Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-12-21
AGisICULTI RAJ.

From the New England Farmcr.I

| lfrom the New England Fdrlncr.1
When Col. LeGrand B. Cannon took
the Vermont Stock Farm in Shelburn,
Vt, to manage, from the hands of the
Stock Company, who had made failure
in their breeding venture, he found it
very much reduced in productivcncss.
The land was good, but much more atten-
tion had been paid to the horses than to
tho land, and for some time the latter had
been badly neglected, so that the hay prod
uct was reduced to n pretty low figure.
One of the leading farmers made an esti.
mate at the time, that good farmer
could keep sixty head of cattle per year,
and cut seventy.livc tons of hay.
By making better use of the land, the
farm now, after only few years of inn
provement in the tillage, is producing
three hundred tons of hay. and keeping
one hundred and fifty head of cattle, and
yet Mr.. Taylor, the farm superintendent,
told us that not half the possibilities of
tho land have been developed.
Has any one yet found cut the posi-
bilities for production of single acre of
land, when pushed to the highest point
attainable, under the most thorough cul-
tivation? We would like to hear from
any of our readers who may have reached
such point upon any Of their own
lands
The Coming unn.
A Boston Journal correspondent has
the following to say of man at Tufton-
boro who paddles his own canoe and lets
his neighbors paddle theirs.
| This man has wheelbarrow, but there
is not anything peculiar about it, only he
has cut seven tons of hay and put it in
the barn on that wheelbarrow the past
summer, and has done his other harvest
ing in the same way. From less than
one-half acre of ground that man cut and
shocked one hundred and twenty-five
shocks of corn, sixteen hills in shock
When husked, the corn filled bushel
basket seventy-three times, besides five
hundred ears traced up, the ears in the
trace measuring from nine to sixteen inch
es. On this same half acre he raised
more than two bushels of beans. two bush.
els of turpips, twenty four heads Of cab
bage and about cart load of pumpkins.
From one potato, which he made spe-
cialty, he raised two bushels of assorted
potatoes, and between two and three
quarts of small oues. From one and one
half bushels of seed he raised sixty-tive
bushels of assorted potatoes, from which
may be selected one thousand smooth and
handsome tubers that will weigh more
than one thousand pounds. From less
than nine square rods of ground he har-
vested ninety-one bushels of Dewin's S
early turnip beets that weighed from one
half to five pounds apiece, which for
beauty and quality cannot be surpassed
by any lot of beets raised by any one
man in the county of Carroll.
Such man will succeed anywhere.
seed Breeding.
Perhaps n department OF farming
needs so careful attention as that of the
breeding and selection of seed. The seed
is the parent of the plant-and bounds its
ssibilities-possiblitie that vary wide
ly with the seed. So critical an observer
as DIR. Sturtevant has given facts upon
which he seems to rest belief that seed
is capable Of making az wide difference
> In product as the ttse of manure against
, unmanured land. We find that laws OF
heretiity are as potent in plant as in ami
NAL life, and respond as fully to the
breeders art, under crossing and selcc-
ton. To secure the best seed is of more
importance to the farmer and the country
than it is to secure the beet breeding
stock. The plant rreccdes the animal
and its cost modifes the cost of animal
, products. The plant food Of the country
I far exceeds the value of our animal pro-
I ducts, much Of plant food going into di'
rect human consumption. Yet, notwith-
/ standing these facts. far less complete
t attention Ia giren to improvement in the
former. 1 am aware that new varirtes,
or pretended varieties of plants, are be
; ing constantly put upon the market, gel
fairly introduced at much cost and then
are found to be no improvement, or have
become mixed with other seed, cr ar'
: econ Displaced uudeI the cry OF deteriora
n lion.
S In animal breeding the effort has moi
o been so much to produce new varieties AT
. to improve the old. And how? BY the
# selection of typical animal Of givei
: breed and then the heat us his ret, o. ,lit
/ beet to lie lonnd. Selection has rarely
a been pursued in seed breeding of on
h field crops, excepting corn--imperfectly
g When new variety is put upon the mar
r ket, if the introducer does not give III
If every seed produced, the purchaser sow
It AID continue. Ia sow all the seed useC
e without any selection nj all, or if at all
= the selection is Inadequate. 1t is tru,
y that majority of us do, by the use o
3 separators, obtain the plumpest and heav
lest seeds, but III this division 80 fail o
e the point desired, We have IN Tie dsna
d and heavy seed combined, no guarante
% of several vital factors In plants growi
.e for seed, seed in quantity md quality j
j. aimed at. aud not sieni and foliage. Othe
,r Thugs being equal the less of stem an,
t. branch the better. Again, prolilicHcy i
ID important-if not all important, IL mat
object to be achieved. Our dense larg
,r seeds from the separator may have becI
l. grown on a nou-proli1c plant. Howevc
=, important production OF new varietic
y, MAY be, crossing selected seeds from til
~ plant III the field must be and remain al
ways most valuable means of maintain
4, ing high standard of excellence.
r. was by this means that Major Hullett sue
A ceeded SO well with pedigree wheat, whic
l.. he reports to having increased in longt
i, Of head from II iuchcs to 81, and in seed
Is i, per head from AZ to 1870.
BY this means the wonderful increas
in the per cent. of sugar in the sugar bee
II, from Napoleon's day to this, was largei
~ accomplished. Amoug the Durhams W
OF have the Princess, Duchess, Young Nj
IL ry's, etc, why not have lines of iiel
er crops of superior excellence? In som
o. respects the analogy may not he peffec
a. nor is it likely that strains Of Timoth
10 will be sold over the country. But VIII
IT, does not some careful farmer select seet
from Timothy plants OF superior typ
of and by continued selection fix type.
i'd may be objected that selection with OF
lesser field crops il too troubleson
matter. In many direction those thint
that require much trouble to accomplis
are the most profitable TO take hold u
H. Those things required to be done, nj
lis that take but little care or skill to hnudl
,r. are the matters that the masses are doin
ne and in which there is much competitio
IN This work is n work thut nre. eminent