furs eT Fee oo ood Nee beet RGN | es OTe Spleen lg i ee ea Bais Nertogt Zt pie 3y Tie ce ont ees uf 7 oe = LIBRARY mre) _F os rer ae mae be - ; er." Cnr: a A tis ar ") « Q1aISAVH LNOWYSA V,, TWENTY-FOURTH PMU AL REPORT TO HIS EXCELLENCY, JOHN G. MCCULLOUGH, Governor of Vermont. In compliance with Section 247, Chapter 21, of the General Laws of Vermont, I have the honor to submit herewith the Annual Report of the Board of Agriculture for the year ending June 30, 1904. CG. J. BELL, Secretary. LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL, TAeDay PRESS OF THE ECONOMIST CO. TROY, IN. Ye 1904. TABLE OF CONTENTS. AN ACT IN RELATION TO THE VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. An ACT IN RELATION TO THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. An ACT IN RELATION TO THE MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF PROVISIONS. AN ACT IN RELATION TO OFFENCES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH. AN ACT IN RELATION TO COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF DAIRYMEN, RELATING TO TESTING MILK AND CREAM. AN AcT IN RELATION TO CREAMERIES AND CHEESE FACTORIES AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SAME. AN Act To Protect MILK DEALERS AND CONSUMERS IN RELATION TO MILK CANS AND RECEPTACLES. AN Act TO REGULATE THE SALE OF CONCENTRATED COMMERCIAL FEEDING STUFFS. An Act TO PREVENT FRAUD IN THE SALE OF GARDEN SEEDS. REPORT OF SECRETARY OF BOARD. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS. VARIOUS PAPERS, DISCUSSIONS AND ADDRESSES. ~~ LOLEShHeCYr G& MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 1904 AND 1905. His EXCELLENCY, JOHN G. McCULLOUGH, Bennington. MATTHEW H. BUCKHAM, President University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Burlington, Chazrman, Cc. J. BELL, Walden, P. O., East Hardwick, Secrefary. ERNEST HITCHCOCK, Pittsford. GEORGE AITKEN, Woodstock. ANOACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PRINTING OF THE REPORT OF THE VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. Section two hundred and forty-seven of the Vermont Statutes shall be amended so as to read as follows: The Secretary shall prepare on or before the 30th day of June an- nually, a detailed report of the proceedings of the Board with such suggestions in regard to its duties and the advancement of the in- terests herein specified as may seem pertinent, and he may append thereto such abstracts of the proceedings of the several agricultural societies, and farmers’ clubs in the State as may be advisable, and the report of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association. The report shall show under separate heads the work of the Board relating to the different subjects herein mentioned. Sec. 2. The provisions of section two hundred and fifty-one of Ver- mont Statutes requiring the printing of a report by the Vermont Dairy- men’s Association is hereby repealed. Approved November 24, 1896. CHAPTER 23. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. SECTION SECTION 245. Members; vacancies, 247. Report. 246. Meetings. 248. Statistical information. Section 245. The Governor, the President of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, and three other persons appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the Senate during each biennial session of the General Assembly and who shall hold their office for the term of two years from and after the first day of December in the year in which the appointment is made, shall constitute the Board of Agriculture for the improvement of the general interests of hus- bandry, the promotion of agricultural education throughout the State, and for the discharge of such other duties as are hereinafter set forth; vacancies in the Board shall be filled by the Governor. Said Board shall appoint from its number a Secretary. Sec. 246. The Board shall hold one meeting in each county annually, and others if deemed expedient, and may employ lecturers, essayists or other aid in conducting said meetings, managing its affairs generally 6 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. and discharging its duties. At such meetings it shall present sub ects for discussion, and among other topics forestry and tree planting, roads and road making. Sec. 247. The Secretary shall prepare on or before the thirtieth day of June, annually, a detailed report of the proceedings of the Board, with such suggestions in regard to its duties, and the advancement of the interests herein specified as may seem pertinent; and he may append thereto such abstracts of the proceedings of the several agricultural societies and farmers’ clubs in the State as may be advisable. The report shall show under separate heads the work of the Board relating to the different subjects herein mentioned. Sec. 248. The Board shall collect authentic statistical information, as full as possible, relating to agriculture and agricultural products, farms and farm property, the manufacturing and mining industries of the State, which under a separate head, shall form a part of its annual report; and such information shall be complete as to unoccupied farms. The Board shall also publish such information in separate form showing by description and illustrations, the resources and attractions of Ver- mont; also the advantages the State offers and invitations it extends to capitalists, tourists and farmers; and shall distribute the same in such manner as, in its judgment, will be most effective in developing the resources and advertising the advantages of the State. CHAPTER 383. REGULATING MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF PROVISIONS. MILK AND CHEESE. SECTION SECTION, cy, i : 4337- Victuallers using imitation not 4327. Milk, dilution or adulteration of, pink subject to penalty. penalty for. i 4338. Analyses of specimens. 4328. Standard in creameries, etc. 4339. Warrants to search for imitation 4329. Samples tested for evidence. butter. 4330. Disposition of samples. 4340. “Butter” defined. 4331. Standard milk defined. 4332. Pent marking of butter and LARD. cheese. : 4333. Jurisdiction of justice. 4341. All but pure fat of swine to be labeled ‘compound lard ” IMITATION BUTTER AND CHEESE. 4342, Penalty for selling unmarked. 4334. Manufacture of prohibited. MAPLE SUGAR AND HONEY 4335. Penalty. : 4336. Imitation of butter sold to be col- 4343, Penalty for adulterating maple ored pink; penalty. sugar and honey. MILK AND CHEESE. Section 4327. A person who sells or furnishes, or has in his pos- session with intent to sell or furnish, milk diluted with water, adulterated or not of good standard quality or milk or cream which has been treated with chemicals, shall for each offense, be fined not more than VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 7 three hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars, and any person who sells or offers for sale or furnishes milk from which the cream or any part has been taken or keeps back part of the milk known as “strippings’” without the full knowledge of the person to whom such milk shall be sold or offered for sale or furnished shall for each offense, be fined as previously provided for in this section in cases of adultera- tion. Sec. 4328. In all creameries and cheese factories in this State milk containing four per cent. of butter fat shall be the standard used as a paying basis. Sec. 4329. Where, in prosecutions under the preceding section the ordinary means of proof are not available or sufficient, sealed samples of the milk sold or furnished, or kept with intent to be sold or furnished, taken from such milk in the presence of at least one disinterested wit- ness and with the knowledge and in the presence of the person or his agent or servant so selling or furnishing, or having in his possession with intent to sell or furnish, said milk may be sent to the state agricul- tural experiment station to be tested; the result of such test shall be deemed competent evidence in such prosecutions, but shall not exclude other evidence. Sec. 4330. Said samples shall be placed in tin or glass vessels securely sealed with a label thereon stating the time when, place where, the sample was drawn, from whose milk taken and signed by the person taking the same and by one or more disinterested witnesses. Upon request a like sample shall be given to such person, his agent or ser- vant, for which a receipt shall be given to the person taking or drawing the same. Sec. 4331. Standard milk shall contain not less than twelve and one- half per cent. of solids, or not less than nine and one-fourth of total solids exclusive of fat, except in the months of May and June, when it shall contain not less than twelve per cent. of total solids. This rule shall govern tests made at the experiment station, and an officer or employee thereof found guilty of fraud in making tests shall be fined one thousand dollars. Sec. 4332. A person who marks or otherwise designates or causes to be marked or otherwise designated as “‘creamery” butter or cheese, or the package in which it is contained, when such butter or cheese is not manufactured at a creamery, or sells or offers to sell any such butter or cheese so marked, shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars. Sec. 4333. Justices shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the county court in prosecutions under the four preceding sections. IMITATIONS OF BUTTER AND CHEESE. Sec. 4334. No person by himself, his agent, or servant, shall manu- facture out of animal fat, or animal or vegetable oils not produced from unadulterated milk or cream, any article in imitation of butter or 8 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. cheese, or mix with or add to milk, cream or butter any acids or other deleterious substances, animal fats, or animal or vegetable oils so as to produce an article in imitation of butter or cheese. Sec. 4335. If a person violates the provisions of the preceding sec- tion he shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars, and not less than one hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than one year and not less than six months for the first offense; and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and not less than three hundred dollars or imprisoned for one year. One-half of the fine shall go to the complainant. Sec. 4336. Ifa person by himself, his agent, or servant, sells, exposes for sale, or has in his possession with intent to sell, any article made in imitation of butter, that is of any other color than pink, shall, for every package sold or exposed for sale, be fined fifty dollars, and for each subsequent offense one hundred dollars. One-half of the fine shall go to the complainant. Sec. 4837. If a proprietor or keeper of a hotel, restaurant, boarding house, eating saloon or other place where food is furnished to persons paying for the same, places upon the table or has in his possession with intent to use, any article made in imitation of butter, that is of any other color than pink, he shall be fined fifty dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense one hundred dollars. One-half of the fine shall go to the complainant. Sec. 4338. The complainant may cause specimens of suspected butter or cheese to be analyzed or otherwise tested as to color and compounds; the expense of such analysis or test not exceeding twenty dollars, in any case, may be included in the cost of prosecution. Sec. 4339. A justice of the peace may issue a warrant for searching, in the day-time, any store, hotel, boarding house, or other place where oleomargarine, butterine, or other substance imitating butter or cheese is suspected to be kept or concealed, when the discovery of such article may tend to convict a person of any offense under the five preceding sections. No warrant shall be issued except upon the oath of some person that he has reason to suspect and does suspect that such article or articles are kept or concealed in the place to be searched. Sec. 4340. The term “butter” shall mean the product usually known by that name, manufactured exclusively from milk or cream or both, with or without salt or coloring matter. LARD. Sec. 4841. No person by himself, his agent or servant, shall prepare, sell or expose for sale lard or any substance intended for use as lard, which contains any ingredients but the pure fat of swine, in any tierce, bucket, pail or other package under a label bearing the words “pure,” “refined,” or ‘family,’ alone or in combination with other words, un- VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 9 less the package containing the same bears upon the outside thereof, in letters not less than one-fourth of an inch long, the words, “Compound Lard.” Sec. 4342. A person violating the provisions of the preceding section shall be fined not more than fifty dollars for each offense. MAPLE SUGAR AND HONEY. Sec. 4843. A person who adulterates maple sugar, maple syrup, or bees’ honey with cane sugar, glucose, or any substance whatever for the purpose of sale or knowingly sells maple sugar, maple syrup or bees’ honey that has been adulterated, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars for each offense; one-half of such fine shall go to the complainant. CHAPTER 222. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH. Section 5073. A person who knowingly sells diseased, corrupted or unwholesome provisions, for food or drink, shall be imprisoned not more than six months, or fined not more than three hundred dollars. Sec. 5074. A person who kills or causes to be killed, with intent to sell the meat thereof for family use, a calf less than four weeks old, or knowingly sells or has in his possession such meat with intent to sell the same in the state or to send the same for such use to any foreign market shall be punished as provided in the preceding section. 10 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. No. 88.—AN ACT TO REGULATE THE SALE OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. SECTION SECTION 1. Commercial fertilizer defined. 8. Penalty for selling without printed 2. Importer defined. statement. 3. Every lot of fertilizer offered for 9. Director of experiment station may sale shall have printed statement enter premises where fertilizer is of quality accompany it. stored and take out sample. 4. License fee of $100 paid before sale; 1o. Analysis of samples so taken. method and time of payment. 11. Penalty for hindering director in 5. Expiration of licenses; manufac- discharge of his duty. turer paying fee, agent not requir- 12. Director shall notify manufacturer ed to pay same. of violation of this act; prosecu- 6. Fees paid to state treasurer by di- tion of manufacturer. rector; treasurer to pay director 13. Brands of fertilizer distinct. expenses caused by performing 14. This act not to effect fertilizers duties imposed by this act. used by individuals. No person to sell certain products 15. Sections 4346 to 4359 V. S. repealed. as a fertilizer unless printed state- 16. Takes effect December 11, 1902. ment is affixed to package. Lt is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. The term “commercial fertilizer” as used in this act, shall be taken to mean compounds and manufactured substances containing, or represented as containing, two or more of the ingredients mentioned in section three of this act, but shall not apply to the separate in- gredients used to manufacture the same, or to bone meal, land plaster, lime, or any substance the product of nature, which has not been com- pounded. Sec. 2. The term “importer,” as used in this act, shall be taken to mean all who procure or sell commercial fertilizers made in other states. Sec. 3. Every lot or parcel of commercial fertilizer, sold, offered or exposed for sale in this State, the retail price of which is ten dollars or more per ton, shall be accompanied by a plainly printed and legible statement, clearly and truly certifying the number of net pounds of fertilizer in a package, the name, brand or trade-mark under which the fertilizer is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer or importer, and a chemical analysis stating the minimum percentages of nitrogen, of potash soluble in distilled water, and of soluble, reverted, insoluble, available and total phosphoric acids, and the maximum percentage of chlorin, or such of these as are claimed to be present; the several con- stituents to be determined by the methods adopted at the time by the association of official agricultural chemists. Sec. 4. The manufacturer, importer, agent or seller of a commer- cial fertilizer, the retail price of which is ten dollars or more per ton, shall, before the same is sold, offered or exposed for sale, annually in the month of December, pay the director of the Vermont agricultural experiment station a license fee of one hundred dollars. Said director, on the receipt of such fee, shall issue to such licensee a license per- mitting the sale in the state of not to exceed five brands of commercial fertilizer, all of which brands shall be the product of the licensee. If any VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. II manufacturer, importer, agent or seller desires to sell, offer or expose for sale more than this number of brands, he shall annually in the month of December pay a license fee of twenty dollars for each and every brand or kind of commercial fertilizer, bearing a distinctive name, brand or trade mark, which said manufacturer, importer, agent or seller is to sell, offer or expose for sale in excess of five; provided that if said fertilizer is claimed to or does contain phosphoric acid and either nitro- gen or potash only, the license fee shall be fifteen dollars. Said di- rector, on the receipt of each such fee, shall issue to such licensee a license for the sale of the brand or kind of commercial fertilizer for which the fee is paid. Sec. 5. Whenever a manufacturer, importer, agent or seller of a commercial fertilizer desires at any time to sell such material and has not paid the license fee therefor in the preceding month of December, as required in section four, he shall pay the license fee prescribed therein before offering or exposing the material for sale. The license fee due in December shall cover and authorize all sales within the state of the brands or kinds of commercial fertilizer specified in the license for the calendar year next succeeding that month. All licenses shall expire on the thirty-first day of December of the year for which they are issued. Whenever the manufacturer, importer or shipper of a commercial fer- tilizer or material used for manurial purposes shall have paid the license fee, no agent or seller of said manufacturer, importer or shipper shall be required to pay such fee. Sec. 6. The amount of the license fees received by said director shall be paid by him to the state treasurer. So much of the fees collected under this act shall be paid by the state treasurer to the treasurer of said experiment station as the director of said experiment station may show by his bills has been expended in performing the duties required by this act, but in no case to exceed the amount of the license fees received by the state treasurer under this act, such payment to be made on or before the thirtieth day of June upon the order of the state auditor, who is hereby directed to draw his order for such purpose. The director shall annually publish a statement of the receipts and ex- penditures under this act. Sec. 7. No person shall sell, offer, or expose for sale in this state, leather or its products, hair, wool, waste, garbage, tankage or other inert nitrogenous material, as a fertilizer, or as an ingredient of any fertilizer, unless an explicit printed statement of the fact shall be con- spicuously affixed to every package of such fertilizer, and shall accom- pany every parcel or lot of the same. Sec. 8. Any person knowingly selling, offering or exposing for sale, a commercial fertilizer, without the statement required by section three of this act, or containing a smaller percentage of any one or more of the ingredients named therein, other than chlorin, than is specified on the label, or for the sale of which the license fee specified in section four has not been paid or who fails to comply with any of the sections I2 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. of this act, subject to the exceptions cited in section twelve of this act, shall, on conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and not more than one hundred dollars for each subsequent offense. Sec. 9. The director of the Vermont agricultural experiment station is hereby fully empowered and authorized, in person or by deputy, to enter any premises where commercial fertilizers are stored, and to take a sample not exceeding two pounds in weight for analysis from any lot or package of any commercial fertilizer, or material used for manurial pur- poses, which may be in the possession of any manufacturer, importer, agent or dealer. Said sample shall not be less than five per cent. of the whole lot inspected, and shall be thoroughly mixed and placed in a suitable vessel, carefully sealed, and a label placed thereon stating the name or brand of the fertilizer or material sampled, the name oi the party from whose stock the sample was drawn, and the time and place of drawing, and said label shall be signed by the director or his deputy, provided, however, that whenever requested said sample shall be taken in duplicate and carefully sealed in the presence of the party or parties in-interest or their representative, in which case one of said duplicate samples shall be retained by the director and one by the party whose stock was sampled. The sample or samples retained by the director shall be for comparison with the certified statement named in section three of this act. Sec. 10. Said director shall cause at least one sample of each brand or kind of fertilizer collected as herein provided to be analyzed annually and the results, together with such additional information in relation to the character, composition, value and use of said fertilizer as cir- cumstances may advise, shall be published in reports, bulletins, special circulars or elsewhere, as promptly as the progress of the analyses will allow and as frequently as time and means permit. Sec. 11. Any person who shall hinder, impede or obstruct the di- rector or his deputy, while in the discharge of his duty under this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hun- dred dollars for each offense. Sec. 12. The director of the Vermont agricultural experiment station upon ascertaining any violation of this act for the first time shall forth- with notify the manufacturers or importers in writing and give them not less than thirty days thereafter in which to comply with the re- quirements of this act. In case of second or subsequent violation by the same party or parties, or in case, after a lapse of thirty days, the requirements of this act remain still uncomplied with, it shall be the duty of said director to notify the state’s attorney of the county in which the violation of this act is claimed to have occurred to the end that the violator may be prosecuted; but there shall be no prosecution in relation to the quality of the fertilizer or fertilizing material, if the same shall be found to be substantially equivalent to the statement of analysis made by the manufacturers or importers. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 13 Sec. 138. For all the purposes of this act, fertilizers shall be considered as distinct brands when differing either in guaranteed composition, trade mark, name, or in any other characteristic method of marking of what- ever nature. Sec. 14. This act shall not affect parties manufacturing, importing, or purchasing fertilizers for their own use and not to sell in this state. Sec. 15. Sections 4346 to 4359 inclusive of the Vermont Statutes and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Sec. 16. This act shall take effect from its passage. Approved December 11, 1902. No. 81—AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF DAIRYMEN, RE- LATING TO TESTING MILK AND CREAM. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. All bottles, pipettes or other measuring glasses used by any person, firm or corporation, or their agents or employees, at any creamery, butter factory, cheese factory, or condensed milk factory or elsewhere in this State, in determining by Babcock test, or by any other test, the value of milk or cream received from different persons or parties at such creameries or factories, shall, before such use, be tested for accuracy of measurement and for accuracy of the per cent. scale marked thereon. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the dairy school of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College to designate some competent person to test the accuracy of such bottles, pipettes, or other measuring glasses. The person thus designated shall so mark such bottles, pipettes, or other measuring glasses as are found correct in marks or characters which cannot be erased, which marks or characters shall stand as proof that they have been so tested; and no incorrect bottles, pipettes or other glasses shall be thus marked. The superintendent of the dairy school shall receive for such service the actual cost incurred and no more, the same to be paid by the persons or corporations for whom it is done. Sec. 2. Each and every person, who, either for himself or in the em- ploy of any other person, firm or corporation, manipulates the Babcock test, or any other test, whether mechanical or chemical, for the purpose of measuring the contents of butter fat in milk or cream as a basis for apportioning the value of such milk or cream, or the butter or cheese made from the same shall secure a certificate from the superintendent of the dairy school of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College that he or she is competent and well qualified to perform such 14 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. work. The rules and regulations in the application for such certificate and in the granting of the same shall be such as the superintendent of the school may arrange. The fee for issuing such certificates shall in no case exceed one dollar, the same to be paid by the applicant tu the superintendent of the Dairy School and to be used by the superintend- ent in meeting the expenses incurred under this section. : Sec. 3. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act shall, on conviction in court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not more than twenty-five dollars for the first offense, and not more than fifty dollars for each subsequent offense. It shall be the duty of every sheriff, deputy sheriff and constable to institute complaint against any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act, and on conviction one-half of the fine shall go to the complainant and the balance to the State. Approved November 19, 1898. No. 82—AN ACT IN RELATION TO CREAMERIES AND CHEESE FACTORIES AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SAME. SECTION SECTION I. Owners of creameries to deliver to 4-5. Owners of creameries to make patrons monthly detailed state- monthly statement of total re- ment. ceipts of milk and pounds of 2. Creameries must weigh, sample and butter produced. test milk. 6. Penalty for neglecting to comply 3. Owners of cheese factories to deliver with act. to patrons detailed monthly state- 7. Act takes effect January 1, 1899. ment. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. Every owner, operator or manager of a creamery in this State whether co-operative or proprietary, shall monthly make and deliver to each of the patrons of said creamery a statement of the num- ber of pounds of milk or cream such patron delivers for that month, to- gether with the test, pounds of butter fat, gain per cent. from the churn, and actual pounds of butter produced from said milk, and the price paid for the same shall be computed on the actual pounds of butter. Sec. 2. Any owner, operator or manager of any creamery, whether co-operative or proprietary, who sells or otherwise disposes of any of the milk received at such creamery shall weigh and carefully sample the same and shall test such samples for the purpose of ascertaining the number of pounds of butter fat in such milk sold, or otherwise disposed of, and the gain per cent. which is found to be the gain from the churn VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 5) for that month shall be the one used in ascertaining the actual number of pounds of butter produced from such milk as is sold or otherwise disposed of. Sec. 3. The owner, operator or manager of any cheese factory in the State, whether co-operative or proprietary, shall make and deliver to each of the patrons of said factory a statement representing the number of pounds of milk he delivers for each month, together with the test and actual number of pounds of cheese produced by such milk for said month. And the price paid for the same shall be computed on actual number of pounds of cheese. Sec. 4. Every owner, operator or manager of a creamery in this State, whether co-operative or proprietary, shall make a statement each month of the total number of pounds of milk received for that month, together with the gain per cent. from the churn, and the actual number of pounds of butter produced from said milk and cream. Sec. 5. The statement mentioned in the preceding section shall be posted in a conspicuous place in said creameries. Sec. 6. Any manager or proprietor of any creamery in the State, who fails to comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall, on convic- tion in a court of competent jurisdiction be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars for each offense. Sec. 7. This act shall take effect January 1, 1899. Approved November 29, 1898. No. 82.—AN ACT TO PROTECT MILK DEALERS AND CON- SUMERS AGAINST THE UNLAWFUL USE AND DESTRUC- TION OF MILK CANS AND OTHER RECEPTACLES. SECTION SECTION I. Persons having names on cans may 3. Person mutilating such can fined or file in town clerk’s office descrip- imprisoned. tion of name; publication in news- 4. Person putting foul matter into can paper. punished. 2. Person using such can so marked 5. Person concealing can brought be- fined for each can so used. fore a justice for hearing; search watrant. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. All persons and corporations engaged in buying, selling or dealing in milk or cream in cans, jugs, bottles or jars, with their names or other marks or devices, branded, engraved, blown, or other- wise produced in a permanent manner in or upon such cans, jugs, bot- tles or jars, may file in the office of the clerk of the city or town in which their principal place of business is situated, a description of the 16 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. name or names, mark or marks, device or devices so used by them, and cause such description to be published once each week for four weeks successively in a newspaper published in the city or town in which said description has been filed as aforesaid except that where there is no newspaper published in such city or town then such publication may be made in any newspaper published in the county in which such city or town is situated. Sec. 2. Whoever without the consent of the owner takes and detains or uses in his business, sells, disposes of, buys, conceals or traffics in any milk or cream can, jug, bottle, or jar the owner oi which has com- plied with the provisions relating thereto in section one of this act, shall be punished for the first offense by a fine not exceeding five dol- lars, or by punishment in the house of correction for a term not ex- ceeding sixty days, for each can, jug, bottle or jar so taken, and de- tained or used in his business, sold, disposed of, bought, concealed or trafficked in, and for any subsequent offense by a fine not exceeding ten dollars, or by imprisonment in the house of correction for a term not exceeding six months, for each can, jug, bottle or ar so taken and detained or used in his business, sold, disposed of, bought, concealed or trafficked in as aforesaid. Possession by any person in the-transaction of his business of any such article the owner of which has complied with the provisions of section one of this act shall constitute prima facie evidence of the unlawful taking, use, detention, possession of or traffic in the same within the meaning of this act. Sec. 3. Whoever without the consent of any owner who has com- plied with the provisions of section one of this act wilfully destroys, mutilates, or defaces any can, jug, bottle or jar bearing such owner’s name, mark or device, or wilfully erases, mars, covers, or changes any word or mark branded, engraved, blown or otherwise produced, in a permanent manner in or upon any such can, jug, bottle or jar, shall be punished for the first offense by a fine not exceeding five dollars, or by imprisonment in the house of correction for a term not exceeding sixty days, for each can, jug, bottle or jar so destroyed, mutilated or defaced, or for each can, jug, bottle or jar upon which any word or mark has been erased, marred, covered or changed as aforesaid; and for any subsequent offense by a fine not exceeding ten dollars, or by imprison- ment in the house of correction for a term not exceeding six months, for each can, jug, bottle or jar so destroyed, mutilated or defaced, or for each can, jug, bottle or jar upon which any word or mark has been erased, marred, covered or changed as aforesaid. Sec. 4. Whoever puts any unclean or foul substance or matter into any milk or cream can, jug, bottle or jar, the owner of which has complied with the provisions of section one of this act, shall be pun- ished for the first offense by a fine of not less than fifty cents nor more than five dollars, for each can, jug, bottle or jar so defiled; and for any subsequent offense by a fine of not less than two dollars nor more than twenty dollars, for each can, jug, bottle or jar so defiled. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT, 17 Sec. 5. Whenever any person or corporation having complied with the provisions of section one of this act, or mutilates, destroys of pol- lutes any butter crate or carriers, or the agent of any such person or corporation, shall make oath before any justice of the peace or munici- pal court, that he has reason to believe and does believe that any person or corporation has wrongfully in possession or is secreting any of his or its milk cans, jugs, bottles or jars, marked and described as provided in section one of this act, said justice of the peace or municipal court shall, if satisfied that there is reasonable cause for such belief, issue a search warrant to discover and obtain the same, and may also cause to be brought before him the person or an agent or employee of the corporation in whose possession such cans, jugs, bottles or jars are found, and shall thereupon inquire into the circumstances of such possession; and if said justice of the peace or municipal court finds that such person or corporation has been guilty of a wilful violation of sec- tions two, three or four of this act he shall impose the penalty prescribed in the section or sections so violated, and shall also award to the owner possession of the property taken upon such search warrant. Approved November 11, 1902. Nosa.c4— AN ACT TO,REGULATE. THE SALE OF CONCEN- TRATED COMMERCIAL FEEDING STUFFS SECTION SECTION 1, Every lot of concentrated feeding- stuff shall have printed statement Penalty for obstructing director in discharge of his duties. affixed thereto; contents of state- g. Analysis of sample. ment. 1o. Adulteration of grain; penalty for. 2. Concentrated commercial feeding- 11. Manufacturer notified if feeding- stuff defined. stuff is found adulterated; prose- 3. Term does not include certain arti- cution of seller. cles. 12. Prosecution of parties in case of 4. Analysis of feeding-stuffs; pay- second offense. ment for by state. 13. Distinct brands. 6. Payment by state treasurer to direc- 14. Not to effect stock on hand. tor 15. Importer defined. 6. Penalty for selling without state- 16. No. 83 Acts of 1898 repealed ment. 17. Takes effect December I, 1902. as Director of experiment station may enter premises where feeding- stuff is sold and take sample. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. Every lot or parcel of any concentrated feeding stuff, as defined in section two of this act, used for feeding farm live stock, sold, offered or exposed for sale in this state, shall have affixed thereunto, in a conspicuous place on the outside thereof, a legible and plainly printed statement clearly and truly certifying the number and net pounds of feeding stuff in a package, the name, brand or trade mark under which 18 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. the article is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer or im- porter, and a chemical analysis stating the minimum percentages it con- tains of crude protein, allowing one per cent. of nitrogen to equal six and one-fourth per cent. of protein, and of crude fat, and the maximum percentage it contains of crude fiber, the several constituents to be de- termined by the methods adopted at the time by the association of official agricultural chemists; provided that the statement of the per- centage of crude fat may be omitted if it does not exceed three per cent., and that of the crude fiber if it does not exceed ten per cent. If the feeding stuff is sold at retail in bulk or put up in packages belong- ing to the purchaser, the agent or dealer shall, upon request of the purchaser, furnish him with the certified statement named in this section. Sec. 2. The term concentrated commercial feeding-stuff, as here used, shall include linseed meals, cottonseed meals, cottonseed feeds, pea meals, cocoanut meals, gluten meals, gluten feeds, maize feeds, starch feeds, sugar feeds, dried distiller’s grains, dried brewer’s grains, malt sprouts, hominy feeds, cerealine feeds, rice meals, oat feeds, corn and oat chops, corn and oat feeds, corn bran, ground beef or fish, scraps, meat and bone meals, mixed feeds other than those composed solely of wheat bran and middlings mixed together or with pure grains, provenders other than those composed of pure grains ground together, condimental stock and poultry foods, patented proprietary or trade- marked stock and poultry foods, and all other materials of a similar na- ture not included in section three of this act. Sec. 3. The term concentrated commercial feeding-stuff, as here used, shall not include hays and straws, the whole seed nor the un- mixed meals made directly from the entire grains of wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian corn, buckwheat, India wheat and broom corn. Neither shall it include wheat, rye and buckwheat brans or middlings not mixed with other substances, but sold separately as distinct articles of com- merce, nor wheat bran and middlings mixed together and not mixed with any other substances, nor pure grains ground together, when un- mixed with substances other than wheat, rye or buckwheat brans or middlings. Sec. 4. The auditor of accounts is hereby directed to draw an order on the state treasurer for the sum of five hundred dollars annually in favor of the treasurer of the University of Vermont State Agricultural College, the same or such portion thereof as is found necessary, to be expended by the experiment station in the analysis of concentrated commercial feeding-stuffs. Sec. 5. So much of the appropriation granted under this act shall be paid by the state treasurer to the treasurer of said experiment station as the director of said experiment station may show by his bills has been expended in performing the duties required by this act, but in no case to exceed the amount of the appropriation received from the state treasurer under this act, such payment to be made quarterly upon the VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 19 order of the state auditor, who is hereby directed to draw his order for such purpose. The director shall annually publish a statement of the receipts and expenditures under this act. Sec. 6. Any manufacturer, importer, agent or person knowingly selling, offering or exposing for sale any concentrated commercial feeding-stuff, as defined in section two of this act, without the state- ment required by section one of this act, or stating that said feeding- stuff contains substantially a larger percentage of crude protien or crude fat, or substantially a smaller percentage of crude fiber, than is contained therein, shall, on conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and not more than one hundred dollars for each subsequent offense. Sec. 7. The director of the Vermont agricultural experiment station is hereby fully empowered and authorized in person or by deputy to enter any premises where feeding-stuffs are stored and to take a sample not exceeding two pounds in weight for analysis from any lot or pack- age of any commercial feeding-stuff, including the excepted materials named in section three, which may be in the possession of any manu- facturer, importer, agent or dealer in this State. Said sample shall be taken from a parcel or number of packages which shall be not less than five per cent. of the whole lot inspected, and shall be thoroughly mixed and placed in a suitable vessel, carefully sealed and a label placed thereon, stating the name or brand of the feeding-stuff or material sampled, the name of the party from whose stock the sample was drawn, and the time and place of drawing. And said label shall be signed by the director or his deputy; provided, however, that whenever requested said sample shall be taken in duplicate and carefully sealed in the presence of the party or parties in interest or their representa- tive, in which case one of said duplicate samples shall be retained by the director and the other by the party whose stock was sampled. The sample or samples retained by the director shall be for comparison with the certified statement named in section one of this act. Sec. 8. Any person who shall hinder, impede, or obstruct the director or his deputy, while in discharge of his duty under this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dol- lars for each offense. Sec. 9. Said director shall cause at least one sample of each brand or kind of feeding-stuff, collected as herein provided, to be analyzed an- nually. Said analysis may include determination of crude protein, crude fat, and such other ingredients as it is deemed advisable at any time to determine. The results of the analysis of the sample or sam- ples collected as herein provided, together with such additional infor- mation in relation to the character, composition and use thereof as cir- cumstances may advise, shall be published in reports, bulletins, special circulars, or elsewhere annually or more frequently as is deemed ad- visable. 