The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-01-30

Vernon was we'll attended by the solid bust
ness like farmers and stockmen of which
Shiawassee county boasts. 4. A. Burnett,
OF the Michigan Agricultural College, looked
| every inch the man he Is and occupied the
Presidents chair with credit and honor. Mr..
Burnett had just returned from trip to
Pennsylvania to purchase Dickinson sheep,
for the college and could tell of sheep rails
ing as produced in other states.
Quincy Mcbride, the Secretary, Is a Jer-
| sey cattle man and has habit of taking
premiums on butter that his given him a
reputation as a dairyman. T.. j. Cook, of
Shiawassee township, is farmer whom
stock buyers say 1t is a pleasure TO buy of
because he always knows what his stock is
worth. Mr.. Cooks home IL a center of re-
| finement and culture, and his farm model
in cultivation. l.. w. Barnes. whose PO-
land China swine and American Merino
Sheep have given him reputation as q
breeder, beyond the bounds of Michigan.
Amos Parmenter, breeder in the same
line of stock as Mr.. Barnes, adds to his
business by dairy farming and butter max
ing. +. M. Shepard. of OwOsso township,
Is representative breeder OF the Gall0ways,
has Shropshire sheep and knows what good
horseflesh Is, of the Napoleon stock. Messrs
Pearsall and Underwood are Short-hOrn cat
tie breeders, with taste for good Shrop-
shire sheep. G. S. Bingham dresses better
than most st0ckmen, knows good thing
when he sees it, particularly II its Shr0p-
shire sheep. Imports his own stock from
England, making selections personally. p.
Brown, of Venice is Shorthorn breeder
and fancies heavy draft horses. Otis Mead
Is one of Shiawassee's progressive swine
breeders. These, with others whose success
in general farming has been equally mark
ed are among the men who attend
such meetings and exchange views. Inter-
spersed with repartee and humOr in the
discussions, and with music and recitatiOns
on the program, the former by the Grange
quartette and the latter by Misses Wrigley
and Parmenter, the sessions were pleasant
and profitable. Pres. Burnett's address was
summary of the farming situation. j. l..
Dalziel, herdsman of College farm, read q
paper on feeding mutton sheep for profit
A coarse wool lamb. If properly fed, should
weigh, at Christmas time 100 to lao lbs.
Separate feeding-trOughs for lambs were
recommended. G. s. Bingham said the
standard mutton sheep should be large and
symmetrical. Crosses with the Cotswools
was not recommended. Mr.. Holmes said
the best selling lambs were not necessarily
the largest. Perry Brown said that two
weighed, at Christmas time, 161 pounds
each. l.. w. Barnes thought that the four
pounds of wool sheep had ceased to exist in
this county. Blocking out sheep was dis
cussed. This was necessary in the show
ring, the wool being thus trimmed to an
even surface. Amos Parmenter in an arti-
Gle OH dairying said that the market for
dairy products had neveA been successfully
cOrnered. Michigan was not formerly con-
sidered good dairy state, but changed con-
ditions had shown the possibilities of dairy
ing. Cooperative cheese making was not
a success. Selling cream saves labor, but
the profit is in the private creamery. The
first consideration, good cows, the jersey
type being preferable. There were cows
kept that were loss to their owners. In
summer change pasture every two weeks,
and change feed often in the winter. Rapid
milking and at regular hours is essential.
Cool the milk to As degrees and churn the
cream at SO degrees and salt one ounce to
pound. 1t is safe to ship to commission
merchants as butter is sold upon its merits.
Mixing butter by middlemen was injurious
to the producer and consumer. Farmers
should sell direct to the consumer as possible
Prof. Burnett said that one pound of beef
was produced by the same amOnnt of food
that produced 10 pounds of milk. Quincy
Mcbride said that properly fed Jersey cows
produced lib of butter from IL to labs of
milk. Mr.. Lyman favored the old fashioned
system of pan-setting milk. AT this point
a box of ensilage was passed around for the
inspection of the audience. The discus
sion of imitation dairy butter brought out
the process whereby rancid butter was trans
formed. Il. j. Cook discussed raising beef
cattle. Ensilage. rich in corn was an item
i'm cheap beef raising. The farmer must
strive to produce an animal that does not
compete in the average class, but one that
in breeding and raising rises above the mar
gin of average. Fred Bailey makes an an
nual inventory of farm stock and property
i'll order to discover his profits. Each arti-
Gle is valued at the lowest cash figure and
on capital of SIC, 900 there is an annual
profit OF from $500 to $500. G. S. Bingham
said that Shropshire breeders would not be
satisfied with that rate of profit. During
the evening session Jas. n. Mcbride spoke
on the subject of financial training, discus
sing the system of savings bank used
in France i'm connection with the schools,
advising the demand for increased postal ia
cilities and postal savings banks. As
financial measure of benefit to farmers the
semi-annual collection of taxes was advocat- 4
ed. l.. w. Barnes spoke in relation to the
improvement that stOckmen had witnessed
within their own time. Resolutions were
adopted thanking the people of Vernon for
their courtesies and the Grange Quartette
for their music, also pledging the stockmen
to continue their efforts to make this county
second to none in the matter of good stock.
The secretary was directed to transmit to
the secretary of Agriculture and to the
secretary of the Agricultural College the
names of the members of the association in
order that the bulletins from the u. s. and
this state regarding agriculture might be re-
ceiyed. The song trip to Niagara Falls, by
A. Wrigley, was cheered to the echo. In
vitations for the next meeting were received
from Corunna and Vernon, time and
place to be decided by the executive CON-