Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-03-09
Sarnt Copies.
FARM IMPROVEMENT,

THhN
Below is an abstract of the lecture on
"1'he philosophy of farm improvement"
recently delivered by Hon. f. d. Doug
las of Whiting in the farmers course at
the State university, Burlington: Most
of us, he said, can remember the time
when we secuted the idea that philoso-
ply and farming would go together.
But we are now coming TO believe that
successful farming calls for brain as well
as muscle. We must know the reason
of things, the why's and whercfores.
What system of farming shall we adopt
in this Champlain valley? The. produc
tiveness of our soil is uneXcellcd. But
what are the facts in the case? Rea
estate is very low and many farms are
sold to-day for about what the improve
ments cost There is no good reason for
this state of things. We ought to get
out of the old ruts. We want a system
that will keep our young men. We can
revouuonize farming without much ex-
pense. Let us consider what are the
conditions of success. The feeding and
producing qualities of this soil can be
changed, so that the roots
will go deeper and drought and frost will
not damage the crops. The pillow must
be freely used, so as to stir up the hard
and compact soil. The plant food, too,
must be increased and how is this to be
done? BY less waste of manure. The
selection of crops is an important point
and one to which but little attention is
usually paid. We should select crops
that will change the mechanical quality of
the soil, that have the greatest feeding
qualities, that draw the deepest from the
soil and that bring the best returns by the
ton. or those of a rank habit of growth.
Clover is good to renovate old fields.
The manurial value of ton of clover is
$50 when compared with the
average cost of fertilizers. Two tons to
the acre amount to Sl7.52 worth of plant
food. IT, as claimed, the roots are worth
as much more, we have S3j.04 worth of
plant food. The feeding value of clover
is Sl3.55 per ton, or S21.10 per acre, with
two tons to the acre. which is to be adj
ded to the manurial value as plant food.
Every crop, as well as clover. has a
manurial value, and the cheapest way
for the Vermont stock farmer is to raise
his own fertilizer. Feeding for manure
is an important element of success and
one that has often been overlooked.
Stock should be fed literally, up to the
point where overlooking begins. The
pillow should be the basis of Improvement
on all farms. 1t is sometimes best to
raise crops that are Theoretically dis
tasteful. The manurial value of cotton
seed meal is S2S.O4, and of a ton of corn
but S6.04. We must make the farm self
sustaining, but there may be exceptional
times when it is best to buy, but whatev-
err is bought should be in the shape of
stock food. Plant food is our stock in
trade. Gather, save and finally apply
it. The first condition of success is in
telligence. a herd of dairy cows by the
exercise of intellect on the part of the
owner can be brought up to a point of
excellence where each cow will produce
300 pounds of butter annually. If it costs
$40 year to keep a COW, which is an av-
erage amount, 300 pounds of butter will
cost the farmer at the rate of l3 cents Il
pound; POO pounds will cost at the rate
of 20 cents. But with the cost of keep
ing the COW brought down to $50, as it
should be, butter will cost the maker but
s cents pound. The sour milk and
manure will pay for the labor, and with
butter sold at 20 to - cents pound it is
an easy matter to figure up the profit.
But with COW producing only $50
pounds of butter it is just as easy to fig
ure up the loss.
Farming can be made a pleasant as well
as an intellectual calling and the two
qualities go hand in hand. When this is
done the price of land will rise, the farm
ers themselves will be financially pros
porous, farming will be an elevating and
moral pursuit and our boys will stay in
this grand Champlain valley instead of
going West as they are now doing.