20 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Sec. 10. Any person who shall adulterate any whole or ground grain with milling or manufactured offals, or with any foreign substance whatever, or any bran or middlings made from the several grains or the mixtures of wheat brain, and middlings known in trade as mixed feed with any foreign substance whatever, for the purpose of sale, unless the true composition, mixture or adulteration thereof is plainly marked or indicated upon the packages containing the same, or in which it is offered for sale; or any person who knowingly sells or offers for sale any whole or ground grain, bran or middlings which have been so adulterated unless the true composition, mixture or adulteration is plainly marked or indicated upon the package containing the same, or in which it is offered for sale, shall, on conviction in a court of com- petent jurisdiction, be fined not less than twenty-five or more than one hundred dollars for each offense. Sec. ll. If any feeding-stuff, not guaranteed as provided in section one of this act, is proved on analysis to be adulterated, the director shall give to the manufacturer, importer, agent or seller, the thirty days’ notice hereinafter provided for in section twelve of this act, and upon their failure to comply with the law within that time, shall notify the state’s attorney for the county in which said feeding-stuff was offered for sale, to the end that the violator may be prosecuted. Sec. 12. The director of the Vermont agricultural experiment sta- tion, upon ascertaining any violation of this act for the first time, shall forthwith notify the manufacturers or importers in writing and give them not less than thirty days thereafter in which to comply with the requirements of this act. In cases of second or subsequent violation by the same party or parties, or in case, after a lapse of thirty days, and the requirements of this act remain still uncomplied with, it shall be the duty of said director to notify the state’s attorney of the county in which the violation of this act is claimed to have occurred, to the end that the violator may be prosecuted; but there shall be no prosecu- tion in relation to the quality of any commercial feeding-stuff if the same shall be found to be substantially equivalent to the statement of analysis made by the manufacturers or importers. Sec. 13. For all the purposes of this act commercial feeding-stuffs shall be considered as distinct brands when differing either in guar- anteed composition, trade mark, name, or in any other characteristic method of marking of whatever nature. Sec. 14. This act shall not affect stock on hand held by dealers De- cember first, 1902, nor parties manufacturing, importing or purchasing feeding-stuffs for their own use and not to sell in this state. Sec. 15. The term “importer,” for all the purposes of this act, shall be taken to mean all who procure or sell concentrated commercial feeding-stuffs made in other states. Sec. 16. Number eighty-three of the acts of 1898, and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Sec. 17. This act shall take effect December 1, 1902. Approved December 10, 1902. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 21 No. 84—AN ACT TO PREVENT FRAUD IN THE SALE OF GARDEN SEEDS. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. Every package of garden seeds offered for sale in the State of Vermont shall have the year in which they were grown plainly printed thereon. Sec. 2. Any person who offers for sale any garden seeds contrary to the provisions of Section 1 of this act or who puts a false date on any package of garden seeds, shall be fined not less than ten dollars for each offense. Sec. 3. This act shall take effect on the first day of July, 1899. Approved November 29, 1898. 22 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Report of the Secretary. Hon. John G. McCullough, Governor: _ Sir.—I have the honor herewith to submit this, my sixth, annual re- port of the Board of Agriculture, for the year ending June 30th, 1904. Meetings were held in the month of August in connection with Pomona Granges. The last week in October several meetings were held, some of them being in connection with a fruit exhibit. The one in the town of Grand Isle was especially a decided success. There were on exhibition very many varieties of apples, pears, plums and other fruits that can be so abundantly produced in Grand Isle county, and which by reason of color, flavor and uniformity in size command the highest price. Some meetings were held in December, but owing to the holidays and the annual meetings of several agricultural associations more meetings were held in January and February than earlier. A few meet- ings were also held in March. During the year there have been more meetings than ever before dur- ing twelve months. Most of them were one day meetings of three sessions each, several of two sessions, afternoon and evening, and a few were evening lectures. The Board was ably assisted in its work by Col. J. H. Brigham, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.; Prof. G. M. Gowell, Agricultural College, Orono, Me.; Prof. David M. Kelsey, Horticulturist, Durham, Ct.; Henry Van Dreser, Cobleskill, N. Y.; Prof. John Craig, Cornell University, N. Y.; Prof. W. M. Munson, Orono, Me.; Prof. H..S: Graves, Yale University; Ct.; Dro J. L, Hills; Director Experiment Station, Burlington; Dana H. Morse, of Ran- dolph, one of Vermont’s best grass growers, a picture of whose hay field is the frontispiece in this volume; Hon. T. L. Kinney, South Hero, Hor- ticulturist, who not only grows, but handles fruit successfully for the Vermont grower; John B. Candon, of Pittsford, one of Vermont’s pri- vate dairymen; George H. Terrill, of Morrisville, a very successful fruit grower and dairyman, and Amos J. Eaton of Royalton, who has found time in spite of his many cares to study the birds and plants. The Board was also aided much it its work by Hon. Mason S. Stone, who for several years was Superintendent of Education in Vermont; Dr. Henry D. Holton, of Brattleboro, the efficient Secretary of the State Board of Health, and Dr. Walter E. Ranger, present Super- intendent of Education. Good roads were discussed at some of the meetings by Hon. C. W. Gates of Franklin in a very entertaining and instructive manner. VERMONT .AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 23 nn nn cee eEtdEEEEE EEE ESSE Meetings have been held jointly with the Horticultural Society and the Forestry Association. Although one of the coldest winters known for years, the Board was able to meet every engagement, sometimes, however, with uot a very warm reception until the stove was heated through. The attend- ance was very good, although some of the evening sessions were not so large as heretofore on account of the mercury being so far below zero. The Forestry Association was organized during the winter, and with its able corps of officers much good work is expected. The Good Roads Association, also just at work, may be looked to for good results. This is something every farmer is interested in. There is every indication of abundant crops. The hay crop, which is earlier than usual, will be above the average. Corn, oats and pota- toes are looking well. The dairyman, while just as busy with his herd, is not getting so good returns for his labor. Fruit promises an abund- ant crop. Seldom, if ever, has there been made more maple sugar of fine quality than this year. The Vermont maple sugar maker should take great pride in this product, for in this we lead all other manufac- tures, and the consumer is learning that a fine, pure article of maple sugar or syrup can be found among Vermont sugar makers. The pamphlet published last year by the Board, advertising the re- sources and attractions of Vermont, has had a great circulation. Sev- eral thousand have been distributed, being sent into every State in the Union and many to foreign countries. Vermont should devise ways and means whereby more complete statistical returns of her agricultural resources could be obtained. The scarcity of labor has become a serious question. It is of great importance that the farmers have sufficient assistance in both seed time and harvest, otherwise much loss. The possibilities for health, wealth and happiness in Vermont agricul- ture are greater than we imagine. One can raise the best of horses, cattle, sheep and swine; grow hay, corn, oats, wheat and potatoes; have the very best of the maple product, and also honey; and of fruit, the finest in flavor and largest in size. Living among the mountains with their invigorating air, charming scenery and variety of climate, one may have all these numberless bless- ings provided he has a contented mind and a love of manual labor. (C) J, ISIBILIL, Saercieiny. 24 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. ASSOCIATIONS. State Agricultural Society—President, Geo. Aitken, Woodstock; Sec- retary, C. M. Winslow, Brandon; Treasurer, J. W. Parker, Quechee. Vermont Dairymen’s Association—President, H. C. Bruce, Sharon; Secretary, F. L. Davis, North Pomfret; Treasurer, M. A. Adams, Derby. Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association—President, Percy Chase, East Fairfield; Secretary and Treasurer, A. J. Croft, Enosburgh Falls. Vermont Jersey Cattle Club—President, H. W. Vail, Randolph; Sec- retary, T. G. Bronson, East Hardwick; Treasurer, N. L. Boyden, Ran- dolph. Green Mountain Cotswold Sheep Association—President, G. W. Flagg, Braintree; Secretary and Treasurer, A. A. Niles, Morrisville. Vermont Merino Sheep Breeders’ Association—President, C. H. Smith, Bridport; Secretary and Treasurer, Chas. A. Chapman, Ferris- burgh. Vermont Shropshire Sheep Association—President, James Atwell, Eden; Secretary and Treasurer, A. A. Niles, Morrisville. Vermont Horticultural Society—President, Geo. H. Terrill, Morris- ville; Secretary and Treasurer, William Stuart, Burlington. Vermont Bee Keeper’s Association—President, E. W. Cram; Secre- tary, W. G. Larrabee, Orwell; Treasurer, Hi. LL. Leonard, Brandon. Vermont Botanical Club—President, Ezra Brainard, Middlebury; Secretary, L. R. Jones, Burlington. Vermont State Poultry Association—President, H. W. Ballard, St. Albans; Secretary and Treasurer, H. M. Barrett, St. Albans. Vermont Morgan Horse Breeders’ Association—President, Ex-Gov. J. W. Stewart, Middlebury; Secretary, H. T. Cutts, Orwell; Treasurer, C. E. Pinney, Middlebury. The Vermont Good Roads Association—President, R. S. Currier, Barre; Secretary and Treasurer, H. M. McIntosh, Burlington. Vermont Forestry Association—President, W. J. Van Patten, Bur- lington; Secretary and Treasurer, Ernest Hitchcock, Pittsford. Ladies’ Auxiliary to Dairymen’s Association—President, Mrs. Etta W. Le Page, Barre; Secretary, Mrs. Edna S. Beach, Charlotte. VERMONT FAIRS, 1904. ADDISON COUNTY—Addison County Agricultural Society, Mid- dlebury, Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 1. President, F. C. Dyer, West Salisbury; Secretary, F. L. Hamilton, West Salisbury; Treasurer, C. E. Pinney. Orwell Farmers’ Club, Orwell, date not decided. President, J. H. Thomas; Secretary, H. D. Branch; Treasurer, E. M. Buttum. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 25 BENNINGTON COUNTY-—Battenkill Valley Industrial Society, Manchester Center, date not decided. President, Egbert Smith; Secre- tary, D. H. Dyer; Treasurer, W. H. Roberts. CALEDONIA COUNTY—Caledonia Grange Fair, East Hardwick, Oct. 1. President, G. W. Lovejoy; Secretary, E. B. Fay; Treasurer, E. G. Smith. Caledonia Fair Ground Co., St. Johnsbury, Sept. 13, 14, 15. President, T. R. Stiles; Secretary, H. A. Stanley; Treasurer, E. M. Taft. Ryegate and Wells River Dairymen’s Association, South Ryegate, Sept. 8, 9. President, George Cochran; Secretary, R. Farquharson; Treasurer, F. R. McColl. ESSEX COUNTY—Frontier Agricultural Society, Canaan, date not decided. President, H. S. Morrison; Secretary, C. N. Green; Treasurer, Edwin Green. FRANKLIN COUNTY—Franklin County Agricultural and Mechan- ical Society, Sheldon Junction, Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 1. President, C. W. Gates, Franklin; Secretary, E. A. Sturtevant, East Fairfield; Treasurer, George P. Twigg, St. Albans. LAMOILLE COUNTY—Lamoille Valley Fair Ground Co., Morris- ville, Sept. 20, 21, 22. President, George M. Powers; Secretary, O. M. Waterman; Treasurer, O. M. Waterman. ORANGE COUNTY—Bradford Agricultural and Trotting Associa- tion, Bradford, Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 1. President, T. J. Albee; Secretary, M. A. Jenkins; Treasurer, E. W. Cunningham. . Waits River Valley Ag- ricultural Society, East Corinth, date not decided. President, J. B. McLam; Secretary, A. C. Jackman; Treasurer, B. T. Holland. Union Agricultural Society, North Tunbridge, Sept. 27, 28, 29. President, N. H. Austin, Tunbridge; Secretary, W. W. Swan; Treasurer, H. R. Hay- ward, Tunbridge. Washington Agricultural Society, Washington, date not decided. President, W. C. Nye, East Barre; Secretary, G. H. Bige- low. ORLEANS COUNTY—Orleans County Fair Association, Barton, Sept. 6:97, 8, 9) President, Hi: Ht. Somers, Irasburg; Secretary; Dy. D. Bean; Treasurer, O. D. Owen. Memphremagog Fair Association, New- POLE datenmot decideda resident GeAen Erouty; Secretary. i Jey El Gaines; Treasurer, E. C. Blanchard. RUTLAND COUNTY—Western Vermont Agricultural Society, Fair Haven, Sept. 6, 7, 8.9. President, B. H. Norton; Secretary, F. A. Flory; Treasurer, C. R. Allen. Rutland County Agricultural Society, Rutland, date not decided. President, D. D. Burditt, Pittsford; Secre- tary, C. C. Pierce, North Clarendon; Treasurer, W. C. Landon. Union Driving Park Society, South Wallingford, date not decided. President, Bartlett Stafford, Tinmouth; Secretary, F. H. Earle; Treasurer, Z. T. Cook, Wallingford. WASHINGTON COUNTY—Dog River Valley Fair Association, Northfield, Sept. 13, 14, 15. President, I. T. Colby, Williamstown; 26 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Secretary, F. G. Fisher; Treasurer. A. E: Denny.. Winooski: Valley Agricultural Association, Waterbury, Sept. 6, 7, 8, President, C. C. Warren; Secretary, Charles Keene; Treasurer, H. H. Brown. WINDHAM COUNTY—Valley Fair Association, Brattleboro, Sept. 28, 29. President, George W. Pierce; Secretary, D. E. Tasker; Treas- liner wie h. iaylor: WINDSOR COUNTY-—Springfield Agricultural Society, Springfield, Sept. 13, 14. President, A. J. Crosby; Secretary, F. ©. Davis; Dreas- urer, Geo. F. Leland. Windsor County Agricultural Association, Woodstock. Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 2. President, F. S. Mackenzie; Secretary, Jase Eaton; Treasurer ©. El Enelish: OFFICIAL DIRECTORY OF THE VERMONT STATE GRANGE. Master—C. J. Bell, East Hardwick. Overseer—C. F. Smith, Morrisville. Lecturer—R. B. Galusha, South Royalton. Steward—D. H. Morse, Randolph. Assistant Steward—M. B. Roberts, Rupert. Chaplain—R. H. Holmes, Shoreham. Treasurer—F. B. Pier, Rawsonville. Secretary—A. A. Priest, Randolph. Gate Keeper—A. F. Lawrence, St. Johnsbury. Ceres—Mrs. C. J. Bell, East Hardwick. Pomona—Mrs. C. F. Smith, Morrisville. Flora—Mrs. R. B. Galusha, South Royalton. Lady Assistant Steward—Mrs. M. B. Roberts, Rupert. POMONA GRANGES. 1. Chittenden County—I. R. Gleason, Master, Jericho; A. Walston, Secretary, West Milton. 2. Shepherd—E. A. Gray, Master, St. Johnsbury Center; Myra Gordon, Secretary, Sutton. 3. White River Valley—R. B. Galusha, Master, South Royalton; Mrs. Fannie M. Waldo, Secretary, Bethel. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 257) 1A? 12. Allen District—Leon A. Cutler, Master, Springfield; C. A. Gree- ley, Secretary, Gassetts. Windham County—W. S. Allen, Master, Jacksonville; Abbie A. Bennett, Secretary, E. Dummerston. Central Vermont—D. H. Morse, Master, Randolph; Albina Wakefield, Secretary, East Braintree. Washington—Eugene Smith, Master, Pawlet; Merritt B. Roberts, Secretary, Rupert. Harmony—I. J. Prescott, Master, Waterbury Center; Fred. M. Small, Secretary, Morrisville. Orange County—F. M. Bond, Master, Thetford; Irving Abbott, Secretary, South Newbury. Connecticut Valley—L. H. Morgan, Master, South Woodstock; E. D. Sawin, Secretary, Windsor. Saxtons River Valley—G. A. Haliday, Master, Bellows Falls; J. F. Alexander, Secretary, Saxtons River. SUBORDINATE GRANGES. Green Mountain, St. Johnsbury Center—B. A. Farnham, Mas- ter; Stella E. Allen, Secretary. Caledonia, East Hardwick—George Lovejoy, Master; G. F. Wheeler, Secretary. Enterprise, Lyndon—W. L. Park, Master, Lyndon Center; Carl Jones, Secretary, Lyndonville. Protective, Brattleboro—H. W. Sargent, Master; A. J. Currier, Secretary. Independent, Sheffield—E. P. Mathewson, Master, Wheelock; Mrs. C. H. Snelling, Secretary. White River, South Royalton—W. A. Farnham, Master; Mrs. G. L. Bingham, Secretary. Wide Awake, St. Johnsbury Center—H. J. Beck, Master, St. Johnsbury; E. H. Hallett, Secretary. Middlesex, Middlesex—George H. Rumney, Master, Mont- pelier; Fred A. Hills, Secretary, Montpelier. Williamstown, Williamstown—C. W. Cram, Master; Mrs. Charles Briggs, Secretary. Orion, South Woodstock—L. H. Morgan, Master; E. A. Ful- lerton, Secretary. North Branch, Worcester—M. P. Kent, Master; Ellen I. King, Secretary. Snowsville, East Braintree—C. E. Wakefield, Master, West Brookfield; K. H. Howard, Secretary, Randolph. 28 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Brookfield, Brookfield—George C. Smith, Master; Mrs. Sophia E. Follansbee, Secretary. Springfield, Springfield—Charles D. Cutler, Master; Bertha Whitcomb, Secretary, Chester Depot. Grafton, Grafton—J. W. Davis, Master; Mrs. Mabel Williams, Secretary. West River, Townsend—Fred H. Willard, Master; Mrs. A. A. Snow, Secretary. Industrial, Andover—Robert J. Wylie, Master; C. E. Spauld- ing, Secretary. Williams River, Chester Depot—C. K. Hazen, Master; Miss Lillie Hazen, Secretary. ; South Branch, Chester—L. A. Edson, Master; Mrs. M. L. War- ner, Secretary. West Branch, Landgrove—Not reported. Farmers, South Londonderry—M. A. Davis, Master; Hattie E. Abbott, Secretary. Mountain Home, Bondville—A. O. Colman, Master; H. C. Chatfield, Secretary. Vermont, Wardsboro—F. L. Hamlin, Master; Mrs. W. H. Hamilton, Secretary, East Jamaica. Broad Brook, Guildford Center—Lewis E. Jaqueth, Master, Guildford Center R. R. 3; Mrs. Mary E. Bullock, Secretary. Evening Star, Dummerston—Arthur L. Miller, Master, East Dummerston; Abbie A. Bennett, Secretary, East Dummers- ton. Essex Center, Essex Center—Mrs. F. W. Ayres, Master; Mrs. Alice Brown, Secretary. Maple Grove, Westminster West—J. P. Ranney, Master; Anna C. Clark, Secretary. Boyden, Westminster—O. E. Peck, Master; Mrs. Cora Blanchard, Secretary. Middle Branch, East Bethel—H. P. Riford, Master, South Randolph; A. P. Paine, Secretary, South Randolph. Dog River Valley, West Berlin—Dynes Gilpin, Master; Miss Addie B. Hewitt, Secretary. Guiding Star, West Halifax—Eli S. Cooke, Master; Mrs. War- ren Niles, Secretary. Victory, Wilmington—P. J. Fitch, Master; L. N. Boyd, Secre- tary. North River, Jacksonville—Leon B. Chase, Master; W. S. Al- len, Secretary. 268. 269. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 29 Mt. Mansfield, Underhill—I. R. Gleason, Master, Jericho; R. A. Gleason, Secretary, Jericho. Vernon, Vernon—George K. Stebbins, Master; E. O. Lee, Secretary. West Randolph, Randolph—H. M. Totman, Master; Alice M. Herrick, Secretary. Mt. Anthony, Rupert—Henry Barden, Master; Burr Harwood, Secretary, Dorset. Dorset, Dorset—F. G. Stone, Master; J. H. Sheldon, Secre- tary. Lamoille, Morrisville—A. N. Boynton, Master; E. G. Sherwin, Secretary, Hyde Park. Waterbury, Waterbury Center—E. J. Foster, Master; Sister D. Adams, Secretary. Neshobe, Brandon—L. F. Nichols, Master; Mrs. L. F. Nichols, Secretary. Pleasant Valley, Rockingham—B. W. Damon, Master, Bellows Falls; H. B. Webb, Secretary. Memphremagog, Newport—A. P. Vance, Master; S. S. Beer- worth, Secretary, West Derby. Rising Star, Bethel—Pearl Savage, Master; Mrs. W. G. Brooks, Secretary. Woodlawn, West Milton—B. F. Gale, Jr., Master; Laura A. Allen, Secretary, Milton. Sutton, Sutton—G. N. Harriman, Master; Mary Doud, Secre- tary. Silver Leaf, Fairlee—E. P. Kendall, Master; Mrs. W. C. Ord- way, Secretary. Eclipse, Thetford—Charles S. Wilmot, Master, East Thetford; Jennie Emerson, Secretary, East Thetford. Mississquoi Valley, Troy—D. A. Ball, Master; Grace Evarts, Secretary. Clover Leaf, Bradford—R. E. Peavey, Master; A. M. Banks, Secretary. Pulaski, Newbury—J. A. Johnson, Master; Miss M. Helen Beckwith, Secretary. Blue Mountain, Ryegate—C. F. Smith, Master; Lottie A. Boardway, Secretary, South Ryegate. Pleasant Valley, West Waterford—E. H. Miles, Master, St. Johnsbury; Mrs. J. E. Curtis, Secretary. Washington, Washington—Leo W. Seaver, Master; Mrs. G. A. Bohonon, Secretary. Craftsbury, Craftsbury—S. R. Lathe, Master; A. S, Calder- wood, Secretary. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Glover, Glover—F. S. Phillips, Master; Mrs. A. E. Anderson, Secretary. Bomoseen, Castleton—L. N. Benedict, Master; Mrs. L. N. Benedict, Secretary. Mansfield Mountain, Stowe—J. Fred Campbell, Master; Mrs. J. F. Campbell, Secretary. Cavendish, Cavendish—Clarence Belknap, Master; Nellie J. Adams, Secretary. Ludlow, Ludlow—Guy Mayo, Master; Mrs. E. W. Johnson, Secretary. Dunmore, Salisbury—C. A. Bump, Master, West Salisbury; W. F. Bump, Secretary, West Salisbury. Ascutney, Windsor—H. N. Thomas, Master; Mrs. Josephine Piersons, Secretary. Brownington, Brownington—William Davies, Master; Marion E. Tinkham, Secretary. Dillingham, Duxbury— Gleaner, Brownsville—Fred C. Rich, Master; E. D. Sawin, Sec- retary, Windsor R. F. D. 2. Progressive, Hartland—J. D. Rogers, Master; F. A. Durphey, Secretary. Bridgewater, Bridgewater Corners—L. H. Spaulding, Master; Stella A. Briggs, Secretary. Golden Rod, East Corinth—E. S. Rowland, Master; George R. Brock, Secretary. Otter Creek, Clarendon—L. C. Squier, Master, North Claren- don; Gertrude Burr, Secretary, North Clarendon. Poultney, Poultney—W. W. Martin, Master; G. T. Cull, Secre- tary. Center, Hubbardton—M. C. Bresee, Master, Fair Haven R. F. D. 2; Mrs. William Hart, Secretary, Brandon R. F. D. 5. Willoughby, Barton Landing—C. B. Ordway, Master; Carrol Joslyn, Secretary. Good Will, Gaysville—R. E. Wilson, Master; Mrs. J. A. Chedel, Secretary. Mad River Valley, Waitsfield—Burton Ward, Master, More- town; G. M. Jones, Secretary. Northfield, Northfield—G. R. Andrews, Master; F. E. Bacon, Secretary. Eureka, Coventry—C. C. Sargent, Master; Mrs. Josephine Brooks, Secretary. Fall Mountain, Bellows Falls—Robert Foster, Master; George Halladay, Secretary. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 31 Saxtons River, Saxtons River—H. FE. Richardson, Master; John F. Alexander, Jr., Secretary. Newfane, Newfane—W. Bruce, Jr., Master; Arthur Warren, Secretary. Hilltop, Lunenburgh—B. A. Taylor, Master; F. C. Currier, Secretary. 2 Shoreham, Shoreham—R. H. Holmes, Master; Kent W. Mer- ritt, Secretary. Bridport, Bridport—Edward Nichols, Master; M. T. Wolcott, Secretary. Cornwall, Middlebury—T. P. D. Matthews, Master; Henry James, Secretary, R. F. D. 2. Riverside, Wheelock—G. L. Gerry, Master, South Wheelock; Mrs. A. F. Emerson, Secretary. McIndoes, McIndoes—C. I. Smith, Master; Belle Kent, Secre- tary, Monroe, N. H. i Capitol, Montpelier—Dr. Charles Newcomb, Master; Mrs. Ella F. Leland, Secretary. Otteauquechee, Taftsville—E. S. Morrill, Master; Laura T. Wood, Secretary. Lakeside, St. Albans Bay—C. G. Newton, Master, St. Albans R. D.; Owen Collins, Secretary, Swanton R. D. 1. Pittsford, Pittsford—L. S. Kendall, Master; Mrs. E. J. Leon- ard, Secretary, Pittsford Mills. Quechee, Quechee—Alex McInnes, Master; B. H. Alden, Sec- retary. East Montpelier, East Montpelier—H. M. Farnham, Master; Charles P. McKnight, Secretary. Calais, Calais—I. G. Robinson, Master; Ila E. Persons, Secre- tary. land; E. S. Slade, Secretary. Rutland Valley, Center Rutland—D. W. Temple, Master, Rut- Middlebury, Middlebury—George Chaffee, Master; Miss Edith M. Shedrick, Secretary. Grand View, Vergennes—J. C. Thomas, Master, Vergennes R. D 1; Mrs. Charles O’Bryan, Secretary, Vergennes R. D. 1. Valley, Hammondsville—E. W. Wilkins, Master, Felchville; Mrs. S. F. Roberts, Secretary, Felchville. Maple Valley, South Wallingford—G. W. Kelley, Master; Mrs. Ann N. Brown, Secretary. 32 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. POULTRY MANAGEMENT. By Prof. G. M. Gowell, Orono, Me. . At Lunenburgh, Dec., 1903. Many years practical experience in raising and keeping poultry and investigations in poultry breeding have resulted in the accummulation of a considerable fund of information on poultry management. The object of this paper is to outline this experience for the benefit of poul- try keepers, and help them discriminate between some of the wrong theories which have underlain much of the common practice of the past, and the better theories, which underlie other and newer methods that are yielding more satisfactory results. The difficulties attending artificial poultry keeping lie in the num- bers of small animals that make up the business. With most domestic animals the care-taker treats each one individually, and there is far less draft on the abilities of the herdsman with his large animals than on the manager of even a small poultry plant with its far greater num- bers of individuals. Labor is the costliest factor that enters into the management and equipment of a poultry farm. The cost of food required to produce a pound of beef, pork or chicken does not differ greatly, but while the dressed steer and pig sell for from 5 to 8 cents per pound, the chicken sells for from 15 to 20 cents per pound, and early in the season for much more. The differences in their selling prices represent the differences in the risk and the skill employed in their production. Furthermore, the increasing demand for choice articles of food will tend to main- tain these prices, even though the supply be greatly increased. The products of the poultry farms, the fresh seli-sealed eggs, each an un- broken package in itself, and the delicately flavored chickens, are among the choicest articles of food to be found in the markets. While poultry raising is exacting in its demands, there are no con- ditions imposed that cannot be compassed by persons of ordinary men- tal and physical capacity. In this as in other callings, the skill which comes from thorough training and the energy needed for persistent work are essential to the fullest success. The history of the poultry industry of this country is being rapidly made, these years, on the farms, village lots, and at the experiment sta- tions, and written in the minds of the thousands of earnest workers who are engaged in it. From this accumulated knowledge is to come, in the near future, a better, general understanding of the subject, which will enable men or women of ordinary ability to take up the work for themselves, in a small way, and proceed without making many of the mistakes that caused their predecessors to waste money and labor, VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 33 and lose heart. Poultry and egg production are as legitimate lines of work for persons of small or large means as are dairying, beef growing, sheep husbandry, or general or special crop production. Its advantages lie in its greater returns for its smaller capital investment. Its disadvantages lie in the demand for greater skill, patience and courage than will suffice for any other special or general farm indus- try. RAISING CHICKENS BY NATURAL, PROCESSES. Circumstances sometimes make it necessary to hatch and raise chickens by aid of the mother hen. While we do not like the method, we have practiced it; having at times as many as a hundred sitting hens along the side of a room—in two tiers—one above the other. An un- used tieup in a barn was taken for the incubating room and a plat- form was made along the side next to the barn floor. The platiorm was 3 feet above the floor and was 2 1-2 feet wide and 50 feet long. It was divided up into 50 little stalls or nests, each 1 foot wide and 2 feet long, and 1 foot high. This left a 6-inch walk along in front of the nests, for the hens to light on when flying up from the floor. Each nest had a door made of laths at the front, so as to give ventilation. It was hinged at the bottom and turned outward. Across the center of each nest, a low partition was placed, so that the nesting material would be kept in the back end, the nest proper. For early spring work paper was put in the bottom of the nest, then an inch or two of dry earth, and on that the nest, made of soft hay. Whenever half a dozen hens became broody they were taken in from the hen house and put on the nests, each nest having a dummy egg in it; the covers were then shut up and nearly every hen seemed con- tented. In a day or two thirteen eggs were placed under each bird. Every morning the hens were liberated as soon as it was light, when they would come down of their own accord and burrow in the dry dust on the floor, eat, drink, and exercise, and in twelve or fifteen minutes, they would nearly all go onto the nests voluntarily. In the afternoons one would occasionally be found off the eggs, looking out through the slatted door. If she persisted in coming off she was ex- changed for a better sitter. The double nest is necessary, otherwise the discontented hen would have no room to stand up, except on her nest full of eggs, and she would very likely ruin them. With the double nest there was no danger of this, as she would step off the nest, go to the door, and try to get out. The arrangement was sat- isfactory and were it not for the lice, which were not easily gotten rid of, since the chicks grew with the mother hen, we would prefer it to some incubators we have used. The advantages of a closed room in which to confine the sitters are many, as the hens are easily controlled and do not need watching as they do when selecting nests for themselves, or when sitting in the same room with laying hens. A room. a dozen feet square could be 34 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. arranged so as to easily accommodate fifty sitters. Except for the small operator we would not encourage the use of sitting hens. For the accommodation of the hen with her brood of young chicks, the best arrangement consists of a close coop about 30 inches square, with a hinged roof, and a movable floor in two parts, which can be lifted out each day for cleaning. This little coop has a wire covered yard attached to it on the south side. The yard is 4 by 5 feet in size and a foot and a half high. Its frame is of 1x3 inch strips and is fasten- ed securely to the coop. The wire on the sides is of one inch mesh, but on top two inch mesh is sufficient. The coop is easily kept clean and the coop and yard can be set over onto clean grass by one per- son. The small run is sufficient for the first few weeks, but soon the chicks need greater range and then the farther end of the run can be lifted up 3 or 4 inches and they can pass in and out at will, while the mother will be secure at home, and they will know where to find her when they get cold or damp, and need brooding. Such a coop accom- modates 15 to 20 chicks until they no longer require brooding, after which several flocks are combined in one and put in a portable house on a grassy range. Whenever the hen is allowed to hatch, or to mother chicks, much care must be experienced or lice will get a foothold and ruin the birds. The free and frequent use of fresh insect powder upon the hen, work- ing it through the feathers to the skin, is one of the best methods for destroying the pests. Grease or oil are effective when applied to the heads and under the wings of young chicks, but care must be taken not to get too much on them, especially during the damp weather. The feeding of chicks raised in coops with their mothers does not vary much from those raised in brooders. RAISING CHICKENS BY ARTIFICIAL PROCESSES. Incubators have been so much improved that there are several kinds on the market that we feel sure will hatch as many chicks from a given lot of eggs as can be done by selected broody hens. They require little care, maintain an even temperature, and are easily adjusted to meet the increase in temperature arising from developments going on in the eggs. In some machines the mois- ture supply is automatic and adapted to the requirements. In others it has to be supplied, and skill is necessary in determining the quantity needed. The economy of the incubator is very great. A 360 egg machine will do the work of nearly 30 broody hens, and can be kept at work continually, if desired. We commenced our work in artificial incubation years ago, by trying to main- tain the temperature in a home-made wooden box, with double walls, by the use of jugs of warm water. By locating the box in a suitable room and keeping close watch on conditions, good ‘QSnoH WOIF-UIAND “jYSLI ye ! asnoy pautaeA “WoT IW ‘bb GNV OF SADVd NO G3sI¥OSAC SASNOH AYL1NOd SER, VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 35 hatches were obtained. It was the best there was at that time, but the use of home-made incubators now, would be like turn- ing back into the days of the wooden plow. There are several kinds of good incubators, but the one which we have used with greatest satisfaction is the Cyphers, with its capacity of 360 eggs. We have used others that hatch as well, but the Cyphers requires less care. We have not tested many incubators and other makes that we have not used may be as good. The incubator room must be kept quite constant in tempera- ture. A cellar is a good place in which to run incubators if it is not so cold as to require the lamps to be run very high in order to maintain the necessary degree of warmth inside of the ma- chine. If several incubators are located in the same room, great care should be taken to provide proper ventilation, so that the ma- chine may be furnished with clean fresh air at all times. Where many machines are used, the hand turning of the eggs absorbs. considerable time. We have used several turning devices and conducted experiments to determine the differences between hand and machine turning, and have not yet received better hatches from the hand turned eggs. Machines that have automatic turning shelves will not hold quite as many eggs as when flat shelves are used, but the saving of time is of import- ance. A person should get thoroughly acquainted with a machine before putting the eggs in and then make changes and adjust- ments with great care, lest the results be extreme. We used to think it necessary to have the chickens hatched in March so that they might be ready for laying by November. By better meth: ods of feeding and treatment we can now delay the hatching until April, and the first half of May, and the pullets get to laying maturity as early in the season as formerly. We use indoor brooders, mostly, and very much prefer them to any outside brooders we have seen in use. The portable brooder houses are built on runners so that they may be readily moved about. The houses are 12 feet long, some of them are 6 and others 7 feet wide. Seven feet is the better width. They are 6 feet high in front and 4 feet high at the back. The frame is of 2x3 inch stuff; the door is double boarded. The building is boarded, papered and shingled all over. A door, 2 feet wide is in the center of the front and a 6 light, sliding window is on each side of it. A small slide is put in the door, near the top, by which ventilation may be obtained early in the season, before the windows can be kept open. Since shingles on the walls near the bottom are liable to be torn off in moving the houses, double boarding on the walls would be preferable. Two brooders are placed in each of these houses and 50 to 60 chicks are put with 36 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. each brooder. A low partition separates the flocks while they are young, but later it has to be made higher. The houses are large enough so that a person can go in and do the work com- fortably and each one accommodates 100 chicks until the cockerels are large enough to be removed. In the fall these houses are grouped together, 20 or 30 feet from each other, so as to make the care of the young chicks con- venient in early spring while the brooders are in use. About the 20th of June the grass is cut on some field near to the main poultry, or farm buildings, and the brooder houses are drawn out, with the contents of chickens, and located 50 to 75 feet from each other, in lines, so that they may be reached with little travel. The chickens are shut into small yards, adjoining the houses, for about a week, after which they are allowed to run together. They mostly keep to their own houses, although they wander away quite long distances during the day, returning at feed time, and at night. The most satisfactory brooder that we have used is the “Peep O’ Day.’ The style that we like best has the cover and part of one side arranged to turn down, making an inclined run the whole width of the brooder, up and down which the little chicks can go without crowding. Some of the later styles of brooders made by-this company are not as satisfactory, as they have little passages, through which the chicks are to pass up and down, and they require more or less teaching before they will use them. Most kinds of brooders as now made, keep the chicks com- fortable, at desired temperatures, and have good means of ven- tilation. The great difficulty lies in the lamps used. The lamp apartments are small and the tendency is for the oil to become warm and form gases, which causes the flame to stream up and make trouble. Most brooder lamps have water pans between the oil tank and the burner which tend to keep the oil cool, but even with this precaution we have had two fires, one of which was very serious. The old Peep O’ Day lamp was of this kind, but the new ones are entirely different and by far the best of any we have seen. They have no water pans, but are so arranged that currents of cool air pass constantly over the oil tank and keep its contents cool. We have used these lamps, or stoves, for three years —last year more than twenty of them—and regard them as safe, for the oil has never become warm. TREATMENT OF YOUNG CHICKS. When the chicks are 30 to 40 hours old they are carried in warm covered baskets to the brooders, and 50 or 60 are put under each hover, where the temperature is between 95 and_ 100 degrees. The temperature is not allowed to fall below 95 degrees the first week, or 90 during the second week; then it is ‘ge ased 39S “ADNVY S3HL NO SASNOH YR30OOHs “2 ‘BI4 EO -sS = 7s, 1 oe en VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT, S7 gradually reduced according to the temperature outside, care being taken not to drive the chicks out by too much heat, or to cause them to crowd together under the hover because they are cold. They should flatten out separately, when young, and a little later, lie with their heads just at the edge of the fringe of the hover. Under no condition are they allowed to huddle out- side of the brooder. They huddle because they are cold, and they should be put under the hover to get warm, until they learn to do so of their own accord. Neither are they allowed to stay under the hover too much, but are forced out into the cooler air where they gain strength in the day time. They are not allowed to get more than a foot from the hover during the first two days; then a little further away each day, and down onto the house floor about the fourth or fifth day, if the weather is not too cold. They must not get cold enough to huddle or cry, but they must come out from under the hover frequently. The floor of the brooder is cleaned every day and kept well sprinkled with sharp, fine crushed rock, known in the market as “chicken grit.” The floor of the house is covered with clover leaves, or hay chaff, from the feeding floor in the cattle barns. For raising winter chickens the long piped brooder house is indispensable, and it has many advantages when used at any season of the year. The advantages are especially great when raising chickens, if April or May prove to be cold and wet, for then the small houses are apt to be cold outside of the brooders. The expenditure is greater for the piped house, for the reason that colony houses should be provided in which the chickens may be sheltered after they leave the brooder house. In ordinary seasons we experience no difficulty in raising April and May hatched chicks in the small houses. With proper feeding, pullets hatched in these months are early enough to do good work throughout the year. FEEDING THE CHICKS. For feed for young chicks we make bread by mixing three parts corn meal, one part wheat bran, and one part wheat mid- dlings or flour, with skim milk or water, mixing it very dry, and salting as usual for bread. It is baked thoroughly, and when well done if it is not dry enough so as to crumble, it is broken up and dried out in the oven and then ground in a mortar or mill. The infertile eggs are hard boiled and ground, shell and all, in a sausage mill. About one part of ground egg and four parts of the bread crumbs are rubbed together until the egg is well di- vided. This bread makes up about one-half of the food of the chicks until they are five or six weeks old. Eggs are always used with it for the first one or two weeks, and then fine sifted beef scrap is mixed with the bread. 38 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. It may be that the bread is not necessary and that something else is just as good. We have tried many other foods, includ- ing several of the most highly advertised prepared dry chicken foods, but as yet have found nothing that gives us as good health and growth as the bread fed in connection with dry broken grains. When tthe chicks are first brought to the brooders, bread crumbs are sprinkled on the floor of the brooder among the grit, and in this way they learn to eat, taking in grit and food at the same time. After the first day the food is given in tin plates, 4 to each brooder. The plates have low edges, and the chicks go onto them and find the food readily. After they have had the food before them for five minutes the plates are removed. As they have not spilled much of it, they have little left to lunch on except what they scratch for. In the course of a few days light wooden troughs are substituted for the plates. The bottom of the trough is a strip of half inch board, 2 feet long and 3 inches wide. Laths are nailed around the edges. The birds are fed four times a day in these troughs until they outgrow them, as follows: Bread and egg or scrap early in the morning; at half- past nine o’clock dry grain, either pin head oats, crushed wheat, mil- lett seed or cracked corn. At one o’clock dry grain again, and the last feed of the day is of the bread with egg or scrap. Between the four feeds in the pans or troughs, millett seed, pin head oats and fine cracked corn, and later whole wheat, are scattered in the chaff on the floor for the chicks to scratch for. This makes them exercise, and care is taken that they do not find the food easily. One condition is made imperative in our feeding. The food is never to remain in the troughs more than 5 minutes before the troughs are cleaned or removed. This insures sharp appetites at meal time, and guards against inactivity which comes from over feeding. Charcoal, granulated bone, oyster shell and sharp grit are al- ways kept by them, as well as clean water. Mangolds are cut into slices, which they soon learn to peck. When the grass begins to grow they are able to get green food from the yards. If the small yards are worn out before they are moved to the range, green cut clover or rape is fed to them. After the chickens are moved to the range they are fed in the same manner, except that the morning and evening feed is made of corn meal, middlings and wheat bran, to which one-tenth as much beef scrap is added. The other two feeds are of wheat and cracked corn. One year we fed double the amount of scrap all through the growing season and had the April and May pullets well developed and laying through September and October. To our sor- row they nearly all moulted in December, and that month and Jan- uary were nearly bare of eggs. ‘QsnoyH }ilors-ulejinD ‘jySt1 ye | asnoyy pawaeA ‘oT TW ‘by GNV OF SADVd NO G4AEIYOSSAG SASNOH AYLINOd VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 39 FEEDING THE COCKERELS FOR MARKET. When the chickens are moved to the field the sexes are sep- arated. The pullets are cared for as explained above. The cockerels are confined in yards, in lots of about 100, and fed twice daily on porridge made of 4 parts corn meal, 2 parts mid- dlings or flour, and one part fine beef scrap. The mixed meals are wet with skim milk or water—milk is preferred—until the mixture will just run, but not drop, from the end of a wooden spoon. They are given what they will eat of this in the morning and again towards evening. It is left before them until all have eaten heartily, not more than an hour at one time, after which the troughs are removed and cleaned. The cockerels are given plenty of shade and kept as quiet as possible. We have found our chickens that are about one hundred days old at the beginning to gain in four weeks’ feeding, from one and three-fourths to two and one-fourth pounds each and sometimes more. Confined and fed in this way they are meaty and soft and in very much better market condition than though they had been fed generously on dry grains and given more liberty. Poultry raisers cannot afford to sell the chickens as they run, but they can profit greatly by fleshing and fattening them as described. Many careful tests in chicken feeding have shown that as great gains are as cheaply and more easily made, when the chickens, in lots not to exceed 100, are put in a house with a floor space of 75 to 100 feet and a yard of corresponding size, as when they are divided into lots of 4 birds each and confined in latticed coops just large enough to hold them. Four weeks has been about the limit of profitable feeding, both in the large and small lots. Chickens gain faster while young. In every case birds that were one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five days old have given us comparatively small gains. The practice of successful poultrymen in selling the cockerels at the earliest marketable age is well founded, for the spring chicken, sold at Thanksgiving time is an expensive product. A very large proportion of the chickens raised in this State are sent to market alive, without being fattened, usually bringing to the growers from twenty-five to thirty-five cents each. The experiments referred to above indicate that they can be retained and fed a few weeks, in inexpensive sheds, or large coops with small runs, and sent to the markets dressed, and make good returns for the labor and care expended. The quality of the well covered, soft fleshed chickens, if not too fat, is so much superior to the same birds not specially prepared, that they will be sought for at the higher price. The dairy farmer is particu- larly well prepared to carry on this work as he has the skim milk which is of great importance in obtaining yield and quality of flesh. 