Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-11-26
This Man Raised Corn.

E. j. Ranslow of Swanton and was cal
led forth by the article which appeared
in these columns few weeks ago on the
same subject. Mr.. Ranslow evidently
believes that it is much more wise to
raise corn than to buy it, an opinion
which will probably be shared by all
thinking and progressive farmers.
To the Editor of the Register:
Three things especially threaten the
prosperity, physical and moral, of the
state of Vermont, intemperance, Sab
bath dissertation and Western grain.
And it only proves how easy it is for
one to dodge some evils and at the same
time fall victim to others. | can let
whiskey alone, seldom break the Sab
bath-only nick it little, but the feed
store with its enticements have often
been too many for the infrmities of hu-
man nature. However have taken the
pledge for year and this article is the
history of it.
The newspapers of the state have
been filled with editorials about farms
and their products. Forty seven arti-
cles have been written about my friend
Holmes apples two hundred and sixty
about big potato crops and big potatoes,
but when it comes to corn the silence is
thick and solid enough to cut into slugs
to shoot woodchucks with. Evidently
it is mt corn year in old Vermont.
This makes my story all the more in
teresting. And my story is better than
those Sabbath-school stories founded on
fact-it is fact. Last spring we plant
ed to corn fourteen acres and one hun
dred and thirty rods. About two acres
were planted to early dent and the bal
ance to eight rowed flint called the
Longfellow. This latter is very long
MANFRED at the rate of five 'spreader
loads to the acre except three acres
which had no manure. All of it recei-
we'd little less than three hundred of
posphate to the acre. Cultivated twice
and during haying when the corn was
just coming into tassel we muzzled the
horses and cultivated again and when
we could not use all of our hired men in
the forenoon put the balance to hoeing
between the hills. The work being
done so late not weed was left at har-
vest For two months after the last
of August we fed twenty-three cows all
they would eat once day as we have
not put our cows into fall feed at ALL
Cut the corn with a harvester the mid
corn to the yard and fed once a day
Nov. first the huskers came and husked
at five cents basket. We did our own
measuring and heaped the baskets till
they could hold no more. Even so the
men earned 81 to 81. 50a day. One man
husked SO baskets before dinner. We
have two thousand baskets of ears al
ter all that was cut and fed We would
have liked one week of corn weather in
Sept. but as matter of fact had no
real corn weather all summer. Still we
have great quantity of seed corn and
the bins are picture. Indeed so food
ed with corn were we that $50 baskets
had to be put into the farm house. We
don t have silo. We did have one and
big one but we never got rich out of
it. | notice that the silo men divide
their butter checks with the feed
store and give the larger half at that.
/ am an old fogy and like the odor of
sweet corn better than that of the silo
which always reminds me of brewery
Stops. We buy no manure and sell two
thirds of our y-sometimes more.
am convinced of one thing, the old say
ing cultivation is manure" is true.
But any way no man can estimate the
amount of corn that we cut and fed at
less than one acre. In which case we
had from less than fourteen acres, two
thousand heaped baskets of corn. |
claim that this was the best crop all
things considered in the state | also
claim that it was the best crop ever
raised in the state, and shall so claim
TILL convinced TO the contrary. l am a
good loosen and easily back down when
compelled to. Of course single acres
have produced more and great quanti-
ties of fertilizer may have produced
more in rare instances but all things
considered | claim to hold the record on
corn. Such land in the West would sell
for SIPS to $3.50 an acre. In this state
about $50 to $50 is an extreme For
returns Vermont can beat any of the
older Western states from a dollar in
vested.
Butwe must try and live off our farms
and not pay eternal tribute to the feed
stores. 1t only shows how bad habits
grow. When first bought commercial
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