The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-02-26
FARMERS LEARNED
MANY THINGS
OF VALUE
Institute Yesterday and Last
Evening
SEVERAL GOOD SPEAKERS
Valuable Address BY Prof. stoneburn
Of Connecticut on Producing
Winter Eggs.

Winter Eggs.
For the first time in years the win
ter Farmers Institute held here
Thursday i'm G.. A. X. hall was well
attended and developed a great deal
of interest. This is not an extensive
farming section owing to the large
area of mountain and forest land, but
the fact that farms in Bennington
county are comparatively few in mum
Der makes them relatively more valu-
able by insuring a better local
market for crops AT the Institute
Thursday there were about 60 present
and the interest was maintained
throughout the afternoon and even
ing
o. L Martin of Plainfeld, state
commissioner Of agriculture presid-
ed and was the first speaker He out
lined the plans for the year and told
OF the efforts being made to supply
farmers with information and instruc-
ton that viii help them in their
business
The other speakers at the afternoon
session were Hon. F. l.. Davis OF
Pomfret who spoke on General
Farming" and Hon D. McKeou Of
Fryeburg, Me. whose subject was
Soils Both addresses were in.
structive and valuable.
AT the evening session there were
two particularly good addresses by
Prof +. H. Stoneburn, the poultry eX-
pert of the Connecticut agricultural
college, and Hon. ID. McKeon who was
for ten years member of the Maine
board Of agriculture Prot Stone
burns subject was winter egg pro
duction.
He stated that pullets must be
mainly depended on for winter eggs
and in order to get them to lay they
must be we'll developed and in good
condition when winter begins. Pull
lets Matched In March or April are
best Care should be taken during
the summer and fall to see that the
pullets are fed and cared for to bring
them to the proper development for
winter laying.
For winter layers he thought that
the American breeds are the best in
Guiding Rocks, Rhode Island Reds
and Wyandottes. For summer eggs
he was inclined to favor the Asiatic
breeds He said that success with
poultry depends more on the man or
woman handling the business than it
does on the breed
For feeding he advised as follows:
morning ration, whole grain fed in
litter that will compel the hens to
scratch to find il; noon ration. green
feed of moderate amount; late after.
noon ration. mash either dry or wet
In addition oyster shells and grit and
beef scrap should be kept before the
fowls all the time. In starting on
beef scrap though It should be fed
lightly until the hens get accustomed
to IT,
For whole grain to be fed in litter
in the morning he advised a mixture
of two parts wheat. two parts corn,
one part barley and one part oats.
An occasional feed of buckwheat is
also a good thing.
For mash his favorite mixture was
two parts brand, two parts corn meal.
one part middlings, one part ground
oats and one part oil meal
At Cornell university experiment
farm the mash mixture is composed
of coo lbs corn meal, 600 lbs middle
ings, 300 lbs of BRAN 100 lbs of oil
meal, 100 lbs of alfalfa AMI 500 lbs of
beef scrap If beef scrap is fed in
the mash It should not also be fed
separately.
AT the Maine experiment station
the mash mixture is composed of 200
lbs of bran 100 lbs of corn meal, 100
lbs Of middlings 100 lbs of gluten
or brewers grain, 100 lbs of linseed
meal and 100 lbs of beef scrap, Prof
Storebun liked this mixture but did
not think it had enough beef scrap.
Mash can be fed either dry or wet
with good results.
For green feed cabbage carrots,
mangels, turnips, etc. are good
Glover hay is also good for laying
hens
Mr. McKeon's subject was Corn.
He urged the farmers to plant more
corn and buy less. He stated that
on his farm in Maine he made net
profit of over $50 per acre on corn.
For fertilizer he used 20 loads of sta
BILE manure per acre and 600 pounds
of commercial fertilizer containing at
least four per cent Of nitrogen, seven
per cen phosphoric acid and ten per
cent available potash,
He urged fall blowing, especially in
section like this where there is not
much snow, so as to give the elements
chance to work on and disintigrate
the soil. Because Of this chemical ac-
ton Of the wind, rain and snow, 1t is
not best to pillow land too smoothly as
the air can penetrate the soil better
If the burrows are rounded and brok-
en-.
The speakers left here for Whining
ton where they are to hold a meeting
tonight
COST OVER 500 A DAY