40 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. THE WARMED HOUSE FOR HENS. This house. which was erected in 1898, is 16 feet wide and 150 feet long. It faces the south and conforms nearly to the land surface, the east end being 3 1-2 feet lower than the west end. The sills are of 4x6 inch hemlock, placed flat, upon a rough stone wall which rests upon the ground surface, and varies from one to two feet in height. The earth is graded up to within six inches of the sills on the outside. The floor timbers are 2x8 inches, placed 2% feet apart, and rest on the sills. The studs for the back wall are 2x4 stuff, 5 feet 8 inches long, and rest on the sills.) The front studs are 10 feet 6 inches long. All the studs are set 3 feet apart. Each 10 feet in length of the front of the building has one 12 light window of 10x12 glass. The top of this window comes within one foot of the plate. Directly underneath these windows and 6 inches above the floor, are other 3 light windows of 10x12 glass. The building is boarded, papered and shingled all over the outside, roof and walls. The floor is of two thicknesses of hemlock boards. The entire inside of the building is papered on the studs and rafters and sheathed with matched boards. The work was carefully done and good dead air spaces were obtained over the whole building. The building is divided into 15 ten-foot sections. The close partitions between the pens are 2 feet high and are made of 2 inch plank. They form strong trusses, to which the studs sup- porting the central plate are strongly nailed. This saves the floor from sagging from the weight of the roof when it is cov- ered with snow. An elevated plank walk, 4 feet wide, runs along the whole length of the front of the building and rests on the cross partitions just mentioned. The walk is 2 1-2 feet above the floor and allows the hens to occupy the whole floor space. This part of the floor is lighted from the front, by the small windows spoken of above. Above the close partition the pens are sep- arated from each other and the walk by wire netting of 2 inch mesh. Light, wooden frame doors, covered with wire, and hung with double acting spring hinges, are in every cross partition, and also in the partition between the elevated walk and each pen. The back ends of the cross partitions, 4 feet out from the back wall, ‘are carried up to the roof, so as to protect the hens from currents of air while on the roosts. The roost platform is along the back wall. Four trap nests described hereafter, of our own devising and construction, are placed at the back of the house, the end of the roost platform. All the windows are double. Eight of the large outside ones are hinged at the top and kept hasped out one foot at the bottom, except in the roughest weather, and cold winter nights. This furnishes ventilation without drafts, as the position of the outside windows prevents strong currents of air from entering. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 41 Although this house was thoroughly built, we found that the windows had to be closed during rough winter weather, or water would freeze quite hard inside the building. Closing the win- dows caused dampness and frost on the walls, and the straw lit- ter absorbed the moisture and became, while yet clean, disagree- able to the hens. A hot water heater was placed in a pit at the lower end of the building, and one line of two inch pipe was car- ried under the roosts to the upper end of the building and re- turned to the boiler. By use of this heater the building is kept above the freezing point at all times, and there is not much trouble from moisture except when extremely cold weather necessitates the closing of the windows. The birds in this house have always been in excellent health, and have never shrunk in their egg yields from cold weather except one season, when coal was not procurable and the temperature ran low. The ease with which the hens are cared for, the availability of the entire floor space, and the welfare and productiveness of the birds kept here, commends this building as one of the best. It was planned and constructed so as to obtain conditions neces- sary for the welfare of the birds and economize the labor involved in their care at as small cost as was consistent with quality. Not a single part was made for show. While a single walled build- ing would have cost less, it would not have kept the hens warm or given protection from dampness, that prevails in close single- walled houses. THE PIONEER ROOSTING CLOSET HOUSE. A dozen years ago several little houses, each 10 feet square, were built for colonies of hens. They were well built and warm, but were apt to be damp and lined with white frost in very cold weather, when the windows had to be kept shut to save the birds from suffering at night. Another feature against them was their size. A person can not care for hens in so small a_ pen without keeping them in a condition of unrest, for they fear being cornered in so small a room. Three years ago one of these 10 feet square houses was taken for a nucleus and an addi- tion made, so that the reconstructed house was 10 feet wide and 25 long. The end of the old house was taken out, so that there was one room with a floor space of 250 square feet. The walls were about 5 1-2 feet high in the clear, inside of the building. The whole of the front wall was not filled in, but a space of three feet wide and 15 feet long was left just under the plate. This space had a frame, covered with white drilling, hinged at the top on the inside, so it could be let down and buttoned during driving storms and winter nights, but hung up out of the way at all other times. The roost platform extended the whole length of the 42 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. back of the room. It was 3 feet 4 inches wide and 3 feet above the floor. The back wall and up to the roof for 4 feet was lined and packed hard with fine hay. The packing also extended part way across the ends of the room. Two roosts were used, but they did not take the whole length of the platform, a space of 4 feet at one end being reserved for a crate where broody hens could be confined, until the desire for sitting should be overcome. The space, from the front edge of the platform up to the roof, was covered by frame curtains of drilling, similiar to the one on the front wall. The cloth curtains were oiled with hot linseed oil. They were hinged at the top edge and kept turned up out of the way during day time, but from the commencement of cold weather until spring they were closed down every night after the hens went to roost. The hens were shut in to this close roosting closet and kept there nights, and released as early in the morning as they could see to scratch for the grain which was sprinkled in the 8 inch deep straw on the floor. The roosting closet was closely observed and has never been damp, or its odors offensive when opened in the mornings. There was very little freezing in the closets in the ‘ coldest weather. The birds seemed to en oy the coming out of the warm sleeping closets down into the cold straw, which was never damp, but always dry, because the whole house was open to the _ out- side air and sun every day. There were no shut off corners of floor or closet that were damp. We _ used this building through three winters, with 50 hens in it, and have not had a case of sick- ness in it yet. Not a case of cold or snuffles has developed from sleeping in the closet with its cloth front, and then going directly down into the cold room and spending the day in the open air. The birds have laid as well as their mates in the large warmed house have done; averaging last year above 150 eggs. each. Their combs have been red and their plumage bright, and they have given every evidence of perfect health and vigor. While they are on the roosts, in bed, they are warm. They come down to their breakfast and spend the day in the open air. Such treatment gives vigor and snap to the human, and and it seems to work equally well with the hen. The results of the three years use of this house have been such that we feel very sure that this is one of the right systems of treatment and housing of hens, and it was decided to build sev- eral houses on the same plan and join them together under one roof, as one house. THE CURTAIN-FRONT HOUSEK FOR HENS. This building was erected in 1903 and is 14 feet wide and 150 feet long. The back wall is 5 1-2 feet high from floor to top of ‘Zp osed uo paqiiosaq ‘ASNOH LNOYS-NIVLYNO 43O SNOILOAS OMI ‘GS ‘514 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 43 plate inside, and the front wall is 6 2-3 feet high. The roof is of unequal span, the ridge being 4 feet in from the front wall. The height of the ridge above the floor is 9 feet. The sills are 4x6 inches in size and rest on a rough stone wall laid on the surface of the ground. A central sill gives support to the floor which at times is quite heavily loaded with sand The floor timbers are 2x8 inches in size and are placed 2 feet apart. The floor is two thicknesses of hemlock boards. All of the rest of the frame is of 2x4 inch stuff. The building is boarded, papered and shingled, on roof and walls. The rear wall and 4 feet of the lower part of the rear roof, are ceiled on the inside of the studding and plates, and packed, very hard, with dry sawdust. In order to make the sawdust packing continuous between the wall and roof, the wall ceil- ing is carried up to within 6 inches of the plate, then follows up in- clining pieces of studding to the rafters. The short pieces of studding are nailed to the studs and rafters. By this arrangement there are no slack places around the plate to admit cold air. The end walls are packed in the same way. The house is divided by close board partitions into seven 20 foot sections; and one 10 foot section is re- served at the lower end for a feed storage room. Each of the 20 foot sections has two 12 light, outside windows screwed onto the front, and the space between the windows, which is 8 feet long, and 3 feet wide, down from the plate, is covered during rough winter storms and cold nights, by a light frame, covered with 10 ounce duck, closely tacked on. This door, or curtain is hinged at the top and swings in and up to the roof when open. A door 2% feet wide is in the front of each section. The roost plat- form is at the back side of each room and extends the whole 20 feet. The platform is 3 feet 6 inches wide and is 3 feet above the floor. The roosts are of 2x3 inch stuff placed on edge and are 10 inches above the platform. The back one is 11 inches out from the wall and the space between the two is 16 inches, leaving 15 inches between the front roost and the duck curtain, which is sufficient to prevent the curtain being soiled by the birds on the roost. The two curtains in front of the roost are similar to the one in the front of the house. They are each 10 feet long and 30 inches wide, hinged at the top and open out into the room and fasten up when not. in use. Great care was exercised in con- structing the roosting closets, to have them as near air tight as possible, excepting what may be admitted through the cloth curtain. Single pulleys are hung at the rafters, and with half inch rope fast- ened to the lower edge of the curtain frames they are easily raised or lowered and kept in place. At one end of the roosts, a space of 3 feet is reserved for a cage for broody hens. This being behind the curtain, the birds have the same night temperature when they are transferred from the roosts to the cage. Six trap nests are placed at one end of each room, and four at the other. They are put near the front so that the light may be good for 44 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. reading and recording the number on the leg bands of the birds. Several shelves are put on the walls, 1% feet above the floor, for shell, grit, bone, etc. The doors which admit from one room to another, throughout the building, are frames covered with 10 ounce duck, so as to make them light. They are hung with double acting spring hinges. The advantages of having all doors push from a person are very great, as they hinder the passage of the attendant, with his baskets and pails, very little. Strips of old rubber belting are nailed around the studs which the doors rub against as they swing to, so as to just catch and hold them from opening too easily by the wind. Tight board partitions were used between the pens instead of wire, so as to prevent drafts. A platform 3 feet wide extends across both ends and the entire front of the building, outside. The house is well made of good material and should prove to be durable. It costs about $850. A rougher building with plain instead of trap nests, with the roof and walls covered with some of the pre- pared materials, instead of shingles, could be built for less money, and would probably furnish as comfortable quarters for the birds for a time, as this building will. This house accommodates 350 hens—50 in each 20 foot section. It was not ready for occupancy until the 6th of December. Since then there has been some very severe weather, considerably below zero at night and about zero during the day, with a good deal of high wind. During this rough weather the bedding on the floor has kept com- paratively dry; and the voidings on the platform, as found when the curtains were raised in the mornings, have been but slightly frozen. The yields of eggs during this severe weather and the week immediately following it, were not below those immediately preceding it. It should be borne in mind that had the weather been mild during that time the hens probably would have increased in production, rather than remained stationary. They were doubtless affected by the severe weather, but not seriously, as they began to increase in production very soon after the weather became usual for midwinter. THE YARDS The yards to most poultry houses are at the south, or sheltered sides of the buildings, to afford protection during late fall and early spring, when cold winds are common. The north house has yards on both north and south sides with convenient gates. The south yards are used until the cold winds are over in spring, when they will go to the north yards, which are well set in grass sod. With the new curtain front south house the yards are to be on the north side only. The birds will be kept in the building until the weather is suitable for opening the small doors in the rear wall. The necessity for getting them out from the open front house, where they are really subject to most of the out of door conditions during the day time, is not so great as when they are confined in close houses, with walls and glass windows. The ‘Zp assed uo paqtioseaq “ASNOH LNOYS-NIVLYNO 4O NOILOSS ANO 4O HOIYSLNI °9 ‘814 ‘sha 7 MP yey ago us eA @ & “ Fy ee ee age Se . uh ts ng an “ VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 45 —__—_— use of the rear yards only may not prove satisfactory. If, however, as good yields of eggs and health of birds result, many decided ad- vantages will be obtained by dispensing with front yards. The clear open front of the house allows teams to pass close to the open door of the pens for cleaning out worn material, and delivering new bedding, and also in allowing attendants to enter and leave all pens from the outside walk, and reach the feed room without passing through inter- vening pens. TRAP NESTS. The nest which we use is original with us. It is very simple, inex- pensive, easy to attend and certain in its action. It is a box-like structure without front end or cover, 28 inches long, 13 inches wide and 16 inches deep, inside measure. A division board with a circular opening 71% inches in diameter is placed across the box, 12 inches from the rear end and 15 inches from the front end. The rear section is the nest proper. Instead of a close made door at the entrance, a light frame of 1x1% inch stuff is covered with wire netting of one inch mesh. The door is 10 inches wide by 10 inches high, and does not fill the entire entrance, a space of two inches being left at the bottom, and one inch at the top, with a good margin at each side, to avoid friction. It is hinged at the top and opens up into the box. The hinges are placed on the front of the door rather than at the center or rear, the better to secure complete closing action. The trap consists of one piece of stiff wire about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and 22 inches long. This piece of wire is shaped so that a section of it, 11 inches long, rests directly across the circular opening in the division board and is held in place by two clamps, one on either side of the circular opening. The clamps fit loosely and the slots are long enough to allow the wire to work up and down about three inches, without much friction. The next section of the wire is eight inches long and it is bent so that it is at right angles with the eleven inch section. It passes along the side of the box eleven inches above the floor, back toward the entrance door and is fastened strongly to the wall by staples, but yet loosely enough so that the wire can roll easily. The remaining section of the wire, which is three inches long, is bent toward the center of the box, with an upward inclination, so that it supports the door when it is open and rests upon it. The end of the wire is turned over smoothly, forming a notch into which the door may slip when opened. As the hen passes in under the open door and then through the cir- cular opening to the nest, she raises herself so that her keel may pass over the lower part of the division board, and her back presses against the horizontal wire, as she passes it, and lifts it enough so that the end supporting the door slides from under it, and the door swings down and passes a wire spring, near the bottom of the box, at the entrance, which locks it and prevents the hen from escaping, and others from en- tering. 46 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. The double box with nest in rear is necessary, as when a hen has laid and desires to leave the nest, she steps out into the front space and remains there, generally trying to escape, until she is released. With one section only she would be very likely to crush her egg by stepping upon it and learn the pernicious habit of egg-eating. The boxes are placed four in a block, and slide in and out like drawers and can be carried away for cleansing when necessary. Four nests in a pen have accommodated 20 hens, by the attendant going through the pens once an hour, or a little oftener, during that part of the day when the hens are busiest. Earlier and later in the day his visits have not been so frequent. To remove a hen, the nest is pulled part way out and as it has no cover, she is readily lifted up, and the number on her leg band is noted on the record sheet, that is tacked up, close at hand. After having been taken off a few times they do not object to being handled, the most of them remaining quiet, apparently expecting to be picked up. Before commencing the use of trap nests, it was thought that some hens might be irritated by the trapping operation and object to the noise incident to it, but we have not found an individual that appeared to be annoyed by it, and we have used Leghorns, Brahmas, Wyan- dottes and Plymouth Rocks. The amount of time required in caring for the trap nests, so far as our work goes, can only be estimated, as the time varies from one day to another, and having only fifty-two nests in operation, the attendant’s time was divided with other duties. By noting the total time used per day in caring for the nests, when the hens were laying most heavily, it is believed that one active person devoting his entire time to trap nests, like ours, would take care of 400 to 500 nests used by 2,000 to 2,500 hens. When commencing the year’s work he would need assistance in banding the birds, but after that was done he could care for the nests without assistance until mid- summer, when the egg yields would probably be diminished and a part of his time could be spared for other duties. One of the first difficulties encountered was with the leg bands. We procured and used all of the bands that appeared to be durable, and not likely to be lost off. Several kinds were easily put on but would last only a few weeks or months before they would be loosening or break- ing, and we finally adopted a make, that consists of a fairly broad metallic band encircling the leg, with the ends held together by small brass spring rings. These rings would sometimes get broken or lost out and we put in two instead of one. Even then, when hens were moulting, broody, or for other reasons not frequently handled and the rings ex- amined, the bands would sometimes get off. Bands with duplicate numbers and double rings are now used on both legs and the likelihood of losing the identity of a bird is small. When not using trap nests, the following is a very satisfactory nest. It is a foot wide, a foot high and three feet long with cover. A parti- tion in the middle has an opening just large enough to admit the pas- ‘Gp ADVd NO G3gl¥OSSAd SLSAN GYHOOSY dvV¥L “MOTA JOIN “gS “MoIA doy pueyoorg *) Sta VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 47 sage of a hen. The nest openings are away from the light and when a hen goes to the nest and looks in she blocks the opening and shuts out the light and does not see the eggs plainly. The temptation to med- dle and break them is thus removed. FEEDING THE HENS. For twenty-one years we have been at work with the same family of Barred Plymouth Rocks and have learned one way to feed and handle them to secure eggs, and to avoid the losses which are so common to mature hens of that breed, from over fatness. Other methods of feeding may be as good or even better. While it is true that only the full fed hen can lay to the limit of her capacity, it is equally true that full feeding of the Plymouth Rocks, unless correctly done, results disastrously. Years ago the “morning mash,” which was regarded as necessary to “warm up the cold hen,” so she could lay that day, was given up and it was fed at night. The birds are fed throughout the year daily as fol- lows: Each pen of twenty-two receives one pint of wheat in the deep litter early in the morning. At 9:30 A. M. one-half pint of oats is fed to them in the same way. At 1 P. M. one-half pint of cracked corn is given in the litter as before. At 3 P. M. in winter and 4 P. M. in summer they are given all the mash theywill eat up clean in half an hour. The mash is made of the following mixture of meals: 200 Ibs. wheat bran; 100 lbs. corn meal; 100 Ibs. wheat middlings; 100 lbs. linseed meal; 100 lbs. gluten meal; 100 lbs. beef scrap. The mash contains one- fourth of its bulk of clover leaves and heads, obtained from the feeding floor in the cattle barn. The clover is covered with hot water and al- lowed to stand for three or four hours. The mash is made quite dry, and rubbed down with the shovel in mixing, so that the pieces of clover are separated and covered with the meal. Cracked bone, oyster shell, clean grit and water are before them all of the time. Two large man- golds are fed to the birds in each pen daily in winter. They are stuck onto large nails which are partly driven into the wall, a foot and a half above the floor. Very few soft shelled eggs are laid and, so far as known, not an egg has been eaten by the hens during the last five years. We are testing another method of feeding with several pens of hens this year. It consists of the morning, 9.30 A. M., and 1 P. M. feeding of dry food in the litter as usual, but instead of the mash at 3 P. M. all the dry cracked corn they will eat is given in troughs. Beef scrap is kept before the birds at all times, in elevated troughs where they cannot waste it. They are supplied with grit, oyster shell, bone and mangolds. Dry clover leaves and chaff are given them on the floor each day. One pen of 30 hens was fed through last year in this way with good results, and 150 hens are being fed on the dry food, through this year, in comparison with a like number of their mates that are having mash at the 3 P. M. feeding, as usual with us. 48 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. POTATOES, RAISED AT A PROUT By D. H. Mors#, RANDOLPH, VT. That potatoes can be profitably raised here in Vermont upon soil which is pronounced poor, worn-out, etc., there is no reasonable doubt; and it was the making of some such statement as the above in the pres- ence of the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture that brought a request for an article relative to my experience along this line. April 1, 1902, about seventeen acres of land were purchased for the purpose of planting an apple orchard. About eleven acres of the land had for years been poorly tilled and fertilized and hence light crops of any variety were the certain yield. Two of the eleven acres were at the time of purchase plowed and corn was raised on same that season. The remainder was in grass, which was light and con- tained a big sprinkling of sorrel. The other six acres were never plowed, and had generally been used for a pasture, and a first-rate poor one at that. In the autumn of 1902 the eleven-acre field was plowed to a depth of about five inches, which was some two inches deeper than previous plowings, and as deep as a strong team could well plow it, the land being very hard and dry. Late in October this plat was planted to apple trees, set in rows thirty-three feet apart. In the following April the land was re-plowed to a depth of fully seven inches, thoroughly pulverized, mak- ing a fine, soft and deep seed bed. The land was then furrowed out into rows four feet apart, putting eight rows between each two rows of apple trees, and planted to pota- toes of the Green Mountain variety. Ten bushels per acre were used for seed, and all treated with formalin to prevent scab. They were dropped by hand about ten inches apart, one piece in a hill, and covered with a small plow drawn by one horse. The work of planting was done in April. The fertilizer used was Bowker’s high grade potato phosphate, six hundred pounds to the acre being applied. The fertilizer was applied with a double row Eureka corn planter after the potatoes were planted. Four days after planting the land was harrowed with a light fine corn harrow. The same was repeated twice more before the potatoes came up. The weather continued dry for six weeks and there were not a few missing hills. Weekly cultivation was kept up among the potatoes until about the 10th of August. No hand hoeing was done upon the piece from first to last. The 15th of July the potatoes were sprayed with paris green for bugs, and Bordeaux mixture for blight. Formula: 50 gallons water, 6 Ibs. lime slacked in water, 4 Ibs. blue vitriol dissolved and 1 lb of paris VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 49 green, all strained and applied with an Empire King pump, with a four-row sprayer attached, mounted on two wheels and drawn by one horse. They were sprayed August lst again with same mixture, and again August 15, the green being omitted the last time. The tubers were smooth and little or no rot was found. The vines remained green and fresh until deadened by frosts. Of the eleven acres under cultivation there were only about eight actually in potatoes, owing to the missing rows that were ocupied by the trees and the wide headlands surrounding the entire plat. The cost of producing the two thousand bushels of merchantable tubers was twenty-one and a half cents per bushel, or just about half what the potatoes netted us in the market. The potatoes were taken from the field to the car and thence to the Boston market. In com- puting the cost of production forty dollars’ worth of machinery was included, which is now on hand with no great shrinkage in value. About sixteen acres of the seventeen are now set to apple trees and under a state of cultivation similar to that of last season, and planted to potatoes. To say the least, the trees are doing finely and the ones set in the autumn of 1902 are making a promising growth. The soil is a black loam and inclines toward the east. The orchard if well cared for promises to be a “thing ’of beauty.” 50 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. THE MAKE-UP OF THE SOIL: JosEPH L. HILLS, Director Experiment Station, Dean Agricultural Department, University of Vermont. In last year’s report I wrote “The Story of the Making of the Soil.” It was a tale which has been many times told, but which I rewrote— not that I had anything new to say—but with the hope that I might interest some Vermont boys and girls in the story of the way in which the greatest of all farm tools, the soil, was made. I pointed out how the soil was born of rock; how in the early days the volcanoes, earthquakes, hot springs, heat, pressure ‘and the like were the great rock crushers, disintegraters and dissolvers; and how to-day the less spectacular, but not less potent, effects of the weather, the wind and the wave, the ice, the rain drop, and the varied effects of life, such as lichens, bacteria, earth worms, plant rootlets and the like help in soil making. I stated in that article that I should continue it in my next if I had the opportunity. It seems worth while now to discuss some of the ma- terials of which the soil is made. Soils are generally studied to-day in our agricultural colleges and in the high schools, which are beginning to take up agricultural studies, from four or five different stand- points. The geologist, the chemist, the biologist, the physicist and the economist, all have something to say touching this great mother of us all, from whom we sprang and to whom we return. Last year we listened to the geologist. Let us now hear what the chemist has to say as to the soil. His tale is a less thrilling one than that of his prede- cessor; it reads less interestingly; but some will find therein more of what they deem of practical value. Chemistry is the science which tells us of the constitution, or make up, of anything. For instance, it is the chemist that tells us how much gold there is in a lot of ore, who discloses the amount of plant food in the fertilizer, of human or animal food in various feeds. Many people are apt to think that the chemist is so wise that he can tell almost anything. As a matter of fact there are many things of which he is ignorant, for he is but a human like the rest of us. He has not, for instance, learned all there is to be known about the soil. He cannot analyze soil and, with any degree of certainty, prescribe for its VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 5I needs.* He can, however, tell us something as to the make-up of the soil and give us some conception of its needs. He tells us in the first place that plants need in their daily diet fourteen elements. An element is that portion of matter which by no possible means known to man, be they mechanical, chemical, physical or what not, can be subdivided into two materials different the one from the other. Thus the common salt of our tables or the water which we drink are neither of them elements. Either of these in the chemist’s hands can be changed into two materials utterly unlike their originals. The white crystalline salt may be resolved into a silver- white and very light metal called sodium, and a choking yellowish- green gas called chlorin. Similarly, water may be broken up into two gases, each, colorless, tasteless and odorless, known as oxygen and hydrogen. There is no chemist who has yet been able to make from either of the three gases or from the metal anything unlike them. For instance, a good chemist can in a very few minutes evolve the yellowish- green gas, chlorin, from common salt; but no one, despite repeated attempts for over a century, has ever been able to get anything out of the yellowish-green gas but the same gas. Chlorin, then, is an element, a material which cannot be subdivided into two parts unlike itself. There are some seventy or more elements recognized by chemists. Only fourteen of these, as has been said, enter into the plant’s bill of fare. Plants are rather particular about what they eat. They insist that the bill of fare shall be a complete one. They sulk and, indeed, will starve to death if any one or two of these be omitted. So far *In this connection some may be interested in reading the following circular letter which is sent by the Vermont Experiment Station in reply to the many people who write to it touching soil analysis. “It is a very common notion on the part of farmers that a chemist can tell by soil analysis just what a soil needs, and may by means of the analysis prescribe just how that soil may be fertilized to obtain the best results. This notion, however, is errone- ous, at any rate so far as concerns the Kastern states. Chemists can analyse the virgin soil of the West, for instance, and the analysis may mean something; but it means but little with the Eastern soils. The reasons for this are several. In the first place, itis difficult fora farmer to take an adequate and correct sample. Soil samples taken three feet apart in the same field may and quite often do analyze quite differently ; and the question is, which is right, if either? Then again, because of the fact that a large share of Eastern soils—other than sod land freshly broken up—have been fertil- ized more or less, and, because much of the manurial constituents thus applied is not used up but is unevenly distributed, there enters a constant source of error into the problem. But more important than either of these is the inability of the chemist to distinguish between plant food which is available this year and that which will not be available for a hundred years to come. If you should send us a sample of soil our chemist could tell you the different ingredients of plant food it contained; but he could not, nor could anyone, predict with any degree of certainty how much of this was available and how much would not be serviceable. It is to be hoped that this problem, which is being worked on by a great many scientists, may be solved before long; but at present it is an almost fatal obstacle to soil analysis. It is the almost universal custom of Eastern experiment stations, when handed a query like yours, to suggest, as about the only feasible means of determining what the soil needs, a series of small field plots upon the farm or piece in question, upon which the sundry forms of plant food may be used in order that the farmer may himself experiment and determine for himself his soil needs. One might, for instance, have half a dozen or more contiguous plots (small ones), to one of which, we will say, acid phosphate is applied to furnish phosphoric acid; to another, muriate of potash to furnish potash. to another, dried blood to furnish nitrogen; to a fourth, phos- phoric acid and potash; to a fifth, nitrogen and potash; to a sixth, nitrogen and phosphoric acid; to a seventh. allthree ; leaving at each end small unfertilized plats as acheck measure of the ordinary crop. A year or two of work in this way will give the farmer a pretty fair notion of the needs of his own soils, Itis fully understood that this is a troublesome, expensive and not thoroughly satisfactory method; but it is the best that is now to be proposed.” ° 52 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. as is now known, every one of these elements is essential to plant growth. Four of them are derived from the air and ten from the soil; eight of them are non-metallic and six of them are metals. The air- derived elements are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. These are all non-metallic elements. The ten soil-derived elements are phosphorus, silicon, chlorin and sulphur, which are non-metals; potas- sium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and aluminum, which are metals. f Over 95 per cent. of the entire structure of the average plant is air- derived. There is no plant but what contains while alive very much the largest proportion of its weight of water. Some kinds—lettuce, for instance—carry as high as 96 per cent. of this ingredient. A large share of the material other than water, moreover, is composed of car- bonaceous matter, which is readily burned if the dry plant is set on fire. Such materials as are directly derived from its soil are repre- sented by the ashes. Although these constitute but a small proportion of the total weight of the plant they are absolutely essential to its growth. They cannot be held to be of little use because of the small proportions used. The tongue, we are told, is an unruly member, and it is but a small part of the human frame; but how would some of us, particularly our sisters, get along without it? Plants possess two sets of mouths, so to speak. Some of their food enters by way of the roots and some by way of the leaves. The latter take carbon from air in the shape of a gas known as carbonic acid. It is the same gas which bubbles in the soda water at the druggist’s. From this gas, together with the water absorbed by the roots, the bulk of the food matter of plants is built. Had we time and space it were of interest, perhaps, to retail the story of all of these fourteen elements. I could tell you of the wonders of carbon, found pure in the diamond that sparkles in the crown of royalty, or as the graphite of the lead pencil in the beggar’s hands; of the great accumulation of more or less pure carbon, as coal, and of the wonderful way in which this coal is formed. I might tell you, more- over, of silicon, which forms with oxygen the backbone or skeleton of the world; of aluminum, that wonderful, light, non-tarnishing metal which bids fair to revolutionize some of our industries. It does not seem necessary to go into these details, however, for the reason that, while these elements are of interest, ten of the fourteen exist in every soil in such large quantities that plants will get enough without any attention by man, no matter’ how many unending cycles of centuries elapse. There are four of these elements, however, which do become more or less readily exhausted from the soil and which, on this account, ought to be well understood by everyone who has to do with agriculture. Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash and lime enter largely into plant growth, are apt to become more or less lacking in available forms in soils, are the main ingredients in commercial fertilizers and are justly called the deficient constituents of plant food. Their importance justi- fies a special consideration of their nature and functions. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 53 NITROGEN.* Nitrogen is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas, comprises about four- fifths of the air and is a principal ingredient of flesh, milk, etc. It is useful in agriculture when united with other materials, in order, as it were, to bind it. When in the gaseous state only a few forms of plant life, the legumes, or pod bearing plants, can make use of it. When it is combined with other elements in mineral or organic materials it is more or less available to all plants. Nitrogen is used on the soil in three forms, as nitrate, as ammonia salts and in organic matter. (1) Nitrates. These are combinations of nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen with certain alkalies. When united with sodium (a white alkali metal of common occurrence found in salt, washing and baking soda, etc.), it forms nitrate of soda or Chili saltpetre. This material is a dirty white, coarsely crystalline salt which rapidly gathers moisture from the air. It is mined and purified in northern Chili and carries 16 per cent. of nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen is soluble in water, diffuses readily through the soil, and, therefore, is immediately available to plants, being taken up by the plant roots as nitrates of lime, soda or potash. It forms no insoluble compounds with soil constituents and may be easily lost by leaching. (2) Ammonia Salts—Ammonia is a gas which, when dissolved in water, makes the well known ammonia water of the drug. store. Ammonia salts are soluble in water and the nitrogen is readily avail- able to plants. They are less open to loss by leaching than are the nitrates, but are not in common use in fertilizers as sold in Vermont. (3) Organic matter.—This is simply material which has been or is a part of a living plant or animal. Thus cottonseed meal, ground bone and manure are mostly “organic matter.’’ All organic matter does not contain nitrogen, but the seeds of plants as well as some of the seed residues, and the several structures of the animal body are rich therein. Nitrogen derived from organic matter is insoluble in water and may be either quickly or slowly available to plants according to its source and rate of decay. Speaking broadly, plants assimilate nitrogen only in the nitrate form. It is necessary, therefore, that such as is present as ammonia or in or- ganic matter be transformed into the nitrate shape before it can become of use. This change is brought about through the agency of bacteria, small living plant organisms found in the soil in great numbers, the process being known as nitrification. I shall, I hope, have a chance next year to say something about this matter to the readers of the report. a st he OEE el *Much of the matter following is a modified excerpt from Bulletin 99 of the Vermont Experiment Station. Anyone who is interested inthis matter and wishes to pursue it further should send to the station at Burlington fora copy of this issue. It willbe sent to any address without charge. 54 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. FUNCTIONS OF NITROGEN. Each element used by plant life helps in the building of certain parts of the plant and likewise, doubtless, each has some one or more special functions. What some of these are is not well understood, but some are known. Nitrogen is known to show its effects on plant life in three ways: 1. It promotes stem and leaf growth, and, if in excess, delays seed and fruit formation. 2. It deepens the green coloration of the leaves. 