Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-02-22

from two to six weeks, according to
the season, or until thoroughly dry,
when threshing commences. Thresh-
ing, is, or has been until lately, all
done by steam power. Most of the
engines being straw burners, SO that
the grain furnishes power to thresh
itself. An average days run is about
200 bushels, though some of the larg-
er machines thresh more than that
The worst drawback to farming oper-
ations in this country, is scarcity of
competent help. The work of seeding
and harvesting requires comparative
ly few men. But threshing crew, to
do good work, requires about thirty
men, and as these men can only be
furnished employment for a small part
Of the year, it is necessary to depend
on floating class, commonly called
'shobo," who are largely men from
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota
lumber regions, and are class of citi
zens who are not in any manner ex-
emplary.
AS soon as grain is threshed the
work of fall plowing is commenced
and continues until the ground freezes,
or until all the land is plowed back.
No fertilizer is used on the soil.
Straw that is not wanted for use in
wintering stock is burned. on the
ground, and the only rest given the
soil is by an occasional summer -fallow,
which is allowing the land to lie still
and plowing it once or twice during
the summer to kill weeds.
To run farm of say section of
land requires quite an amount of cap
ital invested in tools and machinery,
besides the original cost of the farm.
About the going prices for some of the
machines needed are as follows: Gang
plow, about $50; sulky plow, which
only cuts one furrow, $50; 80 foot four
horse drag, $50; drill, 500; binders,
500; traction engine, $1,000; porta-
BILE engine, about 5000; separators,
$500; farm wagon, $50; set of work
harnesses, $25, and the price of horses
depends, of course, on the quality of
the animal. Bronchos can be bought
very cheaply, but are very little used.
The heavy grade of horses, such as
Norman and Clydesdale, being stock
preferred.
/ Given a favorable season and the
income from wheat farm is fabulous,
for the outlay involved. I have known
of several instances in which farmers
have bought land to be paid for in
one half the crop grown during a Sc
ries of years, and that one-half of two
or three crops has paid the purchase
price of the farm.
While wheat is the main crop, mixed
farming is coming in gradually outside
the counties in the Red River Valley.
Stock raising is being entered into
largely. Sheep are being raised to
quite an extent and are profitable
investment. Cattle and horses are
also being profitably raised, though
the climate in winter does not allow
of extensive ranches.
The beet sugar industry might be
profitably entered into, experiments
having been made which demonstrate
that the beets raised in our soil are
more than usually rich in saccharine
matter, but as yet no plants for the
manufacture of sugar have been es-
tablished. Of course [ can convey no
idea of the extent of operations in this
country. To tell you that Dalrymple
this season had 4,SOO acres in wheat,
would convey very little idea to the
minds of your readers. Until person
has seen one of our wheat fields he
are like. A person used to the hills
of New England can not imagine him
self on plain, extending in every di-
rection to the horizon and nothing in
sight but a waving sea of golden
wheat, nor can he well imagine seeing
what we often witness, fifteen or
twenty binders following each other
about section, that is mile square
of wheat, or of the same number of
gang plows following each other
across the same tract.
Just word in regard to our much
abused climate, and will tax your pa
tience no farther. We will grant that
we have some snug cold weather dur
ing the winter; that the mercury, in
the language of the boys, is occasion
ally tout of sight, but there is that
peculiar dryness of the atmosphere
which gives to the cold an indescriba-
BILE quality unknown to New England.
AS matter of fact, I have felt the
cold more in Vermont a day when the
thermometer was above zero, than
have in this country davs when IL was