The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-02-02

| Inc advantage OF Keeping farm ma
chinery from unnecessary exposure to
the weather is cogently insisted upon by
the Ohio Farmer, which says: We have
noticed that plows last. on an average
about three years; wagons, eight to ter
years; reapcrs. five to eight; drills
eight to ten. We think these figures are
fully as large as the truth warrants. We
know of many implements that have
not lasted so long and of many which
have lasted much longer We to-day
can point to wagons that have been in
constant and hard use for twenty years.
reapers that have stood the wear and
tear of liberal use for more than fifteen
years, drills that have been in Use rs long
and other agricultural implements that
have stood the wear of fully twice the
average age of such implements. These
implements were not made of unusually
good materials, nor were they suffered to
lie idle. They were put to constant usV
What then, is the secret of their greater
endurance? 1t is simply this--they
were taken care of. When not in use
they were put away. and put away prop
erly. These implements not only lasted
longer, but while they were in use they
very rarely failed. They were always
ready for work. The reapers did not
break down in the middle of harvest and
compel all hands to lie idle while some
one went to the railway station to get
repairs; the drills did not fail Just when
the wheat ought to be sown; the wagons
were not always breaking down and oc-
casioning delays and veXation. Another
thing may be said in their favor, and
that is that they always did good work.
The reapers cut smooth stubble and
= Il Ia,
the plows did not refuse to scour; the
drills put the wheat in just as a first-class
drill would; and these implements did
good work not only while they were
new, but till the last year they were in
use.
The eighth annual meeting of the
AYRSHIRE Breeders association will be
held at rooms of the Metropolitan Hotel,
$50 Broadway, New York. Tuesday,
February 20, at | | o'clock a. m. for the
election of officers and to hear reports of
treasurer, secretary, etc. Essays may
be expected from DR.. +. l.. Sturtevant,
of the Agricultural Experiment station,
Robert McAdam of Rome, n. Y, and j.
l.. Durham of onnecticut will give
some account of his observations of Ayr
shire cattle in Scotland. Discussions to
Boston is president of the association
and G. NJ. Winslow of Brandon, secre-
tary.
A correspondent of the Country Gen
tleman tells the following: "a few
years since | found a Seeding potato of
the Peachblow cross about the size of an
egg. one-half white and the other half
red or flesh-colored. planted the tuber
whole, driving some stakes around the
the hill. When dug the hill 1 found
ten tubers five that were white,
with pink eye. and five that were
red or flesh-color. | have continued to
plant the tubers frosn year to year, and
they still produce two distinct varieties.
of potatoes. The White. or Pinkeye.
grows the largest and strongest vine;
one is a little the whitest flesh when
cooked; they are of good quality; good
producers; good size; smooth and hand
some. This is freak of nature. shall
continue to plant hem with good deal
of care, and report another year"
A Benson correspondent of the Mirror
and Farmer says: wonder if any of
the readers of the Mirror have ever eX-
perimented in keeping COWS on corn
meal alone. without any coarse fodder or
hay. II. G.. Hunt of West Haven, an
extensive dairyman whom | often meet.
has engaged in that mode of feeding
cows, and has demonstrated pretty posi-
lively its utility and practicability. Two
years ago he commenced in December to
keep 6 two-years-old heifers on two
quarts of pure corn meal day, not Civ
ing them a single straw Of hay or coarse
feed of any kind. lie kept them until
April that way. They thrived and did
well, and after being turned out to grass
in the spring did remarkably well. One
year ago he kept 30 COWS in the same
way, giving three quarts of meal daily
until the middle of March. In March
your correspondent saw them and they
were in good condition. although looking
gaunt, as n matter of course. From
March out they were fed on coarse fod-
der, as Mr.. Hunt had plenty of that and
was short of corn. The cows thus fed
did we'll last summer and showed no evil
dence of having suffered from the
manner in which they were wintered.
A correspondent of an exchange SAYS
| tried an experiment last winter with
ice. | had no ice house, so | took one
corner of building that was % feet
square, double boarded and on the whole
a good. warm building. | took up the
floor and put the ice on the ground after
putting about eighteen inches of saw
DUST, made it three blocks high; then
covered all around with eighteen inches
of sawdust and also on top. When |
commenced to use the ice it was about
half melted. and by the time | got to
the bottom layer it was more than three
fourths melted. People around here
keep ice and they say it does not melt
over one-fourth. Some have ice houses
others put it most anywhere; some keep
it over until the second year. Why did
not mine keep? Was the building too
warm, too much sawdust or what was
the trouble? If an ice house is to be
built, how would you build it so as to
have the ice keep?
"Will you give me some information
about the culture of hops? What kind
of soil do they require? Do they have
to be planted every year? DO they re-
qure cultivation? Must the bloom be