Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-01-27
THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.


Meeting at Richmond with i bstract of the
Addresses.
A farmers meeting under the direction
of the State Board of Agriculture was
held at Richmond Thursday and Friday.
f. b. Andrews of Richmond was chosen
chairman at the opening of the session
Thursday afternoon and an interesting
paper on "What crops should Vermont
farmers raise" was read by Rollin G.
Smith of Pittsford, followed by a discus
sion.
ADDRESS OF RoLLIN c. SMITH.
Mr. Smiths paper was entitled "What
crops Vermont farmers should raise. "
He prefaced his address with few re
marks about the forests of the State and
the important part they play in rendering
the land fertile and went on to say:
In coming into this State from the South
few years ago, | was impressed very ia
vorablY wiki tho appearance OF some quite
large fields of tobacco, and person not
fully acquainted with our State might ask
is this one AT the staples of Vermont But
leaving the river and Gro sing the noun
tainS he would soon see that away from the
warmer lands OF the Connecticut this
plant would not flourish, and he would
see more corn fields and further up the
mountain the cOrn-f1elds disappear, and
only sowed grain till near the summit
grain and grass entirely disappear and
spruce logs and wood seem to be the sta
pie.
Again, in the Otter Creek valley hay
seems to be produced with very little
trouble and very large crops and as the
valley widens We see presses and signs of
shipment, and through the Champlain
valley "A large amount Is shipped out OF
the State. Now it would be hard to tell
which Of these three commodities shipped
out of the State is the most destructive to
the different sections where they are
grown.
If we were to take birds-eye. view of
the State or travel through it any person
OF ordinary discernmenJ would at once
say, TINS is a stock raising State, these val
leys and smoother hill sides are naturally
adapted for hay, and the land, too rough
for cultivation, is well calculated for pas
turage. Grass seems to be the natural
product of our soil, and If this crop should
be taken from us all the other crops com
bined could not support tle animal life
we now keep. 1t is the one great crop of
Vermont and we annually cut over ,OO0,-
900 tons of hay l,05l, ls3 and we ran the
l4th State III the Union on this product.
Probably the amount OF pasturage will not
keep through the summer what that
amount of hay will winter, and our pas
lures are yearly growing poorer while the
meadows under judicious management
are improving For successful stock
raising one continuous feeding of any one
kind of feed is insufficient and what
comes next Your answer of course is
corn. We raise 2,0l4, 21l bushels and pro
baby it lie all used in the State and il this
quantity should be doubled our State
would come much nearer being selt-sup-
psrtlng. We do not raise half we feed out,
and few farmers feed as much as they
should.
Perhaps the most exhaustive crop we
can grow is potatoes and we raise 4, 43S, lI2
bushels, and n large proportion of these
are taken from the State. Generally
speaking they are paying crop for the
amount invested, but you are selling your
farm by the bushel.
The grain value of the corn crop is not
alone of Importance; the stover is OF
value as II fodder aud if properly husband
ed and fed is of full ms much value as a
about half the value Of their stover in
feeding, but the true way is to cut it in an
ensllage machine or Shredder, thus max
ing it more easily handled When this
Is not practicable feed in managers and not
out of doors on the ground. think Tor
a milk producing fodder, corn stover is
one OF the best, and mich cows eat 1t with
relish and leave less remnants than any
other stock.
Most farmers want some Sowed grain,
but II not the surest way to seed is TO
plOw the corn stuDble soon rs the corn Is
off, and fit the ground for the moving
machine and sow the seed on the first
snow in December | moved this season
n few acres. thus put down for the fourth
time, with no signs of Its diminishing in
quantity, only the clover having disap-
peared, and | have been told by those who
had pIacticed tins manner of seeding that
the seeding would last much longer than
when sowed with gram. Unfortunately,
however, most of Us have to use more or
less sowed grain for few sections care to
grow wheat, and oats, rye or barley are
used, ! should prefer oats were it not Tor
the large growth OF straw that usually
accompanies good yield, and that oats
draw largely on the fertility of the soil.
Barley grows n much smaller straw, Is
less liable To lodge and consequently
much surer crop To seed with than oats,
aud the gram grown Is excellent Tor
feeding TO any Kind OF stock, prefer II
ground with corn for either horses or cat
tie 1t is easily harvested and is one OF
our most important forage crops.
What is the first thing to be done in or
der to raise a good crop of corn1 In the