The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-08-18
AGRICULTURAL.
Early Rising.

Most farmers get up early in the sum-
mer, There is 80 much to do and every
farmer knows that good start in the
morning is great deal in getting a
good days work. But it is not COM
mon for farmers to get up until four
O'Clock except those who live near
cities. 1t may not be generally known
that those farmers who live near large
cities have TO get up at from two to
half past three in order to get their
products into the early market This
is especially true of the milk and truck
farmers. The milkmen want to begin
their rounds at about half past five. If
a farmer has twenty cows to milk and
the milk has to be in the city at that
hour, he has to turn out pretty early,
especially if he lives some distance
away. In one case we know of such
dairy where there are three men to
milk twenty cows and the milk has to
be carried little over two miles. Two
of the men get up at $3.50 the other at
3:45. After men get used to the early
rising and learn just what to do, it is
not so difficult as one would imagine.
Each man has his work, one getting
the cooler ready, another the cans.
Each man has just such cows to milk,
and milks so many, the horse is fed a
light feed before going and another
light feed on his return. A certain
routine is gone through with each
morning, and the only difficulty is the
always getting to the delivery station at
from 5:45 to $50. But if the farmer is
occasionally late, so is the milkman,
and if one or the other has to wait a
little while no fault is found.
1t would seem strange to many farm
ers to live where thirty-minute ride
would bring them into broad-paved
avenues with trolley cars and all the
accessories of large modern city. In
the early morning hour few people are
to be seen. There are the policemen
with their white helmets and blue uni
forms; the milkmen with their cans;
the ice-wagons; and the farmers and
gardeners with their loads of produce.
Some of these loads have come ten to
fifteen or even twenty miles, starting
as early as midnight to get to the city
at five O'Clock. The loads consist of
everything which can be grown or pro-
duced on the farm or in the garden, all
kinds of vegetables, fruits, and dressed
meats. Sometimes coops of live fowls
are carried in, and many of the gar
deners go into the city every morning
with loads of produce. All these men
must be early risers, and 30 must their
wives for these men and their teams
have to be fed before they start, except
the start is made at midnight or there
abouts. Some of these early risers
sleep on the road, but such need a
well-trained horse. 1t is hard work
to get up so early and push things all
day, it requires early going to bed, and
we think that most of our readers who
are farmers would rather live back
from the cities and not have to make
such early hours. But in the city
markets it is the early bird that catches
the worm, it is the first corners who sell
their products the best as a rule. Hence
the need of early rising to secure the
best trade.
Below we print several methods of
dealing with the horn fly pest. We
have tried several things, but are not
yet satisfied with anything in this line
thus far. Just now we are using axle
grease, and we think it better than any
of the advertised remedies. But we
hope to find better method OF dealing
with this terrible pest than any we
have tried yet.