3. Its abundance may increase and its deficiency may lessen the relative amount of nitrogen in the plant. This means variation in food value. If nitrogen is freely applied in fertilizers or is present in plentiful quantities in the soil, its effect is generally shown by a vigorous, dark green leaf growth and by a somewhat retarded flower and seed forma- tion. If available nitrogen is relatively lacking either in the soil or in the added fertilizer, a somewhat more scanty foliage than occurs under better conditions, one of a rather lighter green, is grown. The seed, moreover, is apt to mature rather earlier than usual. One may by careful observation judge somewhat as to the crop needs in this man- ner. It should be remembered in this connection that nitrogen is essential to plant growth, that available nitrogen is in small quantity and easily exhausted from soils, and that consequently it is and always has been the most costly form of plant food. (See article on farm manure in this volume in this connection.) PHOSPHORIC ACID. Phosphoric acid is a combination of phosphorus and oxygen, the one, a gas and the other, a yellowish, waxy solid. It occurs in animal bones and other debris, in various mineral deposits and in soil and ores. Like nitrogen it is useful in agriculture only in the combined state, as the poisonous phosphorus or the virulent acid can only be used when they are united with other materials as binders. In bones it is combined with lime and organic matter, in the rocks, ores and soils, with lime, iron, alumina and magnesia, the combinations being known as phosphates of lime, iron, alumnia or magnesia, as the case may be. Phosphoric acid is usually found in the fertilizer trade combined with lime as soluble, reverted or insoluble phosphoric acid, the three to- gether forming the so-called total phosphoric acid. Soluble phosphoric acid is soluble in water and readily taken up by the plant roots. Different from nitrate nitrogen, however, it is not lost to any extent by leaching, being fixed by soil constituents. Reverted phosphoric acid, while insoluble in water, is usually suff- ciently soluble in the acids of the soil and plant roots to nourish the latter. Being largely if not entirely assimilable by the plant roots, it is nearly as serviceable as the “soluble.” The two together are termed “available” phosphoric acid. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 55 The insoluble phosphoric acid is insoluble in water, and is but slowly taken up by the plant roots, being firmly bound or held by the large amount of lime. The rate of its assimilation depends largely on the nature of the phosphate. That from bone is more readily used than that from rock, since the decay of the organic matter honeycombs it and puts it in a favorable condition for solution. That from rock, on the other hand, even though ground to an impalpable powder, resists solution almost indefinitely, except on very peaty soils or those con- taining much humus. Relatively large proportions of available and small proportions of insoluble phosphoric acid are desirable in fertiliz- ers. FUNCTIONS OF PHOSPHORIC ACID. The phosphates, like the nitrates, are distributed throughout all soils, but available forms, in quantities sufficient to promote a large crop growth, are often lacking. This is particularly true in grain growing regions since grain is a heavy user of this ingredient. Phosphoric acid promotes maturity and seed formation. Seeds and fruit contain more phosphorus than does any other part of the plant. They do not develop normally and the plant fails to mature unless a fair supply of this element is available. Phosphorus acts in a manner opposite to nitrogen in this respect. Phosphoric acid liberally applied early in the season, unless its effect be counteracted by plentiful sup- plies of nitrogen, hastens maturity. Plump, full seed indicates plenty of available phosphoric acid, while a shrunken seed or its failure to set may be due to its paucity. One may judge somewhat in this manner as to crop needs. POTASH. Potash is a combination or union of a silver-white metal, potassium, with the gas oxygen. It is a constituent of many minerals and rocks, which, on decomposing, crumble into small particles and furnish potash compounds to the soil. Thus it happens that potash is a common soil ingredient; but it is one which is tightly locked up in combination with silicic acid (the main ingredient of sand) and hence is but slowly avail- able to the plants. Most plants, moreover, draw heavily upon the potash supplies of the soil. Hence it is not uncommon for plant life to show the effects of an insufficient supply of this constituent. The ashes of plants are rich in potash. It is this material, united mostly with carbonic acid, which is leached by water from wood ashes forming the well known “lye.” Potash exists in various combinations and forms. 1. In minerals, rocks and soils. 2. In vegetable material as organic potash. 3. In ashes of vegetable matter, as impure carbonate, silicate, etc. 4, In special potash minerals or salts, as muriate (chlorid), sulphate, 56 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 1. Rock and soil potash. Potash is found in soils as clay, as marl, and in other forms. It is insoluble in water and is available with ex- treme slowness. 2. Organic potash. Potash is built into vegetable matter during the course of the life of the plant and through its decomposition may become available to the growth of other plants. Cottonseed meal, to- bacco refuse, castor pomace and the like contain considerable propor- tions of this ingredient, which, while insoluble in water, is of use as a fertilizer. 3. Potash from ashes. When cottonseed hulls, tobacco stems, wood, etc., are burned, the ash residues contain from 5 to 30 or more per cent. of potash, mainly as carbonate. Most of this potash is soluble in water and is an admirable form of this ingredient for fertilizing pur- poses. 4. Potash from mineral salts. Practically all the potash which enters into the manufacture of commercial fertilizers to-day is de- rived from the German potash salt mines. The saline minerals which are mined in that country are sold either purified or in the crude, but ground, state. The more common salts are the muriate, sulphate, and kainit. All of these salts are soluble in water, and the potash is im- mediately available for plant purposes. FUNCTIONS OF POTASH. The known functions of this ingredient appear to be three in num- ber 1. It seems to be an essential to the formation and transference of starch in plants and thus indirectly affects sugar formation. 2. It plays an important part in the development of wood structure and of the fleshy portions of the fruit. 3. It is in part a neutralizer of plant acids. 1. Starch is formed in the leaves of the plant through the agencies of the sunlight and the chlorophyll or green coloring matter. But starch is insoluble and cannot pass through the plant tissues. In some way not thoroughly understood it becomes sufficiently changed so that it can permeate the cell walls and thus be transferred to and accumulated in fruit, stalk, root, or tuber, where it becomes insoluble again. While the way in which this transference is brought about is not thoroughly comprehended, it is known that potash plays an important part therein and, also, that this ingredient aids in the original formation of the starch. No other constituent seems capable of replacing it in this peculiar and important function. When potash is in the form of muriate the accumulation of starch more particularly at some one point, as in the tuber of the potato, seems to be somewhat interfered with. The tendency of chlorin seems to be in the direction of diffusing rather than of concentrating starch. This point has some bearing in the choice of the form of potash for the growth of different crops. Since sugar is probably formed from starch, the relationship of potash to its formation is obvious. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. S7/ 2. Starch is the mother substance of the wood. If it forms slowly the wood growth is inadequate. Starch occupies a very similar relation to the sugar, pectin and pectose bodies of the fleshy portions of fruit. 3. Several of the plant acids, like the malic of the apple, the citric of the lemon, the tartaric of the grape and the like are in some measure neutralized by the potash which is taken up by the plant, it forming the most important base of the acid salts. LIME. Lime is a term somewhat loosely applied to several compounds con- taining the metal calcium. Thus the common compound with oxygen (quick lime), that with the elements of water (slaked lime), and that with the elements of water and the carbonic acid of the air (air slaked lime), are all spoken of as “lime.”’ Strictly speaking, however, the term is applicable to the oxide only, i. e. to the “quick lime.” Lime is used in agriculture in its three more common natural forms and in several artificial ones. The natural ones are: 1. As carbonate in limestone, marble, chalk, some marls, oyster shells, etc. (compounds with carbonic acid, the gas of the “soda water’”’ of the druggist, formed from carbon and oxygen). 2. As sulphate in gypsum or land plaster (a compound with sul- phuric acid and water). 3. As phosphate in phosphate rocks of various kinds, bones, etc. (a combination with phosphoric acid). The artificial forms of lime are: 1. As oxide, in burned lime, quick lime. 2. As hydrate, in water slaked lime (lime and water). 3. As an impure hydrate mixed with carbonate, in air slaked lime (lime slaked by the damp air and gaining both water and carbonic acid therefrom). * 4. As an impure carbonate, in ashes of sundry sorts (combined with the carbonic acid formed by the burning of woody matter). 5. As phosphates carrying varying proportions of lime (formed by the use of sulphuric acid in the manufacture of superphosphate or acid phosphate from rock, bone blacks, etc.) Concerning the natural forms it may be said: 1. Carbonate. Ground limestone or oyster shells are plentiful and cheap. The lime they contain is not as available as is that in other forms. 2. Sulphate. Gypsum or land plaster is a well known and largely used soil amendment, which deserves a still larger usage. It is mined in Nova Scotia, Central New York and elsewhere, where it is ground to a powder prior to use. 3. Phosphate. While phosphate rock is mined and bones gathered and ground mainly for the phosphoric acid they contain, their lime content is a factor of some importance. 58 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Concerning the artificial forms it may be said: 1. Oxide. Quicklime is derived from the calcining or “burning” of limestone or oyster shells in a kiln, the carbonic acid gas being water off by the heat. The oxide thus formed is very alkaline, absorbs water and carbonic acid from the air with eagerness, and “slakes” with the production of great heat. Quicklime is the most energetic form of lime. 2. Hydrate. Slaked lime as such is used but little in agriculture. Its action is much the same as that of air slaked lime. 3. Impure hydrate and carbonate. Air slaked lime is perhaps the most common form used in those regions where the custom of liming obtains. Quicklime slowly changes from the oxide to the hydrated (or watered) form through the action of the air, absorbing at the same time more or less carbonic acid therefrom and thus becoming less viru- lent in its action. Complete slaking seldom occurs. Like the oxide, this form of lime is an active one and may well be termed available. 4. Impure carbonate. Ashes contain usually from 30 to 40 per cent. of lime as carbonate, which is sometimes termed “vegetable lime.” It is an active form of this ingredient, though a somewhat less energetic one than the others. Ashes furnish a form of lime which is probably quite as available as any and, if not too costly, often prove a desirable purchase. 5. Phosphate. Phosphate of lime treated with an adequate quantity of sulphuric acid forms more or less free phosphoric acid, soluble and reverted phosphoric acid, and sulphate of lime; and usually some re- mains unaltered. About one-third of the lime in such materials is left united with the phosphoric acid while two-thirds joins with the sulphuric acid. The lime in these altered compounds is more or less soluble in water and all of it is quite available. It is less powerful in some ways than the other forms. FUNCTION OF LIME IN SOILS. Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are deficient elements or com- pounds of plant food. Soils become deprived of them and plants get hungry for them. That is why they are used. Lime, on the contrary, is more commonly used on account of its indirect action. In other words, it promotes plant growth through its effect on the soil, rather than because it adds any needed plant food to the soil. Hence it fol- lows that the functions of the lime are somewhat complex and, more- over, that one needs to consider its effect on the soil rather than upon the plant. We have viewed nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash solely from the standpoint of the plant and studied their effects upon plant life. They do not modify the character of the soil on which they are placed. Lime, however, has a more pronounced action and may profoundly affect the soil to which it is added. The influence of lime on a soil may be felt in three ways: 1. Upon its mechanical condition. 2. Upon its chemical composition. 3. Upon its biological condition. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 59 1. The mechanical condition of the soil may be affected by liming in two ways: (a) It flocculates soils of a clayey nature. (b) It binds soils of a sandy nature. (a) When lime is freely applied to soils of a clayey type it tends to open them up, to lighten them, to render them more porous, more crumbly and more friable. This peculiar action is called “flocculation,” the gathering together of minutely fine particles into floccules or flakes. Too much lime may be used and the soil injured, but such a result is not common. (b) When lime is used on sandy soils it tends to make them more compact and retentive. The effect is not as pronounced as that ex- erted on the clays and, it is to be observed, is in quite an opposite direc- tion. 2. The chemical composition of a soil may be modified by liming, more particularly in two ways: (a) It frees certain forms of plant food from soil combinations, rendering them available to plant uses. (b) It counteracts the influence of certain more or less harmful ingredients naturally present or artificially formed. (a) Most of the plant food in soils is locked up quite securely in soil combinations. Lime is one of the best keys with which to open some of these locks. It frees considerable quantities of potash and phosphoric acid and thus furnishes needed plant food from the soil rather than by means of an added fertilizer. It is easy to see that such an action may go too far, that lime may be used for a series of years and lead to soil exhaustion. (b) There are several occasional soil constituents which may be harmful to plant growth. Thus poisonous ferrous (iron) salts form in some swamp soils and subsoils, which may be combatted with lime. Soil acidity, too, may be thus neutralized. This acidity may be due to any one of several causes, but is most commonly due to an accumula- tion of plant acids arising from humus formation and change. Then, too, upland soils of a granitic type are apt to lose lime by leaching and by gravitation, and thus to become acid. Liming naturally tends to counteract these conditions, and to neutralize the acidity. Inasmuch as an acid soil is not a favorable one for the production of many of the better forms of plant growth, it follows that liming is often found to be a happy remedy for a desperate condition. 3. The biological (or life) conditions of a soil may be changed through liming in four ways: (a) It favors bacterial growth. (b) It helps to “bring in” clover and to improve the character of the vegetation. (c) It helps to decompose humus, etc. (d) It affects insects and fungus growths. 60 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. (a) It is hoped next year to discuss somewhat fully in the report the close relationship between bacteria and fertilization. Space is lack- ing to give the subject adequate treatment here. Suffice it is to say that soil bacteria (minute plants invisible to the eye, present in countless myriads in agricultural soils) are most potent factors in plant growth; that a large share, though not all, are helpful thereto; and that their well being is closely dependent upon a mildly alkaline reaction of the soil. Such a condition is promoted by liming. (b) Under ordinary circumstances clover and allied plants are de- pendent on soil bacteria for certain forms of plant food. Conditions favoring bacterial growth help the clovers to grow. (c) Lime is a well known disintegrater of organic matter, rendering inert material more available, freeing nitrogen, promoting nitrification, and often making a base to unite with the nitric acid formed through bacterial action. (d) The ravages of certain forms of insects and of fungi ae lessened, and those of others increased through liming. The develop ment of the potato scab fungus, for instance, seems to be favored by liming, so that this practice should not precede the growth of that crop. On the contrary, lime seems a specific when used against club-root of cabbage, etc. It should finally be said that one form of lime, the sulphate (gypsum or land plaster), whether a natural product or an artificial one, exer- cises a function which the other forms do not. It is a fixer or fastener of ammonia through its power of forming with that material compounds which do not evaporate. Lime drives off ammonia, but plaster holds it. When mixed with decaying nitrogenous organic matter, the loss of nitrogen in the form of ammonia resulting from that decay is decidedly lessened. Plaster is therefore used to quite an extent on piles of fer- menting manure or in stables. When used in the barn it is sprinkled in the powdered form in the trenches behind the cattle, perhaps a third of a pound daily to an animal being used. The reasons for its beneficial action are not well understood, and, sometimes, it unaccountably fails to accomplish its work. Gypsum also tends to favor the progress of the nitrifying process, and, like other forms of lime, frees potash and phosphoric acid. Indeed, it is perhaps more efficient in this latter capacity than are the other forms of lime. % BUYING PLANT FOOD. How may these four forms of plant food best be bought? They may best be supplied in three ways—from the clover seed sack, the feed sack and the phosphate sack. They may be worked out of the soil by culti- vation and the like, but they are brought onto the farm best in these ways. The clover seed sack increases the plant food content of the soil in two ways. Clover roots bring plant food from lower soil levels to the upper ones. They run deep into the soil and translocate plant food into VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 61 the stubble. The plant also gathers nitrogen from the air through bac- terial agencies. In fact, a clover crop when removed, leaves the soil better than it found it. The feed sack, if it contains the right sort of feed, may greatly add to the plant food content of the manure. Cotton seed, linseed and gluten meals, the distillers’ grains and the wheat offals are rich in plant food. Such purchases of feed as are made should be made with reference to their service as manure makers. The phosphate sack is all right in its place; but much of the purchase is hap-hazard, ill-advised and at exhorbitant prices. The trouble is that farmers often buy low grade goods rather than high grade ones. Low grade goods are almost always the most expensive and the least ser- viceable. The chemist’s tale is told. It has been a plain one, unillustrated and, perhaps dry. But there are a number of points touching the “big four” of agriculture, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash and lime, which he has made, which, if noted and profited by, may add much to the success of him who puts them into practice. EXCERPTS FROM EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS OF 1903. THE MAPLE SAP FLOW. The results of several seasons’ work in the sugar bush point to the following conclusions as to sundry matters pertaining to the maple sap flow: 1. Whence comes the sugar? And what relation has the structure of the tree and its life functions to sugar formation? Maple sugar is formed from starch in the late winter and early spring. This starch is stored in certain sap wood during the preceding summer and is probably transformed into sugar through the action of enzymes. The starch is formed in the leaves under the influence of sunlight. A large leaf area and plenty of sunshine conduce to sugar making. The reverse conditions hinder it. 2. What is the cause of the sap flow? The immediate cause of the flow from the tap hole is sap movement under pressure towards the point of least resistance. The exciting cause of this flow seems to be temperature fluctuations back and forth over the 32 degrees F. line, causing alternation of pressure and suction, a pumplike action. The ultimate and absolute cause can hardly be this or any other physical one. It probably is a function of the living cell. 3. What relations to the sap flow are borne by weather changes, the water and gas contents of the tree, pressure and suction, and direction of sap movement? The maple trunk rapidly accumulates water during the late winter and early spring. It at all times contains much gas enclosed within the cell walls of the woody tissues. The sap passes through these walls readily; gas, scarcely at all. Moreover, temperature changes 62 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. cause expansion or contraction of the volume of imprisoned gases, and changes in pressure of the imprisoned gases. Increase of water con- tent and rising temperature produce pressure, pressure induces sap movement, and sap movement means sap flow. Alternations of temper- ature above and below freezing, cause alternate conditions of pressure and suction, and bring about a pumplike action which accounts in some measure for the intermittent flow. Pressure comes from above and be- low the tap hole, and but slightly from the side. The sap flow comes, under ordinary conditions, chiefly from tissues directly above and below the tap hole. 4. What bearing has location of the tree and variations in tapping on the amount and character of the flow? Trees in the open give more and richer sap than those further back in the bush, crowded and shaded, because of greater leaf expansion and stin exposure. No more sugar is yielded by tapping on the “branchy” side of a tree than on that relatively devoid of branches. A difference of but 4 pounds in 1,000 was noted in favor of the side which was well filled out. Without ex- ception more sugar was obtained from the outer one inch and a half than from tissues deeper in the trees. Four-fifths of the sugar yielded from a tap hole 6 inches deep came from the first or outer 3 inches of wood tissue. The remaining fifth would not compensate for the extra labor of boring and increased in- ‘ury to the tree. On typical sap days a tap hole on the south side yielded the most sugar, but on other days, particularly if cloudy, when all sides of the tree warmed more equally, the outcome between taps on different sides of the tree was more uniform. No decided advantage arises from a too careful selection of any par- ticular side for tapping. The best results will be secured by selecting a point that does not show the nearby marks of recent tappings. The sap obtained from the customary tapping height (4 feet) was found to be greater in quantity and better in quality than that from the root (at ground level) or higher on the tree (14 feet above the ground). Twenty-seven percent. of the total sugar yielded came from the root tap, 61 percent. from the main tap and 22 percent. from the high tap hole. The high tap hole ceased running earlier in the day than did the others. The larger the tap hole the more sap and sugar for a time at least. It is unwise, however, so to wound the tree that the tap hole will not soon heal over. A % to % inch sharp bit is recommended for tapping. The hole should be free from shavings, borings, etc., before the spout is inserted. The spout selected should not obstruct the wood tissues of the tree, should securely hold the pail and should be easily inserted and removed. The bark should largely contribute to the firm holding of the spout. 5. What is the extent and cause of sap variation? Sixty-three per cent. of the sap drops before noon. There is a slight betterment in its VERMONT AGRICTLTURAL REPORT. . 63 sugar content as the day advances. As between orchards there are large variations. In five cases 2.08 and 3.44 percents. were extremes. In the same place in consecutive years the sugar contents were 2.14 and 2.42 percents., while the average sugar cortents in sap flowing from the ex- perimental trees was 3.13 and 3.41 percents. This was not due to a se- lection of trees, but to rain water and snow. A third of the entire liquid gathered, hauled and evaporated was rain and snow water. The expense of handling this material would pay the cost of pail covers in a short time. 6. What draft does an average sugar yield make upon the total sugar content of a tree? Provided three pounds of sugar be made to the tree, from 4 to 9 percent., according to the size of the tree, is re- moved. | WHAT KIND OF CORN SHALL BE PLANTED FOR SILAGE? The wet summers of 1902 and 1903 and the consequent immature corn crop have served better than any Experiment station test to deter farmers from further planting of varieties which will not mature in nor- mal seasons; yet a brief account of trials made in 1900 and 1901, in the seasons before those in which “the rains descended and the floods came” may not be amiss, nor their moral lost. Four varieties of corn, Sanford, Red Cob, Leaming and a dent corn from Virginia, much vaunted by an institute speaker in Vermont during the winter of 1899-1900, were planted each year. Sanford corn is a relatively small flint corn, largely grown and fa- vorably known throughout northern New England. Red Cob is a larger variety, which frequently will nearly and occasionally quite mature at Burlington. Leaming is a larger variety, popular in southern New England, characterized in particular by a highly developed leaf growth. The Virginia corn (variety unknown) was a large, impressive looking dent corn, for which great things were claimed as to its growth in latitudes south of 40°. The larger corns produced from 50 to 70 percent. more gross weight than did the Sanford, but only an average of 10 percent. more dry mat- ter, and that was less mature. The several crops were ensiled. It was found impracticable to make exact separations in the silo, so that only general statements are possi- ble. The silages were fed to many cows and the surface dropped rap- idly, which tended to lessen loss. According to the records for 1900 the two dryer corns, Sanford and Red Cob, when ensiled, lost but 2 percent. in total weight, while the wetter ones, Leaming and Virginia, lost 20 percent. The latter lost 14 percent. of dry matter and the for- mer seemed to gain a small amount of dry matter, an obvious impossi- bility. The dry matter loss, however, can confidently be stated to have been slight. Assuming 5 percent. loss in the one case and 14 percent. 64 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. in the other, less dry matter was actually put into the cows’ mangers from an area planted to the large varieties than was derived from an equal area planted to the smaller kinds. The comparison was not made with the crop of 1901. The silages were fed in the course of the feeding trials of 1900-1901 and of 1901-1902. When cows were changed from Sanford silage to that derived from the larger corn, shrinkage in milk flow ensued if no in- crease was made in the weight of silage fed in order to offset its lessened feeding value. A survey of the analyses of these silages as shown in the report, indi- cate that: 1. The dry matter of the Sanford corn tends to be a shade richer in protein, a good deal richer in the more desirable carbonhydrates (starches, etc., fat) and less rich in its less desirable form (cellulose) than the other varieties. This, no doubt, is largely due to its greater maturity; that 2. Its dry matter carries less potash than that of its rivals, a good point in its favor; that 3. The dry matter of the Sanford silage was richer in protein, starch, etc., than were those of the immature corns. The large corns look impressive, but they yield at best but little and often no more actual food matter than do some smaller varieties. One has the satisfaction of seeing immense growths, but gets no other re- turn. The farmer has, moreover, to harvest and house large tonnages of water which may generally be procured cheaper in other ways. POTATO DISEASES AND THEIR REMEDIES. I. GAINS FROM USE OF BORDEAUX MIXTURE. Experimental sprayings of potatoes with fungicides and other com- pounds have been conducted at this Station each summer for fourteen years. During this time a large number of preparations have been tested and nothing equal to bordeaux-arsenical mixture has been found for use in the latter part of the season. The gains from the right use of this mixture have been large on the average and are chiefly attrib- utable to the prolongation of the life of the foliage into the autumn, through protecting it from both fungus and insect ravages. In general two applications of the mixture have proved most profitable. Owing, however, to the late appearance of the blight in 1903, and the fact that its development was checked by continuous dry weather in early Sep- tember, a single application of the mixture, about the tenth of August, proved sufficient for the preservation of the most of the foliage from blight. On heavy soil there was some rot where the plants were sprayed only once, but the crop in the main field of the station farm, which was a sandy loam, three and one-half acres in extent, thus sprayed once, VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 65 retained its foliage in good shape well through September and yielded over 1,200 bushels of marketable potatoes with practically no rot. No unsprayed rows were left in this field, but in a smaller one on higher but somewhat heavier soil, records were obtained. This field was planted with the Green Mountain variety about May first, and given one thorough application of bordeaux mixture on August 10. The plots were dug September 24. The unsprayed tops had been dead for some two weeks, while at least fifty percent. of the foliage was still alive on the sprayed tops. The sprayed and unsprayed portions were carefully selected with a view to uniformity. Each lot consisted of four rows fifty-eight feet long. The total yields calculated in bushels to the acre are as follows: Sprayed, 392 bushels per acre; unsprayed, 285 bushels per acre; an increase in total yield as a result of spraying of 107 bushels. This gain was not as large as it has been in seasons when the blight has come earlier and progressed more rapidly. On the other hand, un- der such conditions two or even three sprayings are required to pre- serve the foliage until the maturing of the crop. The gain -f 124 bushels per acre as the result of a single timely spraying represents a larger gain in proportion to the cost than we have heretofore recorded. We learned of cases where potato growers sprayed their plants twice this season in July and secured but little benefit for the simple reason that by the time the blight was destructive, the latter half of August, their plants were unprotected. Our experience again serves to em- phasize sharply the point we have repeatedly made, that in order to spray most profitably a man must know what he is spraying for, watch his crop and spray intelligently as well as thoroughly. To paraphrase the old saying, a spray in time saves the crop. Timeliness is an im- portant factor in success. That it pays richly to use thoughtfulness, thoroughness and timeliness may be judged from the cumulative data showing the results from thirteen consecutive seasons’ work at this station. These figures speak for themselves. GAINS FROM USE OF BORDEAUX MIXTURE ON LATE POTATOES. | Yield per Acre 2 | Gain Variety Planted Sprayed per Where |Where not}; Acre Sprayed | Sprayed sea ee White Star....... May 11, 1891..| Aug. 26, Sept. 8... f=) ole) OU 248 bu. 65 bu. on Reh teaes May 2U, 1892..| July 380, Aug. 13. 25. -} 291 bu. 99 bu. 192 bu. a id aes. May 20, 1893... Aug. 1. 16, 29... 338 bu. 114 bu. | 224 bu. Le eee Apr. 26, 1894.| June 16, July Oi ‘Aug. “50 328 bu. 251 bu. 77 bu. Be eal Pepe May 20, 1895..| July 25. Aug. 13, 31.. .| 3839 bu. 219 bu. 170 bu. Polaris) May 15, 1846..| Aug. 7. 21.. ..| 3825 bu 257 bu. 68 bu. ete eee June 1, 1897..| July 27, Aug. 47, Eee | Ol byt. 80 bu. 71 bu, White Star...... May 10, 1898..) July 21, Aug, 10...................... 238 bu. 112 bu. 126 bu. Average 3 var.|May 18, 1899..| July 26, Aug. alrie PEPie 229 bu. 161 bu. 68 bu. Delawate ........ May 23, 1900..) Aug. 4, 23 .. eoaeor || Aslt Lony 225 bu. 60 bu. alee May 25, 1901..) July 20, August 21. cyt bri oy bi 54 bu. 116 bu. i se. | May 15, 1902. | Mua, A 20s. £9 /| 298) Die 164 bu. 134 bu Green Mount../May 1, phe ae IK ioe Oe bros eee oe 361 bu. 237 bu. 124 bu. AN GTASES OT MUNELEEM YOALS cere cccsscestsnscc-caseces ccscos 286 bu. 171 bu. 115 bu. 66 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. II. ADDITIONS OF BUG DEATH AND PARIS GREEN TO BORDEAUX MIXTURE. This experiment was conducted in a field belonging to the Mary Fletcher Hospital. Its object was to determine the relative efficiencies of bug death and paris green when used alone and with bordeaux m1x- ture in the latter part of the season. The plots were dug on October 7th (two months after spraying), when the tops on all the rows were entirely dead, with an occasional exception where bordeaux mixture had been used. The following gives the treat- ment and the yield from each treatment (three rows), in pounds: Treatment. Yield, 3 rows. Paris STEEN 6 ickoun Vee epee den baleen cle eee Bere 220 pounds. Control* (uintreated)ixa- eee eee roe eee 241 pounds. Bordeatix=panis Sreeheniiechihe en ieee iter 278 pounds. Bordeaux-bug death mixture=..5-0..e eee eee eres 280 pounds. Bue death appliediidty 225... am iece eee eae eee es 237 pounds. The conclusions warranted by the results thus far discussed seem to be as follows: (1) Neither paris green nor bug death used alone have value in checking the late blight, even where, in the case of bug death, very lib- eral application is made. (2) So far as controlling late blight is concerned, bordeaux-bug death mixture and bordeaux-paris green mixture are both efficacious, the one as good as the other, and doubtless simple bordeaux mixture without any insecticide added would prove as good as either. To avoid being misunderstood, we will repeat what we have stated in previous years, that it is outside of the plans of these experiments to inquire closely into the insecticidal value of bug death. We have, how- ever, seen evidence that it has such value in trials of former years. This year in the absence of insects this factor did not enter into the results. III. RELATION OF DATE OF DIGGING TO DEVELOPMENT OF ROT. “Tow soon after the tops begin to die from the late blight should the potatoes be dug?” This question is of much practical importance and we undertook in 1902 to secure an answer. Although the results obtained in those trials appeared definite and justified a tentative deduction, it was felt that conditions might so vary from year to year that further trials were needed. Accordingly on August 31, twenty rows of potatoes, forty-five feet long, were staked off on a field belonging to the Mary letcher Hospital. These were on rather low ground in slightly moist and somewhat sandy soil. The late blight was abundant over the entire field, although it had mostly developed within the preceding week. On the plot selected one-third to one-half of the foliage had been killed during this week by late blight. Four rows were dug on each of five different dates, at intervals of one week, in such a manner as to give each time as near as possible an average of the plot. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 67 Each lot was stored within a few hours after digging in a cool house cellar and placed in bushel boxes, stacked up so as to allow free ventila- tion. 5 When each lot was dug they were carefully sorted and the weight of decayed tubers recorded. Those in storage were sorted on each date of digging, beginning September 7 and ending September 28. The average total weight obtained per row at each digging: Datevon digcin cee ae Aug. 31 Sept.7 Sept.14 Sept.21 Sept. 28 Weight, pounds...... 50.6 54.9 90.1 54.2 50.3 Average weight of potatoes from each digging which were sound on September 28: Datevondigeine a. seni Aug. 31 Sept.7 Sept.14 Sept.21 Sept. 28 Weight, pounds...... 22.8 40.8 46.2 47.8 46.6 Average decay per row previous to September 28: Date oi wicsing. 2.3... Aug. Sly .Sept.7 . Sept: 14 Sept. 21 Sept 28 Pounds decayed...... 28.0 14.1 8.7 6.2 aot Percent. decayed..... 50.3 20.7 15.8 ibe! 083 There is very little difference in the results from those dug Septem- ber 14, 21 and 28, while the digging of September 7 gave about eight- ninths as much, and that of August 31 less than one-half that obtained from the three later dates. The death oi a large per cent. of the foliage occurred between August 31 and September 7, and the entire tops were dead on September 14. Hence the data obtained this year “appear to confirm the rule laid down in the former report: ‘That where there is danger of rot it is best to delay the digging some ten days or more after the tops die and that a longer delay does not harm.” IV. DOES LIMING PREVENT ROT? Many farmers recommend sprinkling potatoes with air-slaked lime when placed in the cellar. This treatment, it is claimed, reduces the amount of decay in stored tubers. In order to test the efficacy of this treatment, one-half of the yield of each row used in the trial last de- scribed (except those dug on September 28), was sprinkled at the rate of about a quarter of a pound of lime to the bushel and placed side by side with the unlimed portion. The nature of the soil, dates of digging and sorting, and condition of foliage at each digging, have already been described. The following statement combines the results of all the four plots used in the experiment: Total decay of limed potatoes to September 28.......... 91.3 Total decay of untreated potatoes to September 28...... 85.8 Total of limed potatoes sound, September 28............ 311.9 Total of untreated potatoes sound, September 28........ 317.4 ) Percent sOmrdceave thMleC ccs oa5 So onioveres x. mawslinmens Bercentwordecayaineumtneateds +n... o-- cso ce ane ean, 68 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. So far as can be judged from the results of this single experiment there is nothing to be gained by liming, there being but two per cent. difference and that in favor of the untreated tubers. This trial of one season with only a few bushels of potatoes should not be regarded as conclusive. It does, however, lead us to doubt the value of the practice; yet the writer would be glad to learn of the ex- perience of any potato growers with liming potatoes, where definite gains were demonstrated. V. POTATO SCAB EXPERIMENT. Experiments in the disinfection of seed potatoes for scab were car- ried out during the season of 1903, along the lines suggested by the results of previous years. Two grades of seed were planted, ‘“scabby” and “‘smooth.” The washed seed potatoes were divided into five lots; one was soaked for two hours in formalin solution, 8 ounces in 15 gallons of water; another was soaked for one and one-half hours in corrosive sublimate solution, 1 ounce in 8 gallons of water; a third lot was moistened and then submitted to the vapor of formaldehyde, a fourth was thus treated dry, while a fifth lot was left entirely untreated. As in all previous trials, extending now through several years, cor- rosive sublimate and formalin proved equally efficient. They afford a cheap and eminently satisfactory means whereby the small potato grower may combat scab. For the large grower and the seed dealer who handles hundreds of bushels, a less laborious process 1s to be de- sired. It would be so much more economical and satisfactory in such cases to use a gaseous disinfectant that we have for several years been testing various methods looking to this end. Formaldehyde gas is a most promising candidate for favor. Only one per cent. of the crop raised from seed thus treated was scabby. We are not yet fully satisfied that this dry fumigation process is equal to the disinfection attained by soaking the seed potatoes in for- malin or in corrosive sublimate solution. These processes have been proved reliable by long experience, where this fumigation method should still be considered as in the experimental stage: In view of the several years’ results, however, and especially of those of the last summer, dealers and large growers who do not consider the soaking process practicable under their conditions, are advised to use the fumigation process providing their storage room will permit it. