Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-06-07
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

o0NTl0 Ut fy<1tttS - = ~ - -
The Gloucester County Board of Agri-
culture held the regular quarterly meet
ing at Patrons Hall. Mullica Hill, on last
Monday afternoon with good attendance
of officers and members.
On motion of Walter Heritage it was
decided to have an Institute this Fall and .
committee of five was appointed to arrange
fol the time and place and TO prepare q
suitable program. President Aaron Borton
named the following persons as members
of the committee Howard Hendrickson,
Aaron Somers, Mary G. Moore, Caddie
Gill, Susan NJ Smith.
The first topic discussed was How to
increase the cheer and comfort of home
Ellen B. Haines, the first speaker, suggested
that some of the best ways to accomplish
this was TO make the home happy and
the cheer would come with it; to haYe all
the necessary convenienees; to have good
well of water; to have the house situated
so as to have plenty of fresh air, to cultl-
yate the habit of looking on the bright side
of life; to have plenty of good reading
a0out the house
Sue NJ Smith gave quite an extended
and instructive talk on this subject in
which she said, in substance, the peace and
comfort of home depended largely on
every one recognizing their individu i re-
sponsibility to do their part To study to
make ourselves keep contented mind. In
the rush we often forget that contented
mind is the happiest; to cultivate the
habit of living within our means; pay as
we go, but live comfor ably. She quoted
some well chosen words of Thomas Jeffer-
son in which he said Harmony was the
first thing to be reached"
The next topic, "Who has the greatest
prospect for the future; those who sell
milk or those who make butter ?" had been
assigned to Clark Gardiner and Edmund
Ridgway. MIR. Gardiner, who was butter
maker, spoke first. He was not heavy
butter maker, but liked it better, mainly
because they did not have to do it Just
when someone else wanted you 10. He
considered the sale of oleomargerine a
great detriment to the butter maker.
Mr.. RidgwaY was milk shipper but he
seemed to think that the advantages were
pretty we'll divided, as the price of milk
and the price of butter advanced together
The raise in the price Of beef and so many
cattle going out of the country helped the
dairy business. as the attention of many
was turned in that direction.
Theo. Brown said that this question
would not admit of any positive answer as
it was self regulating The two greatest
enemies to the dairy business were the
manufacturers of oleomargerine and the
beer brewers The former hurt the sale
of butter and the latter decreased the con
sumption of milk. The labor required in
producing the milk was greater than that
required to produce the beer. Take the
last few years and the manufacturers OF
oleomargerine and beer have controlled
legislatures. The dairy business was a
great deal more important industry and the
farmers should assert their rights. No one
responded when Mrs. Brown asked for the
experience of someone present who had
tried both. The original question was
thoroughly discussed but neither side
seemed inclined to be very decided in their
opinion. One of the advantages the
butter-makers had was that il kept the
skim milk on the farm.
Anna Gill was the first speaker on "The
garden from w0man's standpoint She
advocated having the garden as near as
possible to the house, have all the Yege-
tables in season and all kinds.
Mrs. Cant was not present but she sent
paper in which she suggested having
about one acre near the house for a perma-
nent garden, have berries and about three
kinds of Strawberries, have it broadcasted
and have it planted as soon as spring
comes. The men would want TO neglect
the garden to get their other work done
which the wife should see did not occur
Have plenty of vegetables planted.
"The garden from mans standpoint
by Mr.. D. W. Sithens and Mr.. Bradshaw.
Mr.. Sithens would agree with the ladies il
he was going to have garden. He had
found it preferable to have what he called
lot for vegetables and farm it just the
same as any other part of the farm, al
though he thought it was good thing to
have garden near the house go that the
housekeepeE. or housewife could go out
after supper and pull the weeds, as they
could do it so much better than the men
This topic brought forth considerable
amusement and discussion between the
women and the men, the women not car
ing much for the privilege of helping in
the garden.
Mr.. Bradshaw, the other speaker on this
topic, advocated having the garden about
twice as long as wide, having the rows ar
ranged so that it could be farmed with q
horse; also recommended having a regular
time for taking care Of it, and suggested
the whole of Saturday afternoon for that
purpose which met the approval of the
women.
A question not on the program about
Thinning potatoes" was asked by Thos.
Borton, in answer to which Mr.. Sithens
said he had had it done With poor results,
which he attributed mostly to lack of care
fulness on the part Of the person doing it,
II it was done be sure to have someone
that would be careful Mr.. Ridgway did
not advise thinning potatoes, but if it was
done it should be done while they were
about four inches high.
Mr.. Sithens asked if anyone knew il
spraying would stop the blight on pear
trees, but the answers were in the mega
tive.
Job S. Haines gave a short explanation
on the bills passed by the legislature. One
was the establishing of travelling libraries
The other was in reference to the mainten-
ance of watering places along public high
ways. The latter provided that any person
who would maintain free watering trough
would be entitled to So rebate on their
taxes and 81 rebate for the maintenance
of pump, no more than five in a town
ship and subject to the approval of the
Township committee. The opinion of
those who spoke on the subject was that
the remuneration was very small for the
time and expense of maintaining such
places.
Adjourned.
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May Term of Court.
The jury in the Dick Stark case rem
dered verdict last Thursday in favor OF
the plaintiff for S199 81.