Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-12-29
Agricultural Meeting at Craftsbury

! lowest IN market; bulk OF dairy but
ter small to creamery butter the av-
erage class of creamery butter sells 5
cents higher than the average class of
dairy butter. There are farmers in
every community that can make more
out of their dairy to work it at home.
The creamery man ought to be able
to make more butter and better quail
ity, having more to handle and de-
voting his whole time and attention
to it and using improved machinery.
The average class of buttermilk is
much richer when churned at home
than at the creamery. The COW or
dinarily fed produces as good quail
ty of butter as she would if extra
fed. The extra feed increases the
amount of butter but does not change
the quality. Green oats and barley
are recommended for early fall feed.
Cotton seed not recommended for
dairy purposes. Best butter made in
June and October. Poor feed and
treatment Injuries the whole creamery.
Prof Cook gave us very fine address
and appeared to be master Of the
subject. He is pleasing speaker,
and instructive in his answers to the
many questions put to him. His eff
forts will be helpful to US all.
Thursday afternoon Mr.. Vail of
Pomfret spoke on "Stock Breeding"
Stock breeding was subject of vital
Importance to him, and too much
neglected by farmers generally. Some
of the principles are: Breed from the
best, and like produces like. Ami
mails have many natural qualities.
Breed for what you want. If we
want dairy COWS, breed for that; if
beef, breed for that; if strong. mus
cular stock for labor, breed for such:
but care and treatment have much to
do in producing good results. Look
at the ancestry of the animal. Cross
thoroughbred males with natives. Sc
cure the best males and breed from
native stock. S. Smith gave his ex-
perience in butter making; Produces
250 lbs. of butter from a cow in a
year and all native stock. He thinks
they are as good dairy COWS as Jer-
seys. j. 0. Sanford thinks ensilage
is the best feed for dairy cows, and
Jerseys tie best butter producers. A.
M. Hartman gave his experience in
producing butter Makes 2J0 lbs. or
butter from cow per year; averages
to get % cents perpound for it feeds
only 50 worth of meal to cow per
year; his are all Jersey cows. Mr..
Vail recommends native corn as best
ensilage for dairy purposes. This
session was a very interesting one,
dairying being the chief industry in
Craftsbury.
r. G. Smith of Pittsford said that
the dairy was the leading industry of
the state; cows average 125 pounds
of butter a year thought itwell to turn
out cattle and sheep early in spring.
Cows should be treated gently and
carefully; they should be carded ev-
cry day through the winter. June
is the golden month in the year and
July next. Too much butter is made
in summer and not enough cheese.
He recommends winter dairying to
b egin in September. Butter will sell |
for more, and more will be made. He |
thinks to produce corn, manure should |
be spread in winter and turned over
late in spring. Ensilage should be
put IN whole and oats and barley |
should be harvested green, cured and
fed out. Cotton seed meal to be fed
to dairy. Cut hay early. He rec
rest for COWS and sheep,
feeding only morning and night. He
does not recommend warming water
for stock in winter. Mr.. Smith is a
practical farmer and he treated his
subject with intelligence.
Victor /. Spear of Braintree, VT,
took for his topic, "Proft on Sheep
The subject of sheep is of less inter-
est than dairying. He does not urge
it upon any one. He advises those
who are satisfied with dairyipg to
continue it. The wool product alone
po not pay, but wool and mutton are
profitable. lie said the average ex-
pense of flock of one hundred sheep |
per head for year was So F; fleece |
worth $1.50 to $1.75; value of lambs,
50 head. There is not an industry |
of the past in Vermont that has bro't |
so much money for the money invest
ed as merino sheep, and the outlook
is as good now as it has been for the |
past fifteen years. Produce what
the markets demand as much as pos
sible. Seek to improve sheep. Forty
years ago sheep sheared 21a to 81 |
pounds. Now they produce from 3
to pounds. Farming not as profit
able as in years past. Farmers do
not take the pains they ought to i'm
prove their stock Money has been
sent out of the state to the damage
of farms. Mr.. Allen thinks the sheep
industry profitable. The Shropshire
down breed is the best for Vermont,
as they are hardy and produce heavy
feeces. Mr.. Spear is very pleas
ant speaker and has had large ex-
perience in the sheep industry.
J. O. Stanford of Pittsford spoke |