Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-02-28
Board of Agriculture.
Meetings at Whiting and North Fer.
risburgh.

me INSTITUTE at Whiting was open
cd on Tuesday, Feb. 10Th, with d
goodly number Of farmers in attend.
ancc. Provisions were made bv the
ladies OF the town for free dinners to
all in the dining rooms in the base
ment OF the church; and the, expe-
l1ence here, as elsewhere, was that
when the ladies of town take an in
terest in these meetings, they are all
ways success. Each topic presented
ny the board called out a lively dis
cusslon. The subject Of Tuberculosis
by Winslow occupied the forenoon Of
Tuesday. The afternoon session was
given to talk on "Farm Improve
inent' BY }. q. Sanford, and he said
he believed that the farm should re-
ceive more of the attention of the
farmer; that it should be the purpose
OF the farmer to have his farm improve
each year; that the crops raised upon
the farm should be consumed there
and the fertility returned to the land;
that we should have more confidence
in farming and return to our farms n
portion of the income that we receive
from them, in permanent improve
ments. He believed that money in
vested in our farms was more safely
invested than in savings banks or in
Western mortgages or bonds. He
urged farmers to make speciality Of
some line of farming and give it their
whole attention. He did not believe
that the farmer could do a little of
everything and succeed 1t is an age
of intense activity, and the man who
succeeds in anything must become
master of his calling and devote to it
his best efforts.
Following this topic, Prof. l.. r.
Jones of Burlington gave talk upon
Forestry" and said that the necessity
for giving some attention to this sub
ject seemed evident from the fact that
our legislature had recognized its
importance and had made it SUBJ
ject for special investigation by the
Board Of Agriculture. Up to the
present time, but little attention has
been given to the matter by the peo-
pie of the state, and there are no statis-
Tics at hand showing the present tim
Der area Of the state. He did not
think our conditions called for re-
seeding land to timber and growing
it, but it would seem that it was wise
to protect the young growth that was
coming up and to use more care in
cutting the lumber from our timber
lands. The area of valuable timber
lands is growing less, and as timber is
the only crop that can be produced
upon much Of our land, none but
trees of ten inches or over in diameter
should be cut. The smaller trees
have little value if cut now, while if
allowed to stand for few years they
would increase in value rapidly. Did
not think that the conclusions arrived
at upon this subject by commissions
in adjoining states would apply to
Vermont, as our soil and conditions
are different, and he commended the
subject as one worthy of study and
investigation.
In the evening, Prof. J. /. Hills Of
the Board gave talk upon milk test
ing and illustrated his topic by test
ing various samples of milk that had
been brought in by the farmers OF The
town.
Wednesday forenoon, II. M. Arms
of the Board gave talk upon "Corn
and the Silo." He believed the corn
crop was the cheapest crop grown
upon Vermont farms; that more feed
inc value per acre could be secured
from corn than from any other crop;
that it was a crop adapted to large
of the farms OF Vermont,
and that the high average taken BY |
the state in corn production at the
last census showed conclnsively that
the state was adapted to corn grow
inc. He believed that the silo was
to securing the best results IN
farming at the present time, and that
The corn crop was harvested at less ex-
pense when put into the silo than in
inv other way. Said the building OF
! silo did not involve any large outlay
If money; that it had been found that
he silo constructed of lumber was
much better than the expensive silos
'ormerly built of masonry. Ensllage
would keep better with board sides
han with sides built Of stone. The
lilo is conveniently made by taking a
portion of one Of the bays in our
present barns, putting in a solid
framework for the silo and then coy
ring it on the inside with boards.
lie liked to use one thickness OF /
,oards only, using matched sheathi.n,g
# good quality and coating the inside
With coal tar. Thought a silo built
Il this way would last longer than Il
made of two thicknesses OF boards
Nth paper between, as was commonly
racticed, would dry more quickly !
Then empty and, therefore. would |
81 rot 50 soon. Said it was neces-
ary to make the framework OF the
ilo very solid as there is great lat
raj pressure while the ensilage IS 9
citing. Would make the bottom OF
NJ silo fight by using cement. Wanted
L ~ n