Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-02-15
FARMERS MEETINGS.

"A IWO-uayS' JOINT meeting Oh lne YER
.0ont Merino Sheep-Breeders' association
and the State board of agriculture began
at the town hall in this village on Tues
day morning. The papers read and adj
dresses made were pointed and practical,
the attendance was good, including the
prominent farmers of all parts of the
county, and those present must have
been stimulated to more vigorous and
more thoughtful work in their calling.
The assemblage was called to order at
10 o'clock on Tuesday morning by MIR.
Rollin G.. Smith of Pittsford, a member
of the board. Mr.. l.. w. Poet of Corn
wall. president of the sheep-breeders' as
soclation, was elected chairman, to serve
through the meetings, on motion of Mr..
G.. NJ. Winslow of Brandon, another
member of the board.
The first thing on the programme was
an address of welcome by Mr.. Feet.
Meetings, he said, are held by the mem
bers of every profession, for the sake OF
the encouragement and help which come
from association and interchange OF
thought. There is need of a board of ag-
riculture. Farmers ought to be educated.
Their pursuit demands knowledge, espe-
cially of the sciences. Chemistry, bota-
nv, geology and meteorology are all al
lied to agriculture. Experiments are
required, but these can best be performed
on farm devoted to the purpose. But
there are some things the farmers must
find out for themselves, such as the pc
culiarities of their soils, the most protita-
BILE crops for them to raise and the best
stock to keep. The sheep business has
been on the decline, but the future is full
of brightness for the flockmaster. Farm
ing cannot be mere routine work. The
conditions are constantly changing and
we must keep abreast of the times or be
lett behind in the race. What we need.
most of all, is intensive farming.
Mr.. VIM. Chaplin of Middlesex, another
member of the board, spoke briefly, ex-
pressing the pleasure of the board at
coming to Addison county, which he
called the 'garden county" of the State.
"The Ideal Spanish Merino Sheep y
was the subject of the next paper, by
Capt. C. f. Abel of Orwell. The topic,
portance at the present time. We shall
print his paper in full next week and so
do not attempt to make an abstract of it.
4 discussion, led by Dea. Samuel James
of Weybridge, followed. Sheep. he said.
have been one of the valued possessions
of man since the earliest times, and they
have proved of great benefit to the farms
and to the purses of the farmers of YER
mont. We took the hest sheen of En-
rome and mt brains into the breeding of
If nroducino the most nerfect animal of
the kind that the world ever saw. Breed
ers cannot do better than stick to the
present type. 1t is this kind which has
made the money for us in the past and
which will do it in the future: for the
world wants Just such wool as our sheep
and manufacturers must have orr wool
in order TO Get GOOD strong cloth. Larg-
or sheen were not desirable the importa-
tion of those had been tried Tho nrices
of Merinos may never he rs biuh auoin
nc thov once were. hut they will brino
GOOD living nrices
Mr. 7 w J.ckmon of W.1tham tbouUbt
each breeder had his own ideal. The i'm
portant thing was to take good care of
Sheep and be ready to show and to sell
when buyer came along.
The rest or the session was taken up
with questions and answers relative to
the best method or preventing eye-lid'
or sheep from turning IN so as TO cause
sore eyes ana other trouDles. some OF
the breeders present TOOK strong twlne
ana seweu the WOOL or the top 70
Setner, uhus drawing up the eye-llu
whiIe others win shears cut on the tolds
OF wrlnKIed SKIN above the eye. whlch
operation eifectually drew up the lid.
The latter method seemed to have the
most supporters as being the better and
IN the long run the more nerciful. Among
those VINO spoke were MI W ooster, Ira
l.. HamDllh, Edgar sanford ana Rollir
Lane OF CORNWALL L. W. Mason OF New
Haven ana Albert Chapman and Il. G.
Cady or Mlddlebury: The prevention OF
scratches was also discussed. Mr.. Jack
man used salt grease, thinned in colo
weather with Kerosene, with good results
y. L. Stlckney or Shoreham. MIR. wins
low and Albert chapman and D. l.. But
toiph OF Middlebury all agreed that I
was well TO shearewes before they LANDED
say from Two weeks to week before
None or them mad mad any trouble i
careful shearers we're employed.
AFTERNOON.
There was an increased attendance a
the afternoon session.
Mr.. Chapin of Middlesex read n manor