The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-06-12
Burton Farmers Club at the Agri-
cultural College.

county Is the Burton Farmers CluO. Ihey
differ from the quasi political organizations
of farmers because they are not wagged as
the tail of any party. Their discussions
are upon topics of interest and they will
maintain their rights without transgressing
upon the rights of others. They believe in
being right and then going ahead. The
question of the Agricultural college has
always been a debated one as to whether
the college was doing the work it should for
the farmers and whether farmers would
care to educate their sons there. These
questions came up in the club meetings and
it was resolved to visit the institution rather
than to accept such judgment on the ques-
ton. Thursday morning, June 4, the south
bound Michigan Central train took over
seventy of these excursiOnists to Lansing.
The rear coach which contained the party
was an excellent aggregation of what makes
up good citizenship. Sober honest, thought
full men and women, and for this day the
cares of farm and home life had been laid
aside to devote to sight seeing and investi-
CATION. Several hours were spent in the
capitol building, where the party divided
into detachments to wander through the
museum, the armOry, and watch the law
makers legislate. Reps. Botsford and John
son invited one party inside the bar of the
house and the hum-drum of petition pre-
sentatiOn, the yeas and nays, roll call, etc.,
was listened to. Engrossing Clerk Hop
kins showed the party through the govern
ors parlOrs, and then the senate was visited.
This is the place where Fridlender is the
attraction. What Forepaugh's ten thousand
dollar beauty was to his show or Barnum's
Jumbo was, so Fridlender is to the state
senate. Everybody wants to see 1.-The man
,ln, aIya 10 nc
length Fridlender came in, bearing pack
age of Michigan manuals or red books; how
ever it is fair to presume that no red man
will receive any of Fridlender's red books.
With curiosity satisfied for Fridlender the
party listened to Mines expound some
point while Wisner occupied the chair. The
armory with its gatliDg gun and cannons
captured from the cOnfederates and the
munitions and equipments of war, together
with the war museum, where the tattered
battle flags and the relics of war are, were
places where the party fingered longest
In the afternoon four covered hacks con-
veyed the club to the college grounds, the
winding, shaded reads and carpet like lawn
making the drive through the grounds seem
like travelling through veritable paradise
President Clute welcomed the party in his
Office and sending for Prof. Burnett, that
genial and accomplished man, who by the
way is from Shiawassee county, guided us
through the museum. Here an open mouth
alligator spread itself in front of the horse
which when alive, carried Lieut.. Baker OH
his chase after Jno. Wilkes Booth, the cast
Of an enormous sea turtle, the tusks of a
mastodon and the collections of zoology,
ornoth0logy, ETC., were inspected and ad-
mired. A student named Clinton showed
us case after case of butterflies more
gorgeous than an Easter bonnet, irrides-
cent and rejecting the colors of the rain
bow. Mr.. Clinton said these were high
flyers in South America and naturaliStS
went cunning for them as small boys dc
after English sparrows. If they had moi
been killed this way death would otherwise
have resulted from stomach ache for a large
pin driven through the center of equilibrium
impaled them. Then there were big bugs
and little bugs, with names away out o.
proportion to their size, gauZy winged bug:
and hard shelled bugs that collide with yor
on warm June nights and whose sphere o.
usefulness is to eat up the paste that print
ers would otherwise let sour. The bug'
when alive are treated to emulsions, which
is a mixture containing kerosene oil usually
and the bulletins issued from time to tim,
| by the college tells how to mix and give tn,
dose with the best effect. The green houses
were visited where fine plants were grow
ing, ready for transplanting, also flint
Towering and tropical plants. The straw
berry plat was examined but not with a.
much satisfaction as would have been tn,
case few weeks later. Sixteen separate
squares of different varieties of wheat showed
the prospects of various yields. Some of tn,
squares under the same culture would no
apparently yield half what might be ex
pected from others. This is one of the
valuable works of the farm, to determine
the varieties of grain adapted to this state
One patch of wheat at a distance attracted
the attention of the party, the dark green
color was in such contrast to other wheat
This section had been cultivated and from
one plant were counted f0rty-six stalks
The college this year is making investiga
tons along the line of sugar beet culture
and will be able to say as TO the profit and
practicability of Michigan farmers raising
their sugar crop from beets. Another
valuable experiment is the continued appli-
cation of fertilizers to one piece of ground
thoroughly under-drained and the drainage
water will be analyzed to ascertain the loss
i'm this way. A section is devoted to oats
where different depths of planting and diff
ferent dates of sowing are conditions OF the
experiment. A patch of comfrey which is a
perennial forage plant of indifferent value,
was quite an attraction. No well bred COW
would condescend to such diet unless forced
to by failure of the marsh hay and cat
tail crop, and when seedmen or falxirs wish
to have you grow this crop, just say to them
''go hence" A party of the gentlemen
then went down the lane, across Red Cedar
River, past fine fields of corn, oats and
grass to the pasture field where boy turned
out nineteen fine cows, types of the Short
horn, Holstein, Jersey and Ayrshire breeds.
The young cattle were not seem. The
youth who drove the cows was neither mild
nor hammered and picked up stones and
threw them at the stock with unerring ac-
cpracy. The swine were inspected and ad-
mired. Berkshire, Poland China, Essex,
Victoria, Tamworth and Duroc Jerseys
were the breeds noticed. Most of the swine
were feeding i'm clover which had lately
been clipped in order to keep 1t down and
retain its freshness. The Delaine or Dick
nson sheep are smooth, fine woods, or fine
wool upon unwrinlled bodies. Cotswolds,
Shropshire and Dorset horned were other
breeds noticed.