The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-23
THE FARMER: FEBRUARY g, 191f
WESTPORT

The ladies of the Greens Farms parish served a very bountiful dinner yesterday in the chapel of the Con- gregatioanl church, to some 200 ladies and gentlemen who were in attend ance at the Institute. Five long ta- bles were spread and every seat was occupied. The menu consisted of all kinds of cold meats, salads, biscuit, vegetables, fruits, cakes, pies and cof- fee. An hour was spent at the tables. The invited guests, and all the old folks, were asked to take a seat at the center table with the officers of the Farmers club. At o'clock Wm. o. Burr of Fairfield called the Insti- tute to order, and the first number on the program was piano quartet played by Virginia Park and the Miss es Bessie, Mary and Louise Jennings. Rev. MT. strayer offered prayer John H. Sherwood, who is 86 years old, had a seat on the platform, but his voice has failed him and the paper he had prepared for the afternoon, giving some of his recollections of the early days of the Farmers club, of which he was the first President, was read by Mr. Jennings. He alluded to the na- tai day of Washington and said Greens Farms was placed between the Sasco and the Saugatuck and was a historic spot. Its hills and dales are as fertile as any in the State, and it's green was once used for the drilling of soldiers. The first meeting of the club was held in a little brown school house on the green, where so many of the farmers of the town had been educated. This was January !, 1861. Afterwards the club met at private houses. He could remember when the first William H. Burr would send 5000 e. times thousands of bushels of onions. People then spent more time on their knees than some now do in church. Once the land flowed with milk and honey; now it floats on oil and rolls of money. The soap barrel and the pork barrel have gone; salt hay is neglected and sea weed is never used. Marine plants are good for fertilizers. There were bits of verse in the paper which all appreciated.
 George P. Jenn ngs read long but interesting historical sketch of the doings of the club since it's organiza- tion, pointing out the various topics which came up for consideration, such as ashes, cows. guano, the sorgum craze. the use of machinery fertilizers. the opposition to the trolley. the first storage battery, and the general pro- gross which has been made in 50 years. He said the club has today it's original constitution.
 pr. E. H. Jenkins of the State Agri- cultural Experiment Station, was the next speaker and said that in his youth they called him nick names, but now, behind his back, he is spoken of as the "old man." The individual passes away, but club remains young. There is no reason why the Farmers club should not live to be 250 years old. Our life covers a most remarkable epoch; at no other time has so much progress been made in natural science, in the comforts of 1'v
 ing and in the art of agriculture. No State has gone beyond Connecticut in the work of the farm. He spoke of the great influence which had been eXerted by Lebig's work on chemistry published in 1840. It was read by two boys, and both were fired by it. One was Samuel Johnson and the other William Brewer, the last of whom started out to make chemical analyss of soils. Both were educated away from the farm. and he thought much of the talk about going back to the farm was foolish. These men became the servants of the farmers all over the world. Brewer wrote two books How Crops Grow and How Crops Feed. These have been translated in to all the languages of Europe, and used as text books in Japan. The first agricultural experiment station was established in this State in 1875 and now they are in all the States in the Union, and there is one in Alaska. We have seen remarkable progress made in the value of clover, pea and alfalfa crops. These gather the free nitrogen of the air, and thus enrich or fertilize the soil. Dr. Jenkins gave the late Prof. Atwater of Middletown the credit of showing how leguminous crops gather nitrogen. They invite certain microbes to fix the nitrogen to the bulbs on the roots. We are learn ng more and more of these plants. He spoke of fungus diseases and insects and said the experiment station caused the use of spraying: It also devised the Babcock method of measuring the amount of cream there is in milk. He said too many farmers regard fertilizers as medicine for the soil and too little attention is paid to cultivation and the rotation of crops. In agriculture the main proposition is to put crops into heal thy surroundings. Experiments show that crops get but 1-33 per cent from fertilizers and 32-33 per cent from air and sunlight. He would have farmers pay more attention to the rotation of crops and study tillage. There is a lot of good fertilizer In a cultivator.
 After the close of the address by Dr. Jenkins, the club passed a resolu- tion, asking Governor Baldwin to re- appoint Hon. William H. Burr, of westport, as one of the Commissioners of the Israel Putnam Park.
 William O. Burr, in few remarks, proposed that the club pass resolu- ton and send to Washington, protest ing against the passage of the recj- procity treaty with Canada. He said it will work an injustice to the farm er He pointed out that the duty will be removed from farm products which are to come in free, and that manu- factured articles, even dressed beef and lumber, are to be protected. He read from the schedule, the list of farm products which are to be admit ted free of duty. Sweet potatoes are in the list This caused smile. MT. Burr said there is in Canada an ex- tent of territory of the same climate as New England. as large as all New England, New York, Pennsylvania and