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 69 POULTRY AND EGG PRODUCTION. By HENRY VAN DRESER, COBLESKILL, N. Y. (From an address delivered before the Vermont State Board of Ag- riculture at Burlington, Vt., January 15th, 1904.) Mr. President and Brother Farmers: I am to talk upon a very small thing this morning—something as small as a hen—usually beneath the dignity of the farmers at large in the different States. Solomon said, “In the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Now, that is just as true to-day as it was centuries ago. Here this morning we have a multitude in counsel. The different counties of this State are represented, and I understand that they are all farmers or that way inclined. Now, as we pay a little attention to poultry, do we realize the fact that there is more money in poultry, for the amount invested, than in any other business along the line of agriculture? Yet it is the most neglected. In my boyhood I was made happy by administering to the wants of the little pets of the farm. My father was very lenient to my brother and me. We kept chickens, rabbits, squirrels, etc. As a rule, on Saturdays, when there was no school, the boys in the neighborhood would come over to our place to have a good time. They had to go away from home to have a good time, you see, and they came to our house. We enjoyed those Saturdays at home. Our surroundings were pleasant, and I know it made us better boys—it gave us thought along those lines that were beneficial to us. But as I grew into manhood I had an idea it took something as large as a cow to make a dollar out of. Al- though we paid for a home through the dairy cow, we are now engaged in poultry, also. There was no culture in the poultry department then, and there was no money in the business. We kept between 200 and 250 hens, but we never gathered in the eggs in the winter—because there were none to gather; that is a mighty good reason. And we never watered a hen until about nine years ago. We never thought that a hen got dry. I know men do, for I have been dry myself. We never set a hen—she always set herself. If she changed her mind, it was all right; that was her privilege. Then, when we were doing our hay harvesting, we were so busy that we would not gather the eggs for a week, and sometimes two weeks, and only then when our wives would call our attention to it, saying they wanted some groceries. Well, we would take a basket under our arm 70 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. and would go over into the garden, into the barn, or over into the meadow, and there, under a burdock leaf, find a hen sitting and just shoo her off, put the eggs into the basket and go to the grocery store. We had them in unknown quantities, but they were not to be relied upon, and the groceryman realized the fact. Sometimes we had eggs, sometimes we had chickens, and sometimes we had—something else. And the price was accordingly. So, you see, there was not a dollar in it for us. But I want to tell you how I became interested in poultry. I became very mtch interested in a little boy—no kin to me—who lived about three miles away. The boy had grand prospects. He was earnest in three miles away. The boy had grand prospects. He was earnest in pur- pose and honest in heart; chuck full of vim; such a boy as that is nearest my heart. We became so much interested in each other that he came to our house every day, and he finally concluded that he did not want to go home at all. So, I saw his father—he had nine children, and this was the baby—and I told him that I wanted the boy with me, and he said: “Take him and do as you please, and it will be all right with me.” And it was all right with me, too. The better I knew him the more I loved him. And one morning I said to him: “My dear boy, if you will furnish the brains I will furnish the money and give you a course at Cornell University.” And the boy went. During his absence I purchased the interest that my brother had in the home farm and my brother pur- chased another farm and moved five miles away. My wife and I, having no children, were lonely; and I want to say to the people here to-day, there is no household complete without children, music and flowers. That has been thoroughly demonstrated at my own home. My wife and I talked the matter over, and we wrote and told the boy we would like to have him come and stay with us. He left the university and I drove down to the station to meet him, and on the way home I saw at once that he was very enthusiastic in regard to poultry. Returning home, we sat down for the purpose of reasoning together, as Paul says. Fathers, you should respect the opinion of your sons. You should encourage thought. Thought is the power behind the - throne. Thought rules and governs this nation to-day. You don’t know the possibilities of a boy, except—when he presents an idea that is feasible, pat him on the back and encourage him, and he will develop a love for agriculture and become the pride of your heart in your de- clining years, and will love the homes and the farms that you have worked so hard to pay for. Well, the subject seemed feasible. We talked the matter over, and at once we went into the poultry business. The first thing we did was to purchase a Prairie State Incubator; two-hundred-egg capacity. We put it in the cellar of our dwelling-house, but the insurance company took our insurance away. I said to the boy, fire or no fire, we will go into the poultry business. The first thing we thought it was necessary ior us to do was to start with thoroughbred stock, because the chickens that we had on hand were of all ages, all colors, all denominations; they VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. RL were not to be depended upon; they were scrubs. So we sent away for 200 such eggs, for which we paid $20. When they arrived we put them on the table to give them a rest. Whenever you send away for a sitting of eggs, when they arrive you should give them a rest of twenty-four or thirty-six hours. It will bring them together and you will have a better hatch. When the eggs were ready he opened up the incubator. It is very easily adjusted; the thermometer would go to 103 when it would blow off; and he put those eggs into the tray, closed the incubator, and at the end of the fourth day he examined the eggs; he took a tester and just took the eggs off the tray and held them up to the light. If they are fertile there will be a pronounced zone of very fine blood ves- sels there. He put those eggs back into the tray, and the eggs that were not fertile he laid aside to feed to the little chicks after they were hatched. The eggs were turned twice a day, and then on the morning of the nineteenth day there was a beautiful sight; those little chicks just threw off their shells and opened up into new life. There was a won- derful transformation. Nine years ago was the first hatch I ever saw by an incubator, and it was one of the best hatches we have ever had. Ninety-seven per cent. of the fertile eggs hatched. The next thing we did was to leave those chickens in the incubator thirty-six hours. Now, when we took the little chicks away from the incubator we tried to have the brooder heated to 97 to 100 degrees. We took those chicks out of the incubator and put them carefully into a basket lined with cloth so as not to have a circulation of air, lest those littie chicks should catch cold. You want to be very particular about that. If you take the chicks out of the incubator and put them into the brooder, and that brooder is a little bit cold, and they catch cold, it will cause indigestion and cholera infantum. and that means death every time. Now, the first thing he fed those chicks was the shells the little chicks came out of. He put them into the oven and when they were perfectly dry rubbed them together in his hands, and sprinkled them in front of the chicks. That is just what is required to promote digestion. On the brooders he sprinkled some sand and gravel, and that puts the system into action, gives them a good appetite and power to digest their food. Then stale bread, moistened with skimmed milk, was sprinkled in front of the chicks. In a few days he gave them plenty of clean water. You want to be very careiul about the water. If the water is distasteful and insipid, and the vessels become slimy and nauseous, that causes in- digestion, and that makes a great difference in regard to the death- rate. What they want every hour of the day is clean, pure water. Never allow a chicken to get dry, but at all times have it so arranged that they can go right up to the little water vessel and take a sip. We use granulated charcoal, put in a small box; they can go there and help themselves. That, also, is a great bowel regulator—it cleanses the system. In a few days we began to feed golden millet, and that is the most growthy food and the best bowel regulator that we know of; and every WZ VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. farmer can raise it. You can raise a good many bushels to the acre, but if you purchase it, it will cost you from $1.50 to $1.60 a bushel. We always raise it for our own use. When the chicks get a little larger we begin to feed cracked wheat and cracked corn, and johnny cake. The first few years we made the johnny cake the same as we would make it for our own family, with the exception of working those infertile eggs into the mixture and stirring it up with a spoon, raised it and put it in the oven and baked it. We could feed the inside of that johnny cake, but the crust was hard aud w2 had to put it through a grater, which made additional work. Now we mix up the batter and put in the soda and eggs and then put it right into a large jacket in the cooker and steam it. And there is no crust to con- tend with; it is more digestible; every bit of it is eaten and there is no loss connected with it. We give them for succulent food, beets cut up. Just as soon as they get large enough so we can distinguish the sex, we put the cockerels in one department and the pullets in the other. We put all the cockerels in a brooder house; the pullets we put in a four- teen-acre orchard and allow them free range. The cockerels we feed with a little more of the johnny cake, and a little cottonseed meal with the cornmeal, for the purpose of giving color to the flesh, which makes the chicken look so much more attractive, because we wanted to put them on the market for broilers; and it gives a beautiful tinge to the meat. And we fied them with a rush, but were very careful and watched their digestion; we fed them plenty of buck- wheat, as it is very fattening. I want to say to you, now, of all the breeds I have ever seen, a White Leghorn will make the first pound as soon as any breed of chick- ens I have ever had anything to do with. Just as soon as ours weighed a pound to a pound and a half, we dry-picked them and sent them to New York. Now we are sending them away alive when they weigh a pound, and chickens never fetch a better price than they do when they weigh one pound, because, as they go up in weight, they go down in price, usually. This year we sent to New York early in the season, and then when the season opened at Saratoga we shipped there. Now they want us to ship them in a crate alive, when they weigh a pound or a pound and a quarter. We have gotten irom thirty-five to fiity and fiity- two cents apiece, and I think that is a very good price. As they want them without picking, we are willing to get rid of all the work we can. Now, the pullets were fed on meat scrap with the johnny cake, and some oats ground with the chaff sifted out; that was put in with the corn meal. We gave them buckwheat, also, and a variety of food. They had free range, which gave them plenty of muscle; and they were very healthy, and we were very much elated over the results. While this business is very attractive, I don’t want you to go into it without consideration, and I don’t want to mislead you, but I want you to do as we did; go into the business in a small way, and as you increase your knowledge of the business, enlarge your plant. With the mighty increase in population there is a greater call for eggs constantly; and VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 73 when you realize the fact that upon the average only sixty eggs per hen are laid in the United States, that is a mighty small record. Why, the farmers of the State of New York do not produce eggs enough to feed Greater New York. Eggs are being imported into the United States—millions of dozens a year. With the price that exists to-day, and which is constantly going up, don’t you see we are victims of lost opportunities, and we should be benefited by the mistakes we have made; and I am so sorry that my attention was not called to this business earlier in life. Now, don’t you see, poultry and dairying go hand in hand. One is an adjunct of the other, and you can pull in on this, as a side industry, a dollar on a hen, above all expenses, at the present price of eggs as you sell them to the grocery store; and I know whereof I speak. So you see it would make a great difference in regard to our finances, and you might just as well have that amount of money that you do without now. Well, now, one morning I was out in the orchard admiring those pul- lets, and the boy came to me and said: “I would like to have you come down to the barn.” I went down there, and what do you suppose he wanted of me? He told me he would like to have me step into the poultry house. I had not been in there for fifteen years. I never thought of such a thing as cleaning the poultry house. Our business was altogether on different lines. We were taking care of the dairy, you see, and I reluctantly opened the door and went in, and to my surprise, there were a couple of dead hens, and the place was neglected and broken down, ill-smelling and bad-looking. He said to me: ‘‘What are you going to do about it?” And I looked him square in the face, and said: “You tell.” “Well,” he said, “if I were you I would just go to work and take the interior out of this house, put it on a wagon, draw it down into the lot, pour on some kerosene and set it on fire.” No quicker said than done. It was right after breakfast, and I off with my coat and hitched the team, and when I drove up the boy had the interior of the house out, ready to put on the wagon. You see, he was afraid J might change my mind. We loaded it on the wagon and drove down into the meadow and put it on a pile, poured on some kerosene and set it on fire, and it went up like a rocket—a hundred thousand lice to the square inch! Then we refitted the house by running tar paper right up along the studding; then began ceiling, and stuffed between the ceiling with soft meadow hay, to make the room dry—and I am going to tell you moisture in the hen-house means death every time. The great secret of success in poultry raising is a dry room. When our house was finished we had a room fifteen feet square, with a southern exposure, two windows in it, and made frost proof by stuffing between ceilings, with a wallowing box and a nest box, a roosting device and a watering device, making the home very attractive and pleasant. But we didn’t dare to put those old hens back into the new depart- ment—we did not even introduce them to the pullets. Those old hens had something on them besides feathers! So we let them roost in the old orchard, out of doors, and the pullets we kept in the young orchard, 74 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. away from the old hens till fall, and then they were taken into the new department. Well. when those little pullets were four months and nine days old we got the first egg. And I will never forget how delighted the boy was. I was plowing at the extreme southern part of the farm, when working. He astonished me. I was frightened; I did not know what was the matter. And when he got up to me, to my surprise, he says, “There is an egg.” I tell you he was interested in the business. He watched it closely. And that is what a man has to do. He has got to look after the details of the business if he would succeed. Those chick- ens did pretty well; they began to lay, and they were kept in the or- chard till just before Thanksgiving, when they were put into their new winter quarters. Then they were made happy; their home was con- genial, had plenty of sunlight, they were very comfortable, and they did not decrease in their laying at all, but went on all through the winter. We got more eggs that winter than we had before in twenty years, dur- ing the winter months, all put together. Then a serious question arose: As to what we should do with those nearly 300 old hens and roosters? So we talked the matter over. I al- ways like to have a boy in the game, because they think more quickly than a man that is past the meridian—I know that by experience. “Now,” he says, “I will tell you: Thanksgiving is drawing nigh, the business men and millionaires of the city of New York will have a day off—that is, a day of feasting. Let us go to work, just before Thanksgiving, butcher those hens and put them up nicely in attractive packages—they are fat, sleek and neat—that, I think, will be a good idea.” So, just before Thanksgiving we got ready for the butchering. We heated some water, and, after killing them by sticking them in the mouth, we picked them very carefully—every pin feather was picked off carefully. After we finished picking we dipped them into a kettle of hot water long enough to count four slowly, and then, reversing the process, put them into water with ice in it long enough to count four slowly. Why did he do that? Well, you see, putting them into the hot water drew the secretions to the surface, and then into cold water with ice in it checked and held the fat over the surface of their bodies, and it puffed them right up. Say, they looked fine—just like pullets—ten- der, mellow and fat. Then the boy went to the village and got a roll of blue ribbon—very pretty—an inch and a half wide, and after drawing their legs close up to their sides, tied it around their bodies, with a nice, double bow-knot across the breast, and laid them on their backs, so they would not get out of shape during the night. The next morn ing we got some nice, clean barrels and packed them with a little straw, placing them in there with the blue ribbon staring us right in the face. When he finished packing them we took them to Cobleskill and shipped them to New York by express. In a few days we got a check. I opened the letter and, to my surprise, there was a check much larger than I had expected to receive, and it astonished me. But the boy said: “That is just as I expected; they were fat, nicely dressed and put up in such an attractive way.” So you see, we had disposed of the scrubs, and then we VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 75 were in better company. We are now taking care of thoroughbreds. I will tell you how we are feeding now: We put straw on the floor, about four inches thick, and in the morning we feed some peas, oats and wheat. These are the best all-around foods for laying hens I know of. We raise Canada peas and oats together; the Canada peas, you know, are small, and they can eat them whole. The peas are rich in protein and the oats have got the gimp in them. Oats will make a horse trot, a hen cackle or a rooster crow. Then next we feed the mash. Take seventy-five pounds of wheat bran, a hundred pounds of wheat middlings, one hundred pounds of corn meal and twenty-five pounds of meat scrap or meat meal, and mix them together. We cut up some alfalfa hay, 30 per cent. of the mixture, put that into the cooker and pour some skimmed milk on it and bring it to a boil, then stir in enough of above mixture to make the whole crumbly, and feed just what they will eat up in about fifteen or twenty minutes, in V-shaped troughs. You have got to use your own judgment in feeding; after you have fed them a few times you can do it without the least bit of waste. Then, in the evening, if the weather is cold, we feed them corn, wheat or buckwheat, providing nice, clean, pure water to drink constantly. In the wallowing box we put South Carolina rock for them to wallow in. That is a lice exterminatior, as it contains phos- phoric acid from 14 to 16 per cent., and no lice can live on a hen when she gets into that wallowing box and takes her bath. You see, we are very particular in regard to the care; we study their nature and make them comfortable and contented. The question has been frequently asked in the institutes I have attended during the past two years, especially, what is a good ration for a laying hen? Because farmers are paying more attention to poultry than they used to. That question answers itself, if you give it a thought. We will ask ourselves this question—what is an egg composed of? Seventy-four per cent. of the egg is water. Now, how necessary it is that a hen should have water every hour of the day—nice, clean water. Because it is impossible for a hen to lay many eggs without water. Now, when the housewife opens an egg in a saucer and examines it, the egg is not so nice as she would like to see it; the white of the egg is watery, the yolk is pale and she thinks the hen is sick, but that is not so. When the white of the egg is watery, it shows that we are not feeding a good, balanced ration. The lack of protein in feeding causes it. Fourteen and a half per cent. of the egg is protein. This is the white of the egg. Now, we must find a ration rich in protein. That we can do by feeding plenty of clover and wheat bran and wheat middlings. What is the result? The white of the egg is thick and attractive. Ten and a half per cent. of the egg is fat; that is the yellow. If the yellow is pale we can color it by feeding. If you feed too much buckwheat the yellow of the egg will be pale. We feed yellow corn and wheat, two glutens, and in that way we give a beautiful hue to the color of the yellow. We also feed quite a good deal of corn, to produce fat. 76 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. How oiten do we pick up an egg in the winter with the shell so brittle that it won’t stand shipping? Sometimes you find an egg with nothing but tissue—no shell at all. What is the matter with that hen? The shell is composed of lime, and it is a mighty drain on the hen’s system, laying an egg every other day, to produce the shell; they must have lime enough to cover the egg with a shell. Clover is rich in protein and it is rich in lime, but, in addition to this, we slack a little lime and put it into the shell-box, and the hens will go there if they require it; and you will be surprised, if you try it, at the difference in the results. What is the result of this kind of food? We will break an egg in a saucer and see. The white of the egg is thick, heavy; it is attractive, nutritious; the yel- low of the egg is the golden hue that was desired, and the shell is firm and strong and will stand shipment. There is the perfect egg, just brought about by thinking the matter over carefully and feeding intelli- gently. In this way, you see the business becomes more profitable to us. Fur- thermore, it is just as essential for us to breed hens of the laying type, if we are going into the business, as it is for the dairyman to have a cow of the milk type if he wants her for milk purposes. Now, as to the laying powers of the hen. I visited Professor Gowell, who told me that it took him fourteen years to develop the laying functions of the hen so that he produced 241 eggs per hen. He has hens right there of the same breed that laid only forty eggs per hen during the same year, and some hens were barren. I there studied the type of the hens; I noticed their characteristics. They were very per- ceptible. You could see it at once in their general make up. The best investment that we ever made in the poultry business was when we purchased our foundation stock. We bought thirty hens and three cockerels from Mr. Wyckoff. It took him about twelve years to develop the laying functions so that he got 197 eggs per hen from 600 hens. I have already passed the meridian of life, age is crawling on, and life is so short that I wanted to begin where Mr. Wyckoff left off, and I was willing to pay him for the knowledge he had in the business. So our foundation stock was up to snuff. They are very intelligent, as well as very strong; they are the fashionable styles, up to date in every respect. I brought them home, and for eight years we have been fur- ther developing the laying functions of that stock. You see, what you want is to select a hen something of a wedge shape, a little long over the back, and deep through the heart; that gives plenty of room for the ovaries, and that insures heavy egg production. We are studying it very closely, and last year we had 950 hens in one house that produced us 201 eggs per hen. But, we are not satisfied with that. We want to increase the egg production still further. But, don’t you see, just as soon as the hen puts on fat it dwaris her egg production. When a dairy cow puts on fat it dwarfs her milk production. Just upon the same plan. There is the difference between success and failure in the business. I will tell you how we do. About the middle of August VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT, VET) we shut our hens up in order to reduce their flesh. We have one house 367 feet long and 15 feet wide, with two windows in each department; we put those hens into those rooms, which are 15 feet square. One window has wire netting in front of it; this we open to give plenty of cir- culation of air. We give them a scant ration and plenty of water, and it takes about two weeks. At the end of the two weeks we open up the windows of the house and let them out, so they can range out into the sunlight in a fourteen-acre lot, and they look like so many balls of snow. It is a very attractive sight. Then we begin to feed richer food and more of it, but we want to use some caution and watch their digestion. We give them sunflower seed, peas, oats, wheat and corn, a variety. We raise the sunflowers ourselves, and this seed is very nourishing and oily. Just as soon as the chickens begins to put on flesh the oil in the sunflower seed, don’t you see, works upon the feathers, and that will make them begin to shed, and they will throw off their old plumage until almost in a state of nudity. They will then go to work and replume early in the season. They don’t suffer any inconvenience, as the weather at that season is mild and they do not get chilled. You don’t see them standing around shivering and looking sick, forlorn and disheartened, for they are happy. They will soon put on their new plumage, and as the feathers begin to come out, their eyes will begin to sparkle, their combs will turn red and they will begin to cackle. That is the time to gather the eggs. When you are in the poultry business in the way I have pointed out. you can pick up eggs when they are profitable, the finished product; and it is just like picking up the money; you feel as if you were doing some- thing. JI want to be in a business that I can realize that I am on earth for some purpose. We have no use for a dead man. And I tell you, if you cannot do anything else, get out in the street and begin to shout and crow—that will make your blood circulate; you will feel happier and have a better appetite. If you have plenty of confidence in this business, and look after all the little details, you are sure of success. That is the beauty of it. You want to keep your hen-house dry, and avoid disease in that way. We clean our roosts every Saturday. After the droppings are taken off we put on South Carolina rock, which we buy by the car- load, and it absorbs the moisture, and this gives us a fertilizer that is astonishing. A hen will produce a bushel of manure a year. This means a better farm and better crops, don’t you see. Just as soon as the roosts are cleared we paint them with a mixture, made as follows: Take a pound of carbolic acid crystals (and you can get that for forty cents), put it in a crock and set it in a pan of warm water and let it melt; then pour the contents into a gallon jug and fill it up with kerosene; then take another gallon of kerosene and put about four tablespoonfuls of that combination into that gallon of kerosene. And I want to say to you that, with that South Carolina rock and wallowing box, with ust a little care every Saturday, you will never see a louse nor a mite on your premises. We are very particular. We fight the lice before they are born; that is the best time to fight them. 78 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. APPLE TREE BORERS. By WILLIAM STUART, Horticulturist Vermont Experiment Station. Borers are serious pests throughout the apple farming sections. An unusual opportunity having arisen for observations upon the round- headed type, the writer deems it worth while to make some brief state- ments as to their nature and the means of combating them, even though, strictly speaking, it lies outside of the particular province of his line of work. The injurious effects of the round-headed apple tree borer were very apparent in the orchards examined. In one, which consisted entirely of trees under ten years of age, a larger per cent. of them were seriously injured and many killed outright. Others were so nearly dead that after blooming they failed to put forth leaves. Any tree in which a borer passes its larval life is much the worse for it; and, when, as sometimes happens, eight or ten make a tree their abiding place, its usefulness is past. LIFE HISTORY. The eggs are laid in slits in the green bark of the trunk of the tree, at or near the surface of the ground. They may be deposited as high as 18 inches, but usually are found near the base. They are probably de- posited in this latitude from the middle of June to the latter part of August. The egg soon hatches and the young larva begins at once to gnaw its way through the inner bark and cambium layer. On the ap- proach of winter it tunnels its way down the trunk of the tree below the surface of the ground. With the advent of spring it ascends and passes the summer in the sap wood. The second winter is passed in a similar manner to that of the first. The third season the larva again ascends and bores or gnows its way into the heart wood of the tree, and in all directions. Towards the close of the season it gnaws its way upward and outward to the bark of the tree, after which it withdraws into its burrow, encases itself with the castings of wood and soon enters into the pupal stage of its existence. Early in the next June it cuts its way out, emerges as a mature beetle, the female deposits its eggs and the life cycle is completed. PREVENTIVE MEASURES. The sundry measures recommended looking towards prevention are of two classes. They looked either to the exclusion or the repulsion of the insect. It is either shut away or turned away from the tree trunk. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 79 Exclusion.—This method of combatting the borers seems to the writer to be the more hopeful if the work is carefully done. Various materials may be used for wrapping the trunk, such as heavy wrapping paper, manila paper, tar paper or fine wire screen. Their efficacy is en- tirely dependent on the care and skill with which they are put on. Tobe effective they must fit sufficiently close to the trunk and come up high enough to prevent the beetle from depositing its eggs. The material used in fastening the wrappers should be such as is easily broken by the growth expansion of the tree. The employment of tar paper or fine wire netting serves the double purpose of excluding insects and protect- ing the trunks from injury by mice, rabbits or other small rodents. One objection sometimes urged against wrapping the tree trunk with heavy paper, is that, upon its removal, it renders the tree more subject to sun scald. Another, which might be raised, is that unless examined occa- sionally, the wrapper is apt to get disarranged and instead of being a protection it maye serve as a screen for the insects. Repulsion.—The application to the tree trunk of some caustic or ill- smelling compound serves to repel the borer in proportion to the thoroughness with which it is used and the persistency of the retention. Most of the washes employed are of an alkaline nature, consisting of soaps, or lyes, ‘caustic in their action, to which, frequently, enough carbolic acid is added to give an offensive odor. Quite recently painting the tree trunks with pure white lead and linseed oil has been highly recommended by Alwood of the Virginia station, as being an effective repellant of the round-headed apply-tree borer. The ease of application and the persistency of the material should warrant its trial on a small scale in this latitude. Various patent washes have been from time to time widely advertised. Most of these compounds contain coal-tar pro- ducts, which, while ill-smelling enough, are more or less injurious to the trees. Such are not, as a rule, to be recommended. It is evident that the protection of the trunk by washes can be effective only when it is kept covered with it. Remedies.—After the larva has entered the tree, there is practically but one thing to do. It must be dug out. A strong bladed knife and a rather strong, flexible wire are the only tools required. It is usually stated that it is sufficient to go over the trees twice yearly, in May and September. The writer recommends that, in badly infested orchards, at least, a further inspection be made in July. Many of the newly laid eggs could then be destroyed. The presence of the young larva in the tree is usually easily detected, since they lie near the surface and generally cause a slight flow of sap from the wounded tissue. The bark, moreover, is usually somewhat discolored. They are easily reached at this stage of their development, and, if destroyed, cause but little injury to the tree. As they grow older they advance deeper into the wood and their pres- ence can only be detected by the fresh castings that are pushed out as they gnaw through the wood tissues. The knife is used to remove the castings which clog the tunnel and then the flexible wire is inserted. If the course of the larva is not too devious, one can generally succeed in So VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. destroying it. The work of removing a two or three year old larva 1s, of course, much more laborious than that of getting rid of the younger ones located nearer the surface. And, moreover, their presence in the tree is less readily detected. Orchards which have been carefully gone over twice during each season, from the time of planting, will contain few, if any, larva of the second or third season’s growth. Carbon bi-sulfid is recommended by some for the destruction of borers in the tree. A small amount of this substance is inserted into the tun- nel of the borer and the hole stopped up with moist earth, or, better, with grafting wax. This method, while effective, and, if used judiciously, not harmful to the tree, does not seem to the writer practicable. At all events it is not a remedy to be recommended without qualification. Car- bon bi-sulfid is somewhat expensive, and exceedingly explosive. It should be kept from flame and the fumes should not be breathed. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. SI THE CANNING INDUSTRY OF VERMONT.* The development of the canning industry in Vermont is so recent that it has not as yet become of as great importance as in most of the New England States. Yet it seems to be firmly established, and bids fair in favorable seasons to add materially to the wealth of the several communities in which the canneries are located. Vegetables only are handled thus far, sweet corn constituting about ninety-eight per cent. of the output. Squash, pumpkins and beans are handled to some extent by a few concerns, but this part of the industry is still in the experi- mental stage. NUMBER OF CANNERIES, WHERE LOCATED AND WHEN ESTABLISHED. There are now seven canning factories operating in Vermont. es- tablished at Westminster in 1892, Northfield in 1894, Windsor in 1896, Brattleboro in 1898, Waterbury in 1899, St. Albans in 1900, and Essex Junction in 1902. By whom owned.—The Essex Junction, Windsor, Westminster and Brattleboro factories are owned and operated by H. C. Baxter & Bro. of Brunswick, Maine, under the title of Snowflake Canning Company. The St. Albans and Northfield plants are owned and operated by R. C. Payson & Co., of Portland, Maine, under the name of the Green Moun- tain Packing Company. The cannery at Waterbury is a home enterprise run by the Demeritt & Palmer Packing Company, their produce being labelled “The Cream of the Valley Sweet Corn.’’ The Maine firms use the Vermont output to supplement their home product, which it closely approaches in quality. Extent of the Industry—The estimated output of these seven can- neries during 1903 was 2,700,000 two-pound cans. According to the Twelfth Census (1900) the estimated output (obviously of the three first named factories only) was 5,802,720 pounds of canned goods, an amount slightly in excess of that put up last year at the seven fac- tories. Judging the extent of the industry by the number of acres devoted to the raising of canning crops we find the acreage comparatively small, but showing a healthy increase. The acreage contributory to the can- neries for 1903 and 1904 shows a decided increase in the case of Essex Junction, Waterbury, Northfield and Brattleboro, no increase from Windsor and Westminster and a slight decrease at St. Albans. *Abstracted from a thesis presented by Mr. F. A. MacMurtry of the Class of 1904, upon graduation from the Agricultural Department of the University of Vermont. 82 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Increase or Acreage. 1903. 1904. decrease. Seats at. eo wa eine SU AOUNACTSS 350 acres —12.5% Mesex Junction. «2% 4. 650 acres 875 acres -|-34.6% NVELGORDUEY. let oteucarcers\erevieier 155 acres 225 acres -|-45 % Nore LA cS aie «Sosa alas oyeteniee ean 250 acres WWitmdlS Omaesse sere te Bron cao 500 acres 500 acres WYegtnntingnee Geo obeooccoo ocr 650 acres 650 acres Brattleboro, =... .c-u- -e «.-) s00actes 400 acres -|-33.3% MO tallsh Wy viccte crteersers oie 2655 acres 3250 acres Percent. increase for 1904, 22.4. *Not operated on account of unfavorable season. The contracted area for 1904, 3,250 acres, is over 20 per cent. in excess of the actual acreage of the preceding year. Purchase price of vegetables by the canners.—The prices paid by the operators for corn varies considerably in the different sections of the State, owing to diverse methods of purchase which are in vogue. The corn is contracted to the operator of the northern factories at so much per ton for ears broken from the stalks, while at the more south- ern plants the purchase price is based upon a ton of husked ears from which the butts and tips have been removed. The 1904 prices were: St. Albans, $9; Essex Junction and Waterbury, $8.50; Northfield, $8; Windsor, Westminster and Brattleboro, $14. The shrinkage incident to the removal of husks, butts and tips not being known, it is impossible to compare the prices paid at the three southeastern factories with those paid at the northern ones. The slight variation in prices between the four northern factories may be due in part to the varieties of corn grown at each of the canneries. Five dollars a ton is paid for squash and pumpkins and fifty cents a bushel of thirty pounds for beans. Yield per acre and money value.—In favorable seasons the acre yield of unhusked ears is from 3-6 tons, and of husked ears from 2-3% tons. From 5-8 tons is a fair average for squash and pumpkins and from 1-2 tons of beans. The larger yields are only secured on land of good fertility and tilth. These crops bring, at the prices mentioned above, from $24 to $56 per acre for corn, $25 to $40 for squash and pumpkin, and for beans, $33 to $66. The stover forms an added asset in the growth of the corn crop. In such unfavorable seasons as those of 1902 and 1908, when as low as one ton of unhusked ears were reported an acre, the profit to the grower dwindles almost or quite to the vanishing point. The farmers seem to grow at present more particularly the several Country Gentleman and Crosby varieties. The industry is in almost every case simply a side issue to other and more general lines of farming. Owing to the recent poor corn years many farmers who have grown this crop for the canneries are skeptical as to profit, while others withhold judgment. In those localities where the industry has been longest established consensus of opinion is that it is in the long run and at present prices a fairly profitably venture to grow corn for the cannery. The stover is commonly ensiled (often with other corn), made into dry fodder or used as a soiling crop. The husks and cobs are ied to cows when fresh, to swine when sour, or are ensiled. VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 83 CEMENT FLOORS FOR STABLES: By ERNEST HITCHCOCK. The use of cement floors for stables has very greatly increased during the past few years, but not so rapidly as the merits of this kind of a floor would warrant. A somewhat exaggerated idea, held by many, of its cost has doubtless tended to restrict its use. It is impossible to give any exact figures as to the necessary expense of constructing a cement or concrete floor, because of the varying cost, or availability of the ma- terials, but on the average I doubt if the expense on most Vermont farms need exceed the cast of a plank floor. When the element of dura- bility is also considered the real economy of this style of floor cannot be questioned. Durability, economy, cleaninliness, warmth, lessened fire risk and saving of all elements of fertility are the points of superiority justly claimed by its advocates. The cost of the floor depends, of course, chiefly on the price of cement and nearness of an available supply of good, sharp sand, clean gravel (or crushed stone) and plenty of stone of varying size, the largest not to exceed in diameter the depth from the desired surface of the finished floor to the bottom of the excavation. A floor can be constructed with- out these stone, but their use very greatly reduces the expense, and the chief object of this article is to point out the possibility of constructing these floors at comparatively small cost. The one point of the whole business is to secure a perfectly solid, immovable and permanent foundation. A coating of good concrete an inch in thickness on top of such a foundation is ample for a cow stable. The way usually recom- mended for making this foundation is by the use of concrete also, economizing by making it a little poorer in cement than the top coating. There is no objection to this method except the expense and labor in- volved. From my own experience, extending over a sufficient number of years to thoroughly test the method, I can recommend the use of a method much cheaper and just as good. Let the earth beneath the stable be excavated to a depth of at least eight inches below the point where the surface of the floor is desired to come. If the surface of the ground is already below this point larger stone than hereafter indicated can be used, or earth can be used as a filler. Then make a foundation in about the same manner as directions are given for a Telford road. That is, haul cobblestone whose longest diameter is a little less than the eight inches—if the longest diameter of some is no more than six inches, all right—and lay them carefully and closely with the longest diameter perpendicular. Wedge these stone in as tightly as possible. Then with a heavy maul settle them firmly in place. The tops of these 84 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. stone will, of course, vary considerably, but none of them should come within less than one-half inch of the proposed surface. If too high, break the tops off with a stone hammer. Next haul smaller stone and wedge them with the maul in the instertices between the larger stone already in place. Next comes the use of concrete. This should be made thin, using perhaps half sand and half gravel, and be poured onto the stone so that it will work down between the stone and when set hold them firmly in place and prevent all possibility of the stone “crawling.” By experience I have found that the concrete for this purpose can be made from good lime instead of cement, and, of course, at a great saving of expense. The stable, however, must be so located that there is no danger of water ever soaking under it. If the location is not such as to guarantee this, proper precautions must be taken by drains outside the stable to protect the foundations. If lime is used it should be allowed to harden, which will take much longer than if cement is used, perhaps ten days. When the top coating is put on let the surface be moistened, using a broom or sprinkler. For the top or surface coat, which should be at least an inch in thickness, use one part best Portland cement, two parts clean, sharp sand and two parts clean gravel. Sift through coarse sieve so that no stone larger than half inch in diameter are left in the sand and gravel. The surface should be level, but not polished. There is danger of cattle slipping on a polished cement floor. It can be leveled with a trowel made from an unplaned board, or can be put on with a steel trowel and then, while soft, brushed over with a common broom. A trench, of course, must have been excavated where the gutter is to be. The sides of the gutter can be laid up with stone and cement, which is probably the best way. In my own case I used timbers six by ten, set on edge, for side of gutter next cattle. I now believe this to have been unnecessary. The cement in the gutter should be polished with steel trowel. About eight inches deep by eighteen wide is a good size for the gutter. The platform on which cows stand should have about one and a half inches slope from tie to gutter. Plank may be placed on this platform for cows to stand on or not, as preferred. The principal points to success in the construction of concrete floors are: First, to secure a perfectly solid foundation. A comparatively thin layer of cement concrete on a solid foundation will endure forever, while if the foundation gives, a thick layer of the concrete will soon crack. Second, it is absolutely essential that water be kept out from under the floor. Third, use only best grade of cement. The cheap cements are dear at any price. Floors of this kind are also as desirable for horse stable, pig pens, etc., as for cows. The concrete in the horse stalls, however, should be covered with plank and the layer of concrete in the rest of the stable should be heavier than is necessary for cows. It has not been the intent of this article to cover the entire subject of cement floors for stables, but only to point out their desirability and to indicate a cheaper method, where the materials are available, of their VERMONT AGRICTLTURAL REPORT. 