Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-12-27
VERMONT OATS AND souAsHEs.


Two Views on Recent Interviews and Ar
ticles in the Free Press.
Recently published articles and inter-
views in the FREE Press on Vermont farm.
ers and on the crops that should be raised
on the farms in this vicinity, have brought
communications from number OF practical
farmers which will be printed as soon as
room for them can be made Two Of these
articles are published herewith:
\ Look at the other Side.
TO the Editor Of tho Free Press:
see in your issue Of the 10Th two arti-
Giles crticising farmers in regard to raising
certain crops that Think will bear answering
from farmers standpoint. First. Not
raising oats for market. think there are
as many oats raised in this vicinity
as there was 30 years ago when farmers
used TO sell from 200 to 400 bushels to the
farm Now instead of letting all those
oats get ripe they cut them when in the
milk and feed to their mich cows without
threshing only threshing what they wish
Tor their horses and for seed.
In this way a large amount of fodder is
obtained and of the best quality. Stock
does finely on il. and milk cows give good
quantity OF milk. There are other crops
that where you are working for something
TO sell that will net the farmer more cash
Tor instance potatoes. We will not say
anything about value of land. This year
was a poor potato year but | got 100 bush
els of good POTATOES to the acre Seedw work
phosphate and Paris green cost Il cents per
bu-hel. AS near as | could figure it | used
400 pounds Bradloy's Potato phosphate per
acre. Cost Of raising crop SEQ 80 per acre,
and sold Tor : j p II acre. leaving $40. 30 for
the crop ely oat crop was called Il good
deal more than an average for this year and
gave a yield of about 30 bushels per acre.
The expense must have boon somewhere
about 10 cents prr hu,hel for seed and work,
and was grown on land planted to corn and
well manurrd last year. and no special fer
tili1er used FIFTY bushels at 30 cents,
',iGjn; less ~ tor work and seed So. 30;
leaving a balance of 81, per acre in favor
OF potatoes this year Now think this is
about what most Of the farmers will tell
you about raising to sell Again in regard
90 the squash question y few years ago /
had a quantity of beautiful squashes. |
tried in Burlington to sell them | could
dispose OF a few hut not enough to pay Tor
making a "trip to town, so most OF them
were fed to stock Some were put in car
OF potatoes and sold in Boston at fair price.
a few years ago there used 10 be peddler-
come along that would buy the surplus of
such garden truck and poultry as the far
mers might have. | think they were a ben
eft to the farmer and cannot SEQ why they
were not to the residents of the city, for
they generally got a good quality, and ii
Went IN to town fresh But | see quite Il
disposition on the part of the city authori-
ties to Shut out such vendors. And when you
do you viii see "A good many of the smaller
articles grow less i'll quantity of home
grown as many of the farmers do not take
kindly to peddling and moreover it would
not pay them to take part OF Il load Of cauli-
flower and turuips to town unless they had
other business. Again the farmer Is critici-
scd Tor not pyactlcing economy.
rs a general thing the farmer has desire
to he careful III expenditure but be careful
rs lie may the return he gets for his labor il
many cases is small. His necessary expense:
are much greater to accomplish the same
than our father, had to meet. Taxes ar,
more and labor, double. Such a man e..
you would get for from $40 TO SIP pei
month 40 years ago now would command
SO ior less work, and the same dillerenc,
/ in women help.