The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-11-04
Editorial NOtings.

mont for 1871 is reported by the agrl-
cultural department at Washington to
be sixteen and one-half bushels. Our
new farm is noway in good condition
for wheat, yet our crop was twenty-four
and one. half bushels on one acre. No
other New England state was ahead of
Vermont, except Connecticut, which
reports seventeen bushels, while New
York reports the same as Verne mt,
plus one tenth of a bushel. Now if
this is the average, while we know that
many rmers in every state do very
much better, what must the crops be
that pull down the average to so small
measure
IN the West the two Dakotas aver.
age about the same as Vermont; and
not state in the Union goes more than
two-tenths of bushel over twenty.
California reports only eleven bushels,
while Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Minnesota, Oregon and Nevada go
ahead of Vermont no more than one
DuohOi' NplOLduO, ludDO anu
alone barely reach an average of twenty
bushels. The Southern states average
about nine bushels-Texas, the highest,
reporting twelve bushels, and South
Carolina the lowest, five and one-half
bushels.
AND this is American farmingl lent
itabout time to have few active schools
of agriculture, and are they not great
deal more necessary to our future pros
perity than the cranky political efforts
to right things supposed to be wrong
which are now under way in the West?
When American farmers are smart
enough to increase their average wheat
yield per acre to the thirty odd bushels
ofour English brethren, it does not seem
likely that the politicians can fool them
much. When they acquire mastery
of their trade they will find it not very
difficult to have public affairs settled to
their liking. -
WHEN we were last in Maine Cat the
invitation of Secretary Gilbert of the
State Board of Agriculture), we had
the pleasure of forming the acquain-
lance of Mr.. Joel Richardson of New
port, in that state, who is business
farmer, and keeps strict account with
all his crops. He read a paper at
board meeting, showing how he kept
his farm accounts, and giving state
ments of the cost and yield of some of
his principal crops over a series of
years. He has not failed to SOW wheat
for many seasons, and his figures in
dicated it to be one of his best-paying
crops. If we remember rightly, bis
wheat crop had fallen below twenty
bushels per acre only once in some
twenty-five years. We notice in the
last Maine Farmer an item as follows:
Joel Richardson, Newport, is
model, in that he keeps account with
his farm, and thereby knows what he
is about. He has threshed 1919 BUSH
els of wheat grown on five acres"
This is over thirty four bushels to the
acre-or about up to the English stan
dard.
WE see by our Western agricultural
exchanges that the good wheat farmers
of Ohio, who are studying their bust
ness carefully, and learning just how
to prepare the land and treat the crop,
do not usually fall below twenty-five
bushels of winter wheat per acre. Here
in the East it is not supposed that win
ter wheat can be proftably grown; but
we mean to try it when we get our
land into better condition. Snow comes
pretty early and lies we'll, generally, in
Orleans county, and we have had very
good luck with winter rye, getting
fifty.one and one-half bushels to the
acre in our single experiment.
BUT with the present machinery for
cleaning and grinding, just as good
flour can be made from spring as from
winter wheat. That which we grew
the past season was from seed sent to
US in the spring of last year from the
agricultural department at Washington.
Sixteen quart bags were received, but
the land on which we had to SOW it was
so unfit that the crop was only two
bushels, and this was the seed sown
the past spring on better fitted piece
but still not well fitted. This seed was
said to have come from Manitoba,
Can, and to be very superior and
productive variety, though no distinc-
tive name was given it.
WHILE we are not disposed to criti-
else unfavorably any attempt of Ameri-
can farmers to right what they think
wrong in our public affairs, we do think