Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-05-15
FARM NOTES.

1t is natural for good COW to consume
a great deal of food. SO high feeding with
in julicious limits does not hurt the COW.
if the food is of the right sort
Good care is half feeding SAYS an ex-
change. Yes, it is more than that, a good
deal more. Without care, nothing at all.
in the way of profit, comes from fee ling.
1t requires II. 100000 cows to supply the
demand for milk and its products in the
United States. To feed these cows. 60.
100000 acres of land are under cultivation.
If for the last 80 years feeding and
breeding had been universally carried on
upon scientific principles, it is impossible
even to guess how much more our farmers
would be worth today than they now are.
This fact should be a sufficient hint to
breed up and feed up.
Don't forget the kerosene emulsion. Boil
half pound of hard soap in a gallon of
water. While hot add two gallons OF ker-
Osene, churn the mixture until it forms a
jelly-like mass, add 20 gallons of water and
you have safe, cheap, and excellent in
secticide. DO not add the kerosene until the
kettle of boiling water has been remove
from the fire in order to avoid danger.
As starter in the hills of corn a mix
ture of two parts plaster ana one part
poultry manure, a handful to each hill, will
be found excellent, as well as cheap.
The females Of the squash bugs lay their
eggs in little patches on the under sides of
the leaves. The leaves should be eXamin-
ed frequently and the eggs destroyed. If
this is frequently done there will be no ne
cessity for resorting to remedies of any
kind.
As there are no two farms alike it is a
mistake to attempt to follow the practice of
some neighbor until you have compared
the advantages and disadvantages of your
farm with his. Soils vary when but a
short distance apart, and the exposure, or
''lay of the land, is a factor in the matter.
Each farmer should aim to learn the re-
quirements of his soil and regulate his
mode of management accordingly.
A farmer plainly shows he does not care
to improve his practices or better his con
dition when he claims he has no time to
read. If he really wants to be a better
farmer he can't help reading and thinking.
Boys, keep the farm tools clean and bright.
No matter whether hoe, pillow, or an iron
bar, they never should be put in their place
in the tool house till nicely cleaned. Neither
man or boy likes to use rusty tool.
1t takes as much feed and care for a
scrub as a thoroughbred.
There is no home COW like the brown
eyed little Jersey.
There is one advantage in giving the
compost heap attention, and that is the de-
struCtiOn of the seeds of weeds by the heat
ing of the manure. Some heaps are not
sufficiently subjected to the heating pro-
cess, especially when exposed to cold rains
and SHOWS. If the manure is carefully at
tended to, in order to secure the decompo-
sition of the manurial substances therein,
the killing of the seeds of noXious weeds
will alone pay for any work bestowed on
the heap.
Dry off the poor COW, and let her Ego to
grass and get fat. 1t is hoped that she
will sell for something for beef this year,
when a good COW can be put in her place.
"The great problem before the farmers
at the present time is to see to how low a
cost the production of the different prod
ucts of the farm can be reduced" said
wide-awake farmer the other day. Though
generally low prices prevail, a low cost of
production may leave the producer as much
margin as under higher standing of these
two factors of the great problem of the
prosperity of the operators. 1t is not al
ways the price obtained that measures prof
its, but rather the cost of the production.
Do farmers study these problems enough?