The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1894-01-12
TROY, M. Y.

10 pieces containing only single eve,
and put one piece in hill. l told them
thought that seemed too small QUAR-
tlty. They told me some of their neigh
bors said just as did, but their expert
ence had convinced them that the crep
would be more than where a larger
quantity of seed was used One large
potato had planted sixty hills, and the
crop from that was two bushels. Their
whole crop was planted with less than
four bushels of seed, and they made 1870
bushels.
A neighbor who planted about as
much seed as thought was right
about what we used to plant when | was
a boy,--their field was the next one ana
the yield of it was II bushels from one
bushel of seed. l frankly admit that /
have been wrong all my life in the mat
ter of two much seed in the potato CROP.
L think many New Engla farmers
would profit by taking the hint. This is
not as good for potatoes as Minnesota
the latter State is good for all vegetables.
The elder of the church preached yes
terday from the text: "Tdou crowneth
the year with thy goodness, thy paths drop
fatness." In his review of the wear he
said: Brethren, you all talk of hard
times, but when l visit your homes
find everything comfortable and no sign
OF want. Some of you can remember
when pork sold at S1.50 a hundred, and
corn at ten cents bushel, now we get
30 cents for our corn, and l have heen
offered S4.75 for my hogs, but said no
must have So per 100. Can it be true
that the times are really so hard as YOU
think, when your farms are worth $75
per acre, and you well supplied with
comforts of life?''
Our elder is practical farmer as we'll
as preacher. l helped him to-day 10
saw his supply of wood. The little por-
table engines are getting to be quite an
important factor in the rural life of the
West Almost the first work | did here
was to help shell 10000 bushels of corn,
and some machines have been at that
work pretty regularly, when they were
noa threshing, and now in the intervals
of other work, the engines are found use
ful at the wood pile. One of the men
told me of one day that he helped to saw
81 cords of fire wood. In shclling corn
$500 bushels is a big days work, and
$500 bushels is the best days threshing.
although one-half days work went up to
2,2OO bushels. One other use of the en-
gines that had forgotten to speak of, is
w pump OuI pAIO OOfti IlluCo WuGu lu6
creek overflOws and floods them out.
suppose Christmas and Santa Claus
have about the same charm to the juven.
lie mind everywhere Some children
here put plate on the dining table and
each one writes their name so that Santa
Claus may remember them. Before /
was up this morning | heard Cousin
Robert, who had got the fire lit come to
the stairs anG call to his wife: "Oh.
Sarah, what shall do with these things
Santa Claus left in the plates?" Her an
swer was loud enough so that all the
children could hear it: Just throw
them out!" That reused every sleeper,
and l heard one of them say: mo, sir; /
expect there must be something there
for me-" and they were all down
stairs in much less time than usual.
My school had a holiday on Christmas
and again to-day. OF course the child
rem would have liked the whole week,
and some of them took it anyway.
We have been having a small pox
scare, and all the school children have
been vaccinated a sore arms have kept
some of them from school. We have had
a little sleighing, but that has vanished
and mud predominates, and the weather
seems very much like winter in the
South. Yours truly
Z. IL. BRECKENRIDGE.