Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-30
F.ARMEI1S' MEETING At coy
ENTRY.

! y - ~NAA O"O gave CIlO odoiOc VI
welcome, after which j. O. Sanford
took up the first subject, "Road Build
ing" and gave his views as to the
best methods of making and keeping
good roads. He said that the road
commissioner should not do much
manual labor, but have a general
oversight of all the roads, and should
appoint men in different parts of the
town to look after and keep in repair
certain sections of road; is not very
much in favor of the road machine as
it is used in most of the towns. A
short discussion followed.
On Tuesday pm. the first topic was
breeding and Care of Dairy Stock"
Taken up by A. W.Vail of the Board.
Said that in order to do any kind of
work successfully we should have
some knowledge of that work. The
best and greatest production of milk
was in a measure artificial, and
brought about by the choice selection
and careful breeding of the dairy COW.
He advised the raising of thorough
bred stock as far as possible, and Sc
lecting the very best to breed from,
not only in the line of dairy COWS, but
in all other animals; but when all
this has been done, unless proper at
tention is given to care and feeding
of stock, all the best results of good
breeding will be lost. Said that
the great records of some of the
dairy COWS was brought about by ju
dicious care and feeding. The great
est mixers were, as a rule, nervous,
and great care should be taken not to
excite them, as the flow of milk will
be diminished and thus the owner
would suffer loss. On the matter of
feeding, Mr.. Vail thought that the one
that did the most and best feeding got
the most profit. He advocated winter
dairying and the feeding of corn and
clover, ensilage, oats and peas sown
together were excellent feed for COWS:
he showed by a chart the value of
different feeds as fertilizers, cotton
seed being the largest, having cash
value as fertilizer Of 1854; linseed
meal next, $24.26; gluten, $20.O5;
wheat bran, $13.77; while corn meal
was valued at only S7.72; clover hay,
higher than other kinds, $3.50 A dis
cussion followed in relation to the
different kinds of feed, methods, and
time of feeding. Questions were free
| " asked and answered about the silO,
and best way of filling it, and the care
and harvesting of corn fodder when
one had no silo.
Tuesday evening: The first thing on
the program was a song by Ralph
Ware F. @. Williams of Coventry
took the next topic, ssShall Vermont
Farmers breed Horses?' spoke at
some length upon the different breeds
and families of horses in Vermont.
Paid a high tribute to the Morgon
horse, and advised the crossing of
this with some other breeds, with the
view of getting gentlemen's roadsters.
Said that this class farmers could
raise with profit, for they were always
in demand at fair prices. III. w. Vail
spoke upon a subject not on the pro-
gram, ''The Farmers relation to So
Getty" Thought the farmer should
not hive himself up like the hermit,
but should visit and exchange ideas
with others. Spoke of the bicycle
as a means of bringing people to-
gether, and shortening distances.
Said he thought the time would soon
come when the telephone would be in
| iohh 1n
Spoke Of the Grange as means of in
creasing the social relations of neigh
borhoods where they exist, and where
they do not, he thought farmers
clubs should be organized and thus by
all these different methods cultivate
a social spirit.
On Wednesday a. M. j. 0. Sanford
spoke upon the topic, "Production
and Application of Fertilizers.' Said
that most farmers were trying to till
too much land; they did not regard
the fertility of their farms as they
should. Manure was the farmers
bank or capital; did not believe in
selling the hay from the farm to the
extent that is being done. All farm
products should be fed on the farm
While farmers were paying out thou
sands of dollars every year for COM
mercial fertilizers, they were losing
more than that amount every year by
allowing so much of the liquid manure
to run to waste, which might be saved
by little expense in building and re-
pairing stables. Thought the proper
way should be to so arrange the
drawn out every day and spread on