Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-11-16
FARMERS INSTITUTE.

/
The first days proceedings of the Glou-
cester County Farmers Institute, at Swedes-
boro, yesterday, were of an exceedingly
interesting character.
The attendance was large, and the ex-
hibit of fruits, vegetables and flowers the
finest ever seen at the county institutes
President VIM Fl. Hoffman, in welcom-
| ing the Grapgers said the display Of farm
products seemed to be evidence that the
farmer has secured what be labored for
during the year past, and that God had
certainly favored the farmer, despite the
difficulties with some crops.
Franklin Dye, Secretary of the State
Board Of Agriculture, made the response,
and spoke words of announcement to the
Grangers on the loss to the hay crop during
the past season
James E Rice, a forceful institute con-
ductor of New York and practical farmer,
made an address on why Spray? When,
| How and WHAT He said the time had
come when farmers must spray TO compete
with the man who has learned the lesson
of spraying, and is placing on the market
nice, bright, smooth, fruit. The farmer
who sprays gets the first prize; we who
don't spray get what is left, and that is
very little.
Farmers should spray, first, to make
better fruit; secondly, to preserve the foliage;
healthy foliage is necessary to well develo-
ped fruit. Spray to kill worms; people
don't want apples on their tables filed
with worm holes Life continued the
speaker, sis too short. and money too bard
to get, to let the golden opportunity pass.
When you spray, do it thoroughly; don't
be afraid of wasting the mixture.
Apples should be sprayed twice at least,
and three times when subject to the fungus
troubles How and when to spray was
thoroughly explained by the speaker. He
said apples or pears should not be sprayed
while the fruit is in bloom 10 the dis
cussion following, number of the farmers
gave results from spraying, and all agreed
that it was profitable in the end.
"Home Life on the Farm" was the sub
ject of paper by Mrs. Lidie Hoffman, of
Clarksboro She said, among other things:
"Our verg best ought to shine out in the
home. We can picture the home of the
laborer, the merchant and the banker, but
the home of the farmer is vastly different
We find the husband and father at home
at night enjoying the full confidence of his
family. We find sweet companionship
and sympathy OF the farm, and while the
farming country does not offer the social
and worldly attractions of the cities, we
mothers should be thankful for it.n The
speaker emphasized the temperance
thought, and roundly scored the men for
permitting the legalized saloon to exist,
which she declared was the trap for the
innocent boy.
Secretary Dye followed in a strong ar
raignment of the saloon, which be char
acterized as the curse of society. He said
the farmer should not count only as sue
cess the raising of large crops, but the
bringing up of the family of children to-
honor the nation and cherish the love of
God.
THE internal cigarette is one of the
worst curses on young manhood = declared
Secretary Dye. sit undermines health,
racks the nervous system, impaiTs the
brain and makes idiots out of the young
men who smoke them. Our young men
who go TO the city are received with open
arms aud put in the mill and ground to-
pieces Don't be ashamed of the farm as
the home It's the chosen spot on earth.
Its Influences are far reaching, and the
character that is built up there generally
stands the test of hard knocks and years
of time
In the afternoon the institute listened
to an able address by Alva Agee. of Ohio,
on Unlocking Big Stores of Soil Fer
tilityp He said commercial fertilizers
were all right, but the farmer of to-day
did not need to spend so much money for
them, because practical methods are at
hand for releasing from the soil hun
dreds of tons of fertility stored there by
processes of nature.
On the subject, Does Commercial Fer
tilizers Compare Favorably with Compost
in the Growing of Crops and Maintenance
of Soil Fertility" Albert Heritage gave
bis own experience, which was that the
commercial fertilizer was equally as bene-
fetal as the compost.
James T. Budd gave some interesting
facts on growing asparagus and Secretary
Dye spoke on Agricultural Truth"
The Rights Of a Boy was the sub
ject Of an address last night by Mr.. Agee.