85 construction. Doubtless on some farms, where stones of desirable size are not available, and where gravel or crushed stone are conven- ient, the old fashioned method may be cheaper. Directions for the construction of floors in this manner have been too frequently printed to render it desirable to repeat them here. However explicit the directions, each individual will doubtless find it desirable to vary from them somewhat in his own work, using judgment and ingenuity. One important advantage is that any man with enough judgment and skill to be a farmer can construct one of these floors without paying out any money in employing expert or high-priced labor. Every bit of the work can be done by the farmer, his team and regular help. 86 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. EXPENSES OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. Geo. Aitken, Services . Expenses From July 1st, 1903, to July Ist, 1904. cholo eiiele jell, ehelie! olka (nifa'(s) eo. vileje..©. (el p)ie is) 19\0) eleuelehelie/ esta eiarege ; si felies eke) ie, a! o) alts) nla elim e(iel vite, > luvele Welielsllale ele! sLaliaisealsla,(s bilel™ Ernest Hitchcock, Services . Expenses Cc. jt Bell, Services . Expenses Jeb Brigha Services Expenses Jeb Candon Services . Expenses Ne alatons Services, Expenses C. W. Gates, Services . Expenses ©. o:0. elim’ (oe fel'6,'» 0 eke) las o>) 10s) 0) einai ie ie)e om ale ele ie) eis (eel siele « © 8, 8/0 5 6, 6,6, 6c. clit! 0) e)0) eee se) felayajnihel eke) = )e) si \ala =e) 6/6) (6.0: m, ot oa) aKa nile fe Je'(ei9) elle) uane siekeleteialelelieye) (sete eye Ls auelals iste eo lbice: eke! e\ie) ovevie/ soley elle) a) /e\s)mAnlis) elie: elcele.16,0lle, aie) sue) sigee cae 8) ’ ee) eral folie (e/ =) ©) b,dellejiu {ella, erence) ©/isjlelfecevel™, (sleiwie) detec ss)e)e0s\re ote 8 6/2 cus, (0.\e js’ a jeilel alle ol sie wivge elo», \w ie, elu jee) elele «eel. 1 a) 6 0 © a) whe 15 \o.\ule)el ele, @) ie) (ele) ©), paleo) shale fe)es¢ 016) 515) e.\9 «(eae B (0,6 6 0) sie o's oe © © 10.0) (els, \«\6).6e)1s) 69) ©) (© (8! (6(» (s),9/(e)\8)6|/8))6) 6)/=/ 0)'@ G. M. Gowell, Services . Expenses Tj, Ibs Taming, Services Expenses o 0 6 ee € 6 6:00 .0\6 0 © ¢ 00 '¢ ae 6 6) ©) s) 6]6) sla ola) se) ee) 6.6 we 6.0 a c= 2.0 08 «= 60 ble ce © © 6 8.66 6 600 © #1668 «0 6° © 8 C6 ai e..0l{e e610, 0) ee.» a, Seka e'ase)\ele ere, #\ ee) 6)\0)0 ele ees) Sas) Ss 5 le ¢) 0%6) 6.0 2.0 0000 00 6.00 0 04m 6 @ 6 Ue 8 0 we © [0 0\6 09,80 6 s78 $184 00 134 58 $318 58 1,342 59 70 14 00 71 42 15 55 125 92 128 27 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 87 L. R. Jones, SYA io Beers Aatniccs er er Pa aa 68 00 IDS TSEC NENG Ben GO OCI OF Doc etnnrd C Cr eras 38 48 —— 106 48 T. L. Kinney, Serv CES evar yarn ei ckoreis ote: Sieve leis vce te aleve Miovarensl erase aia 20 00 IDS GNSMGSS s.dieac dows Ga Heme TOO bn Hee oe in aoe Ore 8 85 —_——_ 28 85 \ D. M. Kelsey, SGIAVECS OS 5 ot cre Bd Dab 6 OS DO CDSG UEIDG TERCERA ae 35 00 JES pDXSiIGVeGe Is oeta.6 OCG Oe OOO Ocis CORIO IOC etna ec 11 50 =————— 46 50 D. H. Morse, SVEICITIEOS Vols ace Hefote Ba tlo ebbing SHO Gea OE SO Dec eee 8 00 FETS SSM epereneianee teva rae boy Fete syeleh altel cl eraysleusvaxe)epate\ei eleva. era.0 1 88 —_—— 9 88 Cassius Peck, SET VACES Matern re clctatcrorsie Se the aie dei tereleveieiavetevslanard ote eis onave 40 00 EERE CISC St rebe sxcreseieche erthete sao aikaievarercr eveie isotope eusieceie Mrorecs 22 06 : —-- —— 62 06 MEN Se Stores SOMAIIGERS & Boo BG OOO ORO IS STOOD aO ETE SSeS 88 00 EXT STIS S Sy rerete tere ieyarel cious icra te oiclirene weatsteet sis sieucie sree Tava, 49208 —— 1837 08 Geo. H. Terrell, SICTAIUCOGH Sade Hip OOS OOD SO Cena ce Cini orc ena 16 00 EEX POMS OSiy ahaa ant she rote siete sepa etclays epticaielale sleqeusv acer 8 43 —— +e 24 43 Henry Van Dreser, SEITICES AAS Ae aps Gd co ARAIG D.D RIES DCUR Orcs: cI DIGIO ORO 155 00 ERI EMUS EG, bavaeratctelesa'eie) stabs. cro thavetornre ove vole sceset over sie rousing aie 73 50 ——_—— | 228 00 Sle Gallepe ersten cena ctegctorua ved taueyeucler tensa ets eevee ee coe ioe 8 $3,142 57 MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES. f St. Albans Messenger Co., Clasp envelopes, circulars and sundries................-. $52 80 Cummings Printing Co., Pari mers Geta ltivOmmle seve. tcc 6 «sie 0, cle sels, sche sieie,tolci eels Xe 73 14 The Tuttle Co., 88 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. Posters, clasp) envelopes and sundries)... e5-4.e eee eee ee 24 45 St. Johnsbury Republican Co., iPrOeTranivesiand: MOStErStsa\.\cct echo mot Cena ee eee 75 00 Free Press Association, Programmes and posters ..Aqcas ssc donee oe Oe 16 75 OSEA EC la aii ct cvant his hp ckejaiehel ous ss imiepeacde eset oaetore BTSARE Ie ore ORE et eee 141 73 Printing bills andecirculars 2.20 sscee cee ee eee ere cee 13 50 Graham & Jenks, [eglc\e} xeven (2h0) eae OM Men a ettasoaiae Ob aes oe ote Gada onwo dn 4 34 25 Telephone, freight, expenses, livery and for speakers......... 334 85 ‘otal fmiscellaneous’ <1... toc oe aen Ce see eee $766 47 otal expennditufes: s3..,.. sesh meee eee eee $3,909 04 REDOR T OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 1904, am Compiled by F, L. DAVIS, SECRETARY. PRESS OF THE ECONOMIST Co. Troy, N. Y. 1904. RULES FOR DAIRYMEN Suggested by the Vermont Dairymen’s Association. Eire ys ABLE. 1. Stables should be well ventilated, lighted and drained; should have tight floors, walls, and be plainly constructed. 2. No musty or dirty litter, no strong smelling material, and no manure should remain in the stable longer than is absolutely necessary. 3. Whitewash the stable once or twice a year. Would recommend using land plaster in manure gutters daily. 4. Feed no dry, dusty fodders previous to milking. If dusty, sprinkle before it is fed. 5. Keep stable and dairy room in cleanly condition. THE COWS: 1. Keep only healthy cows. Promptly remove suspected animals. In particular, add no cows to the herd unless it be certain that they are free from tuberculosis. 2. Do not excite the cows or expose them to stress of weather. 3. Feed a good cow liberally with fresh, palatable feeding stuffs. Do not change these suddenly. Provide water, pure but not too cold, in abundance. MILKING. 1. The milker should be clean, and his clothes likewise. 2. Brush the udder just before milking and wipe with a clean cloth or sponge. 3. Milk quietly, quickly and thoroughly. 4. Throw away into the gutter the few first streams from each teat This milk is very watery, of very little value, and is quite apt to injure the remainder of the milk. 5. Remove the milk promptly from the stable to a clean, dry room where the air is pure and sweet. 6. Drain the milk through a clean flannel cloth, or through two or three thicknesses of cheesecloth. 4 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 7. Aerate and cool the milk as soon as it is strained. The cooler it is the more souring is retarded. If covers are left off the cans cover with cloths or mosquito netting. 8. Never mix fresh, warm milk with that which has been cooled, nor close a can containing warm milk, nor allow it to freeze. 9. Under no circumstances should anything be added to milk to prevent it souring. Such doings violate the laws of both God and man. The chemicals which are used for this purpose are slow poisons. Cleanliness and cold are the only preservatives needed. 10. In hot weather jacket the cans with a clean, wet blanket or canvas when moved in a wagon. UTENSILS. 1. Insist that the skim milk or whey tank at the factory be kept clean, in order that the milk cans may not become contaminated. 2. Wash all dairy utensils daily, thoroughly rinsing in boiling hot water and a little washing soda, scald and drain. Boil strainer clothes daily. After cleaning, keep utensils inverted in pure air, and sun if possible, until wanted for use. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 5 An Act to Promote the Dairy Interests of Vermont. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. The sum of one thousand dollars is hereby appropriated annually to the Vermont Dairymen’s Association, for the purpose of promoting, developing and encouraging the dairy interests of this State. Sec. 2. The Auditor of accounts is hereby directed to draw an order on the State Treasurer in favor of the Treasurer of the Vermont Dairy- men’s Association, for the first payment of this appropriation on the first day of January, A. D., 1889, and annually thereafter so long as the conditions hereinafter provided shall be complied with. Sec. 3. Said Vermont Dairymen’s Association shall hold an annual meeting, continuing for at least three days, at some town or city in this State of easy access to the people, and in some comfortable and conven- ient building; and said meeting shall be open and free to the people of the State. At said meeting the best available talent in the country shall be employed to teach and discuss the best methods of dairy farming, and subjects connected therewith; and at the said annual meeting, premiums shall be offered for the best dairy products of butter and cheese, to an amount of at least two hundred dollars; such premiums to be awarded by disinterested and expert judges, and paid by the Treasurer of said Ver- mont Dairymen’s Association. Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association, shall, on or before December 1, 1889, and annually thereafter, make a detailed and itemized account to the State Auditor of Accounts of the receipts and expenses of said Association, which accounts shall be approved and countersigned by the Treasurer and Auditor of said Association. Sec. 5. If, in any year, it shall appear to the State Auditor of Ac- counts that any part of the preceding annual appropriation remains unexpended, or has not been honestly or judiciously expended, then such a part or amount shall be deducted from the order for the next succeeding annual appropriation. Sec. 6. This act shall take effect from its passage. Approved November 19, 1888. An Act to Provide for the Printing of the Report of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association. It ts hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: Section 1. Section two hundred and forty-seven of the Vermont Statutes shall be amended to read as follows: The Secretary (of Board of Agriculture) shall prepare on or before the 30th day of June annually, a detailed report of the proceedings of the Board with such suggestions in regard to its duties and the advance- ment of the interests herein specified as may seem pertinent, and he may append thereto such abstracts of the proceedings of the several agricultural societies and farmers’ clubs in the State as may be advis- able and the report of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association. The report shall show under separate heads the work of the Board relating to the different subjects herein mentioned. Sec. 2. The provision of section two hundred and fifty-one of Ver- mont Statutes requiring the printing of a report by the Vermont Dairy- men’s Association is hereby repealed. Approved November 4, 1896. 6 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONSTITUTION. Section 1. This organization shall be called the “Vermont Dairy- men’s Association.” Sec. 2. Its object shall be to improve the dairy interests of Vermont, and all subsidiary interests. Sec. 3. This Association shall consist of such persons as shall signify their desire to become members, and pay the sum of one dollar, and a like sum annually thereafter, and of honorary and corresponding members. Sec. 4. The payment of five dollars shall constitute a life member- ship, or the payment of an annual membership fee of one dollar for five consecutive years shall constitute a life member. Sec. 5. The officers of the Association shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents (one from each Congressional District), a Secretary, Treasurer and Auditor, who shall constitute the Executive Committee, and have the general oversight of all the affairs of the Association. Sec. 6.. There shall be held, during each winter, an Annual Meeting, at such time and place as the Executive Committee may designate, for addresses, discussions, exhibitions, and the election of officers, who shall hold their respective offices for one year, or until their successors are chosen. Said meeting shall continue in session at least three days. Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to prepare an Annual Report of the transactions of the Association for the current year, embracing such papers, original or selected, as may be approved by the Executive Committee, and cause the same to be published and dis- tributed to the Dairymen of the State of Vermont. Sec. 8. The Treasurer shall keep the funds of the Association and disburse them on the order of the President or Vice-President, coun- tersigned by the Secretary, and shall make a report of the receipts and expenditures to the Annual Meeting. Sec. 9. This constitution may be amended at any Annual Meeting by two-thirds vote of all the members present. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 7 OFFICERS OF THE Vermont Dairymen’s Association. 20 4, PRESIDENT. reece. BRUCE, . - - : - Sharon VICE-PRESIDENTS. EEO. TERRILL, - - : - Morrisville &. G, BRONSON, _ - - - - East Hardwick SECRETARY. PL DAVIS; - - - - North Pomfret TREASURER. M. A. ADAMS, - - - - - Derby AUDITOR. Cn SME bE- - - . - Morrisville Mrs. Emma Grout-Nutt, Stenographer, Montpelier. 8 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDEX. Rules for Dairymen ............ scat Mo cccace oie ienscss eee Act to Promote the aie Tntereets. af Teac) stant tbsdstauatedetacecushecnsteetecamee 5 Act to Provide for the Printing of Report.:...... -..-.2:-----.--ceecesceeeeeeneeestueetene te 5 GConstitition pie Se ee ee be ee EEE Be eee cere correo eee cee era 6 (ONE LS Sy ee Pe ee a Cee ee eA eeeD ecu -ckcdsee ser sSSeeaneacsomneECEa Ae 7 TAU apn (ep Fal 0 5 eee rr ae Ee eon cE Qa erer cee ecedaec 9 Amtual Members ......-.,.--<2..:...cccsceccmseceete-tebeeemeoweresnsnems =m ean et ONES ie ee 17 INGUSEHS Cn AGU SOS 0 0 eres see te cece Reo econ Aone cone coco: ne mcosaccnca eco ene bes noece 21 Response to Welcome............-.----:secceccsessee esses ceeeeen ests eeeeeeeeeercrsteneenenencenenscnenenens 23 Report of Secretary and Treasurer. ............--se22 ceseeeees eceeeeteeeceeeeneeceeeeeeneenets 25 Presidents A Gare ees secre eee ae eee 26 Dairying As a Special or Co-operative Industry....... ee ere At ns) AMES 29 Goods @heese aitrd! EX Ow ato Viet ese ieee ae eee eee 33 Te aKa ECS IN =o GEG ah cee eects (eben enter ocr / eeentrocd neal oc eeoat cecaccebteneae crecertrccte 43, 143 Concerning the Vermont Dairy School.............2.. cesses ecb cceeceecess cnenetenees 44 Address by Senator PrOCtO re cess ncnerereennceee ere teers Behe Se POE BER eas 49 Address by Hon. Gifford Pinte 2855 teat teem eer cceete cee oe eee Report of Butter and Cheese Awards. Ns wesc alr, Ree eee 57 Statement of Method eas by Wieser. of Butver and Cheese Deh 1S I ee eee rc erase eee cence baseees omceosco oe 62 Organizing and Maintaining a Successful Co-operative Creamery ...... 71 Light versus Darkness ........2c.-0t-...ccscscscess nessnnsen dedererentntcennesecaune genenssenansnanannnnenaaens 78 Gity Milk Supply joo oc eee eee eee Pee ah alt ie heehee 85 Cheaper Production of Mil k.........22.....:sssssce.ccdecseceseeceeecees ssesecnsneeassesnesscnnaneess wy 1S Co-operation. of Butter Maker............2. ...c---ceecceeeoeneee ne coenenpe Reve oe 2 ieee 90 How to Raise Forage Crops When Pastures are Dry.........-...-.------------------ 92 Address by Prof. Decker -< aoc820 cet pecan na nn ence Bee one a ramen nce 100 Eee tloripotiy Ofc CLS se rse se ee eee eer ae cere te tects ah eee 103 SET i Toft (21 See i ee ee Os St So Re Ae Demin hyo er besaarg capers aps A Hee RS 105 National Dairy Mepartiienty. ity Setar se ee ceteee: Oeeeet eateeele eer aera 106 Watnygand Hood Pegi slat ora see create tap ele ieee eee acl ete mene as oe enna see ence 111 Adulterated Articles and Their Adulterants...................0..--- wiabactevbowsncts 114 PRES Ol UT OTS ooze cos oo faeces alot Selection and Conformation of the Dairy Cow... ...-.-....------::-c-cscseseseseseeeees 133 Address) by; (Gov. Mic Cull Log las eerste eeeeetee eeneres meee Nosh clasgexsete, os Scueses 140 Licensed Operators of the Babcock TeSt ooo. ccieccteancccceanc nesannens=eo-m Som 147 Wist of Creameriesand Cheese Hactories terccsceee sete eee neeen enna eter 149 Special. Notices tsetse es eee SS Sad, Rarer tars ete s NER tin ce Rmaaet Se ae 156 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. LIFE MEMBERS OF THE VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIA TION. Adams, M. A. Allen, Charles Armstrong, A. B. Allen, H. A. Allen, Henry Adams, William H. Aseltine, M. L. Aldrich, E. O. Adams, G. W. INidleyaubee Ee Aitken, George Allen, G. A. Benedict, G. G. Blake, Geo. Boardman Bronson, T. G. Belle Gane Bagstowarelie, le. Barbet Dia: Brownell, C. W. Briggs, Nelson Brigham, William O. Buck, Abner Buck. An Eh Burt, William Bilisss: Sy Ee Burt, Frank Ballard, 3B, Mk Blaine Nese. Bliss, Abner Biiss#@e Se Beecher, H. A. Bates, A. E Barnum, Ell Bent. C. Brown, J. S. Bishop, D. B. Derby East Berkshire Dorset West Milton Pawlet Keene, N. H. North Fairfax Shrewsbury Stowe Dummer Woodstock Hale Burlington 156 Congress St., Boston, Mass. East Hardwick East Hardwick Burlington Burlington Burlington Brandon Bakersfield Buck Hollow Buck Hollow Essex North Williston Enosburg Falls Fairfax Morrisville Georgia Georgia Hinesburg Huntington Milton Marshfield Plymouth North Williston IO THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ‘Bass, 1a be Blake, William H. Bruce, Ee ve. Belay Ge Barry, Leonidas Burgess, J. J. Brothers, H. F. Brackett, W. R. Bean, G. C. Belden, H. W. iBrelsiopadl, 1, IBLE Buxton, J. E. Brock. B Brainerd, E. P. Bristol (Re i. Bushnell, J. H. Brownell, George W. Barber a. Je Bushnell, H. N. Butler, F. G. Burrell, D. H. Baker, J. W. Brewer, J. R. Burghan, W. H. Beach, W. V. Bent, Orrin Brown, B. B. Cushman, (Gi Carpenter, E. P. Chaffee, J. H. GilleyauS:) le Congdon, Edwin Cannon, LeGrand Gahcens) sale: Cates, Izy): Currier, P. W. Clarke, M. S. Coburn, J. A. Cobunnsy ee. Campbell, H. W. Citic, Heb. 2, Golburn) EE: Chapman, J. H. Cowden, H. Colburn, R. M. Crampton, Charles A. Currier, J. W. Randolph Swanton Sharon. Swanton Springfield St. Albans Hinesburg 9 Chatham St., Boston Coventry Waitsfield Bradford Middletown Springs Barnet St. Albans Vergennes Williston Williston North Williston Waitsfield Hartford, Conn. Little Falls, N. Y- Syracuse, N. Y. Hingham, Mass. Montpelier Charlotte 7 Quincy Market, Boston, Mass. Williston 75 S. Market St., Boston, Mass. West Waterford East Enosburg Fairfax Clarendon Burlington Brandon Brandon Montpelier Clarendon East Montpelier East Mont pelier Holdridge, Neb. Orwell Rutland West Rutland St. Johnsbury Springfield St. Albans North Troy VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. Tot Chapman, George A. Cooley, William Cobbs CG. E:. Crane, George (Gineige, (GC, 12 Chandler, G. C. ClathingnGeak Chase, Berry Carpenter, O. G. Clarke, M. W. Colburn, H. W. Candon, J. B. Choa Gs A’ Cloverdale Creamery Donahue, J. F. Doe, G. A. Douglass, O. Diuttonw ba Bs Davis, G. A. Donahue, W. F. Donahue, T. E. Dodge, Harrison Davis, George Donahue, D. G. Dwinell, L. G. Dwinell, Albert Davis, George F. Dewey, Ed. Dewey, Charles Daas, (C, lel, 1B. Douglass, B. J. Denis, 18, Ib. Denio, W. B. Douglass, W. B. Dagon, M. R. Deal, T. M. IDiGlaevel, Nal, S- Bviantsy AC ID: ES iseeliee le: Wenoya, Ia Mele Eddy, H. Edson, E. A. IPAboate, J. ee Fisher, L. C. Farrington, C. W. Fletcher, William Fasset, G. S. Williston % Waterbury Westford Brookfield Proctorsville Montpelier St. Albans E. Fairfield Cambridge North Williston North Pomfret Pittsford W. Barnet N. Underhill Vergennes Newbury 25 John St., Boston, Mass. Woodstock Rutland Ferrisburg Hinesburg Morrisville East Montpelier East Charlotte East Calais East Calais Cavendish Montpelier Montpelier Headville Pittsford North Pomfret East Rupert Williston Madison, Wis. St. Albans Sheldon Bristol Middlebury Plainfield Waterbury Center Chester Montpelier Cabot West Danville Essex Junction Enosburg THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Fasset, A. B. “Field; DY.L. Horbes; DD: “A. Frink, W. B. Freeman, H. O. Galore: Grout. Dt Giddings, W. A. Grout, Hon. J. Gibson, J. P. Gloyd, Jesse Gilman, A. A. Gleason, H. C. Goodspeed, Nelson Graves, C. O. Gallup, J. A. Greene, G. F. Gates & Son, Chas. Gilson, Truman Galley J. E: isla, 1B, JN Eastings) s. J). Harvey, Cloud Habbard, CC. A. FAnniGa ieee ror. Humphrey, A. O. Hayward, G. M. Heller & Merz Co. Holden, Eli Holliston, E. B. Elotchkass, GA: Hefflon, Franklin Haskins, Kittredge Hutchinson, William Hail EEA: Howard, Ernest S. lalla: Hlerrick, 7A. A. Hall, Charles Head, George G. Harwood, J. W. Hines, Ed. Hewitt, Stephen Higley, Nathan THodgers, R. W. Hopkins, Daniel Huse, S: R. East Berkshire West Milton Orwell Swanton Sherburne, N. Y. Stowe Morrisville Bakersfield Derby Mt. Holly Richmond Randolph Center Shrewsbury St. Albans Waterbury W. Woodstock S. Pomfret N. Hartland Suncook, N.. Ti. Guilford South Ryegate Passumpsic Barnet Burt Burlington Burlington E. Corinth 22 Cliff Sti, N. York, Barre Manchester Center Georgia Highgate Center Brattleboro Norwich Isle LaMotte West Hartford Westford West Milton Montpelier Montgomery Orwell Pittsford North Pomfret Richmond Randolph Center Waterbury Center Waterbury Center VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. Huntley, George M. Healey, W. M. Hopkins, Herman, jr. leleinuatehom. J22 (e Harrington, W. H. Hastings, C. A. Hayward, F. R. Isham, Ed. Jackson le. 7A. Jacksoni J. J: Johnson, Arthur Johnson, A. B. Jaynes; (Rei. Kelley, G. A. Kingsley, H. E. Kinerson, J. R. Kidder, N. D. Lserayer,, IME IB) Kneeland, D. A. Kenfield, Frank weonand eB. Leonard, N. O. Mord We EL Lane, B. Loveland, Aaron léyster. i El: Lawrence, Henry Wawilessw GG Le Page, Chas. Koveland, J. HH. Monrad, J. H. Maynard, H. S. McAllister, C. S. Mann, J. M. McDonough, P. Marvin, Thomas Moseley, F. W. Miller, M. H. Moore, A. A. Morse, D. H. Maxham, G. R. Macomber, D. H. McMahon, C. L. Macomber, W. H. McLam, J. F. Macomber, F. H. Nash, H. W. Westford Dudley, Mass. Sheldon Junction Weston N. Pomfret Springfield Topsham St. George Milton Montpelier East Ryegate Malone, N. Y. Waterford, Me. Marshfield Montgomery Peacham Hastings, Neb. Woodstock Waitsfield Morrisfield North Pomfret Fairfax Mechanicsville Newport Norwich St. Johnsbury St. George Montpelier Barre Norwich 173 Chambers St., N. York Bakersfield West Enosburg Fairhaven Hinesburg Montpelier Clinton, lowa Pomfret Richford. Randolph Woodstock Essex Junction Stowe Westford W. Topsham Shelburne Board Trade Bl’d, Boston 14 THIRTY-FOURTH-ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Nye, J. W. Newton, C. H. Nash, D. W. Nays. ¥. G. Northrop, ©. B. B. Newell, Bigelow Newton, A. J. Oliver jee: Bankers: Parker, J. B. iRatten ae IPexae, (Cy Si. Page,€, 9 H. B. Leonard, N. Pomfret, J. H. Chapman & Son, Claren- deus Spuioswe ns O0N s DiVIGeds «te crs ots womens steed oar amo 60 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WELLS & RICHARDSON €OrSPECIAES: Wells & Richardson Co., Burlington, Vt., offer a handsome Gold Medal to the party whose butter scores highest, Using Our Improved Butter Color; also $10.00 additional in cash, if sweepstakes is secured by same party; also $10.00 to the butter-maker scoring second highest, using Wells & Richardson Co.’s Improved Butter Color. Gold Medal awarded to C. C. Fuller, Jonesville, 98; Chas. LePage, $10.00, Barre, 97. NEW ENGLAND FARMER “SPECIAL PRIZES, Ullery & Co., Brattleboro, Vt., publishers of the New England Farmer, offer six yearly subscriptions to the six owners of samples of butter for competition, scoring highest, but not taking any premiums. Sample copies sent on application. W. G. Newton, Colchester. Palmer Bro., New Haven. F. E. Wells, N. Randolph. E. E. Symes, Ryegate. S), 1h, leleweris., IPiraxcione H. D. Chamberlin, McIndoes Falls. J. F. McLam, W. Topsham. MIRROR AND FARMER SPECIAL PRIZE. The John B. Clarke Co., publishers of the Mirror and Farmer, Man- chester, N. H., will pay a special premium of one year’s subscription to this popular weekly to every prize winner in butter and cheese ex~ hibit, coming from the Association, not including specials. See Premium Lists. SPE CUM: Urner-Barry Company of New York, offer a Buttermarker’s Recora Book to the one whose butter scores highest in creamery class, and one year’s subscription of New York Produce Review and American Creamery, to the one whose butter scores highest in dairy class. W. P. Stone, Strafford, is awarded the Record Book on Creamery Butter. J. B. Candon, one year’s subscription of the New York Produce Review on Dairy Butter. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN PRIZES: One copy of ‘‘The Country Gentleman’ will be given one year to the owner of the package of butter scoring highest in entire exhibition. Also one copy for one year to the owner of the cheese scoring highest in the entire exhibition. W. P. Stone, Strafford, for Butter. E.G. Stone, Dorset, for Cheese: There were 118 in the pro rata class with an income of 44 cents each. Will not publish their names. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. CHEESE PREMIUMS. ~ Whole number of entries, 17. EGE SCORE Rae chit p, carson eae Mean CFE ata wai Meicla Be htayei open Me 98 1-2 IGORTESE “SOOuHS Ss aha vaw cea de BOERS DCO an en eee Ten ante ane 93 AHGIEGAS: SSICOUS). cteadiners tidied cB Oe IE anos On cae See eee SCI 96 BACRO RY PeAGNE Score ies tammy OA Olen Wie RICE VVIESEROLOE corner acesec che scckcn ie Ege Second coU0m ha Ga Stone DWOrset ot hese seat sad stan sce 1Oiaulas muha 4.00) Ben Harwood Oornsek....kcdesseosccauseesae cas (OM FACTORY SAGE. cSt Ou benGa Stoney sDonsetect acne ac cere cielausicccalos.s 98 1-2 Secon dem Sos 0smleneVWemhucews NVieSthorders snes eee ce sen 98 shinee he OOM Aan he ottermOcdilamderassec+ + cca ctkeeenc news oO des DAIRY PLAIN. Pigsia sl OO0neMicss We eA: Erdnidin "Brattlebonoss.s...+ sae 95 SecondwesoU0s sa Oliver mGharlestonees... a6 sea aaeeeenen cee 94 DAIRY SAGE. First. $10.00, J. C. Oliver, Charleston. Second. $6.00, Mrs. W. A. Franklin, Brattleboro. SWEEPSTAKES. F. G. Stone, Dorset, $5.00. ORRIN BENT, GEOs Le CUSHMA Ns Judges, Boston. THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 62 *SUIYIOM IO *spunod gi “eyoiny "MOSpIBYOIY 2 STPA\ *20 VE ‘1ajsadIOM “SOA ‘sojnuim Sz *[a11Vq preppojys *‘so01sap 09 ‘prow A[WWQSITS ‘*medr4 0} sinoy SI play ‘meer ,sAep z Jojeivdas 1epnqn} s,opdieys *s}W90 9 ‘ulTeIy sPees pexiur pue jee u100 sq] $ ‘asepisue ‘Aey rdA0[D/‘ATIep ‘sXasiof ape13 gI *sq] Sz Jnoqy *poowy *ouIIplLy ‘ZO &% ‘19}s90IOM ‘ON ‘soynurm St “ysed *sa0189p 99 ‘pre Apyqstg ‘skep 4E ‘royeredas [BAB] 9 *sjua0 Z jnoqy *A[L@p 9oIMy [eel Ut0d pue [Baul "SO 4b % ‘pooy paxrur *s}b z samt} 914} ABypT|‘asvyisua ‘sq] SE ‘Avy ‘sq] O1 ‘sKasiaf apeid Sz|'shasiaf{ apei3 puv oArjeu Sz éSSULYIOM 910M 10 34O ‘SULYIOM 9UO/éJa}INq jo punod auo ayxRU 0} ‘spunod oz *sIOJUM *AOUIOPLV posmber y[Iw yo spunod Aueum MOF] é pasn 1ayIOM Jo puly yey é pasn 1O[Oo 19}}Nq JO pully yey é punod a1} ‘zo &% ‘[eysAID puowmviq 0} Yonw MOY pus }yes JO pury yey A\ “SOA *xOq PABppoIsg ¢ WIOF Ivpnueis Ul JIM Hf }[eVs pue ysem nok og é SULDANYS oul} JO Y}SUIT Jey Ay é posn uimyo jo puryy ‘saa1Sap 0g {UIvIID dy} SBA dIn}EIaduTa} JVM FV ‘prow ApVYSIS ‘skep "10}e1edag [BAP] 9q *squao LI *‘[Botm sq] z ‘ueBigq ‘sql V é UiInyo a} UL nd aay UOTIpPuOd Jey UL pus yday Ues19 oy} SBM SuO, MOY é poule}qo mvsI19 ay} seM snj}eiedde 10 ssaooid yeym Ag éAep tad 01381 SIq} JO SOD 9} SE JOYA ¢MOo tod posn 919M poay Jo spuly yey pue Yonm mop ¢ OpeUl se 19}}Nq SIq} YOYM wory sMOO JO poosiq pue Jaqmuinu Jey raat OI 9) ‘a11eg ‘aseg oT seqo ‘WOINKUd GYIHL jousieg ysaM ‘978049 "WV “D “"WOINAUd AGNOOAS ‘plojs}qyid ‘uopuey ‘a ‘[ ‘WOINAYd LSU “aOL AMIVA ‘LSSVID ‘SHZINd WALLOG AO SUANNIM AD GHAOTIWH GOHLAW AO INHNALVLS 63 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. *SULYIOM 900) *spunod Sr “LLOSB JK] | *s JoqoyeyL | "20 Ve ‘t9]s9010M\ “ON ‘soynuru Se [ol1eq preppoj}s *sd018ap 79 ‘prov Apyyst[g ‘“skep %E *10}v1edag [BAR’]T aq *sju90 SI jnoqy "[BaM *S “DO “sq] z@ ‘paay *SULYIOM 9UCO ‘spunod &91 “S19JBM “HOSPABYOTY A s[ToaM *19}SOOIOM ‘ON ‘soynurm Of *sad18ap 09 “prow A qSIS "1oye1edas [eAe’joq “pp pextur ‘s}b b ‘a8eyisua ‘Avy |Wrys ‘paey usyn]s ‘aseyisuy *sAasiof apeis fz ‘sfassof L1 “SULYIOM 910 ‘spunod gI *IB[NIILD ‘AouLIpLV ‘20 VE ‘19}S9dIOM "1 Ysem ysn{ ‘soynuim oP *xoq osenbs ‘soo1dap 19 ‘ploy ‘skep %z ‘1oyeredasg ‘9-9 *s}a99 QI JNOqY *ATIe@p 9dIMy ‘qeo [[IM Soy} Avy yey AN ‘osejisua nq % ‘|eom U1IOD ‘q] I ‘podf paxim *sq] z ‘sAasiof Sz ‘THe ‘Heung “HA ‘WOAINAUd GUIHL “HOPTEYS ‘pe4ply “S “H ‘WOINHUd GNOOAS ‘“xOd AYIVAG ‘6 SSW'TIOD ‘ya1pWloOg YWAON ‘pieuos’] ‘gq “H ‘WOIWaAUd LSUIA éSSULYIOM 9IOW 10 VUO ¢19}}3nq jo punod suo ayem 0} peainbei y[Im jo spunod Auem Moy] ¢ posn Id9xIOM JO puly yey AL ¢pasn IO[OO Jo pury yey mM ¢ punod aq} 0} Wonm MOY pue ‘jes JO pury Jeg ¢WIIOF Ie[nuvis UL I[IGM }I }[es pue ysem nod og ¢SUlUAINYS out} Jo Y}Bus] WU M ipesn Uinyo jo puly CTR9IO 9} SEM JIN}e19d M9} Jey FV éuimyo 20} ULynd ays UOT}Ipuoo yey Ut pue ydoy uree1d 94} sem SUO,T MOY ¢ peure}qo weet 34} sem snjeredde 10 ssaooid yeqm Ag ¢ Aep Jod WoT}BI SI} JO }SOD 9} St) EYAL ¢MOd Jad pasn 310M pooj JO spury yeyM pue Yonu MOF (opem seM 13}}Nq SIy} FOIM MoI SMOO JO podiq pue JoquInu Jey A raat or ‘ON ‘SHZ1Ud UALLAG AO SUHNNIM Ad CHAOTINA GOHLHW AO INHWALVLIS *SUIYIOM 9UCO “SULYIOM JO “SULYIOM 3UC ¢SSULYIOM 910M 10 31Q éi9}jnq jo punod suo axeU 0} cI OL *spunod 61 *spunod gi ‘spunod 61 ynoqy|poimbe1 4m jo spunod Auem Moy *I9AO/T *IQAO'] é paesn 1ayxIOM JO pULy Vey AL *ADUIOPL¥ "MOSpjeYOIY AW S[TeM *AOTAIPLV épasn 1009 19}}nq JO pury yeqm épunod 34} ‘ZO FAI ‘19}SsadIOM ‘20 Ye ‘19489010, "20 HI ‘194se010 4 |0} TONU MOY pue 4[Bs Jo puLy yey AA é WAOF Ivpnueis "SoA "SOA ‘SOA JUL O[IYM JI }TeS pue Ysem nod og *sojnuIUM €z ‘sojnuim LE *sojnurut SP {SUMING OMIT} JO YASUI] Wey AN *[erzeq preppoys *pieppoys ‘pieppoys ¢ pesn Wainy jo pury "so01sap gS *sooisop Sg *sooisop 9S |i ued10 OY} SBA O1N}eIsd m9} Jem ad é uanto ot} ur ynd vay UOT}Ipuos yeyM ul ‘sinoy g|pue ydoy meaid oy} sem Suol moyy| ¢ poure}qo Wiva1d ay} ‘1oyeredas [ear’y aqjsem snjeivdde 10 ssad0id yeym Ag : ihep S}M90 gI Jnoqy |1ed wol}eI sIy} JO SOD 9} SI JENA ‘Jeo [[IM Ao} [[@ 10410}s u10>. pue Avy [BOLE "GS" paeleour |‘sq, 7 [pom “SD “saqy ¢ MOO tad pasn o1aM ‘pec} paxim ‘s}b €\p [vout us0o “sq, b uBIg|psej Jospury yeyM pue yonm MOTT ‘sXa |G OPBU SBM I9}}Nq SIq} OIG ory *sAasio{ opeis S¢|-siaf opeis pue omysdy ol|smood jo poeaiq pue isquinu jeyAy ‘prow APWYSIS ‘sinoy be|\prowe ApWYySS ‘skep € or ‘ploy "10je1edag [BAR] 9q ‘1oye1edag *S “9 SDesy *s}]U90 Si\asiv0d aq} sepriseq ‘s}u90 g *s}eo pue [Bam qoo ‘sq, g ‘Avy “sq] oz|a109 ‘sXosiof apes £ m~o ive) THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ‘sSuridg mopusir[D ‘MoS 29 uvmideyD “Hf “WOINWAUNd LSU “oyesody yseiy ‘plOJYOBYS WOSsTON ‘[ *D ‘SII ‘WOINWAYd GNOOAS “yooqueddiy) ‘proyeys “f “sey ‘WOINGUd GYIHL —— S ‘€ SSWTIO “SHZIad AHLLOG AO SHHNNIM Ad CHAOIMNA GCOHLAW AO INHAWALVIS ‘SLINIadd AYIVG 65 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. "SOA "SOA ‘900 “oud ‘spunod %gt ‘spunod %o *[BUOTJEN ‘ramod ose *AQUIOPLV S WOSPIVYOIY W® STLPA\ "ZO I ‘19}S9dIUA\ "ZO « ‘ye\ship puomeig "SOA "SOA *SO|NULU IPSTo puwe sino0y z ‘mmoy % “Waintyo *xog ‘sooisap gS|/xoq oaienbg ‘saarsop 9S "ys9} ‘prow ATIYSITG ‘sinoy oz|proe soveisep of ‘sinoy gI “royeredas *S * *soyeredag [eAr’]T 9q *Spi9y JUd19HIp ‘2S *sps01q poxrm ‘oot ‘aqtrAsouof ‘say TN*D “D “WOIWHYd AGNOOUS HatteM ‘19ABILL, “AL ‘WOINdKMd GYIHL é€ d[NY 0} Sulps0o99e ulvssd paxrur MO1f Dpeur SBA I9}}Nq SIq} Jey} ‘Op J|Afijteo NOX :AVINO SHIVHNVHUD) éSSULyYIOM JIOU 10 aug ‘auQ |i 19}}nq jo punod suo ayem 0} ‘spunod gi|paainbor yxyImt jo spunod Auem Moy *‘TBUOLJEN ¢ pasn Jayx1OM JO puly yey A\| *9UTOpLy épasn IO][OO 19}}nNq Jo puly Jey épunod oa1q} 0} TON MOY pue ‘4les Jo pury yey AL ¢UIIO} IvepnuBss UL [ITM jr jes pue yYseM nod og éSULMINYO om} Jo W}Sus, Jey A é pesn Uanyo jo pury EUledID 9} SEM 91N}BAVd UID} JEM FV éuinyo ay} ut jnd ways wor}tpuos zy UT ‘pouadt [JaA\ ‘sanoq gr|pue 4dayx wree1d oy} sea Suo] MOF] “IBdIIN Paloy}Es *poure}qo Uleeto 3} ioyeiedsg j[RAv’y oq/sem snzyeredde to ssao01d yeym Ag é Aep tod wol}er sty} JO JsOo dT} St Jey AA ¢ M09 19d pasn o10M poeoj Jo spury yeyM pue youu MOF] COpeul sBM 19}}Nq SIq} OITA woz SMOO JO padiq pue Joaquin yey A, ‘20 Ve ‘teyshad puoweiqd “SOA *SOPNUTUL OZ *paeppoqjs *soo1sap O09 pue “poxt Il “plopAesys ‘an0jIS ‘d‘M ~o ‘ON “WOINNUAd LSet "aOL AMHNVAAOD y SSW1ID ‘SAZIdd AUALLINA AO SUANNIM Ad CHAOTIWH GOHLAW AO LNHNALYIS THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 66 "Son ‘d ‘ON ‘paeadiqmos 10701 A ‘HOSpieyory pue s[jaM "20 Ve ‘1a}s9010 MM “col ‘Inoy 900 ynoqy “IOJOLA ‘Sa0I18ap 09 ‘ploy ‘sinoy oz *s1oyeiedas AT}soy ‘sAasiof opeis-ys1y "SOR ‘200 ‘spunod oz ynoqy| . ° *]BUOTJBN |*r9mod ABpNALD *OD “WIA *AouIOplLV ‘20 Ve ‘1a}sa0IOM "SOA ‘sajnuim SP *xoq o1enbg ‘saoisap zg ‘poy ‘sinoy oz *10}B1edag [BAP] 9q *spoaiq poxtut ‘oo éf a[ny 0} Surpio0sov mevaIo poxim WO} Opel seM 19}}Nq SI} Jey} *soA |AJtqI99 NOX :MINO SHIXHWVAUD {SSULYIOM IIOW 10 910 ¢49}}nq jo punod ouo oxeM 0} *SULYIOA\ 9UGO|pesmbei y[Iu yo spunod Auem MoFT ¢pasn 19yIOM Jo puly Wey M ¢ pasn IO[OO 19}}nNq JO purly Jy M ¢ punod aq} 0} "20 % ‘Te\skiD puowiriq|o} yonu Moy pure ‘4]es Jo pury yey M ¢ WAO;J Je[nNuess ‘ON—S2A|UI JTIYM HI AVS pue ysem nod og ‘sojnulm oV ¢SULUINYS ou} JO YASUI] JeU AM épesn uinyo jo puly ‘soo1 Sap 09|{med10 94} sem oIn}e1sdm19} JeYM Y ¢uanygo 24} ur ynd vay OI}Ipuoo yey Ut ‘sep %z|pue ydoy Mvoio oy} sem SUOT MOP{ ¢ poureyqo meas 3} ‘1oyeredasg [vary aq|sem snjyeredde 10 ssaov0i1d yeym Ag cAep Jod Wo1}e1 SIq} JO SOD 3} ST JeUM ¢MOo Jad pasn o13aM pooj Jo spury yey pue yonm MOP, {opeul sem 19}}Nq SI} WOIqM wor ‘skasia[|smoo jo posiq pue Joquinu yey *AIUIOPLV *xoq a1enbs *Ino0s ‘rotjadyaoy ‘ssayMe’] “Dd ‘D ‘WOINGUd GUIHL ‘o1oqsuae15 ‘ITH “MH "WOINWAAd GANODAS *Jo1JMOd YVION ‘auingisys “A “Vv “WOIWdAd LSaIt ‘SINIYd AWHWVAAD °e ‘ON SSWID ‘SHZIUd UHLLAG AO SUANNIM Ad GHAO’IdWNA GOHLHW HO LNHWHLVLIS 67 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. *sjua0 VI ‘spunod %L ‘ *skep 06 *Sommry 9914} way pue puey WM Yvoiq us} ‘SoJ]NULWM OZ pUB}s JOT puB jNO ‘inoy uB J[By pueys joy ‘Jouuer oq} Ur INS “yOUUL SOATB) ‘sooisop bg *sSULUIOM pue s}q SIN ‘sutinod Ag *paej pexXlm puev u109 1appo}j ‘ssv1yy *SUID}S[OH] pue suoAsq operis C1 *S}JU90 O% ‘spunod 6 10g ‘SY}UOU XIG ‘Atiny jouoq ‘A][ujores a_pueyy ‘Januer SsoAyTeo poredoid ou0xy *so01sap 06 *sInoy ZI pue sayy *sutinod Ag ‘1B1Iq PUB [vO pods 10}}09 ‘aInjseg ‘sopeis 6 él JOQUIZAON 01 I Avy wor ‘uoseas jsey punod tad asaaqo nod 10j paataoer dorad you ISVIDAB OY} SPM FEY, :AINO SUIYIVG éI 1aqmaAON 0} 1 Avy Wor ‘NOSvaS JSP] BS9aTD JO punod tad suoajzed ano4 pied aorid ase -I9AB DY} SBM JVYM : VINO SHIMOLOVY ¢ a9saaq9 Jo punod suo ayem 0} s1rnb -31 nod pip y[IuI Jo spunod Auewt Moy] ¢APBU VS9dT]9 SIY} SBM OSe SUOT MOF] “SULyeUT JO sso00id 34} JO Japureutar 9y} YSno1y4y ainpssoid jo poyjemt ano aqtiosaq é¥pIul jo spunod puvsnoy} sed yontm Moy pue ‘asn noA pip jouuer jo moreredoid 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TESS MET POs SOSSUIOUT GUNIIS SeaNs ASOIN|S) io = aoe ee ‘ODDeqO} pu soonvs ‘s9yevo IO} pasn st4y ‘ra0q ‘Aouoy ‘sourm ‘ronbiy ‘ies -autA ‘ArguoTajuoo ‘suel ‘satel ‘sassejour ‘sdniis ajdew pue ours ‘ivsng :SuUIMOT[O} 9Y} e}eJo}Npe 0} pasn S34] “Yee OF snotimfur oq O} HI aAaIfaq Jou op [ sind vay “AtjUNOD 9Y} UT sjUeIo}Npe pasn AJaAISUa}X9 JSOW dy} JO duo A[qeqoid st 9[IIZIV SITY] | ow] PUB [OII}IA JO [TO JO SSOOXY ‘QoUdSSO [PIOYIIL ‘IeBns ‘19}e AA |‘autjuadiny jo spuds ‘sjjes wn[y ‘IOBUIS posn} -a1 pue soliayur ‘paeysnut ‘added auuaked ‘di1awWIny | ‘(powreys) soyAieq (ssou “QUITIIATS JO -IHYM IAIS O} SotuTJIWOS) WIN] Y yonpoid pue ‘oulmoy ‘Peau UIOD ‘9dII punois ‘svog "s]9B.1]X9 SUIIOALY [vop poos we pue jonpoid jeer oy} yo uorjiod [jews AoA B YM SJUsIpoisul gaoqe ay} jo A[dwis oie saoids Auvyy “(SUOT}RIIvA JYS Ys yWM sooids jo suOoT}eJayNpe []e O} Ajdde [IM suolqesiaynpe e894 ]) “lsow4n} pue ‘moy ‘asvod pue suvoq punois ‘[wow uripuy ‘peosq diys “yes “ney ‘Spneiy [eIoIoww0) *‘snolisja[aq SSE[SUIST we oe oe oe 8 ee 6 6 eos see YsIpey aslOP AQUOP, dSOON]*) uae) (ocehejletcey eflehiai.e) (alae: eho joddod auudkey ‘oueN ‘panuyuojo—SINVUYALTIAGVY WAHL AGNV SHTIOILAV GHLVaaLTOAdV 117 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. ‘soords 100d ‘1rsouIA 100g ‘yey asioy ‘osvois ‘deos osvois o[puvo ‘sjey ouog ‘sdnats ‘asoonys “suIvIq S.j]Bo ‘OJJOUUR “IeSNs JUINg ‘INOY II puv JeoyM ‘YOIeJS YIM poNqIp ‘osowWANy YUM peiojo. prejsnur ‘ouudked ‘anoy ‘soayeyT MO TIA aif "J9JVM PUR TIO paas-U0}}O9 “4lVS “ULIRAYs “YOIeIS ‘YITeISUION ‘YIU WIYS ‘y[Iuto}ynNg ‘ssulied pue So109 ‘JiINJ] oSsnjor wor sperm AqTjef ‘uneias ‘asoon[y ago do Heo CUS DOE saddoo yo syvs ci enc ‘‘unye pue taddod jo sqvs *(oeuTyot4y sonpoid 0} a{qeiy) ys1od asnyjoxy ‘pasvoasip ‘soqyseied YIM poqsojuy FOO LDITHOD 00 OO Dood wees uly Jo sys}: ‘UOIyes ‘MO][aA SUR pur dIIOWIN ‘prow orAorpes “xeroq ‘prov o19e10q ‘9]}}v9 AYIY pue posvo -SIP WOT] ‘SdAT}VATOSOId *(9]9T) -I® 94} JO soiyenb surystimou a4} SaOnpot Wt ossned9q) IIIB “eqie e110} YUM poj}ysrom ‘T19UIINy ‘unsdés ‘MOT[oOA SuTyIeyy ‘OUT jo ojeydins ‘peo] jo oa}yewmoiy) .ADGODIES o.0% wine ‘aun, oNsne9 ‘puowl[e 19}}1q JO VdUaSSa ‘19 -JeW SUIIO[OD Jay}JO puR dUTTeUYy “SOATJVAIOS -oid ‘sofp pue soUesso [RIynIV ‘Spneiy [eIo1oWiWwOoO?) *‘Snolj9}9[9q stag SENG Cal JULIRSIPULOI[C) Jeo WW ALLIN Se) oe) sie) eile le (sllelelwie) (exelalels\ismelluseiete piey Rie ee eee Crick Ode OrCuOnO Cyrh GO Ooo saltjal pue sulle [ “owe N “panuyuod--SINVAALINGY YIdHL GNV SHIOILYV GHLVYALIACGV THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE I18 ‘mop ‘ydIe4S|"" oe nne Wiest) ein) asia, Gus iain. eels shee @ ute ove ageuslleheitace (a leduis vie AMamanis tebe leks) se joddad ayy MA “oyrul SUIIOJOD pur ‘saoduassa [eIOyy =I ‘Apurisq apnio “SIO[OO sUTpIUY Ce cc SOUT AA “IVSOUIA JOPIO JO UOTJLFIUW UT pjos pue ‘Sploe snoou pasojOd sieSoura [vou pue ‘ourm ‘sayeMm “aeSns yuing|-SHOIsd s1o]YysoIpAy ‘otmmydyng} sss IVSoulA ‘unsdAs ‘Avjo evulys ‘auojsdeos ‘saryipenb|‘pues “ploe d11yu—Suy stom IOIOJUI ‘19AO pPolIp SoAva] ‘va} JUads ‘soAva]T USTIIOY ‘uns osequnid ‘onjq UeIssMIg|:s++++++++-: Bh hier ae eoL . . . . . . ‘uxep ‘esoonpy|** ++’ opeuapeeadesuade ur} Jo sqes “G1 Ayrind 0} posn UdijO st pooyq priyng) ‘tunsdds ‘pues ‘ons ‘eqie ei er sdniis ‘snp uveq ‘anoy d14 “Yours ‘MOY ‘seSns odviy}-107 ‘pea JO S]PES PUL UT] JO SYEG]ee eres esse eeee eee paeweence: "*ess9ss-9A0gGe poqiiosep ‘soords Be nets [eroyar ‘taddod ouuddey CCHOT OSC OLOMONO OMO-G OG ONO iene cio oon 6 uny "YOAEIS OFEJO|-+ 02 oes tte eee ae eae eee DA Gel FrscucROR CRN: aOR HON ICEO ICL ce Sa orale ote o8es spearq Giysfrrrcecs errs eet eee ees Nell ar alenehoroeee ae acea rarer aces tes oysWIg tee “saaoqe podissap ‘1addog "SOATY ‘gsoonfS ‘sassvjow ‘surydund ‘sajddy|-easosoid ‘uejas ‘s1ojoo ouruy| ttt ns ae seen tas! ‘spnesyq [eloremiut0;) *SnOoTI9}9[9q ne “panuyUuody—SINVaHLTINGVY YIHHL AGNV SHIOILYVY GHLVaaLIondav VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 11g This statement gives a list of the principal foods and separate classifications of those adulterants which are injurious and of those which are merely commercial frauds. The adulterants which the De- partment of Agriculture has classified as deleterious are mainly preserv- atives and coloring matters. The use of preservatives in food has rapidly increased in recent years, and has excited general interest and discussion. To use a common phrase, they are used to “make food keep.”” They destroy ferments and stop decay. They are a product of chemical skill. The most common preservatives are boracic acid, formaldehyd, salicylic acid and saccharin. These appear in the market under many fanciful names. The Depart- ment of Agriculture report upon the food laws of European countries says the sale of foods containing preservatives is prohibited in Austria, France, Hungary and Roumania. Beverages containing preservatives are prohibited in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. Salicylic acid in food is prohibited even in Buenos Ayres. Holland does not permit this acid in beer, and Spain forbids it in wine. Generally European countries legislate against the use of antiseptics in food. Many American States have followed their lead. The hearings before Senator Mason’s com- mittee and before the Interstate Commerce Committee of the last House of Representatives were largely devoted to the question of preservatives in food. Authorities in both this country and Europe differ as to the effect of these preservatives upon health. Dr. A. B. Prescott, Dean of the School of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, says their use should be prohibited or labels should be required when used. Dr. Wiley concurs in this opinion. Professor A. S. Mitchell of Wisconsin regards them as dangerous to the public health. Numberless authorities can be cited in support of this position. It seems reasonably clear to the average man that a chemical agent which will destroy the ferments of decay will also tend to destroy the digestive ferments and so retard the digestive processes. There are also medicinal effects of which the medical profession, as a rule, does not approve. This is certainly true, that antiseptics are a Godsend to the thriftless and the unclean. The milkman who in a dirty barn milks a dirty cow with dirty hands into a dirty pail can put a few drops of formaldehyd into his milk and make it keep longer than that of his competitor who is scrupulously clean in all the details of his business. The men who handle meat products can restore discolored and tainted meat through the saving grace of antiseptics. The oyster, torn from its ocean bed by the rude hand of man tries to get even by going off flavor and is quickly brought around to purity and sweetness by heroic doses of boracic acid. Chemi- cals in candy, chemicals in fruits, chemicals in meats, chemicals in vegetables, chemicals in butter, cream and milk. If antiseptics are a good thing, the American stomach ought to be well preserved. As a matter of fact, it ought to be lined with asbestos and ornamented like a drug store. There is not a food product made that requires preservatives, with 120 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE oe —————— the possible exception of some kinds of meats and beer intended for export to tropical countries. The agencies of heat and cold are the natural preservatives. Refrigeration, pasteurization and sterilization will do the work without risking human life. Dr. Wiley has begun the work which must be done to make a complete demonstration of the effect of preservatives in food. He systematically fed a number of young men for several months upon food which each day contained a quantity of boracic acid. The results have not been announced. They cannot be conclusive until experiments have been performed with invalids and children. Health and strength can resist and throw off poisons. Weakness and sickness invite their ill effects. The poisoned milk which would kill a baby might fatten a healthy man. The public health would not suffer if antiseptics in food were wholly barred. Commercial and trade interests are thoroughly alive to this part of the pure food question and to a considerable extent will fight for the right to use preservatives. State and Federal law should pro- hibit their use except in the cases indicated. With no restriction of law, the honest producer and the honest con- sumer would be at the mercy of the dishonest scoundrels who trifle with the public health, corrupt the channels of trade and rob the people. It all the States would pass stringent pure food laws and enforce them there would be little need of national legislation. But strong laws and vigorous enforcement are the exception and not the rule. The State laws vary in text, and when alike are subject to different interpretations by the different officers who administer them. