The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-09-26
BENNINGT COUNTY
VERMONT IMPROVEMENT
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Roads


! is completed under f. +. Wardwell,
! road commissioner for Stamford
/ The road is graded q feet wide with
/ IA feet of macadam for surfacing
material. 1t is the only town build
/ ing macadam road thus far and is
/ their first experience
Because of the excellence of their
work additional money has been al
! lotted as follows.
Eli Wilmington at Landgrove,
enough to complete the new work as
far as the knoll at the top of the hill.
f. r. Harwood at North Dorset, au-
thority to continue the present road
until further orders.
Simeon Dean, at SALISBURY,
enough to properly complete the new
work satisfactory to the County Sup
ervisor
At Manchester a fine section of
road is being built on the Ideal Tour
by Fred Bourn. The famous crook
known as Hell's Turn by tourists is
a thing of the past, the material be-
ing used to widen the road
One of the finest sections of road
in Bennington county if not the en-
tire State of Vermont is the one on
the Ideal Tour at Landgrove. This
section Is just completed by Road
Commissioner Eli Wilmington and it
stamps him as one of the best road
constructors in Vermont.
Not only has the road been well
built, but the finance has been well
handled and so pleased is the County
Supervisor, ID. T. Bates, that active
steps are being taken by him to Sc
cure funds to extend the road to the
, foot of the hill.
Would it not be good plan to have
a sign at the side of the road saying:
This Road Built by--
Road Commissioner 1912"
along the improved roads?
No road commissioner should be
ashamed of any of his work and the
office should be one of honor As
the standard of work is raised and
more reports called for. the salaries
must be increased.
The salary should be large enough
to attract good men and to hold them.
With larger salaries paid, more will
be expected of the road commission
ers by the general public.
Several road commissioners will be
advanced in salary this year for the
following reasons. Transformation
of the roads; second-willingness to
adopt new ideas; third--economical
use of the road funds; fourth-sys-
tematic and neat reports
Out of nineteen road commissioners
, at least fifteen are still in the race
for the Wilbur watch and the roads
will be closely observed and accounts
closely watched up to the time snow
hys.
Agriculture
1t is interesting to note that farm
ers here and there in Bennington
County are beginning to raise alfalfa
with considerable success. Success
does not always come at once but
with sufficient experience these crops
bid fair to revolutionize our agricul-
ture within the next decade. The
Boston Chamber of Commerce gives
as an illustration of the success the
work done by Charles NJ. Jarvis, of
Berlin, Conn. II says that he had so
acres of as fine alfalfa as ever stood
out doors. In 1910 he cut tons to
the acre. The writer well remarks
with the possibility of producing
this crop which is worth practically
as much ton for ton as hay New Eng
land dairying and live stock husban-
dry has a brilliant outlook"
with New England Pork" says
George French in the book entitled
New England, selling as high as for
two years past, with quantities of
available skim-milk and abundant
pasturage, not to mention the large
quantities of available garbage from
towns and cities, swine offer an at
tractive proposition. A. j. Stapleton,
Springfield, Mass, bought a light,
sandy farm of 65 acres, gave up a
$14O0-ayear job, and went to raising
hogs and alfalfa. He is meeting with
remarkable success, and says: IF |
had given up my work five years ear
lier and devoted entire attention to
hogs and alfalfa, | would have been
! $4,000 ahead of the game now" K.
III. Clarke f. Morris, Conn, Oct. IL,
1909, bought 30 pigs six weeks old for
$3.50. Dec. 21st following he bought
two hogs for $50. He granted the
lot to Feb. 18th, at cost of s115. On
the later date he sold three thousand
three hundred twenty-four pounds of
pork at whole sale at 12h cents, OF
$47S. and 632 pounds a few days later
at IL cents. returning s6950. The
total cost was 1924, leaving a profit of
1923 for four months: interest on his
money and the little time 1t took
TO feed. A Vermont farmer. ]. r.
| Barrp, St Adams. raised 40 pigs in
1908 and sold them for s1OSS. Pigs
were charged with all the grain and
skim-milk used, also at the rate of
50 SO each for original cost After
paying his expenses the pigs netted
$3.50 each for original cost After
enthusiastic concerning New England
resources is George NJ. Twitchell. Au-
burn. lie says he can raise pork at
3 cents a pound. doing Il largely on
pasture which includes clover or al
falfa. and perhaps rape. When 1910
pork brought 10 and IL cents a pound
wholesale. and with this difference of
Z cents between cost and selling price
a determined farmer ought TO get
along. Il suggests a profit OF fifteen
dollars to twenty-five dollars on every
hos