The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-12-04
Editorial NNtings.

A writer in the Mirror and Fdrme,
reasons most scnsibly when he says;
IF we hire laborer to work for us,
and dishonesty refuse to pay him, we
rob him of his precious time, or the
money we agreed to pay him for so
many days of his life spent in our serv-
ice, and he is sure to work for us no
more. SO if we take from the soil the
riches that God has placed in its bosom
natural law requires us to return an
equivalent in something that the forces
of nature can appropriate to the same
uses, in order TO keep the soil equally
rich and productive, and the more
liberal we are for favors received the
more generous will it be to us in the
future. But refuse compensation, and
we shall soon see the soil decline to
furnish its rich vegetation and we fail
in our expectation of gathering a crop.
So the penalty is upon US, and we find
that honesty is the best policy; and
we are interestedly, if not morally,
bound to pay for everything we receive.
The soil in effect says to us, Pay the
debt you owe and then ] am ready TO
discount every time Let us keep our
credit good with the earth, the greatest
and oldest bank in the world, and it
will be always ready to assist us, and
we or our crops will never fail"
AND ALSO WITH YOUR SuEEP.-It
is mistaken idea that sheep can live
and do well without good food. "Turn
them into a waste field. and let them
eat the briers and thorns and weeds, :" is
the frequent advice of writers who never
kept sheep. One might rs well say
that a countryman might do well in "a
city by living off the garbage barrels
and heaps in waste places. 1t is all
very well for farmer to turn few
sheep into rough, neglected field, and
let them trim down the briers and
weeds, if he will then provide them
with sufficient good food. In this way
the folding of sheep upon an old field
may be turned to good account But
for regular business one can not hope
to raise sheep in this way. A good
pasture, roots for winter feeding, we'll
made clover hay, and good, careful at
tention and management are all es-
sential if we want to make money in
the sheep business.
COOPERATION IN BUYING.-This
has been urged a great deal upon farm
ers, as means of getting rid of middle
mems profits and of the excessive
freight charges on small lots of freight.
Theoretically it is good idea; but
when the attempt is made to reduce it
to practice we come bump up against
so many mean peculiarities of human
nature that encouragement is pretty
sure to ensue. We have never vet
heard of any permanently successful
attempt at cooperation among farmers.
But an exchange says; "The failure
of the grange trading agencies, and the
disastrous results to the order in this
state that followed, was not owing to
any defects in the principle of CO.
operation, but to lack of proper bust
ness methods in its application. 1t is
gratifying to know that the lessons of
past failures in this direction have not
been lost to the grange. Cooperation
in matters of trade in buying and sell
ing is complete success in many states,
and there is but little doubt that farm
ers in the New England States, through
the grange, will soon reap the benefits
OF cooperation in this direction" We
should like to see this idea realized: but
when men are square, fair and honest
enough to cooperate successfully in
this way the need for it will hardly
exist. 1t is the every man for him
self" feeling which makes cooperation
desirable, and, at the same time, i'm
possible.
" CLovER-SICK" LAND.-There can
be no doubt that in many parts of Eu-
rope it has become practically impossi-
BILE to make a crop of clover succeed.
The name " clover-sick " is given to
such land; but the name explains moth
ing; and, indeed, there exists no posi-
tive assurance that the difficulty is
always, or necessarily, in the soil at all.
Some writers have attributed it to
fungous growths attacking the clover
roots, while Others charge it to insects.
We have never ourself had any expe-
rience with this evil, and we do not
think it is known much on the Ameri-
can continent, for which we may well
be thankful.
THE VALUE OF CLOvER.-Among
the general run" of our farmers ex-
elusive clover-growing finds very little
favor. The ordinary mixture of tim