The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-01-16
The Agricultural Rcport.--NO. 1.

We are indebted to Secretary Cooke
for copies of this report. 1t is a vol
ume of four hundred one pages, well
printed, on fairly good paper, by the
Free Press Association Of Burlington,
and is the tenth in number of the Sc
ries of agricultural reports of the state.
In the two years since the issue of the
ninth report forty meetings have been
held by the board under the law re-
curing at least two meetings in each
county in that time. As a rule, they
have been well attended by the farm
ers, the papers and addresses well
suited to the occasion and the audience,
and we'll received; but the discussions
have been too much limited by the
amount of written matter presented.
This has always been the fault of these
meetings, and it does not seem TO be in
process of amendment. We propose
to make this report the subject of a
number of articles, because we know
that only few of the readers of this
paper will have an opportunity to read
it for themselves, owing to the small
edition issued. The board has to be
run for two years, and its report printed,
at a cost within the appropriation of
$4,000 for the term; consequently,
although all must contribute to the
cost, but few can possess the book.
But perhaps this is as much as our state
can afford to expend in this direction.
AS above noted, we feel it our
duty to object to devoting so much of
the time of the meetings of the board
to the reading of written essays,
chiefly by the members of the board 3,
or invited contributions. These con-
tributions are not without value: but
they are too numerous, too long and
cover too much ground, and they are
sometimes so poorly delivered as to be
mostly inaudible. A far better way to
conduct such meetings is to have some
bright speaker ready to open up sub
ject of general interest by a five min
utes' talk, and then let the time be oc-
cupied with its discussion. The func-
ton of the board, or of its members in
these meetings, should be to keep the
ball rolling, but not TO monopolize the
time; and the report should be filled
rather with what is said by the prac-
teal men of the vicinage than with
"papers good, no doubt, but not
different in character from what every
man in the audience can read at his
leisure in his agricultural newspaper
Such meetings would be much more
fully reported by the press, because the
proceedings would be far more inter-
esting to its readers.
The subject of dairying, in its va
rious departments, is of course made
prominent in most of the meetings,
and is usually well handled, because
everywhere it is subject of such vital
importance to our people. The meet
ings at Cambridge and Grand Isle dis
cussed creameries; that at Chelsea
" Wastes of the Dairy" that at Enos-
burgh Falls, Feeding Dairy Cows"
The creamery managers were out in
considerable force at Cambridge, but
did not agree well on some important
questions, especially in regard to the
value of can inch " of cream. The
cost of hauling milk to the separator was
given (by separator advocate) at $40
per cow, hauling two to three miles
The price of milk was stated at eighty
to eighty-siX cents hundred pounds
and the quantity to a pound of butter
twenty-three to twenty-five pounds
This was in December, 1886. AT this
time it was stated by a creamery patron
that net return had been received by
him of seventeen cents for his butter
which was better than he could do a
home. But, at Enosburgh, another
farmer stated that from a dairy o
twenty cows and heifers he had aver
aged 270 pounds of butter per head, anC
sold it at an average of twenty-siX ant
one-half cents pound, or 81 .G5 pc
head. This farmer follows the common
method, with high-grade Jersey stock
and feeds mostly purchased grain, bu
only while the cows are in milk. Afte
calving, he feeds grain only until the
go to pasture. This is a good gras
farm. Grain feed is resumed as tn
grass fails, until the season is over
The cows are wintered on hay an
straw. The early grain feed is on
quart cotton-seed meal mixed with on
quart of bran, or corn-meal, daily.
the fall, one quart of oatmeal, The cos
of this grain was $40 per COW per set
son. The butter is marketed in twenty
pound tubs. This seems to be a goo
sample of one of our better class {
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