The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-02-09
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Ine ninth annual session Of the Somer-
set County farmers Institute convened
In the court house at o'clock Monday
afternoon. The attendancea at the opening
session was small, but it is a matter of re-
gret that every farmer in the county could
not have been present and heard the ad-
mirable address delivered 10y Prof. John
Hamilton, Deputy Secretary Of Agricul-
tores on bookkeeping for Farmers, and
Farm Economy The speaker advanced
many new theories IN the science of farm
ing, perhaps the most startling of which
was the theory that it is more profitable
to feed cattle and horses in the barn than
to allow them to range over the farm.
According TO Prof. Hamilton, this is no
longer a theory, but an absolute fact,
which he eorroborated by the production
OF figures and the recital Of numerous in
eidents- Incidentally thespeaker referred
10 the enormous annual expenditure
made for fences aud fence repairs in Penn
syivania and urged farmers 70 do away
with fences altogether, or at least with
all but enough TO enclose run for stock,
which he said should be long strip in
stead OF the usual square field.
}. H. Shoemaker, ESQ, OF Philadelphia,
attorney for the Pure Food Commission,
read an interesting paper on the work ac-
eomplished by that body, and the difIicul-
ties confronting the agents charged with
enforcing the Law prohibiting the manu-
iacture aud sale of ole0.
DIR. ]. 7. Rothrock, State Forestry Com
missioner, delivered valuable lecture on
How Plants are Reproduced and Sus-
tained.''
At the evening session papers were read
by c. B. Moore, on FERTILIZERS" Miss
Maggie Miller on Farmers Homes"
and o. p. Shaver, on The Farmers"
Small Fruit Garden.
TUESDAY MORNING SESSION.
The court room was crowded at o'clock
Tuesday morning, representative farmers
from all parts ofthe county being present, |
many ofthem being accompanied by their
wives and daughters. The principal |
feature Of the session was an address by |
J. A. Fries. of State College, on ''Lime
and Marl and Agriculture The speak
er gave a number of simple tests 10 be |
made in order to show whether or not the
soil would be benefited by the judicious /
use of lime, and said that fiffy bushels per
acre as a rule was sufficient in majority /
of cases, sandy soil requiring more than
clay soil.
At the afternoon session, c. b. Cochran, /
Chemist of the Pure Food Commission,
delivered highly entertaining and in
structive lecture on Food Adulteration."
in which he pointed out the injury done
the farmers of Pennsylvania by the sale
OF cotton seed ell under the guise of lard,
butter, etc. He also touched upon the
adulteration of spices. coffee, cocoa, etc.
DIR. Leonard Pearson spoke for forty
minutes on Contagious Diseases of AMI
mails" He prefaced his remarks by call
ing attention to the fact that Somerset is
one Of four counties in the State that has
not reported contagious disease among
its cattle during the past eighteen months,
and for this reason he said the cattle of
Somerset county must be in as good con-
dition as they are anywhere la the coun-
try.
The institute has so far been the most
successful one held in the county, and
interest promises TO increase to-day and
Tomorrow, when it is altogether probable
that hundreds Of people will be unable to
gain admission TO the court room owing
to the great number ofpersons who desire
TO take advantage Of the intellectual feast
that has been prepared for them.