The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-09-13
CHITTENDEN COUNTY
RURAL WONDERLAND
Cornstalks II Feet High, with Seven
Ears of Corn on Stala-Fino AL
falfa and Millet Crops.

If County Agent j. w. Dana of
Chittendcn saved all the queer botan-
zeal specimens which he and the mem
bers Of the county farmers association
came across from time to time he could
start small museum of natural history
of the farm. Not all of these speci-
mems are freaks either, IT doctorcd
plants.
l. T. Howard 8 farm at West Milton
last week provided one of the most
moIstrous freaks i'll the shape of a
corn plant II feet hi"h. The stalk of
the plant has two e.. / corn upon it,
so all the strength d DIN L 90 to the tas-
sci The case was reported by K. l..
Merritt of the county cOw-tcstcrs as
sOciatiun.
Mr.. Dana last week obtained a plant
with seven 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
+ anal.
/ w. NJ. Barber's farm at Williston
contains a field of millet the average
height of which is about six feet.
There is one plant, which was taken
out as souvenir, 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 aum
her of uodulcs. The tiny bulbs stud
7 d"d the roots so thickly that there was
+, little else to he seen. MANY of the
T globes small as they naturally are
were larger than the average. Thi.
/ was the only doctorcd ease among al
here reported. The seeds were soaked
! in government prepared bacterial fuit
| before being put into the ground. Tn,
/ other method is to soak the ground af
/ ter the plant has been put in.
Mr.. Dana has in his office a vetcl
plant nine feet high which he likes t,
show visitors. The normal height O
vctch is five feet. This plant wa
taken from j. Watson Webb 5 farm
/ Southern Acres, in Shelburne. 1t isl
the only specimen of the sort that ha
been picked or cut i'll Chittenden, bu
it is the biggest announced on record
G. T.. Mcneil Of Charlotte. cut 3
loads of alfalfa of an average weigh
of ton or more each, from al eight
acre field on his farm. This Weld req
rcscnts only the first and second crops
4 third will be removed soon whic
should weigh at least ten tons o
amount to ten loads. Nobody hcreaftc
can mention the success of alfalfa i
Vermont, without SAYING somethin
about Chttcudcu s alfalfa. But rea
the next paragraph.
Carl c. Fletcher Of Shci6urne has en-
four crops of alfalfa on five-acr
field Of his farm. The last crop wa
taken off about Sept. !. The plant
were of fine size as well as plentiful
and Fletcher is believed to hold tn
county record. Five crops are pract
cally unheard of. And many peopi
think of alfalfa oaly as a product O
the broad West.
The fail strawberry, alias the ever
lasting, is making itself thought abou
in Chittcndcn and in the city eve
more than in years. The berries hav
been hawkcd about the streets most q
the summer, and Mr.. Dana declares til
plant can bc growl during a good shar
of the spring as well as the summe
The berries are being picked even nov
in spite of the colder. weather, and III
| less frost nips them will be CROWN
| probably for weeks yet The plant
contain blossoms and fruit togethc
which is not such a common thin
/ either.
i These are only selected few {
many specimens that the county agel
or the members of the county farmer
II association meet with almost constan
n Iy. a recent case more remarkab
4 a L., mn
some stock on a farm in the count
But that 5 another story. which can
\ he told, for various reasons.