Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-01-24
Board of Agriculture.
rleetings at rliddlesex, Berlin and
WilliamStOwn.

udy, Jan. 10 anu 10.
The first session was opened at 10
a. m., and the hall was well filled at
the opening. Mr.. VIM. B. McEllory
was made chairman of the meeting,
and the board were given welcome
by their former associate, Hon. VIM.
Chaplin, who said that the best well
come that could be given was large
attendance at these meetings and an
interested audience; that the interests
of the town of Middlesex were almost
exclusively agricultural and that the
basis of the prosperity of the town
was its 1000 to 1000 cows, and the
measure of prosperity is the intelli-
gence with which these cows are han
died. He welcomed the board in be-
half of the people of the town, believ-
ing that from these meetings will come
better practices and increased interest
in agriculture, which must mean
larger measure of prosperity for the
people.
The forenoon session was devoted to
the consideration of tuberculosis by
G. M. Winslow. 1t was not found
that the disease had been prevalent in
this town and but little fear of it was
entertained by the farmers present.
In the afternoon, j. O. Sanford
took up the subject of roads and the
topic proved of great interest, discus
sion being continued until nearly five
o'clock. The position taken by Mr.
Sanford on this subject in urging
towns to select for commissioners the
best business men without reference
to their capacity for manual labor and
to give to our highways constant, in
stead of occasional, supervision, met
with general approval.
The evening was occupied by +. w.
Spaulding of Poultney with a famil-
lar talk on poultry and the conditions
under which it may be made a sue
cess. Said it is to be the business of
the New England farmer to produce
eggs; believes the greater profit is in
that line, and in supplying fresh eggs
to the eastern cities has less to fear
from the competition of the West
than in supplying meat. Following
this talk, Mr.. Spear gave half hour
talk on dairy matters, urging the
farmers to use home grown feeds and
to grow more and a greater variety of
feeds upon their farms and to be
obliged to buy less. Believed that
when feeds are bought they should be
of the heterogeneous class to balance the
qualities lacking in our farm grown
crops. Did not think it economical
for the average farmer to buy corn.
Wednesday forenoon was devoted to
the maple sugar industry and the af-
ternoon to the Experiment Station
farming by Superintendent d. ID.
Howe.
Wednesday evening, Prof. l.. II.
Jones gave lecture on plant diseases
and their remedies. He noted great
advance made in knowledge of plant
diseases in the past few years and clas-
sitied plant diseases under three gem
eral heads
l. Physiological diseases.
2. Insect diseases.
3. Fungus diseases.
In the past season the main trouble |
had been with the first class and |
came from the dry weather. We are
able to exercise but little control of
surrounding conditions and can there
fore do little to protect ourselves from
injury in this direction. Defined fun
gus diseases as those caused by minute
plant growths and instanced bread
mould and scab upon apples as illus
trations. The Fameuse apple is very
subject to scab, and this scab is found
also on the leaves and twigs of the
trees as well as on the apple.
Bordeaux mixture is a remedy for
this disease, and to prevent the dis
ease, spray with preparation of blue
pound to Is gallons of
water-and later, when the leaves are
out, with the Bordeaux mixture.
When blossoms have fallen, spray
again, adding paris green. Spray
again about ten days later. The cod
ding moth lays eggs in blossom ends
and is killed by last two applications.
Where there is no scab spray with
paris green-one pound to 200 gal
Ions of water. In last seasons work,
value of Flemish Beauty pears was
doubled by four applications of Bor-
deaux mixture. In reference to black
knot, they should be removed from
trees at once by cutting them off.
With reference to potato diseases, said
that the two most common insect pests
were the potato bug and flea beetle.
The former too well understood to
need speaking of; the latter is an in
sect about the size of a pin head and
eats holes in the potato leaf. These
insects appear early, then disappear
and come again in July. They come
in large numbers and do great dam
age, are not killed by paris green but
are kept off by the Bordeaux mixture.
Had also found that the Bordeaux
mixture would keep off grasshoppers,
which attacked the potatoes at the
Experiment farm the past season in