Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-02-28

| utmost care in its manufacture. Look Il
the feeding of the COWS; supplement th,
feed of the pastures by forage at the barn
Save the manure in the stables and abou
rhe buildings; keep the tools, carts
plows, etc, well housed and painted; us,
all the machinery possible and save hiret
help, and take care of the forest, the frui
and the maple trees. By attending t.
these little things, which, though small
need looking after, the farmer will fine
hat instead of being constantly in debt
his boys discontented, and home unpleas
ant, he will be independent, the farmhouse
will be beautified. and his children will
cling to the old place with no desire to &c
west. Mr.. Davis spoke an hour and 6
half, the audience. which was quite large
paying the strctest attention. At the
close OF his remarks, A. j. Hollster o
North Montpelier said he thought the
speaker had set the goal too high in fixing
800 pounds per COW as the point to be
attained by the farmers before it would
really pay. He was making 200 pounds
and thought that amount without meal
was better than 300 pounds when large
proportion of the profits had gone in meal
Being asked about ensilage, he spoke
highly of it; said he was now keeping
just double the stock on the same number
of acres that he did two years ago, and
| bought no more feed for them than he did
for half the number before. He uses
ensilage, having two silos already, and is
! to put In third in the spring.
THURSDAY FORENOON.
The meeting was called to order by the
chairman at the usual hour, when Hon.
Henry Lane, of Cornwall, delivered an
instructive address on Fertilization" He
spoke from the standpoint of his own
| experience, and stated that the principal
sources of fertilizers should be the farm
and not until these manurial resources
have been exhausted should resort be had
to commerci, fertilizers. Farmers have
as usual hing commenced to use
commercial fertilization too soon, that i,
| before the soil was in a suitable condition
to produce IilG best results. Mr.. Lane
had used many kinds of fertilizers on his
farm, but generally ut a loss. Perhaps
this is not generally the case. and should
indicate very plainly the necessity of
every farmer ascertaning as far as
possible what particular elements of
fertilization are needed, in order that
these only may be supplied For instance
ashes on the soils of the Champlain valley
produce little or no good, and will not
warrant paying ten cents per bushel while
in other parts of the state, in the
Connecticut river valley it is said, they
produce excellent results, and readily
| command % to so cents Der bushel.
More attention should be paid 10 saving
the manure already made on the farm,
and make as much more as possible by
every means at command. He alluded to
the Importance of using concentrated food
for stock as Il means of making more and
II better quality of manure. Would pay
particular attention to the saving of the
liquid manure by means of absorbents and
otherwise as a great gain. In his own
practice he prefers to feed grain to stock,
purchasing when necessary, TO buying
commercial fertilizers. Thinks that farm
ers do not usually get the full value,
according to analysis. of purchased
fertilizers. 1t is probable, however, that
the standard of value has been raised
considerably within the past few years.
Our new fertilizer law should now be
some protection to the farmer, as to the
character of what he buys. He considers
that the agricultural value of these
fertilizers will vary greatly from
conditions of soil, cultivation, season, etc.
He stated that 250 tons are annually sold
in Addison county, and probably more
than this amount is used in other counties
in the state. lie thinks that farmers are
often deceived in the appearance of crops
treated with commercial fertilizers. These
usually give an early and vigorous growth
OF stalks, but there is failure later in the
season to perfect the crop, often entailing
a loss. From the results of numerous
experiments it has been found that
nitrogen, the most costly ingredient in
commercial fertilizers, is not needed on
most farms, or only in small quantities,
and should not therefore be inclosed in
these fertilizers.
1t will be seen that Mr.. Lane is very
conservative i'll relation to the use OF
commercial fertilizers, not advising their
use until the other manurial resources of
the farm have been made the most of,
then of course he would not be averse to
employ them if it can be done at profit,
or with a reasonable certainty of getting
the purchase money back again with "a
fair margin for application. He is greatly
in favor of the use of clover Tor the
improvement of the soil. If farmer
can purchase cotton seed meal, bran, etc.,
to feed with the coarse fodder of the farm
to fattening stock, and get therefrom the
full value of the grain and fodder fed,
leaving the manure as profit, it may be
considered as doing very well.
After the address some discussion
ensued. In answer to question as to
what fertilizer was the best, he said he
could not state what was the best kind of
commercial fertilizer. Many of them are
very nearly alike in effect.
Mr.. Hollster of North Montpelier,
asked in relation to rotation.
Mr.. Lane would raise two crops of
clover out of five years. Follow clover
with potatoes without manure, then with
corn with manure, seeding to grass the
following season along with wheat and
barley. Usually sows 12 to Is pounds Of
clover to the acre when prominence is
given to this crop. Good natural meadows
should not be plowed. ulless very neces-
sary; but they should not be fed by stock
at all.
DR.. Cutting followed with some remarks,
Ill WuiCll IO SNittu tull IL LhClo WOulu
obtain the greatest results from their
stable manure, great pains must be taken
to save all the liquid portions and not
allow the solid part to become deteriorated
by continued exposure to the weather, as
is often found to be the case. 1t depends
in great degree on the discrimination of
the farmer in the application of fertilizers,
to give only what is needed. There is too
often an excess of some ingredient given
and loss is sustained. Ii there is an
inclination of crops to fall down or lodge,
it is plctty certain indication of an
excess of nitrogen. In such cases less Of
this should be given and more of mineral
substances. as phosphsric acid, potash,
plaster, or even salt. Some soils may
require perfect fertilizer, and the only
way by which a farmer may determine
this on his land is by trying plot expert
ments. He made some excellent remarks
in relation to the comparative and actual
values of fertilizers, that should be of
sorv;oo IN f,rnarS He oava an inatanca