The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-01-25

luxurious fields of the Old World in
early spring become scared and burned
in summer. The vast prairies of the
West, the wonderful lands of the
Pacific slope become pa1ched and dead
from intense heat early in the season,
but far different sight greets ones
vision in this state. Our hill farms send
forth the sweet grasses and our meadows
are fragrant with growing crops all the
season through, such as are so much
sought after by the herdsmen. Until
the coming of the snow there are none
so good as ours. New England ranks
all of the states of the Union, in the
percentage of high-grade cattle, save
four. There is no state in the Union
where the losses of cattle by disease,
stress of weather and other causes is
less than in Vermont. 1t is fifty per
cent greater in New York, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Mime
sofa and Wisconsin,; it is one hundred
per cent greater in Virginia, Iowa,
Nebraska and Dakota; it is one hum
dred fifty per cent greater in Arkansas,
Tennessee and New Mexico; it is three
hundred per cent greater in South
Carolina it is three hundred fifty per
cent greater in Georgia, Alabama and
California; it is four hundred per cent
greater in Florida and Mississippi; it
is four hundred fifty per cent greater
in Louisiana. Five-siXths of all dam
aged corn is found north of the Ohio
river and west of Pennsylvania. The
yield of corn in Vermont in 1880 was
36.5 bushels per acre, while it was only
l.. -,
value of farm products on the improved
lands of Vermont is greater per acre
than in New York or Iowa, and outside
of New England is only eXcelled
by Kansas. There is no enterprise
in the land more thoroughly adver-
tised and persistently doomed than
the orange industry of the South.
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stoves orchard
has been advertised and written about,
pushed and talked of, doomed with
louder guns than many of the industries
represented in this association do
not think it would be a very rash state
ment if | should say exceeding the
value of many of the best farms in Yer
mont-and yet we read in the report
of the commissioner of agriculture for
1884 that it is doubtful if one in four
make orange-raising profitable. Colonel
Sellers builded better than he knew
when, in the " Gided Age he told
the story of his marvellous eye-watcr
scheme. The wages of farm hands is
eXcelled only by California, the New
England States leading the rest of the
nation. Riding over the hills of Wind
ham county with one who for twenty
years had lived in China, he remarked
that with such springs of water and such
brooks wonderful crops ought to be
raised. While / admit we stand in
need Of but little irrigation, there is a
wealth of opportunity and material
running to waste at our very doors to
which we give but little heed. l have
no sort of sympathy with the few
croakers that are trying to build up
some other section because they see
few abandoned farms, or because our
schools are not as poor as they were,
or because some one somewhere out
side of Vermont has made a good bar
gain and because some one somewhere
outside of Vermont has made poor
bargain. Let me urge you to develop
Vermont specialties and let Florida
orange groves, South Carolina rice
fields, Georgia cotton crops. Kentucky
ginia tobacco crops, Montana cattle
ranges, New England Dakota colonies
alone, and keep out of Wall street stock
speculations. | do not believe in the
attempt to raise every breed of stock,
from the mongrel Kanuck colt to the
Jumbo horse that is cross between a
camel and a mule. 1t was great
calamity to the farmers of Vermont
when they allowed themselves to be
bedeviled into abandoning the old
Morgan stock of horses for mongrel
breed that developed speed only in
the growth of ring-bone and SPAWN,
size only in the amount of loss in
incurred and strength only in their
ability to haul mortgage. Vermont is
better than Kentucky to raise horses.
The battle of Bennington was fought
by British expedition sent out to
steal a thousand Vermont horses to
mount Rudsell's dragons, so great
was our reputation more than a century
ago for fine horses. | have seen a re-
cent statement of the commissioner of
agriculture of Iowa that the dairy
plOuuCI VI lOWd, lOI TIE lllSl Sin lllUuluS
of the year just closed, was ten million
pounds of butter greater than like
period the previous year. There are
offering to the willing ones in this de-
partment opportunities in this state
second to none in any state of the
Union. In the presence of this large
number of butter-makers and dealers
it may seem surperfluous for me to say
very much upon the subject of dairying;
but is the largest single industry in this
country. There are 65,000,0 mich
cows, which, if the value of their milk
is rcckoned at ten cents day, amounts
to the enormous sum of $500 900 900,
and Vermont sustains a relation TO
this of the first magnitude. l may here
remark that one of the needs of this
state is bureau of farming statistics,
and i want to commend to the honor
able Board of Agriculture this subject.
| believe they can make good beginning
with little or no money and establish
its importance to the satisfaction of all.
There ought to be some mention of a
department for prevention of adultera-
ton in food products. One of the main
causes of the deDressiOn in dairy nrod-