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois have practically the same laws upon this subject, but the rulings and practices of the different food commissioners vary to such an extent that some of the wholesale houses in Chicago which deal in food products have their goods sorted and different sections of their stores labeled: “These can go to Wisconsin,” “These can go to Michigan,” or “These can go to Minnesota,” as the case might be. The States where these laws are administered suffer constantly from the indifference or inefficiency of their neighbors. The city of Chicago floods the northwest with adulterated foods. That enterprising town can make more pure Vermont maple syrup in a week than the State of Vermont can make in a year. It can produce as much imitation butter in a year as is sold of the pure article from all the cows of New England. A national pure food law would stop interstate commerce in adul- terated foods. It would do this if properly drawn and administered. With a strong national act in operation the States would be protected from the flood of adulterated goods from other States and could easily take care of their domestic manufacturers. As it is now, a food com- missioner finds a retailer selling a prohibited food product. The retailer is arrested and fined. He may be absolutely innocent of any inten- tional wrong. He may have bought the goods of the manufacturer in perfect good faith, but the manufacturer, who is the real offender, lives outside the State and is beyond reach. It seems harsh, but the retailer VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. I2I must be punished because it is the only way in which the law can be en- forced. A national law would reach the man who makes the goods. This subject has been before Congress for nearly thirteen years. Senator Paddock introduced a pure food bill in 1891. Up to the present time at different sessions of Congress there have been introduced forty- three pure food bills. In the last Congress a measure known as the Hepburn bill passed the House and died in a Senate committee. Mr. Hepburn will endeavor to secure the passage of his bill the present session, and Senator Mc- Cumber has introduced a similar measure in the Senate. These bills are both seriously defective. Each provides that the work shall be done under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, which is right; but that the executive head of the pure food division shall be the chemist of the Department of Agriculture. A national food law is one of wide importance. It will affect every food manufacturer in the country, every dealer and every man, woman and child who eats or drinks. The choice of an executive officer should not be confined to the gentleman who happens to be the national chemist. Ordinarily the training of a chemist is not that which specially fits him for executive functions. It so happens that Dr. Wiley, the present chemist, is a man of broad culture and of general accomplishments, but we have no assurance that he will live forever, and his successor might be entirely unfit for handling a work that would go into every State and Territory, dealing with lawyers and courts and great business in- terests and the construction of statutes. It is urged that there is a prejudice against the creation of new offices. That is true. But it will cost no more to do the work oi a pure food division with new men occupying new offices than to take the force now employed in the division of chemistry, divert their time and talent to pure food work and thereby make necessary the appointment of new men to old places. If the work is done as it should be done, it will cost a large sum of money. No subterfuge of placing the work in the hands of the present officials of the Department of Agriculture will fool anybody. The department officers have all they can do now. They are doing it well and are earning the gratitude of the country. No money can be saved by placing them in a new field of action. The necessity of a national pure food law is great enough to warrant a large expenditure of money. We spend enough upon one battleship that will probably rust upon the waters to enforce a national food law for ten years. We can afford to protect the public health. We cannot afford to let deception and fraud prey upon the rights of either pro- ducer or consumer of food. The great agricultural interest which will be specially affected by this legislation need not be particularly meek in making its wants known to Congress. It furnishes the larger part of the votes and the larger part of the political morality of this country. The farmer does not bear all the burdens of the world, as is sometimes said, but he carries his share, and when he finds one that a law can 122 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE lighten without damage to any legitimate interest, he should not pray for it; he should respectfully demand it. This country is not so poor that it cannot afford to compel honesty in trade so far as that is possible. A national food law should be so well drawn that it would serve as a model for State legislation, and thus tend to secure uniformity in State laws. It should be as specific as possible, and should contain in the act itself branding requirements for every kind of food known. This would distinctly advise the trade of the requirements of the law and would not subject dealers to the varying interpretation which a law of only general character might receive from the officers who adminis- tered it. The power of Congress to pass such a law is established by that provision of the constitution which gives congress authority to regulate interstate commerce. If “regulation” means anything it means that congress can determine what articles shall or shall not be transported from State to State. It may be, and will be, urged that this is practically an exercise of police power by the general government, a power which the constitution reserves to the States. But the constitution gives to. Congress certain specific authorities, among them the right to regulate interstate commerce, and reserves all other rights to the States. Be- sides, the states can only exercise police powers within their own boun- daries, while interstate commerce covers the nation. The federal government has already entered the field of national food regulation in the pure flour law, the oleomargarine law and the branding law which prohibits the introduction into any State or Ter- ritory from any other State or Territory of any dairy or food product that is falsely labeled as to the State or Territory where produced. This. last act was passed to secure to Vermont only the name of Vermont maple sugar, for instance; or to New York the fame of her apples, or to California the reputation of her wines, or to Florida her valuable trade-mark of “Florida Oranges,’ or to preserve to each State ex- clusively the State name for its food products, and not permit Missouri to label her windfalls of turnippy Ben Davies apples “New York Pip- pins,’ and shut out Chicago from labeling a mixture of glucose and burnt sugar “Vermont Maple Sugar.” The filled cheese law was an exercise of the taxing power of the government to limit or stop a fraud. The markets of this country and Europe were being flooded with cheese made out of skim-milk and lard, and offered and sold for full cream cheese. The descriptive word “Filled” was used because the cheese was made from milk that had been skimmed and the place of the removed butter fat filled or partly filled with neutral oil or lard. Our local trade was demoralized and our cheese reputation blackened in every European market. I drew and presented to the Wisconsin Legislature, under direction of our State Dairymen’s Association, a bill absolutely prohibiting the manufacture and sale of filled cheese. The bill became a law. At that time I was Dairy and Food Commissioner of the State. “wo hundred. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. r22 filled cheese factories were in full blast in Wisconsin. Within six months every factory had been driven out of business. Hon. S. A. Cook, Congressman from my State, introduced a bill into Congress taxing filled cheese one cent per pound and imposing license fees upon retailers, jobbers and manufacturers. It was bitterly fought. In the course of the contest I went to Chicago, bought a cheese labeled ‘‘Beaver State Full Cream Cheese,” had it analyzed by our state chemist, A. S. Mitchell, secured his affidavit to the fact that it was a filled cheese, took the cheese to Washington and placed it upon the table of the Committee on Interstate Commerce shortly after an at- torney for the filled cheese interests had finished an argument in which he claimed that filled cheese was honestly labeled and sold for exactly what it was. The ob ect lesson presented of a filled cheese labeled “Full Cream” was rather damaging to his case. It is proper to add that one of the members of the committee expressed his sur- prise that the cheese was solid. He said that he had supposed that a filled. cheese was a cheese with the inside cut out and the space filled with newspapers and old shoes. I discovered then, as I have observed since, that members of Congress do not know everything. The pure flour law was passed because corn flour was being mixed with wheat flour and that wheat flour was being further adulterated with white earth shipped from the southern States in carloads. Adulter- ation of this article had become so common that the National Millers’ Association was up in arms. Our foreign trade was threatened. The President of the Millers’ Association testified before the Congressional committee that unless Congress taxed adulterated flour he would be compelled to make it himself to hold his trade; that the lower prices of his dishonest competitors were robbing him of his customers and that in self-defense he must make as cheap an article as anybody. A law was passed taxing mixed flour four cents per barrel. Vhe tax was nominal, but the law required branding, which enabled purchasers to know what they were getting. Letters from great flour firms in Germany, France, England, Holland and Belgium published in the re- port of Senator Mason’s food investigation committee in 1900, indicate strongly the great benefit of the law in its effect upon our flour trade abroad. The amount of flour exported in 1896 was 10,000,000 barrels. In 1900, two years after the passage of the law in question, our flour exports were 15,000,000 barrels, and last year they reached a total ot 20,000,000 barrels. Adulteration of flour with North Carolina white earth has been stopped and the mixing of flour greatly diminished. Aside from any moral question, it pays to be honest. The oleomargarine law of 1900 increased the tax upon oleomargarine artificially colored to resemble yellow butter from 2 to 10 cents per pound. It diminished the tax upon uncolored oleomargarine from 2 cents to %4 cent per pound. It increased the burden upon the fraudulent imitation. It diminished the tax upon the legitimate article. Retail licenses for dealers in uncolored oleomargarine were cut from $40 to 124 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE $6 per year. The measure was enacted after a great contest running from the Fifty-sixth to the Fifty-seventh Congress. The entire country became interested in the discussion. The agricultural interest was almost solidly for the bill. I presented to the House Committee on Agriculture a petition for its passage from 133 agricultural papers. The National Dairy Union, of which Governor W. D. Hoard was President, and Charles Y. Knight of Chicago Secretary, scattered 3,000,000 pieces of literature advocating the 10 cent tax. The oleomargarine people claimed that the dairymen were trying to destroy their industry, and that the proposed law would destroy it. Both statements were untrue. The dairymen wanted to tax the fraud out of oleomargarine. The oleomargarine people wanted to keep it in. The dairymen did not object to the sale of oleomargarine under its own name and color. They did object to a cheap counterfeit masquerading in the markets in the livery of butter. In the beginning there was little sentiment in the House for the bill. In the end it passed that body by 100 majority. The Congressmen had heard from their districts. If there is anything that can turn seven thousand somersaults in a minute, it is a Congressman whose constituents go after him. We were entirely right in our contention from every standpoint and it was very annoying to have members of Congress say, as some did when the vote was taken, that the bill was a fraud, but they voted for it because the cow could control more votes than the steer. It is always exasperating to hear wrong reasons given for the right things. The South opposed the bill. The members from that section imagined it to be a blow at the cottonseed oil interest, when, as a matter of fact, it would touch it lightly if at all. And, more than this, the dairy interests of the south and the interests of consumers greatly outweighed the value of all the cotton- seed oil that goes into oleomargarine. The southerners also have a lin- gering reverence for their old hobby of State rights, and do not like an additional exercise of Federal power in the States unless there is an appropriation for something like the improvement of the Mississippi river, a New Orleans Exposition or the destruction of the boll weevil in Texas. Constitutional quibbles usually fade in the effulgent splendor of an appropriation. As in 1886, when Hatch of Minnesota, that grand old Democrat, made his splendid fight that placed the first oleomargarine tax laws upon the statute books, the friends of the counterfeit succeeded in getting a large support from labor organizations. This was possible because the labor organizations were deceived as to the possible effect of the law. It was a spectacle for gods and men to see a representative of a labor organization from Pennsylvania standing before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and reading an alleged argument against the bill, which had been written for him by an oleomargarine lobbyist. He could hardly read it, mispronounced some of the words and caused consternation in the ranks of the lobby. One manufacturer expressed his disgust to me with a profanity which cannot be repeated. If there is any class of men which is surely benefited by the 10 cent VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 125 tax law, it is the laboring men. When oleomargarine is colored it is sold at the price of butter, or nearly at that price. When it is uncolored it is sold at an oleomargarine price. The uncolored article is of the same quality as the colored. It is just as nutritious. It is just as good in every way. The only difference is nobody can be fooled into paying more than it is worth. The representative of labor was in effect arguing that the wealthy oleomargarine manufacturers should not be stopped in their practice of cheating the laboring men by selling them a mixture of beef fat, hog fat and cottonseed oil so colored that they would buy it for butter. And he was claiming this privilege for his gay deceivers as one of the natural rights of men. Oh Labor, what follies are committed in thy name! One word went into the oleomargarine law which should not be there. It is “artificial.” The law provides that the ten cent tax shall be paid upon all oleomargarine which has mixed with it any artificial coloration which causes it to look like yellow butter. The word “artificial” was put in upon the insistence of Senator Foraker of Ohio, who threatened to oppose the bill if the change was not made. The Senate was evenly balanced and the friends of the measure were compelled to accept the amendment or see the bill defeated. It-makes no difference whether oleomargarine is colored naturally or artificially. If it is made to look like butter to the extent that the average consumer is apt to be deceived by its appearance and buy it for butter, it is a fraud. It should make no difference whether the color is caused by a drop of aniline dye or a bucketful of yellow beef fat. The word has proved a bonanza to the legal fraternity, and it has caused a great amount of costly litiga- tion. Immediately after the law went into effect the manufacturers of the counterfeit undertook to evade it. With ample means to employ the best chemical and inventive talent, they endeavored to color their product in such a way that it would not be artificial coloration within the mean- ing of the law. They undertook to color it by mixing with butter that was highly colored with butter color and by the use of palm oil, a deeply colored oil of which only a small portion could be used. The Com- missioner of Internal Revenue, Mr. Yerkes, decided both methods to be unlawful, and the lower Federal courts sustained him. Four of the cases have been appealed to the Supreme Court. They were argued last month and a decision may be handed down at any time. The constitutionality of the taxing clause of the act of 1886, with the amendments of the act of 1902, is attacked. The first three cases were criminal prosecutions under the law of 1902, instituted in the U. S. Dis- trict Court for the Northern District of Illinois. One case has gone up from the District Court of the Southern District of Ohio, and turns upon the question as to whether or not oleomargarine under the law of 1902 can be colored by the addition of butter containing artificial butter color. This is the first time that the constitutionality of the act of 1886 has been attacked in the Supreme Court of the United States. The 126 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE claim of the oleomargarine manufacturers that under the law of 1902 they can introduce into their product butter color through the agency of butter is absurd upon its face. The law distinctly prohibits any artificial coloration in the oleomargarine. If artificial coloring gets in there through the medium of any agency the law is plainly violated. One of the cases is based upon the claim of the manufacturer that the use of palm oil in oleomargarine is not artificial coloration. From the evidence presented it is shown that the particular sample of oleomar- garine in question was made according to the following formula: 3 lbs. oleo oil. 1 lb. 2 oz. neutral oil. 2 Ibs. cotton-seed oil. 1 lb. 14.5 oz. milk. lbs 45ozasale 1.5 oz. palm oil. Total, 9 Ibs. 6 oz. There seems to be plenty of salt in this compound, but I take the formula as given in the brief submitted by the government. In the compound named there is a total of 160 ounces, only 1.5 ounce being palm oil. This is tess than 1 per cent. of the entire amount. Palm oil is a product of the fruit of palm trees, and is chiefly used in the manufacture of soap, candles and axle grease. It has a deep red or orange color. When fresh it has a sweetish taste; when older it has a rancid and unpleasant smell. The introduction of this oil into olea- margarine could have no other purpose than that of coloration. The decisions of the lower courts will undoubtedly be sustained, as it is clearly a correct construction of the law to say that it prohibits the introduction of anything into oleomargarine solely because of its color- ing properties and that butter color, whether introduced into the oleo compound alone or with the respectable companionship. of butter, is artificial coloring just the same; and further, that palm oil is a detri- ment to oleomargarine and would not be used except for its color property. If the Supreme Court should make an adverse decision, it would be necessary to make another fight in Congress to strike the words “artificial coloration” out of the law. The operation of the law has entirely disproved the prophecies of its enemies. It was claimed that it would utterly destroy the oleomargine business with its millions of invested capital. According to the report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the year ending January 30, 1903, there are 26,586 licensed manufacturers and dealers in this country making and selling oleomargarine. There are 31 factories in 12 States. The production of the uncolored article for the year ending January 30, 1903, was 67,573,689 pounds. Colored oleomargarine, upon which the 10 cent tax was paid, was produced to the extent of 5,712,257 pounds. The total product for the year was 72,285,946 pounds. This does not look as if the industry had been destroyed. The previous year production VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 127 reached 126,000,000 pounds in round numbers. That year was excep- tional. The manufacturers crowded production to the fullest extent in order to get their product on the market before the ten cent tax law should go into effect. The reduction in annual product caused by the new law is apparently 53,000,000 pounds; 67,000,000 pounds of uncolored oleomargarine made and sold in a single year in spite of the fact that the oleomargarine lobby told Congress that nobody would buy the uncolored article. Not only that, but the 67,000,000 pounds were sold to the poorer classes in this country for five and six cents per pound less * than if it had been colored. The people who wanted a cheap substitute for butter got it. It carried a white face and was not as good as butter, but it was honest. It carried no yellow flag, claiming the cow as its mother, but stood upon its merits as lard and tallow and cottonseed oil and moved into the society of legitimate products acknowledging the parentage of hogs and steers. There is a place for oleomargarine. Nobody disputes it. It is not as digestible as butter, but it can be digested. It costs less than butter. But it has no moral rights in the market when it is a deceptive counter- feit of a more generally desired and more valuable article, and it should have no legal rights. The ten cent tax law was intended as a prohibition upon butter counterfeits colored to look like butter. The taxing power of the government was invoked to stop a fraud, and it has pretty nearly stopped it. The American courts have fairly grounded the principle which lies at the base of the anti-color laws of the States. These laws are not class legislation. It is true that all these laws have been passed in obedience to the demands of the farmers of the country, but when they reach the courts they are beyond the reach of class appeals and are decided upon constitutional grounds and the principles of the com- mon law. The Supreme Court of Ohio, the Supreme Court of New York, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Missouri and the Supreme Court of Minnesota have affirmed the constitutionality of the laws of these States which flatly prohibit the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine colored to look like butter. The farmer has a right to demand protection from fraudulent com- petition. It is exasperating to be told in Congress and elsewhere by men who are sincere that we are asking for class legislation. If there is any class of men that does not seek and does not get class legislation, it is the men who till the soil of the nation. A wave of rage and disgust ran along the line of metropolitan dailies from the Atlantic to the Pacific when the last Congress failed to yield to the oleomargarine lobby and stood up squarely for honesty in trade. The farmers were charged with having looked after their own interests, and for once the charge was true. The men who make 1,500,000,000 pounds of honest butter every year by hard work were tired of the competition of a dishonest product, costing less than half as much per pound and stealing the color of butter for the purpose of robbing the purchaser. Talk about class legislation! The law against picking pockets is class 128 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE’ legislation designed to land pickpockets in the penitentiary en masse. The farmers have a profound respect for the rights of any class of men. As a class they never have and they never will ask for protection against any legitimate competing interest. If there are any noles made in the constitution through class legislation it will not be done by the men who milk cows, plow their fields, eat their dinner in the middle af the day and go to bed at nine o’clock at night. The flags of national danger are not waving upon the farm. They float over the palaces of millionaires and above the centers of trade and commerce and political life. The contending forces of wealth, unparalleled in all the ages, ~ gigantic combinations with the financial resources of an empire domi- nate to a startling degree the legislation of the country. The patriotism and wisdom of our people will solve the problems that are presented by organized labor on one side and organized capital on the other. But the bed rock of national safety is the farmer. He knows what it means to have property, and he knows what it means to be compelled to work when tired and hungry. He will treat capital fairly and labor fairly, and both labor and capital should be fair to him when he demands honest competition in the markets. He has a clear right to demand, and should demand, of State and national Legislatures such laws as will tend to make pure our food products. The farmer is the primary producer of all foods. He should fight for the integrity of his products. Not only that, but the farming population is the great- est consuming class in the country. A farmer not only wants his butter and flour sold upon their merits, but he wants to know what he gets when he buys sugar, and tea, and coffee, and vinegar, and spices, and baking powder, and syrup, and canned fruits and meats. But for the legislation of the last ten years this country would have been literally flooded with food adulterations, and the farmer would have been the principal victim in health and pocket. And yet when we try to stop cheating in food products by the passage of effective laws, we are charged with asking class legislation. The present Congress will consider and possibly pass a national food law. The manufacturers of dishonest foods will fight it. They will have friends in unexpected places. There was never a fraud on earth that did not find defenders in the ranks of honest men. The men who make preservatives will fight it. Some of the great meat packers will be against it. The liquor interests will fear it. It will have ostensible friends who will seek to emasculate it with weak and inefficient pro- visions. It will be opposed on the ground of expense by men who swallowed the Panama canal scheme with its appalling climatic and engi- neering difficulties, its certain cost of hundreds of millions and its international complications, without a murmur. It will be objected to on constitutional grounds by men who crucify the constitution every time they run for office. It will be supported by men who want the offices provided for and by men who want a good law. This first class will be a dangerous friend. The last class can pass the bill if it will go VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 129 to work and make Congress understand that the people want it. The time has not yet come in this country when a lobby is stronger than an aroused public sentiment. It does not take much to whip an army that is asleep. Let simple justice be done our farmers in this matter. They have deserved it. The farm has given to the country the great bulk of its statesmen. The master minds of the professions, of finance and of trade have come from the country. The farmer boys whipped the regular soldiery of Great Britain in the Revolution, went down to the silent city by thousands at Shiloh, in the Wilderness and at Gettysburg and upon every battlefield of the nation proved their love of country by their blood. Nobody ever heard of farmers defying the law. They are the respecters of law and its defenders. They should be alive to the rights as well as to the duties of citizenship. A farmer ought to know the details of the business. He should obey the law. But, more than this, he should make himself felt in the making of the law. He is not a good citizen unless he does. He is part of the law-making power in theory, and he should be in fact. One ward-heeler can sometimes make more noise and command more influence than one hundred thousand farmers who are “too busy to fuss with politics.” This government cannot be safely handed over to professional politicians. Many of these gentlemen are entirely worthy of respect and confidence. But this is not an oligarchy. The fountainhead of government in this country is in the homes of the people, and there should be life and interest there about public questions. This government will become ideal when every citizen performs all his duties as a citizen. When that time comes there will be no “problems of municipal government,” questions as to how the people can be protected from public robbers. The rascals are not in the majority. When every man takes part in the primaries of his party, all parties will nominate men of character for office. If this is not true, government by the people is a failure. In conclusion, we want in the States food laws which shall stop the sale of foods and drugs that endanger the public health, and which shall compel all food products to be sold for exactly what they are. In the nation we want the strong arm of Federal authority used to stop inter- state commerce in all forms of food except those which are wholesome and honest. The farmers of the country can bring about these results if they will exercise their power. Professor Hills—I want to say amen to every word but one that Mr. Adams has said this morning. Speaking of preservatives, he said they were a God-send to the thriftless and the unciean. Those things come from perdition, and not from God. They are not God- sent for the thriftless, but perdition-sent. Dr. Wiley states that thus far there have been no experiments upon babes, but, nevertheless, there came to my knowledge, and I speak earnestly, because I know her and know the father, I have known of an experiment upon a babe with 130 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE some of these embalmed milks. A friend of mine in Massachusetts had a thriving child and circumstances compelled it to be placed at about six or seven months of age upon milkman’s milk. He wrote to me and I told him (he was in a city near Boston) to go around among the milkmen in that vicinity, visit their stables, tell them what he wanted, pick out a cleanly stable, a cleanly man and offer him a special price for milk for the child. He did so, and picked out a man who guaranteed pure milk, showed him the stable, and that was clean, and the child was put upon the milk. The child seemed to do well for about a week, and then I got word the babe was having a bad spell of indiges- tion. The father sent me a specimen of the milk, and that milk kept in the laboratory where the temperature was 90 degrees, kept five days without souring. If that child had been continued on that milk tor a month she would have been in her grave to-day instead of being a well, healthy child. There is an infant experiment that I can swear to absolutely; I know to the very bottom of the fact. I told that to my class in college, and I believe a thing of that kind should always be made public. Those things are not God-sent; they come from way down below. Mr. Adams.—The words “God-sent” in this connection were used ironically. I am against the whole business from top to bottom. A friend of mine, a doctor who was one of the most skillful physicians in Madison, had a child who was being brought up on a bottle, as most babies are now, that became sick and the doctor could not make up his mind what the trouble was. The child grew worse and worse and finally he took a sample of the milk and brought it to my office, and I found that it contained formaldehyde. The milk was changed and the child recovered in a week. A gentleman slapped me on my back on the street one day and said: “I want to shake hands with you.” I said: “What's the matter with me?” He said: “Nothing the matter with you; you saved the life of my child.” I said: “How was it?’ He said: “You arrested my milkman; I had a sick baby, and it got well on the change.” There is a tendency to put preservatives in milk, and that ought not to be permitted in any State in the Union. Mr. Hitchcock.—If there is no further discussion of this paper, I would like to say that the Commiftee on Resolutions is prepared to report. President Bruce.—We will listen to the report of the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Hitchcock.—The Committee on Resolutions as appointed were Mr. Adams, Mr. Vail and myself. The committee have been unable to confer with Mr. Vail. If any thing in this report is contrary to his un- derstanding he will now have a chance to say so. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 131 Resolutions. At the close of this, the thirty-fourth annual meeting of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association, its members desire to give public expression of their deep appreciation of the numerous courtesies extended by the good people of Burlington, and of the aid given by all towards increasing the pleasures and benefits of the gathering, and especially they desire to convey to his honor, the Mayor of Burlington, their sincere thanks for his untiring efforts which have contributed so largely to the universally recognized success of the meeting. They express the feeling of loss they feel in company with all the citizens of the State, at the recent death of the venerable Stephen Thomas of Montpelier, who was one of the first few individuals to contribute and aid, as a member, our organization at its feeble begin- ning. They also mourn the loss of other members who have during the past year ceased to be of this world. The members of this Association further place upon record their unanimous wish that the Legislature of the State at its next session shall make such an appropriation as shall provide and equip a building at the State University and Agricultural College which shall not only be adequate for the needs of the college in carrying forward the work of instruction in the various departments of agriculture, and especially in dairying, but also fairly represent upon the University grounds the most important industry of the State. To this end they urge upon the farmers that they investigate the work now being done at the college and thereby gain a better understanding of present needs and future possi- bilities of benefit in Vermont. M. A. ADAMS, EV ATIC id. EVM CIEK OOO Committee. 132 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Mr. Hitchcock.—I want to say in regard to the resolutions, the work is mine, and I feel a great many may think I have overstated the case, that I have been extravagant, but I have endeavored to make this reso- lution extremely moderate; make it such that any man throughout the State who knows anything about the subject can go the whole length of it. I want to say that this resolution will probably be varied in the records of the Association, but the members of the Dairymen’s Asso- ciation of Vermont, if they see fit so to do, have it in their power to become missionaries in their homes to extend the knowledge of what this college is doing for Vermont and what it can do if its hands are upheld. With that knowledge extended through the State, the result will be more far reaching than if the thing is left simply to the action of the Legislature without any impression from outside. If the Legis- lature can be made to know what the intelligent farmer or intelligent dairyman of Vermont knows I think something can be done in this matter. President Bruce.—You have heard this resolution; what will you do with it? Mr. Aitken.—I move you, sir, that the resolution be accepted and adopted. Motion seconded, put to vote and carried and the resolution was adopted. Dairyman.—I wish to say I think this resolution is mild enough. I have got some boys growing up that I want to have come to the dairy school by and by, and I want it to be something where they will learn something, and I am willing to go to the bottom of my pocket to help support it. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. Daa ‘ THURSDAY P. M., JANUARY 7, 1904. President Bruce.—Ladies and Gentlemen: As it is past two o’clock and we are obliged to commence in order to get through for the four o’clock train that leaves over the Rutland road, and 4:30 train over the Central Vermont, I will not wait any longer, but will introduce Mr. Van Dresser, whom you all know, who will speak to you on the “Selection and Conformation of the Dairy Cow.” Mr. Van Dresser.—Mr. Chairman and Brother Farmers: I am in touch with the dairy cow; I am in touch with the farmer of to-day, because I am a farmer myself, from my early boyhood I have never done anything else but farm. I know what farmers have got to contend with; I know the thought that is required for the dairy business to make a profit out of the enterprise, for that reason I am here. I am here to accomplish a purpose, and I hope that I may do it. We have got more or less to contend with, we people of the East. You would be surprised to know what a competitor the State of Minnesota is. A few years ago they raised nothing but wheat in that State. I have been in every large town in the State of Minnesota to speak upon the dairy interests of that State. A few years ago they thought it was impossible to raise wheat any longer; they could not do it with profit; they must change their tactics, and they went into the dairy business. It was a new enterprise and they had no ruts to be lifted out of, and in ten years they have won laurels for themselves and laurels for the State. In the Paris exhibition they walked off with the premium of the world, and their butter to-day in London markets brings two cents a pound more than any other that they compete with. So you see last year in Freeborn county alone they shipped to that city in competition with eastern butter $100,000 worth per month, $1,200,000 worth per year. Thirty-seven factories never closed their doors a single day during the year. That means something. That means that we must wake up to our duty. I am in touch with the dairy cow because she paid for a Hor for my brother and me. I have a right to love her and respect her. It is said that no human being receives credit for more than two original ideas during his entire life. The mind is developed by the interchange of thought, by the interchange of ideas, by coming together as we have this afternoon for the purpose of talking matters over, pertaining to our business, and in that way new veins of thought are developed, new enterprises engaged in and we are better prepared to fight the battle of life as the days come and go. That is the object of the great grange 134 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE organizations of this world to-day. God bless the grange in that re- spect to-day. It is a power behind the throne, thank God. Now I am in touch with the dairy cow because she is the foster mother of the human race. Her milk is perfect food for the support of human life. Now, here is her milk, her cream, her horns and her hide, every portion of her body you can utilize for a purpose. ‘fhe dairy cow is the power which enables us to support our children, clothe and educate them; she is a mortgage lifter; she is a public and private benefactor. How is she treated as a rule for what she has tried to do for the human family to-day? Often in the months of November and De- cember she goes right out on the cold, frozen sod to lie there until morning; oftener allowed to lie upon the cold floor during the winter months without bedding. That is all wrong. It is a duty that dairy- men owe to themselves and to their families to better that condition. About twelve years ago the milk production in the State of New York was only 3,000 cows, and only 250 pounds of butter to a cow. Look and see the strides we have made since that time. Inside of ten years we have developed the milk flow, increased the flow over 1,400 pounds of milk per cow in the State of New York and with it 700,000 dairy cows. Ve think the people of the State of New York have every reason to feel proud of the stride we have made. God in his wisdom created the lower animals in a troubled state for us to develop intelligence; now if we are not intelligent we do not fill the place God designed us to fill, Farmers, let us give this thing a thought to-day. So many people in the different States are keeping more dairy cows than they can afford, which runs them in debt and brings general ruin. If to-day just half of the dairy cows were sent to the slaughter and the balance were better kept and looked after and more judgment used in feeding and treating, how much better it would be for us all that are interested in this work. The dairy cow stands be- fore man as an open book. We have the power to conceal our imper- fections; the dairy cow has none. Look at the well known Jersey cow that went to the front by making 963 pounds of butter in 355 days. Look at Pauline Hall, the well known Holstein! No other cow has produced 1,153 pounds of butter in 365 days. When the news struck Holland she lifted up her hands and said, ‘““America is ahead.” Breeding is in its infancy and the end is not yet. There is something for you to do, brother farmers, at the opening of the twentieth century, that is to develop the dairy cow. What has been the trouble with the farmer so many years? Why have not they given this dairy cow more thought? It is this: We farmers as a rule are working too hard; we go to bed tired and get up before we are rested, and when a man is physically exhausted his mind is mentally impaired. You know it is true he cannot put his thoughts into action and manage his business in such a way that it will be to his financial good. You remember in your boyhood days it required muscle to swing a scythe. Here at the opening of the twentieth century what of VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 135 the agricultural implements of the age, what of the dairy appliances of the hour! Farming is made comparatively, easy; you know that is true. What shall we do? Let us use the tools, let us exercise the muscle less and the brain more, because it is beneath the brow that contains the brain, that touches the button, that lifts the lever, that moves the machinery of the world. The dairy cow is the machine. She was made for a purpose, to transform food into milk and butter and the dairyman should see that his cow transforms the largest amount of food into milk and butter with the least waste possible. Let us study her conformation and look her over a little and be satisfied in our minds what constitutes a dairy cow. There she stands. What are her requirements? Her head should be symmetrical; her eyes full and expressive; head small, ears of a medium size, hair plentiful, nostrils large, mouth and lips broad and heavy, just like mine. She should be of the right shape. Her neck should be thin; she should be low on the ground, deep through the heart, ribs well curved from the shoulder, and large at the hips; that gives ample room for the storage capacity. That is what is needed in the dairy cow. Broad across the hip; if they are narrow, there is not room enough for the udder, and as they go through the pasture it swings to and fro, their movements are hampered and they will not give as much milk as they should. We once had a Holstein that during the months of July and August we had to keep in the stable because her udder became so chafed in walking. We should have an open conformation for the dairy cow, a close conformation for the beef cow. It is impossible to do good dairy work witha beef structure; you cannot do it; it is contrary to the law of the breed—an open organization for the dairy cow. When your calf develops into motherhood it will carry a large udder. It requires a heavy udder cord to hold the udder to the body. If it is a little cord when the calf develops into maturity it will have a small udder. Now, the udder should be large and teats of medium size, and well set along the udder. Here comes the mammiliaries; the