St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-07-26

THE BRoNDALE FARM JERSEYS.

SSHSCl, gives liz AAt~ANSN
ing account of a well-known farm:
"Brondale farm is the property of
W. D. Bronson of East Hardwlck.
1t is situated about two miles from
the village, upon the Lamoille river,
and contains 300 acres. There are
excellent meadows on the river,
while the pastures extend around
among the adjoining hills. The soil
is largely gravelly loan and well
adapted to such crops as flourish IN
this part of the state.
Dairying is the leading industry
and the breeding OF the best Jerseys
for this purpose has been the busl-
ness of Mr.. Bronson and his son for
many years. The foundation of the
herd was laid as far back as 1867,
commencing with stock descended
from the Motley importation that
has had very much to do with the
building up of excellent butter
producing families in this country.
For the past eight years T. 9. Bron-
son, the son, has had charge OF the
entire business and is pursuing it
with such intelligence and skill that
the Brondale Jerseys are becoming
we'll kuOWu ONG1 IuS OH1lCd OlcllAos
At present this herd numbers So
animals of all ages. From 25 to 80
cows are usually kept and the rest
consists of bulls and heifers. They
are all either registered or entitled
to registry in the herd book of the
American Jersey Cattle Club. In the
list of pedigrees of this herd may be
found the names of such celebra ted
animals or families as Eurotas, Duke
of Darlington, Pictor, sire of Jersey
Belle of Scituate, Alphea and others.
At the head of this herd at present
is the very fine bull, John of Bron
dale, eight years old. He contains a
large per cent of the blood of the
celebrated imported bull, Duke 76,
the only bull that ever scored perfect
record on the island of Jersey.
He has some excellent stock of this
animals getting. Besides this bull
there are several others, as Boz Of
Brondale, one-year-old, and Combat,
fine bull calf, recently obtained
from the celebrated Jersey breeders,
Richardson Bros, Davenport, Iowa.
This animal is from the particular
line of breeding known as the Com
bination," containing the best |
strains of blood found in this
country.
Along in the line Of breeding
pursued by Mr.. Bronson, and which
adds greatly to the value Of the herd,
may be mentioned the Solid Duke of
birmingham, the grand-sire, and
Catherine, dam of Brown Bessie, |
that figured so conspicuously at the
Chicago Exposition.
The COWS are of good size for this
breed. and will average about 800
pounds in weight. The prevailing
color may be said to be the varied
shades of fawn, with little white
on some animals. The young ami
mails, both in the barn and at
pasture, promise to keep up the
reputation of the herd.
Last spring Mr.. Bronson sold five
cows to c. l. Hood of Lowell, Mass,
who is supposed to have one OF the
finest breed herds in this country.
This is pretty good evidence of the
value of this particular herd. Large
sales of grown animals have been
made West, going even as far as
British Columbia.
Farmers in Vermont and New
Hampshire purchase young animals
and grow them up themselves.
Of course the cows are well cared
for, but are not pampered or over
fed. The herd is a particularly healthy
one. The COWS are kept in the
stable nights during the whole year.
Doing this necessitates a little better
feed and care. During the summer
season, when the COWS are giving
milk, the COWS have some three or
four pounds of provender day
fed morning and highland a
little hay in the morning. This
is to compensate for night
pasture. The grain consists of
bran and corn meal with a little
cotton. Plenty of sawdust is used
for bedding and the COWS are kept
clean.
In the winter in the morning he
feeds hay, peas and oats, ensilage
and meal, and same al night. Feeds
from FIVE to nine pounds of grain,
according to needs of COW, and likes
to have as great a variety for this
purpose as possible.
Is much in favor of hay, peas and
oats, and finds his crop more profit
able than oats alone. SOws the
common kind of wrinkled peas
grown by himself, a bushel to the
acre and a bushel and half of oats
Sows the peas few days first and
then the oats.
In this way both will be ready to
harvest at the same time Cuts
when the peas are fully grown but
not ripe. Has no trouble with
lodging.
Raises Sanford corn for ens1lage;
liking it best for this purpose. Has
this year ten acres. Cuts his grass