The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-05-28

ment Tor removing the staples when
repairing wire fence. | had no hog
hook, but had hook made of steel
bar about twenty inches long, and it
works nicely"
Ten years ago Maine was the sixth
state in potato-growing 1t then pro-
duced eight million bushels, two and
one-half million bushels being the
share of Aroostook county. 1t will be
interesting to compare this with the
current census. We should suppose
that Aroostcok would now show about
double its yield in 1880.
COAL ASHES Is NOT A FERTIL-
IzER.-" Inquirer " of East Poultney,
VT, asks How would a compost
made of four parts hen manure, four
parts dry coal ashes, two parts plaster
and one part bone-meal do for corn,
and would it do after planting the corn
with corn-planter to drop on top and
then cover with dirt? Please answer
in your next issue" If you substitute
unleached wood ashes for coal ashes it
would do very well if enough was ap-
piled.
PARIS GREEN. We see it stated that
u" it is better to use Paris green in solu-
ton on potatoes than to try to apply it
dry. There is then no danger of in
haling the poison" Though using the
word solution" this writer evidently
means MIXTURE" as Paris green does
not dissolve in water. If it did so, ii
would kill the foliage to which we
apply it, as London purple sometimes
does, because it is sometimes slightly
soluble in water. The water method
is undoubtedly the best in using any
of this class.
THE PRICE OF NITRoGENs.-InE Eng
land, to-day, nitrogenous manures are
reasonable enough in price. In sui
phate, ammonia is worth there eleven
cents a pound; in nitrate of soda, ten
cents. And in Canada, according to
Editor Fust, ammonia, in the sulphate,
is only thirteen cents. But the Eng
fish farmers are close buyers and pay
cash. There is no business carried on
so wastefully and extensively as our
fertilizer trade, and the farmers have
only themselves to blame for it. Their
average loss is over thirty per cent on
heir purchases.
THE TINE TO CUT.-A correspon-
dent of the Dairy World says: Sin
my conversation with Mr.. - / be-
came very much interested, as found |
what he considered the right stage to
cut the corn was exactly the same
which | had come to years ago in ex-
Derimenting with cutting oats for hay
that is, the point when we can Judge |
hat no more nourishment is drawn
rom the soil, and before it is all con-
,entrated in the grain, or when the
over part of the stalk is Just getting
yellow, while the rest is yet green"
This is all right, but how to decide L?
Is the test given for corn sufficiently |
exact? What does the Vermont Ex- |
pertinent Station know about that?
BIG RECORDS The NeiC England |
Farmer says Nine hundred forty
one pounds and ten ounces of butter
n year from one cow That was the |
product of Mr.. Appleton's Eurotisama.
What do plodding, rut-bound, unambi-
-ious Observation-Disclosures farm
ers say to that ?" Well, what do you
say to it? Do you believe it will ever
be equaled, or nearly approached, as
herd record ? And what do you think |
will be the effect of forcing cows up,
even to an average of four hundred |
pounds a year, upon their progeny? !
By overworking the individual do we
not imperil the race? We shall be
very well satisfied when we see the
cows of Vermont averaging two hun
dred fifty pounds of butter year. We
doubt if the average can ever be safely
pushed further. To overwork the in
dividual is to weaken succeeding gen.
erations. All experience teaches this
FEEDING HENs.-The poultry editor
of the New England Farmer says on
this subject &C feed three times a
day. The first feed in the morning,
given just as soon as it begins to be
light, is mash of cooked vegetables
mashed fine and mixed up with meal,
fine feed and shorts. The meal l mix
as follows; A scoopful of corn meal,
one of fine feed, another of meal, one
of shorts, another of meal and one of
beef scrap and desscated fish" This
is breakfast, and he goes on to de-
/ ~