The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-06-29
WORK AMONG THE FARMERS.
Continued from Page ID

The planting of young orchards is a
good investment, but the farmers who /
have bearing trees are finding that money
spent in pruning and spraying gives better
returns and begins to come back the same
year With the production of apples in
creasing every year, the successful grower
is the one who can produce fruit just a
little better than his neighbor, and that
means pruning and spraying.
COWS. Dairy farming maintains the |
fertility Of the soil and is the type of |
farming that ought to be followed in this /
county if it can be done at fair profit |
On many farms dairying is not returning |
a fair profit Cow test association figures |
taken in this county shoE that there are |
many cows which do not pay the cost Of |
the feed they eat, to say nothing of labor, |
taxes, interest, etc. There are three |
ways in which to attack this problem |
Better feeding higher producing COWS, and |
better markets
Cow testing associations are helping to- !
wards better feeding and higher producing |
cows Through the efforts of the county |
association over 500 cows habe been under
the test for at least year. The West
River Testing association organized in
1914 and hired a tester The members
were scattered along the West River val
itN lIOIl i4dHuAlONe 10 bIdJl1bDO1O, max
ing it difficult to organize ant impossible
to get together and talk over the affairs
of the association. Owing to these condi-
/ ions and other unfortunate circumstances
the members did not care to continue
after their year was finished.
About Jan l, 1915, a group of farmers
! in Brattlcboro and Vernon organized the
Fort Drummer Testing association. Short
! ~ after, another group in Westminster and
Rockingham organized the Bellows Falls
/ Testing association. These two associa-
tions include about 500 cows and together
employ a tester.
! There is one handicap to the testing as
4 socation. They are not practical in com
munities where the dairies are small We
need some economical method by which
the six and cght-cow dairyman can have
his testing done and his records figured
out
Within the last few years Boston con
tractors have begun drawing milk from
the eastern side of the county They pay
d good price at first, but as soon as the
creameries are out of business the price
goes down and the payments come slower.
At the present time our farmers stand a
fair chance of losing $4,000 through the
bankruptcy proceedings of one company
We need a better price, prompt payments,
and more stable market for our dairy
product. How to get this is one of our
greatest problems, and thus far little i'm
preston has been made.
Some of our farmers raise purebred or
very high grade stock to turn on the
] market each year. These men as a rule
are the ones who are making the most
money With the price of good dairy cows
going higher and higher the proceeds from
u ho g.. 60 II,
often puts the balance on the right side
of the book
HAY. Hay is one OF our greatest crops
Z and yet when one rides by our farms in
: early summer he cannot help but notice
the low average hay yield. Continued crop
ping with little put back has reduced the
supply Of available plant food the soil ha.
become acid and poor grasses have re
placed the more valuable ones a These
fields win quickly respond to an application
OF hlmus and lime accompanied by 1h,
proper cultivation.
Many farmers are applying lime, and thi.
with a good supply of humus before seed
ing down gives a very favorable condition
for a good hay crop in the years following
In many cases farmers are supplemental.
: the manure by turning under green crops
r Rye, rape or turnips sown in corn at tn,
4 time of the last cultivation often will Civ,
a considerable amount of vegetable mate
: rial TO pillow under that fall or the follow
= ing spring, More attention should b,
e given to these catch crops to turn unde
and help keep up the humus supply, whcl
to Is most always deficient.
Sc Many farmers are topdressing thei
grass each spring with small amount o
ce available fertilizer. For timothy and nike
grasses very common and very good mis-
= ture for one acre is 125 pounds nitrate G
To- soda, 125 pounds acid phosphate, and )
pounds muriate Of potash. If this mix
n. ture is applied good stand of timoth
a., or mixed grasses early in the spring (abou
gu May II the results are usually very sati.
= factory
=, a. In the spring of 1914, y farmers cor
a. Quoted top dressing demonstrations. b
g. applying 300 pounds of this mixture, cos
rk ing about $3.50, one man was able to il
&c crease his hay yield a ton to the acr,
n Similar results are frequently obtained
Z: With more humus in the soil and wit
= lime applied before seeding down an
y. with a small amount of available plaI
y: food applied early each spring many ,
our farmers are markedly increasing the
!, hay crops
Is: ALFALFA AND CLOVER. Ever
. dairy farmer should produce more leguln,
N. to keep up the nitrogen supply in IL
Ia soil and to furnish more of the high cos
8. ing protein for his stock
an. The protein content of alfalfa is a lit
a. higher than that of clover but its requir
~ ments are slightly more exaeting. Sever
= men in the county have succeeded vel
i re well in the raising of alfalfa, keeping
md good stand on the same field for sever
years without re-seeding. These m,
md have lined heavily, they have inoculate
na and used northern grown seed. This tn
IT. have done on soil which was well drain,
Dig. and well supplied with humus
ok Red clover is not quite as exacting, b
most fields in this county used more lin
I'd