larger they are the more milk veins and the greater number of holes at the end of the veins the better the cow. Her skin should be of medium thickness; take hold of the skin and pull it out and let it snap back; if it is life-like and elastic, you can make no mistake. Now, what shall we do under the circumstances. I told you what we can do. I do not want to tell you farmers you cannot succeed unless: you breed thoroughbred cattle; but there is one thing we can do: We want to weed out the scrubs, keep the best calves. Scrub company is the worst any one was ever in. I am going to say to the fathers and mothers here to-day, if you have got a son or daughter going into scrub company keep them out of it. It is so with scrub cattle. If you have got some that it does not pay to keep, weed them out or they will be the ruin of those you have got. I know by experience if you have got a lot of scrub cows everything else is scrub. A thoroughbred scrub is the worst thing you could have. Now, what shall we do when we feel the 136 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE necessity of breeding better stock? We must weed out the scrubs, get a thoroughbred sire and breed up. The sire is the most important part of your herd; they are the progenitor of so many cows in one season, while the cow can only present her qualities to one calf during the season. I was speaking one time in the State of New York, speaking on this very subject and a gentleman sitting in the rear oi the hall came for- ward when I got through talking and said to me, I live eight miles away, but I want you to go home with me to dinner. He said he had eight two-yearold heifers that had become mothers, and he said farming didn’t pay. He said thirty years before that his mother said it was dangerous to be alone, and he took to himself a wife, and his tather was so pleased that he purchased for him a farm and paid two-thirds down and put the other third on a mortgage. Since that time he had never been able to pay anything but the’ interest. He had raised a family, they had all gone to the city and he and his wife were alone, and he said farming didn’t pay. I drove up there and he let the animals out into the yard, and I looked them over carefully. I said to him: ““What did you breed these calves from?” “Oh,” he said, “I have got a dandy sire; he has gota pedigree that reaches over into the old world.” I looked this sire over carefully. I examined his mammillary veins and could not find them. I said: “All he can do is to reproduce himself, and from nothing, nothing comes.” That was a thoroughbred scrub. That farmer in the afternoon got up in the audience and said he never knew the sire had mammillary veins. Been in the dairy business all those years and never knew that. If the farmer is not in love with the dairy cow, then for God’s sake quit the business, for he will never succeed. If it is the pride of your heart to feed your cattle carefully and watch their growth; in that way you will succeed. Here is the sire; his head is symmetrical, broad through the eyes, ribs well sprung. We say we sell the scrubs, we purchase a thoroughbred sire. JI never was over thirty miles from home before we purchased thoroughbred cattle. I myself was a scrub from the start—just simply ate, and slept, and snored, and repeated it. With all these characteristics the animal must be chock full of constitutional vigor; then he has the power to impress his qualities upon his progeny. Now, we say we have got that sire home. What does that mean? That means better care, better thought than you have ever given one before, because that is worth something; you put more value on it. We are not apt to take any great care of anything we put no value on. That is the trouble with real estate to-day. We think so little of what we have got. You want to think a good deal of what you have got yourself; if you don’t, nobody else will think much of it. You take a man who does not think much of himself, then everybody else despises him. That is too bad. After you fetch that animal home and care ior him during the winter you await the result. By and by a calf is dropped. The boys come to the VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 137 barn and say it is a great improvement. We used to raise a small race of cows just because they were on earth. We drew the milk and fed it from habit. I want to tell you, brother farmers, I believe the destiny of a calf is decided previous to its birth, while carried by its mother. We say this morning there are two calves dropped. The first thing we do when there is a calf there is to turn it on its back and examine its udder. If it has got four well placed teats and two rudimentaries, all the better. Then we let the little thing get up and we open its mouth; if it has got eight well developed milk teeth that calf is well born. A calf well born is more than half raised. That calf is hungry. Now, we go and draw the milk from the udder into the pail and with a little persuasion the calf will begin to drink. That is the kind of a calf to raise. A calf of that description is more than half raised. Here is the other calf born the same morning; turn it on its back and look at its udder and then you open its mouth; it has only got two little bits of milk teeth through the gums. That is a fool calf; you can’t afford to raise it. We get down and draw the milk from the udder. That calf will occasionally come up to the pail and turn its nose back and take hold of the rope; you let loose its halter and it turns its nose up; you double its nose into the bottom of the pail and the milk flows all over you. You have all been through it. I said to-day it will drink, to- morrow it is indisposed, troubled with indigestion. What was the mother? That mother did not have constitutional vigor enough to fully develop that calf during the period of gestation, and it was born weak in constitution, and that is the trouble all over the United States, and the thoroughbred breeders all over the United States are largely to blame to-day; they are so anxious to get their money back that they will keep anything and palm it off onto us farmers who are ignorant of the business. The calf wants something besides teats; it wants constitutional vigor, and it wants individuality. Be careful and get an individual calf that will do you good, because if you put your heart on a breed and then your love turn to hate you will never have confidence in the breed again. What we want to do is this: Only keep the calves that have digestive power, feed regularly what it does digest and that is all; the balance will take care of itself. If the human mother did not watch her baby’s digestion—and so many mothers do not—what is the result? Trouble. Just so is it with the dairy calf. ; After these calves are born only keep those strongest in constitution with a power to assimulate. Take them and put them into a separate building and go and examine them carefully. First fix your attention on the eye. Ifthe eye is open and they are well apart, turn the ear back and see if it is soft and moist; the indication of the butter fat. If the ribs are open and far apart, then look for the milk teeth. Then put the best calf in a stable by itself. Now, there is the fellow (of course he isn’t here) who because he does not succeed in life he wants to lay it to religion. Now, when you 138 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE get home and he comes to you and tries to buy stock call him in and sell him those calves before he leaves the barn, while you keep the best. He would buy the same thing anyway; that is his nature. This is a good business proposition: Sell off the poor stock, keep the best and breed up. You have heard of Mr. Cook, who milks 125 cows, in the State of New York. He has thribbled the milk flow of the 125, getting 8,488 pounds per cow on an average. Ten years ago the average was only 3,000 pounds per cow. He has assisted nature. Be careful in selecting, weed out the inferior ones, and have a thoroughbred sire. My grandfather was born and raised in the land of Holland, and he moved to Schenectady, N. Y. My grandfather told me of the beauties of Holland, its wonderful dykes and windmills, and he also told me of the pretty girls of Holland. After that I wanted to see something from Holland besides my grandfather, and I did, and among them was the Holstein cow. Brother farmers, I said “open organization for the milk cow, close organization for the beef cow; one pulled apart, the other driven together.” Take the Ayershire cow, the Herford and the Hol- stein; let them drop their calves this morning, and you take them and put them into winter quarters and give them a grain ration. What will the Herford do? She will apply the grain ration to building up her own system and will starve her calf. She was bred that way. What will the Ayershire cow do? She will go to work the other way; she will give you ten to twelve thousand pounds of milk at the expense of her system, give up her all to the life of the calf, and you are the richer by it. Speaking of Holstein cows. A few years ago my brother and I at- tended a fair at Albany, in the State of New York, and there we saw a herd of Holsteins, the first I ever saw, and from impulse I rushed up and put my arm up and hugged her. My brother and I were in trouble. We had worked on the farm from the time I was twelve years old; hired out in one place and then another, turned right out in the cold world. My brother worked too, and we saved our money and finally we purchased a farm, the one I own now, two miles out of Cobleskill, for $14,250, and we were in debt $6,500. We took our milk to the cheese factory. When the year came round, with all our economy, we could not pay our interest. That meant something. Then we talked it over and the girl wife said: “We will try and help you through har- vest and see if we cannot get along next year better, and when the spring opened and the grass was ready to cut my wife put herself into the mowing machine and mowed day in and day out; my brother’s wife looked after the domestic cares and between meals used to help us un- load. And there we were, with the mortgage looking us in the face, and when the year came around and we could not pay our interest my brother and I sat down and cried together. We had to change our tactics. We went down to Albany to see the cattle; we had no money to buy cattle, and I said we will make an auction and we will sell every VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 139 mother’s son of them, and we scraped the money together, and we put another mortgage on the farm for $1,050, and we went to Utica and we went to a breeder of Holstein cattle. We told this man how we stood financially, and he gave us the worth of our money. We supposed a cow was a cow, but we found out there was a difference in cows. Nobody knew what we had done except our wives and one hired man; he told some one, and while we were away the neighbors found it out. An old man who lived near us came along to offer sympathy to our poor little wives, and told them the boys were fit subjects for a lunatic asylum. In a few days we came home and our wives came down to meet us and told us what had taken place there, and what had been said. After supper my brother and I took the lantern and went out into the stable and looked over our investment with more confidence in it than ever before. We shook hands in that stable and said if God would spare our lives and we kept our health we would lift that indebtedness before those old men died, and we left the building that night with what we called the Eureka stock farm, owned by the Van Dresser Brothers, with two mortgages upon it, and we came up out of the earth. Now, brother farmers, in the old way we could not pay our interest; in the new way in nine years we lifted the indebtedness and the home was ours, thank God, before those old men died. Brother farmers, I am not here in behalf of the men whose early years have been made easy. Nay, verily, I am here in behalf of the man that hardly knows how to keep the wolf from the door. God knows, that man has got the tender side of my heart. I know how you have to work to lift the indebtedness and pay for the home. I am here to encourage you and to say to you that history repeats itself. Farming is on the boom; every man has employment that wants it; you have every reason to rejoice and be glad; let us go to work and toil intelligently and we can put the products of our farm on the markets of the world. Where are your boys to-day? Do you realize the boys of to-day will be the farmers of the future. If you want to keep your boys on the farm interest them in the work, talk over your farming interests with them, listen and try to enjoy their company and they will have confidence in you. Fathers give your sons the right hand of fellowship, encourage their interest in dairy work. Brother farmers, I want you to so care for the little ones and that when your work shall be done they will be ready to take your place in the world and do their duty as you shall have done yours; that your flocks may be large, your farms fruitful, your storehouses overflowing with milk and butter; that the children gathered around your hearth- stone and playing upon the green hills may in the years to come rise up and thank God that they were born on a farm and taught to live and know themselves as they should. President Bruce.—Ladies and gentlemen, I see that the chief execu- tive of our commonwealth is with us and I trust he will talk to you a few minutes. 140 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Governor McCullough.—Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been repaid for coming up here in listening to the very interesting, effective and able address of Mr. Van Dresser. I have been the loser by reason of the indefiniteness of my friend, Mr. Aitken, who wrote me a letter a few days ago saying that the convention of the Sugar Makers, Dairymen, Horticultural and Foresters’ Associations was to be here from the 5th to the 7th, and wound up by saying there was to be a banquet to termi- nate the meeting, and I came to the conclusion that the banquet was on this evening instead of last evening, and I am the loser by either his mistake or my own. I am the loser in more respects than one. I started from the Atchison meeting yesterday about six o’clock in the’ evening and going up on the electrics at the north end of New York at night the cars are always crowded; going down in the morning they are crowded: this car I was on was packed. I got up between Thirty-third and Forty-second streets and I saw a young lady standing, I beckoned to her and as I got up she sat down. I tried to elbow my way out. When I got near the door I wanted to go through I thought some one tried to stop me, and when I finally did get out my purse was gone and I came very near not getting here at all. I was a loser in more re- spects than one. When I got here I looked across to see if Congress- man Foster was here; I did not see him, but I saw Congressman Adams and probably he will tell Foster this story. Mr. Aitken asked me to come up here and told me I would have the pleasure of listening to Governor Hoard, Congressman Adams, Mr. Van Dresser, Professor Decker and all the others and wound up by saying: “Besides all that, Congressman Foster is going to preside at the banquet; don’t fail to be heres Well, I had known Brother Foster. I wish he was here; I was think- ing of it coming up on the train; that is the reason I am stating it now. I had known him from his youth up, as an able lawyer, as an able financier. I had known him as the ablest Congressman of this State, with perhaps the exception of Haskins. I had known him, as he used to express it, as one of the most influential men of the lower House of Congress, the ablest body on earth, as Adams would agree (unless Proctor or Dillingham was here), but I had never known Brother Foster as a dairyman, although I had been with him at several con- ventions of this nature, and at one time I had thought he was not so well posted as I was because he said: “Mr. McCullough, I wish you would tell me—I know a good deal of Jerseys, Holsteins, Ayershires, etc., that Mr. Van Dresser has been talking about—but I wish you would tell me which breed he said was the best milk producer.” I an- swered readily; I told him I believe it was either the Shropshires or the Chester Whites. He said: “There is Mr. Spear and the maple sugar makers. Now I see different sized maple sugar cakes all over the table and I suppose the size of the cake depends upon the size of the maple tree, but I would like to know what kind of a tree the sap comes VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. I4I from?” I said: “Why, you ought to know; of course sap comes from saplings.” Then he said: “There is Mr. Hitchcock; he is a breeder of fine stock; can you tell me anything to say about the best feed for stock?” And I said: “I really don’t know much about feeding stock, but to my sor- row I have learned from some of my Wall street friends a good deal about watering stock.” He said: “There is Mr. Aitken; he wants to talk about the Shrop- shires, Southdowns, Merinos, etc., and I want to give him a good send off; what shall I say?” I told him I did know something about shearing myself, and I thought the best time for that was when the bulls and bears were around. Ladies and gentlemen, I have talked nonsense long enough; I am only to speak two or three minutes I believe. I agree with Mr. Van Dresser that the agricultural is the most important calling in the world. You agriculturalists really are the kings of America. It is estimated, I think, that from one-third to four-tenths of the people of this country of the States and of the Territories, belong to the agricultural calling. That from twenty-five to thirty-five millions of the seventy-five millions are in some way or other interested in the tilling of the soil. From the soil is drawn the wealth of this nation. You talk about the great United States Steel Corporation that troubles the dreams of some of our good people. My friends, the United States Steel Corporation, great as it is, with its 350 million now of preferred stock, with its 550 millions of common stock, its 312 millions of first mortgage bonds, and its 250 millions of second mortgage bonds, and about 15,000 millions of dollars, what is that? It is all selling for about half that now. My friends, the corn crop and the hay crop of last year will buy all the steel securities at par, will buy them twice over at their selling value to-day. Your cotton crop, your wheat crop will buy all those securities at their selling value; then you will have 250 millions over in your pockets for pin money and for the ladies. Mr. Wilson says, take the principal crops of this country and their value last year amounts to three billion, five hundred millions of dol- lars. Five times as much—and this is only one year’s crop—five times as much as the selling value of all the securities of this tremendous cor- poration. Gentlemen, farmers, you could catch the United States Steel Cor- poration, this sea serpent, if you were to try, and throttle it in a moment. You farmers could put a hook in the nose of this leviathan and drive it to the top of Mt. Mansfield if you wished. It is the agricultural interest in this country that is the great over-reaching, over-shadowing interest. We used to hear a great deal about the home market during the political campaigns; it is the greatest market of the world; the market that absorbed something like 90 per cent. of the agricultural products. We are a manufacturing people too, and our manufacturing interests are the largest in the world; our country, too, has become the grocery, as it has 142 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE the counting-house, of the world. Our manufacturers send great ship- loads of steel rails to Austria, Japan, through the Asiatic countries. A few years ago they underbid London for rails for the underground railroad, underbid Holland for steel bridges for her dominion. The American bicycle, the American typewriter and the American sewing machine entered and took possession of Germany, England and mo- nopolized their markets; but, my friends, while it is true that our manu- facturers stand upon such vantage ground, it is because of the coal and the iron and the steel within our country, and they have what they need in unlimited quantities and can furnish them in unlimited quanti- ties; this is what makes the manufacturies great. But, gentlemen, the real kings are not cotton, steel, iron, but wheat, corn and hay. They are kings; they are the real kings. As Mr. Wilson says, the balance of trade against this country of our manufactured exports and imports was 860 millions. We bought more manufactured things than we sold, notwithstanding we had these ex- ports. Our luxurious people in the United States bought 860 million dollars’ worth more than they sold; but with your corn, cotton, wheat and agricultural products, you sold four billion five hundred million more than you bought of merchandise from the other countries. That shows the importance of the agricultural interests in the United States. I shall talk no longer of your calling; it is impossible, my friends, to magnify it; it is impossible to exaggerate it. The farmers of America are the sovereigns; they are the political sovereigns of the country. Ii tne tarmers of this country are prosperous the government is safe and secure; if they are rich, the government is strong and healthy. My friends, the tillers of the soil are the pillars of the Republic, and as Mr. Van Dresser said, there is a joy in the ownership of a piece of the soil, in the ownership of a piece of Mother Earth, that no one else can know. The farmers and agriculturalists founded this nation; love of liberty and love of property, too, is what brought your ancestors across the waters of the Atlantic to the shores; love of liberty and love of property is what planted your fathers up and down the Vermont val- leys and on these hillsides. My friends, in conclusion, the same love of liberty and love of prop- erty is what will preserve you and bless you and your posterity and will make and continue to you and to them for the years of the future a free and contented and happy people. I am glad to have had an op- portunity to look into your faces and to say these things to you. President Bruce.—The thirty-fourth annual meeting of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association is now adjourned. VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. LADIEY AUXILIARY. 143 The special meeting of the Woman’s Auxiliary to the Vermont Dairymen’s Association, was held in the parlors of the Van Ness House at 1.30 P. M. January 6, 1904. The meeting was called to order by the President, Mrs. R. B. Galusha, who offered prayer. The records of the last meeting were read and approved, after which the President made a few remarks on the duties and associability of our Association, then introduced Mrs. C. C. Gates of North Hartland, who gave a “Talk on Birds.” The meeting adjourned until 9 A. M. Thursday, January 7, when the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Mrs. Etta Le Page, Barre, Vt. Vice-President, Mrs. M. L. Aseltine, North Fairfax. Secretary, Mrs. Edna S. Beach, Charlotte. Names of new members for 1904: Mrs. W. S. Robie, Franklin, Vt. Mrs. Inez Scribner, Charlotte, Vt. Mrs. F. B. Dutton, Woodstock, Vt. Meeting adjourned to meet at the place decided upon by the Vermont Dairymen’s Association. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. EDNA S. BEACH, Secretary, Charlotte, Vt. LIST OF MEMBERS OF WOMAN’S AUXILIARY. Margaret M. Reed, Mary H. Pitkin, Carrie A. Nelson Shackford, Annie Dodge, Mary A. Smith, D: D. Howe, Mary R. Ralph, Burlington Marshfield Ryegate Morrisville Morrisville Burlington Brookfield 144 Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs. Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Miss Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, Mrs, J. E, THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAT, RRPORT OF THE A, L. Walker, Elinor T, Clark, E, P, Carpenter, S. J. Hastings, F, S, Collins, George Crane, Cod. Sell Ly Rk. Jones, C, M, Winslow, J. O, Sanford, Mary Kibbe, Louis W. Clark, A, B, Manchester, T. F. Betterley, C, A. James, Alvira A, C, Ware, Sarah J. R, Whitman, C, D. Hazen, Jennie Bronson, Ida M, Pierce, Jennie L, Brock, rr, GG. smith, M,. W, Clark, John Smith, Jennie S, Bentley, M. A. Curtis, M. B, Fuller, C, E. Martin, E, W. Smith, EK. R, Towne, R, B, Galusha, H,. M. Crane, O, T, Sunderland, M. L. Aseltine, Elma Eldred, KE, M, Denney, Fanny A, Drew, C. H. Higgins, Alma IF, Waters, Mary A, Brackett, Genevieve S, Davis, Bessie HH, Strong, S, A, Vail, I, C, tloughton, L. F, Bickford, L. H. Davis, Bass, South Woodstock Brooktield Waterford Passumpsie Burlington Wilmington Hardwick Burlington Brandon Stamford Brookfield Brookfield Randolph Brattleboro Cornwall Brattleboro Brattleboro Wilder East Hardwick Barttleboro Barnet Pletcher Williston Newbury St, Albans Georgia Georgia Rochester Berkshire Waterbury South Royalton St, Albans Georgia airlax Sheldon Montpelier St, Johnsbury St, Johnsbury St, Johnsbury St. Johnsbury North Pomlret Thompson, Conn, North Pomiret Lyndon Bradford Barre West East North Randolph Mrs. M PS; Mrs. Mrs. Mrs, Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs, Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs, Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Miss Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Miss Mrs, Mrs. Mrs. VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION, 145 Edward C. Smith, Jennie S. Wood, Sophia B. Craddock, Ella A. Eames, Almira L. C. Robbins, Susan F. Lowe, H. D. Thayer, M. I. Reed, W. C, Cushing, A. A. Mason, E. B. Batchelder, Callie S. Talcott, aoeti Lyster, M. B. Leach, W. S. Hastings, TAS Leary, PP. B. B. Northrop, W. H. Whitcomb, Isadora A. Candon, Mary H. McCormick, Etta W. LePage, Winnifred Sprague, Ida H. Read, G. E. Davidson, A. Elizabeth Sherburne, F. M. Bigelow, Elizabeth B. Lund, Sarah J. -Rice, Edna S. Beach, A. M. Bell, Della J. Gile, Annette M. Sherwin. T. E. Donahue, D. G. Donahue, Lottie A. Terrill, Sarah D. Coburn, Phoebe C. Adams, S. C.. Pike, J. A. Nesser, Alice W. Colby, J. A. Kelton, George Cochran, E, C. Hillis, Mabel F. Coburn, J. A. Coburn, H. H. Templeton, Rogene E. Herrick, St. Albans Winchester, N. H. Brattleboro Brattleboro Brattleboro Brattleboro Brattleboro Vernon Vernon Townshend Townshend Williston St. Johnsbury Essex St. Johnsbury Jericho Sheldon Jericho Pittsford Rutland Barre East Brookfield Shelburne Newfane North Pomfret Essex Burlington Burlington Charlotte East Hardwick Morristown Hyde Park Hinesburg East Charlotte Morrisville East Montpelier Stowe Marshfield South Burlington West Berlin East Montpelier Ryegate North Montpelier East Montpelier East Montpelier East Montpelier West Milton THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE L. A. Gilman, F. W. Ayers, . C. W. Guernsey, F A . T. Hutchinson, 5G lelenlk Min, Gr beck . Oliver Drew, . Alice M. Carpenter, Es Riwssell Oe e ameter. . H. Brown, . Leonora H. Mimms, 1 Gou@anGates: . Cyrus A. Bump. . W. S. Haynes, 7 AS Js Elaynes, Miss Nellie Bradley, 5 1b, Ik. IBirae . Edward Nichols, 5 ID. IS. IBteull, We OueBaind: _ Jel, Ib, Wwhiinslong . R. S. Wetmore, Randolph Center Essex Montpelier Worcester Putnamville Morrisville South Burlington Cambridge Shrewsbury Montpelier East Montpelier 41 High St. St. Albans N. Hartland W. Salisbury Middletown Springs 12 E. Washington St., Rutland 72 Liberty Ave., Rutland N. Clarendon Bridport Rutland Pittsford N. Clarendon Pittsford VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 147 LICENSED OPERATORS OF THE BABCOCK TEST . The following list shows the names, addresses and license numbers of parties who have been licensed between March 22, 1903, and March 10, 1904, in accordance with Section 2 of No. 81 of the Acts of 1898. The names, addresses and number of parties licensed prior to March 10, 1903, will be found in the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-first, thirty-second and thirty-third reports of this Association. Section 2. Each and every person who, either for himself or in the employ of any other person, firm or corporation, manipulates the Bab- cock test, or any other test, whether mechanical or chemical, for tne purpose of measuring the contents of the butter fat in milk or cream as a basis for apportioning the value of milk or cream, or the butter or cheese made from the same, shall secure a certificate from the superin- tendent of the dairy school of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College that he or she is competent and well qualified to perform such work. The rules and regulations in the application for such certificate shall in no case exceed one dollar, the same to be paid by the applicant to the superintendent of the dairy school and be used by the superintendent in meeting the expenses incurred under this sec- tion. Post-office License Name. address. number. Harry B. Bailey, Coventry, 464 Orville W. Baker, Plainfield, 465 H. E. Blaisdell, Wells River, 482 J. 2. Brady, St. Albans, ATT B. H. Brown, Waterbury, 478 Ed. A. Buck, Walden, 479 Chas. M. Bull, Tinmouth, 456 Deh. Butman: East Thetford, 470 Walter H. Colby, Lunenburg, 463 J. F. Cowern, Charlotte, 466 F. H. Dunham, East Corinth, 459 Frank A. Ellison. Charlotte, 467 W. J. Erwin, West Berkshire, A76 James M. Erwin, North Sheldon, 473 Arthur Flory, Fair ITaven, 461 148 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE . Fowler, . Gage, . Helyar, ABGON . McLam, Oss ie Bl a > Re Bee eaveys John Perrault, Herman Pouliot, J. A. Ramsdell, Gi De Smead: M. H. Whitney, Royalton, East Roxbury, Brattleboro, Tinmouth, Groton, Montpelier, Bradford, Burke, West Ferrisburg, Lyndonville, West Brookfield, Jericho. A472 469 458 457 474 460 481 462 468 471 480 475 VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 149 1904. LIST OF CREAMERIES AND CHEESE FACTORIES, STATE OF VERMONT. ADDISON COUNTY CREAMERDES. East Monkton Creamery Asso., Proprietary. Bristol Ro E De Noy 2 Riverside Creamery Co., Run as Co-op., Bristol Willow Brook Creamery, Proprietary, Bristol Champlain Valley Creamery, Proprietary, Cream Hill Ferrisburg Creamery Co., Co-op., Ferrisburg Lincoln Creamery Co., Co-op., Lincoln Fair Valley Creamery, Proprietary, Middlebury Middlebury Creamery Asso., Co-op., Middlebury Reef Bridge Creamery Asso.,‘Co-op., Middlebury, R. F. D. No. 1 _ Donohue’s Creamery, Proprietary, Monkton New Haven Mills Creamery Co., Co-op., New Haven Mills Lewis Creek Creamery Co., Co-op., North Ferrisburg Willard Creamery, Proprietary, North Ferrisburg Orwell Creamery Co., Co-op., Orwell South Starksboro Creamery Asso., Co-op., South Starksboro Green Mountain Cold Springs Creamery Co., Co-op., Starksboro Vergennes Creamery Co., Co-op., Vergennes Panton Creamery Co., Co-op., Vergennes, R. ED) Nowe Lake Dunnmore Creamery, Co-op., West Salisbury ADDISON COUNTY CHEESE FACTORIES. Champlain Valley Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Bridport Farmingdale Cheese Co., Co-op., Middlebury Beaver Glen Cheese Factory, Proprietary, New Haven Orwell Cheese Factory Co., Co-op., Orwell Shoreham Cheese Mfg. Co., Proprietary, Shoreham BENNINGTON COUNTY CREAMERIES. Pownal Creamery Co., Pownal Elgin Creamery Asso., Co-op., Readsboro I50 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BENNINGTON COUNTY CHEESE FACTORIES. Green Mountain Cheese Co., Co-op., Dorset Cheese Asso., Co-op., East Dorset Cheese Asso., Proprietary, East Rupert Dairy Asso., Co-op., Battenkill Cheese Factory Asso., Co-op., Meadow Brook Factory, Proprietary, Peru Cheese Co.. Co-op., Rupert Dairy Asso., Co-op., Shaftsbury Cheese Factory, Co-op., South Shaftsbury Dairy Co., Co-op., Rose Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Bondville Dorset East Dorset East Rupert Manchester Center North Rupert Peru Rupert Shaftsbury Depot South Shaftsbury West Rupert CALEDONIA COUNTY CREAMERIES. Barnet Creamery Asso., Co-op., Danville Creamery Asso., Co-op., Burke Creamery Co., Co-op., Lamoille Valley Creamery Asso., Co-op., Montgomery Creamery, Proprietary, East Peachain Creamery, Co-op., East Ryegate Creamery Co., Co-op., Groton Creamery Co., Co-op., Lyndonville Creamery Asso., Co-op.. MecIndoe Falls Creamery Co., Co-op., North Danville Creamery Asso., Co-op., Passttmpsic Creamery Asso., Co-op., Jersey Hill Creamery Co., Co-op., Farmers’ Mutual Creamery Co., Stock Co., Shefheld Creamery Asso., Co-op., South Ryegate Creamery Asso., Co-op., North Rvegate Creamery Co., Co-op., South Peacham Creamery Co., Co-op., Walden Creamery Asso., Co-op., Noyesvil'e Creamery Asso., Co-op., Trout Brook Creamery Co., Co-op., Barnet Danville East Burke East Hardwick East Hardwick East Peacham East Ryegate Groton Lyndonville MecIndoe Falls North Danville Passumpsic Ryegate St. Johnsbury Sheffield South Ryegate South Peacham South Peacham South Walden Walden West Waterford CHITTENDEN COUNTY CREAMERIES. Crystal Spring Creamery Co., Co-op., Lake View Creamery Co., Co-op., Colchester Butter and Cheese Factory Co., Co-op., East Charlotte Creamery Asso., Co-op., Brown’s Rivcr Creamery Asso., Co-op., Clover Hollow Creamery, Proprietary, Lake Champlain Creamery, Proprietary, Norton & Johnson Creamery, Chittenden County Creamery, Valley Falls Creamery, Co-op., Charlotte Charlotte Colchester East Charlotte Essex Essex Essex Junction Hanksville Hinesburg Hinesburg VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. DSi Norton & Johnson Creamery, Proprietary, Huntington G. M. Norton & Co. Creamery, Proprietary, Huntington Center White Clover Creamery, Proprietary, Huntington Center Beaver Brook Farm Creamery, Proprietary, Jericho Queen City Creamery, Proprietary, Jericho Jonesville Creamery Asso., Co-op., Jonesville Milton Hollow Creamery, Proprietary, Milton West Milton Creamery Asso., Co-op., Milton, R. F. D. No. 1 Cloverdale Creamery Co., Stock Co., North Underhill Winocski Valley Creamery, Co-op., North Williston Vermont Condensed Milk Co., Proprietary, Richmond Shelburne Creamery Co., Co-op., Shelburne Oak Hill Creamery Asso., Co-op., Talcott Williston Creamery Asso., Co-op., Williston CHELrENDEN-GOUNTY CHEESE FACTORIES Union Cheese Factory, Co-op., Brookside McDonough Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Hinesburg ESSEX COUNTY CREAMERIES. Moose River Creamery Co., Co-op., Gallup Mills Lunenburg Creamery Asso., Co-op., Lunenburg — FRANKLIN COUNTY CREAMERIES. Sunset Creamery, Proprietary, Bakersfield Star Creamery, Proprietary, Binghamville Marcy’s Creamery, Proprietary, East Berkshire Green Valley Creamery, Proprietary, East Swanton Enosburg Falls Creamery, Proprietary, Enosburg Falls Fairfax Creamery, Co-op., Fairfax Clover Leaf Creamery, Proprietary, Fletcher Maplewood Creamery, Proprietary, Highgate Center North Georgia Creamery and Cheese Factory, Proprietary, North Georgia North Sheldon Creamery, Proprietary, North Sheldon Gem Creamery, Proprietary, Oakland Vermont Clover Creamery Co., Proprietary, Richford, R. F. D. No. 1 Franklin Co. (Vt.) Creamery Asso., St. Albans Frontier Creamery, Proprietary, West Berkshire FRANKLIN COUNTY CHEESE FACTORY. Milton Boro Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Georgia Plais GRAND ISLE COUNTY CREAMERIES. Grand Isle County Creamery Asso., Co-op., Grand Isle Sampson Creamery Co., Co-op., Grand Isle North Hero Creamery Asso., Co-op., North Hero South Hero Creamery Asso., South Hero Nes TIIIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE LAMOILLE COUNTY CREAMERIES. Cambridge Creamery, Proprietary, Gihon River Creamery, Proprietary, Jersey Heights Creamery, Proprietary, Maple Leaf Creamery, Proprietary, Mt. Mansfield Creamery, Proprietary, Riverside Creamery, Proprietary, Cambridge Johnson Morrisville North Cambridge Stowe Wolcott ORANGE COUNTY CREAMERIES. Bradford Creamery Co., Proprietary, Hillside Creamery, Proprietary, Brigham Creamery, Proprietary, Orange County Creamery, Co-op., Riverside Creamery Co., Co-op., East Corinth Creamery Co., Co-op., Hood Creamery Proprietary, Hood Creamery, Proprietary, Newbury Village Creamery, Co-op., North Randolph Creamery Asso., Co-op., North Thetford Creamery Co., Co-op., Daisy Hill Creamery, Proprietary, Randolph Creamery Co., Co-op., Randolph Creamery, Proprietary, Temple Creamery, Proprietary, North Siar Creamery, Proprietary, Strafford Creamery Co., Co-op., Topsham Creamery Co., Co-op., Vershire Creamery Asso., Co-op., Washington Creamery Asso., Co-op., Wells River Creamery Co.. Co-op., West Braintree Creamery, Proprietary, West Brookfield Creamery Asso., Co-op., _ Lakeside Creamery, Proprietary Grecn Mt. Creamery, Co., Co-op., Bradiord Bradford Brookfield Chelsea Corinth East Corinth East Thetford Fairlee Newbury North Randolph North Thetford Post Mills Randolph Randolph Randolph Center South Newbury Strafford Topsham Vershire Washington Wells River West Braintree West Brookfield West Fairlee West Topsham ORLEANS COUNTY CREAMERIES. Albany Creamery, Proprietary, Barton Landing Creamery, Proprietary, Coventry Creamery, Proprietary, Black River Creamery, Proprietary, Highland Creamery Co., Co-op., Clyde River Creamery, Co-op., Evansville Creamery Co., Co-op., Glover Creamery Co., Proprietary, Caspian Lake Creamery Co., Proprietary, Hoiland Creamery Asso., Co-op., Jersey Star Creamery, Proprietary, Albany Barton Landing Coventry Craftsbury Derby East Charleston Evansville Glover Greensboro Holland Irasburg VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 153 Lowell Creamery, Proprietary, Lowell Lake View Creamery, Proprietary, Newport Center Mill Village Creamery Co., Proprietary, North Craftsbury Orleans County Creamery, Proprietary, North Troy Troy Creamery, Proprietary, South Troy West Charleston Creamery Co., Proprietary, West Charleston Meadow Brook Creamery, Proprietary, West Glover OREBANSICOUNTY CHEESE FACTORY. Orieans County Cheese Factory, Proprietary, North Troy RUTLAND COUNTY CREAMERIES. Benson Creamery, Proprietary, Benson Maplehurst Creamery, Co., Proprietary, Benson Otter Creck Creamery, Proprietary, Brandon Castleton Creamery, - Castleton Champlain Valley Creamery, Proprietary, Fair Haven Lake Hortonia Creamery Co., Co-op., Hortonville Marshall Creamery, Proprietary, North Clarendon Rutland County Creamery, Proprietary, Pittsford Proctor Creamery, Co-op., Proctor Rutland Creamery Co., Proprietary, Rutland Wallingford Creamery, Proprietary, Wallingford Vermont Valley Creamery, Proprietary, West Pawlet Lawrence Creamery, Proprietary, West Rutland MUL oANDMecOWNm Ya. CHEESE FANCTORITES: Faxon Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Danby Four Corners Chippenhook Cheese Co., Co-op., Chippenhook Cold River Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Cold River Gilt Edge Cheese Factory Co., Co-op., East Hubbardton East Pittsford Cheese Factory, Co-op., East Pittsford East Poultney Cheese Factory, Proprietary, East Poultney Boston Dairy Co., East Wallingford Pelkey Cheese Factory, Proprietary, East Wallingford Crowley Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Healdville Riverside Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Ira Tarbellville Cheese Factory, Co-op., Mechanicsville Lewisville Cheese Factory, Co-op., Middletown, R. F, D. Spring Valley Cheese Co., Co-op., Middletown Springs Mt. Holly Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Mt. Holly Aldrich Cheese Factory, Proprietary, North Shrewsbury Blakely Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Pawlet Flower Brook Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Pawlet Maple Grove Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Pawlet Gleason Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Shrewsbury Union Cheese Factory, Co-op., South Wallingford Eureka Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Wells 154 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE West Pawlet Cheese Co., Co-op., West Pawlet Smithtown Cheese Factory Co., Co-op., West Rutland WASHINGTON COUNTY CREAMERIES. Cobble Hill Creamery, Co-op., Barre Granite City Creamery, Proprietary, Barre Cabot Creamery Co., Co-op., Cabot East Calais Creamery Co., Co-op., East Calats East Montpelier Creamery, Co-op., East Montpelier East Roxbury Creamery, Co-op., East Roxbury Marshfield Creamery Asso., Co-op., Marshfield Middlesex Creamery Co., Co-op., Middlesex Capitol Creamery Proprietary, Montpelier Montpelier Creamery Co., Proprietary, Montpelier Shady Hill Creamery Co., Co-op., Montpelier Cold Spring Creamery, Proprietary, Moretown Clovervale Creamery, Proprietary, Northfield North Montpelier Creamery Co., Co-op., North Montpelier Plainfield Creamery Co., Co-op., Plainfield Mad Rive: Valley Creamery, Proprietary, Waitsfield Waitsheld Creamery Co., Co-op., Waitsfield Warren Creamery Co., Co-op., Warren Clovervale Creamery, Proprietary, Waterbury F. Batchelder & Co. Creamery, Waterbury Winooski Valley Creamery Asso., Co-op., Waterbury Waterbury Center Creamery, Co-op., Waterbury Center WINDHAM COUNTY -CREAMERTES: Brattleboro Creamery Asso., Co-op., Brattleboro North River Creamery Asso., Co-op., Jacksonville Windham County Creamery Asso., Co-op., Newfane Putney Greamery Asso., Co-op., Putney Mount Lake Creamery Asso., Co-op., South Londonderry Betterley Creamery, Proprietary, West Brattleboro Valley Creamery Asso., Co-op., Westminster Deerfield Valley Creamery Asso., Co-op., Wilmington WINDSOR COUNTY CREAMERIES. Bethel Lympus Creamery Asso., Co-op., Bethel Harrington Creamery, Proprietary, Bethel Fletcher Dairyman’s Asso., Co-op., Cavendish Oak Leaf Creamery Co., Co-op., Chester Storrs Creamery, Proprietary, East Bethel Brookside Creamery, Proprietary, Hartland Four Corners Sherburne Creamery, Proprietary, North Pomfret Norwich Milk Producers’ Union, Co-op., Norwich r4as . . s White River Creamery, Proprietary, Rochester Sharon Creamery Asso., Co-op., Sharon VERMONT DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 155 Markham Manor Creamery, Simonsville Springfield Creamery Co., Co-op., Springfield Waldo Creamery, Proprietary, South Royalton West Hartford Creamery Asso., Co-op., West Hartford Maple Creamery Co., Co-op., Woodstock Woodstock Creamery, Proprietary, Woodstock WINDSOR COUNTY CHEESE FACTORIES. Andover Dairy Asso., Co-op., Andover West Windsor Cheese Manufacturing Co., Co-op., Brownsville Chester Cheese Co., Co-op., Chester Depot Plymouth Cheese Factory, Proprietary, Plymouth Reading Cheese Co., Co-op., Reading Simonsville Cheese Factory, Co-op., Simonsville Excelsior Cheese Factory, Proprietary, South Reading Weston Cheese Co., Co-op., Weston 156 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SPECIAL NOTICE. At a special meeting of the officers of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association it was unanimously voted to abolish special premiums for the next meeting. We practically adopt the rules of the National Association We are to solicit money from the firms who usually give specials, added to our premium fund, the butter sent to the convention to belong to the Association, to be sold at the close of the meeting and the proceeds added to the fund, and all money to be divided pro rata to the owners of butter who score above 92 points. Creameries to send not less than 10 pounds; private dairies not less than 5 pounds. The object of these rules is to divide the money to all who score above 92 points. As it has been in the past, one man has secured nearly everything, and only a few getting anything at all. We will offer for the sample of butter scoring highest for competition a cup or medal, to belong to the owner of said sample of butter. We hope this change will bring out a greater number of samples of butter, for now there will be more inducement, for nearly all are sure of something. Yours for the prosperity of the Association, Pee DAWEISae sect etany. iii AGS ee, Sarr see» ak AR Ye awe, ae 3 4 +] a % a2 3 4 Rid 3 . VAS Ae sis : TASS at Sey Sy Wy ‘ is : de Wap FOR y. OTROS NY rind: Re Nau % IN DUNE » tts SAM 5 Ya yhe LK PRE LEI RARE tone Pets <>, eS) et SEE QE RNS 1 y “ Ra . a NS Ae BARRA eng} ‘ te a HY + ANYON * * i : XN Ani > iy FASO EARS E ER i ee ee bain HEE My sane Rie