The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-02-08
FARMERS INSTITUTE.
The Largest Attendance and Most
Successful Gathering of Hus-
bandmen IN the History Of
the County.

The Somerset County farmer who failed
TO attend The session Of the Farmers Insti-
tute in the Court House last week missed a
good thing.
he missed more than that. He missed an
opportunity to learn many important things
He missed learning few things that could
not fail to have been Of inestimable value to
him; how to make farming more profiia-
bic; how to detect frauds in fertilizers how
to make unprodnctive acres yield good
crops; how 70 tell which OF his COWS makes
the most butter; how to make bis fruit trees
bear fruit every season. etc. Then, too, he
missed interchanging views with farmers
/ from opposite sections OF the county missed
the excellent literary treat prepared By the
ladies on the program; missed the sweet
singing OF the talented Miss Laughlin and
of the gifted Mr.. Scissor, (who evidently
learned what he knows about farming, as
well as what be knows about trimming his
whiskers, from Horace Gresly.) The social
features Of the institute were among its chief
charms, es all who were present viii testify.
Farmers cannot afford T. miss opportunities
such as these annual institutes afford for
their instruction and entertainment and
keep step with the young farmers Of to-day.
They may never again have an opportunity
of learning wisdom from the lips Of Prof.
Heiges. who has devoted his life 10 the
study Of the science Of agriculture aud who
enjoys the proud distinction OF being one of
the foremost scientists of the day. How
many farmers in Somerset county have ever
given thought 10 the phenOmina Of plant
life; TO how trees feed and breathe? Prof
Heiges explained all this and many other
things in relation to the subject in an in
tensely interesting lecture.
However, had more farmers and their
wives and daughters been in attendance at
the institute .st closed We do not know
where they could have found place 10 sit
in the court room. As it was every ayaila-
bic seat was occupied throughout all the
sessions and hundreds Of persons were corr
PEELED to sland; while still others could not
gain admission TO the room. owing TO the
greA; crowd. Farmers from every section OF
the county were present and all returned to
their homes delighted with the knowledge
they had gained and the pleasant social
time they had enjoyed.
As we said before the farmer who can and
who fails to attend these annual meetings of
farmers knows not what he IS missing. It
is impossible in the space at our disposal to
give more Than brief synopsis Of the many
/ interesting subjects discussed.
Tuesday afternoons session was opened by
Prof Heiges, who responded to the query -
How can potato rot be prevented ?" g.
would not allow potato rot 10 come on my
premises, ssid Mr. Heiges An ounce Of
prevention is worth a pound Of cure.
have found the following the best means of
getting rid of the rot Dissolve two pounds
Of sulphale of copper in hot water, six
pounds of lime slaked in six gallons OF vat
er, one-fourth pound Of Paris greeu and one
quart aqua anonia. Damp all Of these in
gradients into a barrel of 81 gallons capacity
and al it with water. have found this
mixture sufficiently strong 10 destroy both
bugs and rot. Il should be distributed in
the following manner Place the barrel on
the front carriage of one horse wagon
bore holes in the opposite sides Of the barrel
near bottom insert two small rubber hose
into the holes and attach the nozzle Of
J sprinkler to The pieces OF hose. A man can
carry piece of hose in each hand and by
walking between the rows he can sprinkle
all Of the plants with the mixture in the
most effective and economical way"
In response TO another query Pfof Heiges
said the origin of peach yellows remained
mystery and that one Of the surest indica-
tons of its approach vas the ripening of
fruit out ofseason.
Secretary Edge opened the session proper
with an intensely interesting talk on Frauds
in Fertilizers" There are probably more
frauds in animal ground bone than in all
other kinds of fertilizers said Mr.. Edge.
at may be worth so pound and it may
be worth S4s per pound. Hard bones are
used for many purposes, buttons, umbrella
handles, etc, they are the valuable ones as
fertilizer and command the highest price.
The soft bones are valueless and are dear at
any price. When a manufacturer puts an
adjective in front of his bone phosphate look
out for it. Acid is the gnage of bone. The
finer the bone is ground the better.
There is no such thing as a complete
fertilizer. When an agent tells you he has
such an article he simply lies. The differ
ence between ground bone and South Caro-
lima rock is as great es the difference be-
tween toby and a ten cent cigar. South |
Carolina rock IS only made available by the |
use of phosphoric acid. The higher the |
grade you buy the better.
Remember this when you are examining
phosphate: the first line Of figures on the |
sack is to make you buy and the last one is to |
sell to you. Always buy fertilizers with the |
lowest degree of moisture. Do not remove |
it from the railroad station unless il con-
tains exactly what the label on the bags calls |
for. Farmers as 8 rule look at the price |
rather than the quality. When you buy
bashel of grain you do not want one-half /
chaff. II is the cheapest in the end to buy |
nothing but the highest grade. The English
farmer understands this better than We do. /
They donot look al the price and the manu-
facturers supply the goods they want. Tie
cheaper you buy it the more the manufact-
urer makes out of you. The State Board of
Agriculture is after the manufacturer all the
time, and believe that the goods sold in
this State can generally be relied upon. The
law Of Pennsylvania as now enforced saves
the farmers from four to Eve hundred thous-
and dollars per year"
Prof Heiges advised the farmers to touch
the cultivation of beets forsugar very light
ly. The soil of Pennsylvania is not adapted
to nourishing beets properly. He recon-
mended the growing Of the German parsnip
for feeding cows. 1t furnishes more nutri.
ment than bee.s or any similar Vegetable.
Our PART" was the subject ofa highly
interesting easy read by Miss Martha Critch-
field, Of Jenner township Miss Critchfield
prefaced her remarks with the statement
that in everything man has accomplished he
has early solicited the aid of woman. We
need only - look to tie pages of the past
to see what prominent parts in the world
women have filed The essayist made an
earnest plea for the women ofthe home and
could see no merit in TIE strong minded
women ofthe public platform. Her essay
was greeted with generous applause and was
highly complimented by members of the
institute
The extension of the public school term
was next taken up and discussed by men,