Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-14
C0RNsTMK II FEET HIGH
Chittenden County a Regular
Alice's Wonderland Lately.
Corn with Seven Ears on Stalk, MiIIet
Six Feet -Four Inches High, ~
Loads Of Alfalfa In Two Crops
on Four Acres.

IF County Agent ]. w. Dana OF Chit
tenden saved all the queer botanical
specimens which he and the members
Of the county farmers association came
across from time to time he could start
n small museum of natural history Of
the farm. Not all Of these specimens are
freaks either, nor doctored plants
l. T. Towards farm at West Milton
last week provided one OF tho most
monstrous freaks in the shape of a corn
plant II feet high. The stalk OF the plant
has two ears Of corn upon it. SO a! the
strength didn't go TO the tassel. The case
was reported by r. l.. Merritt uf the
county testers association.
Mr.. Dana last week obtained plant
with seen ears on the stalk on the
farm of Fred Wiltfrank in Huntington.
Not all of the ears were OF the usual
size. but most Of them were about nor
NAL.
w. NJ. BARRIERS farm Al Wiliston con-
tains n field Of millet the average height
Of which Is about six feet. There is one
plant which was taken out as q soul
venir, that measured four inches better
than that.
The farm Of C. s. Brush OF Bolton
yielded soy bean plant recently with
two or three times the ordinary number
of nodules The tiny bulbs studded the
roots so thckly that there was little else
to be seen Many of the globes. small
as they naturally are were larger than
the average, This was the only doctor
ed case among all here reported The
seed we're soaked in governments ~ epar-
ed bacterial fluid before being put into
the ground. The other method is to soak
the ground after the plant has bcnr put
in
Mr.. Dana has in his office a vetch
plant nine feet high wnicn he ,kes TO
show visitors The normal high OF
vetch is five feet. This plant was taken
from j. Watson Webb's farm, Southern
Acres. in Shelburne. It isn't the only
specimen of the sort that has been pick
ed or cut in Chittenden. but 1t is the
biggest announced on record
c. f. Mcneil OF Charlotte cut 81 loads
OF alfalfa OF an average weight of a
ton or more each, from an eight-acre
field on his farm. This yield represents
only the first and second crops third
VIII be removed soon which should
weigh at least ten tons or amount to ten
loads. Nobody hereafter can mention
the success of alfalfa in Vermont. with
out saying something about Chttenden's
alfalfa. But read the next paragraph
Carl c. Fletcher of Shelburne has cut
four crops of alfalfa on a five-acrs field
of his farm. The last crop was taken
off about September |. The plants were
of fine size as we'll as plentiful, and
Fletcher is believed to hold the county
record. Five crops are practically I'M
heard of. And many people think of al
falfa only as a product of the broad
West
The fall strawberry. alias the everlast-
ing, is making itself thought about In
Chittenden and in the city even more
than In years. The berries have been
hawked about the streets most of the
summer. and Mr. Dana declares the plant
can be grown during a good share OF the
spring as well as the summer. TIE ber-
ries are being picked even now, in spite
of the colder weather, and unless frost
nips them will be growing probably for
weeks yet The plants contain blossoms
and fruit together, which is not such a
common thing either.
These are only selected few Of many
specimens that the county agent or the
members of the county farmers associa-
ton meet with almost CONSTANTLY A re-
cent case more remarkable than any of
the foregoing concerns some stock on a
farm in the county. But that's another
story which can't be told, for various
reasons