The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1915-09-16
Towns Desiring a Campaign


n NJ the county may request assistance
ii from tie County Association in con
d ducting campaign and the Count!
n Association will respond as soon as i
h nav be possible in keeping with The
K two principles stated above. II is the
o purpose Of the Association to cover
Is the entire county as rapidly as pos
e lsible.
e THE Agricultural Problem and What
K the Improvement Association is Do
ing in this Line.
The agricultural problem in Ben
S hington county may be considered
:, from four standpoints, namely, soil,
< drops, livestock and people. Giving
S these briefly, the soil problem consists
) bf addition Of lime and humus, as well
| bs better tillage and fertilizing. The
{ drop problem is perhaps more complex
than those in connection with the soil.
, Better varieties Of corn and oats are
, needed, better meadow and pasture
arrangements are required also. 1t
must be remembered that in consider
ing these problems Bennington county
Is taken as a whole; there are OF
course many individual farms where
thes problems have been solved. In
connection with livestock there are
several things to be desired. In the
first place better individuals of the
different classes, horses, cattle sheep
and hogs, are needed. More sheep
Should be kept on our farms not only
to clean up the pastures, but also to
furnish wool and mutton at substan-
tial profit. In dairying records of
production should be kept more than
at present, that dairy farmers may be
able to obtain more than a new dollar
for an old one.
1t goes without saying that the
most important problem has to do
with the farmer himself, the human
being is of more consequence than
those things with which he works.
One important requisite in this county
is effective organizations of farmers.
The problems Of rural life are most
efficiently handled thus.
The Improvement Association has
promoted several local farmers or
CARNATIONS and stands ready to lend |
its assistance through its secretary |
and county agricultural agent to any |
group Of farmers in the county who !
desire to organize. Of course, it is
impossible for the association and the
county agent to touch more than
few of the problems each year. Every
season some one thing is emphasized,
Following is a brief resume of the
work.
Soils:-Over 200 soil samples were
tested for acidity last year and advice
n connection with lime application
given. Lime has been applied on at
east ten one-acre plot for the purpose
If demonstration Other soil prob
ems have been touched as they arose,
many suggestions being made by the
county agent in this connection.
Crops:-1mproved methods Of grow
ng oats and corn were demonstrated
asst year. The work with oats gave
rood results, an average increase of
early 10 bushels per acre being Sc
ured on 20 plots. The work with
orn did not prove as well, although {
where directions were followed good I
esults were obtained. One demon |
traitor reported so per cent increase
4 yield on his demonstration acre as
with that on his check plot. !
t is hardly necessary to state that !
lany questions were answered and !
lggestions made concerning crop 7
Livestock:-The work with livestock t
as not as yet been emphasized. 1t |
planned to engage in this phase of p
lie work considerably more the com s
e year. The first work to be taken 3
; is The keeping of dairy production !.
cords. This work will start in Sep :.
mber with 10 demonstrators in diff y
rent parts of the county. j.
People:-Two extension schools v
I'VE been held, one in West Rupert n
ID one at Bennington. The West b.
lpert school had a woomen's section n
which instruction was given in
rious branches of housekeeping and ~
me making. These schools lasted -
e days, and the agricultural sections =
we many suggestions of value to A
rmers. 1t is planned to hold two 81
tension schools the coming year. do
In cooperation with the State Ag- ed
cultural Extension Service eight th
estock judging demonstrations were 70
Id in June, 1915, for boys under Is 10
airs Of age. The purpose OF these al
was to instruct boys ~
take part in livestock judging com 90
titions at the Battenkill Valley Fair. III