FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 1<>3_ 



And if we in our tliongbtlessness have stripped it of its comely draperies till it 

 stands hard and bare before us, repelling, yet holding and molding us into graceless 

 unloving people, whose fault is it? Surely our own. 



Let us learn from the beatitudes of nature the gentle courtesy to "our own"— 

 learn the miracle of love, the giving that is gaining. 



There is suggested the forming of country clubs and lecture courses which 

 have been successfully tried near by. Also a county club for the women 

 of the city and country. And remember, this must come largely through our 

 Marys and Martlias— the love and grace of Mary, the service of Martha. 



BUTTER-MAKING ON THE FARM. 



A. J. McCUTCHEON, Ransom, at HILLSDALE COUNTY Institute, Hillsdale. 



The subject is as important as any which is ai)t to come before an Institute, 

 because all farmers make butter. But few do. Avhile all could, make that which is 

 good, particularly in the winter. What is required is not so much an expensive 

 apparatus as a.-knowledge of a few foundation principles. Not one farmer in one 

 hundred has a dairy thermometer. I commenced keeping cows because I believed 

 they paid better for care and feed than any other stock; and after six years' experi- 

 ence have no occasion to change my mind; partly, i)erhaps, because I was a poor 

 hand to buy and sell, did not like to dicker, as I had to more or less before I kept 

 cows. The cows give me a certain, steady source of income. Also because I had 

 children who could help me milk, making me independent of outside help if neces- 

 sary. 



It is best to raise your own cows. It is hard work to get a man to sell his best 

 cow, or even a good one. I keep the Jerseys because concensus of opinion seemed 

 to be that with them you receive more money for food and labor than wdth any 

 other breed. 



Feed early cut hay. corn meal one iiart to two of bran. Would emphasize the 

 value of oat and pea hay, both for summer and winter feed. Plant corn for fod- 

 der, usin.g 10 or 12 quarts of seed per acre. Have taught cows to eat skimmed 

 niillv so as to be I'eady for liog cholera. 



Set milk in •'shotgun" cans set in a cold place in winter and submerge in tank 

 suiiplied with water from a fountain in summer Have tested milk a number of 

 times and the loss of butter fat did not seem to be great enough to justify the 

 purchase of a separator for tlie nnm1)er of cows kept, wliicli was 16 the past 

 summer. Shall increase the number of cows, tlien I think it will be for my in- 

 terest to have a separator. 



I churn 'with a horse as soon as cream is sour. INIost farmers' wives let their 

 cream get too sour. They keep their milk in too warm a place; this is the principal 

 cause of the poor dairy butter. I ship my butter to Toledo. Average price per 

 ])ound the past year. ISc; gross receipts per cow, ^4'y. Seven were heifers with first 

 calves. Cows run loo>se in barn basement, which I keep well littered. They keep 

 as clean as in summer, and there they can have free access to water, which is 

 supplied from an elevated steel taulc in milk house. The latter is of stone and has a 

 tire twice a day or oftener in the winter, which keeps skater warm. 



THE FARMERS AND THEIR PUBLIC DUTIES. 



C. S. NiaiS, Sand Beach, at HURON COUNTY Institute, Sand Beach. 



I should say that a farmer's, as well as every otiier man's public duties begin 

 right at home and with his own self. 1 think he ought to be a good man and just 

 as much of a man as he can be in every respect. If he is this he will have the best 

 farm and the best surroundings he can. 



Next, his public duties are to the roads in his neig-hborhood. He should not only 

 cheerfully pay his highway tax, btit should do lias utmost to maintain and impi'ove 

 the roads in his district, and not sliii'k when called upon to hold otiicial positions. 



Then, as education is one of the principal pillars of the republic, he must seelc 

 to promote the means in his own school district. He must be liberal in voting the 



