The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-07-19

pounds in the heaviest, and of corre-
spending amount in the others.
OUR own experience bears out this
view to even a more extreme degree.
Some dozen years ago, or more, we had
what is rather unusual nowadays, at
least in our neighborhood, first-class
crop of fiat English turnips, which were
cellared, but found unmarketable, ex-
cept in small quantities. AT that time
we kept but one COW, and we began,
rather cautiously at first, to feed the
turnips to her at milking time. Find
ing that this did not affect the quality
of the milk or butter, we increased the
ration, until in few weeks nothing
else was given, not even water, for she
would not drink. This was continued
from November through the winter
Some time in February an experienced
stock farmer called to see us, and tracked
US to the stable. AS he came in he put
his hand on this turnip-fed COW, and
asked if she was in milk. We replied
that she was, and supplied the family
with all the milk, cream and butter it
required. "And she is good beef, too"
he remarked. 81 should like to know
what you have been feeding her with
something better than hay, l guess"
Something just as good, apparently"
wa replied. "She has chosen her own
diet, and eats nothing but English tur-
nips; she hasn't had forkful of hay in
six weeks" This expert cattleman
(the late Michael Kennedy of North
Troy, VT, well-known drover) would
hardly believe our statement; and we
didn't wonder at that, for we would
have looked upon such a result as i'm
possible. This COW, which was small
Jersey, ate about two big bushels of tur-
nips day. They were warmed under
the kitchen stove before being cut, for
feeding. This would not be practicable
on large scale, but they might easily
be warmed by steaming. 1t is the
warmth, rather than the cooking, that
is desirable, we think, 80 that it would
not take long to prepare a considerable
quantity. AT another time, when we
were wintering this same cow and two
of her female descendants on cut corn
fodder and meal, we had large, rough
box made, with cover to it, and filled
it every night with the corn-fodder,
sprinkled with meal, and wet through
with boiling water. This feed kept
warm all the next day; but really it did
not seem to do any better, if as well, as
all turnips, for milk or flesh. 1t should
be said that the stable in which these
cows were kept was basement one,
where the manure rarely froze.
IN that same stable we accidentally
learned how to coax cows TO eat bean
straw. There were more stalls in it
than we used, and we kept the few
cows we had in alternate ones, filling
the others with bean straw, pitched
down from main floor above. These
stalls were kept full, and the cows
would steal good deal of the bean
straw, so that in fact they ate up about
all we had in the course of the win.
ter,-and this, although they would
have starved before they would have
eaten bit of it, if placed in their
managers.
THE good Ne,o England Farmer is
exercised in its mind over what it re-
CARDS as the inconsistency of our veneer
able Senator Morrill, on the agricult-
ural college question. Everybody in
Vermont, democrat or republican, likes
Senator Morrill,, and is proud of his
long and patriotic record. But the best
of men have their weak points; and the
senator really has wobbled some on this
subject. In pushing his nobly-intended
measure through congress, it probably
never occurred to him how such schools
would effect the literary colleges, and
arouse their fears and hostility. So he
took before congress the consistent po-
sition that they should be strictly
industrial schools for instruction in
agriculture and the mechanic arts, Just
such schools, in fact, as the Massachu-
sets School of Technology is for me-
chanics to-day, and such as several of
the negro schools under the same act
are in the South. AS there were no
powerful negro literary colleges to fight
the proper and designed use of the
money which has been appropriated for
these schools, their original purpose
has been carried out without friction,
or diversion from their true intent.
The Armstrong schools in Virginia,
although not participants in the same
fund, have been conducted on the same
lines to great success. Senator Nor
rill's fame in the future will, we fear,