic in an interesting lecture,
showing from careful experiments that he
can raise corn for less than so cents per
bushel. The discussion seemed to bring
out the general opinion that the corn crop
can he largely increased with profit, and
many farmers are now raising much
| larger quantities than few years ago.
WEDNESDAY FORENOON.
Mr.. j. j. Branch, of Orwell, gave
paper on "Darying. Touching principally
on the selection of cows and butter max.
ing, giving something of his own expert
ence in these matters. In selecting cows
fora dairy would prefer to buy a whole
dairy of heifers, rather than buy one or
two in place; would pay no more for a
COW than that COW would make in one
season; keep them comfortable and clean
would feed the best of hay, if that could
not be bad make up the deficiency by feed
ing grain. and feed each COW according
to her needs. Milk evenly on both sides
of the udder; keep the cows quiet while
milking. Use only tin pals in milking,
as these can be Kept perfectly clean. II
proper care is used in milking, but little
necessity exists for straining, but strains
usually through cloth; would not use the
small tin pan, as their use involves too
muchilabor; is of the opinion that the
shallow setting produces more cream
than deep setting, but never used the deep
setting or made any experiments TO ascer.
tain the difference, if any; els the milk
set I'LL it becomes slightly acid before
skimminS; keeps the cream thoroughly
mixed in the cream pail when new cream
is added; finds that temperature of So
to 60' the best tor churning in summer.
and 62 to 64s in winter; would never use
a churn having floats inside, as there is
always loss attending their use; would
color butter II 1t needed it, but not color
too high; works his butter Immediately
on ttkng it from the churn; does not
think he Injuries the grain of the butter by
so doing, and packs at once; packs in
spruce tubs, soaks them in some milk to
remove the wood taste. The cream that
rises first will make a better grade OF
butter than that which rises later The
OF western butter is SO great
that we must avail ourselves of all the
improved methods and appliances for the ..
dairy in order TO sustain ourselves.
Mr.. +. ID. Douglass did not think that
he best western creameries was any !.
better than our best Vermont butter;
stated facts to show this.
Mr.. F. ID. Douglass explained the pro. 1
less of " rpening " in cream. This must
% done by exposure to the air; .refers TO {
lave this process commenced before the =
'ream is removed from the milk; found I
~ experiment that the cream can be best :
obtained, either at Il temperature of from I
IS to 6S0 or very cold at 400 or below. i
q f. Abel followed with paper on
Seeding to Grass" Regards grass as
he basis OF feed; referred to the difficulty
If blowing clay land and its almost worth
ess condition Tor grass when allowed to Z
elnaln good many years without seed W
ng; would plow in the fall and seed in
lie spring, usingsa dressing of manure; n
would use clover in seeding everywhere.
| there Is any secret in raising grass it il
les III careful preparation of the soil. O
Hon. f. ID. Douglass, of Whiting. re-
ards this grass question as one of vital i'm
ortnnce to the farmers of the Champlain
alley. The soil is not deficient in plant C,
BOD, but it requires change in its
nechanical condition. Clover is very b
in renovating pastures and old
and; uses the largest kind as it changes b
ne mechanical condition of the SOIL and
caves it IN excellent condition for 60
mothy; would plow the first time about
We inches deep, and deeper afterwards; n
1ws oats and peas first year, and wheat v!
nd clover the next year, mows the clover Of
vice and plows again; raised the past
ear 475 bushels of wheat on what was q,
illed, worn out pasture. This four years fa
''alion Will usually be sufficient to put
he soil in condition for any crop, if not, a
speat it; recommends larger fields and NJ
ore thorough tillage. In this Champlain h,
alley we can use all the machinery tnat
lev can on the western prairies. re-
f. M. Goodwin followed with some h
marks, emphasizing the importance of or
ore thorough tllage of the heavy clay if
nd, thus making them light and iriable. in
seeding would always use red top. de-
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON f.
A short time was spent in discussing of
e questions which had been handed in, of
Ought there TO be law against allowing in
eeds, like The Canada thistle, daisy, etc, W,
go to seed along the Highway" opened pc
: s. Ii. Bascom, of Orwell, strongly We
vocating the passage of such law, on it.