Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1908-02-27
AGRICULTURAL MEETING.
Addresses on Oairying, Fruit Crow
ing, Good Roads and Birds.

The Vermont State Board of Agricul-
ture held meetings in Grange hall last
Thursday afternoon and evening that had
good attendance and proved of general
interest as well as of special profit to the
assembled farmers.
In the afternoon there were at least fit.
ty present, who listened with close atten-
ton to the addresses and Joined in keen
discussion and exchange of experiences
on practical points sugg sted by the
speakers. John l.. Hutchinson of
West Randolph grange extended a
cordial welcome to the visitors, and A. M.
Vaughan, member of the board, presid-
ed over the meetings.
The first speaker in the afternoon was
B. Walker McKeen of Fryeburg, Me-, ex-
secretary of the Maine Board of Agricul-
ture, whose topic was the dairy COW. He
sketched the development of the present
dairy stock from the old native breed and
indicated the points to be considered in
the selection of a good herd. He des-
cribed the best methods to be followed in
feeding and handling stock and illustrat-
ed his remarks with charts showing the
model dairy animal and the model stable.
George Terrill of Morrisville presented
the subject of small fruits from the expe-
rience of successful grower, who had
''proved his recipes and knew where I
he spoke. This branch of farming was
not one to be neglected in his opinion,
not only on account of the profit there is
in it but also for the dietary good of the
farmers family. 1t is an object to grow
Strawberries, and any land that will raise
corn will raise berries with no more
work. Plants should be obtained as near
home as it is possible to get them, as they
are then better adapted to the natural
conditions, while plants brought from
farther south are quite likely to be too
mature to do well in the northern season.
The matter of variety should receive care
full attention; for one variety set alone
will not produce fruit. There are bi-sex-
ual plants but The best berries are raised
from plants that do not produce pollen
and must be set with pollen-bearing vari-
ETY. every third row. This manner of set
ting should be followed with all fruits,
even apples, to ensure good results.
Mark out your ground and prepare it
as you would for corn, bearing in mind
that it is almost impossible to make the
land too rich for Strawberries. Set the
for the patch yourself, but if hired help
will do the picking, leave four or five
feet between the rows. Cultivate with
fine-tooth cultivator and with some hand
hoeing, covering with straw horse man
ure. If you go into Embarrassing COM
mercially, sort your berries; for it pays to
put nice berries in clean baskets on the
market. Good fruit will outsell second
and third grades and bring better re-
turns. One acre can be made to yield
$500 worth of fruit besides crop of hum
garian grown the same year. The culti-
walton of other small fruits can be done
just as easily as Strawberries, and even
more easily, such as black, red and yell
low raspberries and blackberries.
Orchard land in the West, Mr.. TerrilI
said, is worth 1000 an acre, and in this
state Grand Isle orchard land cannot be
bought. The ground for orchards should
be freed from stones, and smoothed in or
der to facilitate spraying, which ought to
be started early and continued regularly
with force pump that can be bought for
50 or 81. Hogs and sheep can be allowed
TO run in orchards to advantage if Civ
en- room enough so that they will not in
jure the trees.
Baldwins and greetings are the leading
apples of the country though there is a
demand for Mcintosh reds and they will
lead in price. The grower should not
set his orchard to any one variety or to
too many varieties-not more than half
dozen. Pick the fruit as late as possible
in the fall and store them in a cool place.
Apples should keep better in Vermont
cellar than in any cold storage of Boston
or New York.
Mice are great pests in orchards, but
fresh earth or sawdust around the trees
will materially hinder their operations. In
grating, select scions from thrifty trees
and if the parent stock is crab, the
best graft will be Mcintosh Red.
At the conclusion of Mr.. TerrilPs adj
dress, many questions were asked, that
showed lively appreciation of the inn
portance of the subject discussed.
The evening session was opened by
from the male quartet-John l..
Edwin Martin, Glenn Bailey
and A. NJ. Vaughan. Charles w. Gates
of Franklin, state highway commissioner,
was then introduced and announced his
appearance at these meetings to be for the
purpose of providing means of disburse'
ment for the riches sure to accumulate
from following the advice of the other
speakers.
No subject is so vital to farmers as that
of good roads. No matter what our bust
ness, we all use the roads-men, women
and children and even the tramp. We
are all in the business of transportation,
which is the basic principle of human
progress, and the degree of road excel
lence marks the civilization of countries.
Our roads are built by taxation, while
in the old countries roads are built by the
government. If we attempt to improve
the highways, it is going to cost money,
and the states, one after another, have
been trying to decide upon the methods
of improvement that differ in different
states in accordance with conditions pc
culiar to each commonwealth. New
Jersey first started the work and was fol-
lowed by Massachusetts II years later.
Their roads were built between the larger
towns and cities, making trunk lines,
with the result that automobile travel in
has increased enormously.
Macadam has come to be considered the
ideal road and is the kind made in New