Norwich bulletin., 1913-04-03

From Forest to Corn Field. H. 0. Daniels of Middletown took
 as his subject, From Forest to- Corn i Field. his talk being an account or | his experiences in clearing forest land | for cornffeId.
 It cost S65 an acre to get that soil i in productive shape but now 1t IS
 worth s125 an acre. The land has
 will be again planted to corn this season. Later the land win Dc used , for oats. clover and finally alfalfa Afternoon Session.
 At the afternoon session Prof. J. NJ Trueman of tl1e Connecticut Agricul- | tural college spoke upon the selection of dairy cattle. arousing much inter 1 to throw away calves, he said. so we must select our stock in such way as to prevent the birth of undesir- able individuals. To secure a high and presents many problems. It re- quires not only skillfu1 breeding but ! careful feeding and attention Prof. Trueman spoke of various diseases
 mentioned methods of preventing such deaths. The death of a young calf, 1 however. he said. is more often due to 1 disease in the herd than simply an affliction of the individual.
 You are often told that all that is required is that you purchase a good bull and breed to him your best grade cows The idea of getting a good bull is all right but that is not all there is to it When you simply take better care of your cows, you only get a larger money return for the COW pays back the extra care you give her, but , you are not doing anything to improve the breed. The average Connecticut COW can increase her production 1000 pounds year with an increase in care and feeding, but when you have given 6 41 ic he 6 thing for the world. You haven't i'm proved the machine with which you work.
 Big Chance for Improving Herd. One may ask if with care in breed ing and care in keeping and feeding, there is any chance of a higher class of dairy cattle. There are cows of almost all breeds giving 1000 pounds of fat a year while the average COW gives but 115 pounds. This shows i that there is something to look for | ward to. Certain animals have been so bred that they will do wonders in production. You cannot hope to make the average herd produce 1000 see that there is a big chance for i'm proyement.
 Getting Good Calves.
 | Care and feeding help but breeding ] is at the bottom of the big records. ! It is the blood that you must set hold l Ol. lUe average NOnnocl1Cut ISIul6T I is not in a position to spend $500O 1 to s1o000 for a calf but you se- l cure blood of record breakers through 1 various related fanatics. If the sire 1 then one-half the offspring will be good. If we add to the good sire and l dam, four good grandparents, the lat | ter will add 25 per cent, making the cent This, however, does not tell any | thing of the individual. If we add
 another generation of good ancestors then approximately s7 12 per cent. of the offspring will be good calves.
 The opposite is also true. Then in buying a grandson of famous COW, what is the hope that it's offspring will be good? The four grandparents the bull and that famous COW nas but $ 14 per cent. of bearing on the chance that he will be good and but Is per cent. in its offspring. We cannot take a chance on a bull with a few good ancestors.
 Good calves are produced by a bull of good ancestors. The offspring is influenced by his ancestors in decreas- ing measure and the average of the offspring will be the same as the aver age of the ancestors
 This applies to humanity as well as to cows. That Is the reason that the sons of a great man are not equally great; some may be better. some less. but the average will be the average of the ancestors We get a great man or great COW. occasionally and we must eliminate little by little, the poor CT and by and by the average will be great. The actual physical units Of an animal are handed down in his progeny. The actual physical particles Of this generation are handed down in the next.
 We want te select eHf stock fer eer- tain qualities. The fewer points on
 which we decide the easier it will be. h hot select at all for it is impossible to find an animal which combines all desirable points. There are three points on which I would choose my stock: vigeF, fertility and production Viger is necessary to carry on the
 line. Fertility is essential that the bad
 may be elirainated and the good calves
 only saved and finally production is
 essential, in the COW, as this quality
 will be carried to the afss-Gring
 On Soil Fertility.
 Pref. William M. Bsten, bacteriol-
 egist and soil expert ef the Sterrs Ex-
 pertinent station and the Connecticut
 Agricultural college gave an address
 on Soil Fertility. Under present con
 ditions, he said, we pay more than
 eighty millions of dollars for food out
 side the state; money which should
 go te the farmers of Connecticut We.
 the consumers. would rather pay it to
 the local farmers and that would give
 5000 to every farmer in Connecticut
 Of the eighty millions, the actual
 producer gets but 27 millions, the
 balance being spent in distribution.
 If the state can produce this then
 the difference now spent in distribu-
 ton can be divided between the local
 farmer and the consumer and both
 are immeasurably better off Not only
 can Connecticut raise food enough for
 its people but for many more as well.
 There are four cornerstones on which
 successful agriculture can be built up,
 nitrogen, lime, phosp phorus and organic
 matter. The farmers of the past who
 were not farmers, but soil miners, have
 toppled os~ the agricultural struc-
 ture and 1t is on these four stones that
 the farmer of today must build it up
 again The deserted farm, eyeryw here
 In evidence in Connecticut is 9 monu-
 ment to the soil miner. Our prede-
 cessors found the country rich and
 productive and believed that they could
 continue to take from the soil with
 out giving anything in return, but this
 has been found impossible. The speak
 CT then proceeded to speak on the var