Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-09-13
TOWN FARM INCOME
PLEASES 0VERSEER
Property Expected to Be Self
Supporting in Few Years
Contains About 100 Acres Pleasantly Sit
uated on Bonnyvale Road-Good Work
Of Mr.. and Mrs. saxton.

Contains About 100 Acres Pleasantly Sit
uated on Bonnyvae Road-oood Work
Of Mr. and Mrs. saxtcn.
A piece of municipal property which,
ii is expected, will be self-supportng |
within a few years and to which the |
general public pays little heed is the |
town farm on the Bonnyvae road. Con- |
tanning nearly 100 acres, it is admirably |
fitted for prosperous bit of farm prop |
erty, and with proper care and cultiva- |
ton it Is constantly yielding a larger in |
come and decreasing in expense to the |
town. For the past two years 1t has |
been in charge of A. L. Saxton, who |
has had years of experience in farm
work and who, with Overseer Of the
Poor o. T. Ware, takes a decided in
terest in its future and the improvement
of its land Mrs Saxton looks after the
welfare of the inmates and the house
work about the town home and tries to
make the irmates as comfortable as pos
sible, At the present time FIVE persons
are boarding at the farm.
Pleasantly located on the Bonnyvale
road, the farm is a level piece of ground
with gradually rising hin in the back
ground The house and barn are at
tached and nestle comfortably among
fruit and elm trees. A wide veranda
with restful chairs, a hammock and
settees give a home-like appearance to
the place and from the barn comes the
odor of new mown hay and the smell
of clean, healthy cows. Stepping with
in the door of the farmhouse one sees
that the matron is a typical Vermont
housewife. Everything is immaculate,
and glimpse into the larder shows that
she is a cook such have made the
homes of New England famous The
kitchen, dining room and the other
rooms on the lower floor are of the low
ceiling type and off the kitchen is the
shed with its variety Of baskets boxes
and other articles that accumulate about
a farm house. On the wall Is pasted an
old poster of show that appeared in
the town hall in Brattleboro years ago.
relic probably left by some former
farmland In the parlor is an organ
and music for the enjoyment of all. Up
stairs are rooms for sewing and sleeping.
In the ell, over the kitchen, are the
narrow, comfortable rooms of the in
mates. They are equipped with cot
beds, dressers and tables and in the
winter are heated by steam. In each
room is a quantity of reading matter
In the barn at nightfall one finds
four cows and two calves, one doomed
to the slaughter house this week, the
other to be raised for milk. There
are two horses, five and seven years
old and well matched. Mr.. Saxton says
d
team as ever were driven" Forrest"
young, frolicsome collie dog, likes to
have visitors call at the farm and does
all in his power to show that they are
welcome, occasionally barking at a hole
in one of the stalls where he feels that
a barn rat should appear to be slaugh-
tered for the amusement of the visit
ors Tons of hay are packed away in
the mows and a space is left for the
oats which were cut this week.
From the back door Of the barn
the farm spreads out before ones gaze.
Immediately in,the rear are two acres of
oats. To the left is half an acre of
sweet corn and behind the oats are two
and half acres of field corn. The farm
at present has no silo, and the corn
will be ground for the cattle. At the
left of the sweet corn is a half-acre
garden, supplying all kinds of vegetables
for table use, and among the garden
truck is a row of as handsome looking
Hubbard squash vines as there is II
southern Vermont. There are apple
trees about the place and many are
bearing ripe fruit
Under the barn are the pigs, boar
two sows and two shoats. They show
that they have been fed plentifully
Forrest" playfully bites at then
through the spaces in the fence ant
they squeal and return the compliment.
Ever since the property has been own
ed by the town the water supply ha
been inadequate. Recently two new
wells were dug on the hillside afte
the water, Mr.. Ware says, was locate
by means of a witch hazel divining rod
From the upper one water flows throug
pipe to the lower one, thence to tn
house and barn. The wells are beint
cemented above ground to prevent sur
face water from draining in. Mr. War
saws the finding of the water has addet
$500 to the value Of the property.
That the farm has been neglected /
years past is apparent. Wild CAIRO
grows in abundance and near the cor
fields at the left of the barn it will b
necessary to provide drainage Thi
will be done next year and the sid
hill and some other parts of the Ian
will be plowed and put in good cor
dition. At the top of the hill is the oil
isolation building, hidden behind tree
and east of it is an orchard of abor
80 Baldwin apple trees. These will /
pruned and cared for by an expert ne,
year and the ground will be plowed an
enriched with fertilizer. Even aftt
wears without care the trees are heal
ing plentifully, but the fruit is SINAI
With few years of nursing there is T
reason why the orchard should not bes
enough fruit to add materially to II
income from the farm. There is plent
of land for haying and gardening, ar
under the direction of Mr. Saxton. wi
Mr. Ware to add word of advice no
and then. the farm should. within a fe
years. be paying its own running a
count and perhaps yield a dividend.