The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1903-02-20
At DECATUR AND KELLER.
Interesting One Day Institutes Held Last
Week.
THURSDAY MORNING AT DECATUR.

aDle paper on pIdpS OuibuiO' liz
stated that ridges such as are near Paw
Paw and Lawton are best for raising
Concords on account of the depth OF the
water line, though Delawares in his opin-
ion will do we'll on lower lard, even
thriving in places where Concords will
die out. He advocates using the same
system of trimming on vines that they
have been started on, not changing from
one system to another.
The discussion brought out his ratio
OF planting Concords and Delawares. He
believes the market for Delawares is
about one-twentieth that of Concords
and advised setting vineyards according
ly. The discussion finally led to a lively
argument on grape posts, in which
cedars were proposed as good, but it was
generally conceded that Usage orange
posts were the best, one man, whose
name will not be mentioned for the sake
of his reputation, stating that he once
hitched team to an Usage orange post
which had been set for 80 years, and In
attempting to pull it over, broke both
his whiffetrees and a chain, finally Civ
ing up the attempt in disgust
Management of Sandy Farms" was
the next topic, and was delivered In a
fascinating manner by r. A. Croman.
He explained the proper way of caring
for worn out farms, giving the treatment
to which they should be subjected to get
the best results
The discussion was taken up with en-
thusiasm, many good theories being ad-
vanced. Mr.. Croman said that an i'm
portant feature in improving worn out
lands is the keeping of cows for fertil-
izers and suggested Soy beans mixed
with corn as good crop to raise for
dairy purposes.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
This session was fairly attended,
though not as many were present as
should have been.
c. l.. Rich opened the proceedings of
the afternoon by reading a paper on
muck Farming" which, though short,
was to the point. He says that fertiliz-
ing muck land, though it is seldom prac-
ticed, is very profitable. A lively discus
sion followed, in which Mr.. Cook of
Illinois, who has purchased farm near
Decatur took an active part, as, in fact,
he did in all the discussions.
Mr.. Croman repeated Care and Feed
OF the Dairy Cow" clearly demonstrat.
ing his ability to make an old subject
fascinatingly new The discussion was
the most enthusiastic of all, though the
ideas advanced were mostly similar to
some i'm previous discussions.
"Small Fruits on the Farm" was read
by j. G. Hunt, Mr.. Farrand who was
on the program for this paper, not being
present. His ideas were similar to those
presented by r. b. Allen at Glendale.
The discussion was led by II. H. Sutton
of Decatur tie proposed that all farmers
should devote at least a half acre TO
small fruits, but was taken to task by \.
G.. Glidden of Paw Paw. who out of
sympathy for others made several good
excuses for the lack of small fruits on
the farm
This ended the farm sessions at Decatur,
the evening program being devoted to
music, recitations, aud two well delivered
local option lectures by ID. Anderson of
Paw Paw and Rev. Strickland of Kala-
mazoo.
FRIDAY MORNING At keller.
The meetings at Keller were held at
Corwn hall and were all well attended
by an intelligent gathering of farmers.
J. G.. Hunt opened the morning ses-
sion with L. A. Farrand's subject, Fruit
Growing VS. General Farming" Only
those interested in farming will succeed,
he believes, and fruit farming especially,
which be highly praised, needs the di-
rect attention of the owner.
A. w. Hayden of Keller led the dis
cusson of Mr.. Hunts paper. His idea
is that, though location should be con-
sidered in deciding the kind of farming
to be taken up. the nearer one clings to
the kind he understands best, the nearer
he will get to success.
f.. j.. Keasey made the statement IN
which he was upheld by M. ID. Buskirk
of Paw Paw that fruit man to reach
success must be more intelligent than
the general farmer
Il. A. Croman repeated Sandy Farms
and Treatment" i'm a more pleasing man
ner than at Decatur. In fact, every
repetition of any of his subjects seems to
satisfy his audience more than the last.
f.. Osborn of Keller led the discussion.
He. advanced the opinion that there is
living on every farm and that any good
farm will more than pay for itself in
from five to seven years If properly
handled. Mr.. Osborn is an ideal practi-
cal farmer, and offers dollar for every
weed found going to seed on his farm.
If his example was followed by all farm
ers there would be fewer failures.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
This session opened by a song, "Mich-
igan, My Michigan" after which Miss
Josephine Foster read an interesting
paper on Poultry on the Farm" but the
discussion was slight, few seeming to be
well posted on poultry.
Following was a paper by Il. r.. Jen-
nings on "Silos and Silage." He believes
in round silage, as it can be packed
more closely.
G.. A. Roosevelt, who led the discussion
stated that his observations had been
that feeding ensilage is much more