St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-01-10
FARMERS INSTITUTE.
Six Interesting and Profitable Session

of agriculture was held here on
Thursday and Friday of last week.
The attendance from the surround
ing towns was very good and the
meetings were very instructive The
organization was effected by the cleo
ton of ]. G. Hovey as president and
Ezra Parks, vice president. On TAX
ing the chair Judge Hovey said he
was proud to be called upon to pre-
side over the delibera tons of such an
intelligent and progressive body of
farmers. He spoke of the services of
the farmer in raising the butter pro-
duct from 100 to over 300 pounds
per COW and increasing the steer fitted
for the shambles to a weight of 1900
or 400 where few years ago they
only weighed 1000 or less. CaledO-
mia county has reason to be proud of
a certain class of her farmers and we
only wish they were all of this pro-
gressive kind.
Wendell p Stafford, Esq, then
gave an eloquent address of welcome.
He said his personal knowledge i'll
agriculture was limited, but the view
all outsiders took in this matter was
very f1attering. The farming COM
munity is the physical basis Of ouI
country Young blood goes to the
city from the farms without which
there would be constant degenera-
cy both physically, mentally and
morally. The farmers are the best
thinking men in the community. No
riots ever occur among them. They
may be slow to act but are always
on the right side The farmers are
the most independent class of people
in the country and all other classes
are dependent upon them.
The morning paper was by ROllin
{. Smith, member of the state board
of agriculture from Pittsford, upon
daIrying III winter and in summer.
He advocated evergreen sweet corn
for fodder, planted thin enough SO it
will run. He spoke of corn fodder
and ensilage, but recommended rails
bridge over the short feeding months
of July and August. The address
was filled with valuable hints of how
to make the dairy pay every month
i'll the year.
In the afternoon c. NJ. Winslow,
member of the state board from
Brandon, gave an interesting address
upon the subject, SHOULD our farm
ers raise trotters ~ The speaker
answered the question by advising
all farmers to raise horses for their
own use and for selling as rOadsters,
but if they had a trotter on their
farm to sell it before it ruined them
VcrmOnt's stronghold is the Morgan
horse, and a well-matched pair of
these will bring from $4,000 down.
The Morgan is docilc, useful and
adapted to any kind of work on the
farm. The intelligence of this strain
is something worth considering
They have the power to get there"
every time A newly introduced
strain is the Cleveland BAYS, a stylish
and handsome horse. The French
coach horse will be of great service
in the army and on hacks. y trot-
ter never makes q good driver and is
useless to the farmer because he can
not be worked. Farmers should be
gin to break colts as soon as they
are dropped. Begin by holding the
colt III your arms and letting it see
that you are its master. Kentucky
raises the best colts but Vermont the
best horses. Our state could also
raise the best colts by feeding the
colts well. If YOU breed well and
feed well and treat our stock hui
namely you can probably sell at a
fair price And if YOU get fair price
for horse then sell it.
l. r. Emerson of Peacham read Il
valuable paper in the evening upon
dairying and the corn crop. After
an eloquent appeal for more practi-
cal work upon the farms that are
slowly but surely degencratfng the
speaker said that fodder corn eXcelled
all other crops in feeding value. Every
farmer should produce rs much as
possible, as more corn means more
stock. Corn stOver as fodder is very
valuable. | have fed my dairy ex-
clusively on it and grain till the first
of February with good results. In
this manner we can in q few years
double our number of COWS and thus
double our dairy products. The
dairy is best adapted to enriching the
soil of any farm stock. Grain bought
and fed to COWS pays for itself i'll
milk and increases the value of the
manure pile Butter takes the least
fertilizing element from the soil of any
farm product Grass is not fit for
milk after it has become woody In
closing, Mr. EMERSON said: Il ask
not for political honors, and give me
neither poverty nor riches nor world
ly honOrs, but let me leave my farm
to the dear ones in such shape that
it may prove a blessing to them and
reflect credit upon me-
On Friday morning J. H. Wal
bridge of West Concord answered
the question, What shall be done
with the boys ~ If farming is to be
regarded as a business this question
must be answered from q business
standpoint The last Legislature
created a commission to investigate
our undeveloped resources with a
view of attracting emigration. Can
our farmers overcome their stagna-
ton? Can we do anything to stem
the constant flow of capital from our
own money centres to the loan assoc
Citations of the prairie states? Can
we open fields of enterprise and make
it possible for a boy of brains and
enterprise to engage in practical
farming and make a success of it !?
Can we make Vermont a good state
to live in as well as a good state to
90 from? If we can let us encourage
our boys to stay here and help us.
If we cannot let us furnish and equip