38 Farmers' Institutes. 



and he claimed that if the wilt on pear trees and potatoes were cut off before they 

 turned black, it would save them. 



George "Wheeler of Monterey thought that there is danger in sowing root 

 crops too early. During three successive years, in raising carrots, those which 

 were sowed two weeks later grew into fine roots, while the others were blighted. 



Mr. Rowley said that he raised both carrots and onions when he lived in 

 Columbia county. Both are likely to blight. He thought that to work among 

 onions when the ground is wet is apt to make blight. 



Mr. J. Milton Mackie "of Great Barrington said that Mr. Lane, who intro- 

 duced the improved beet and was very successful with it, raising, he believed, 

 thirty tons to the acre, told him that sugar beets should be planted as early in the 

 season as possible, for they grow layer upon layer, and the sooner they are started 

 the more layers there will be, and the larger will be the size of the beets. In 

 regard to the Guernsey cattle, of which Mr. Rowley had so high an opinion, he 

 would say he had no prepidice against them ; they are excellent butter cows ; but 

 there was this objection to them, that their butter was softer in summer than that 

 made from Jersey cows. He would be glad to see Guerneseys introduced in 

 Great Barrington, but the objection mentioned should be given due consideration. 



The meeting was then adjourned, from half past twelve to half past one, to 

 give those present an opportunity to eat their dinner. 



At two o'clock the meeting was again called to order by President Osborne. 



George Kellogg of Sheffield said that he thought heavy manuring would work 

 against blight. He believed that the hay and grain raised on the farm should be 

 used on it. 



J. A. Kline of Egremont gave his experience with salt. Last year he bought 

 a ton of salt and sowed it over eight acres of oats. There was about ten acres in 

 the field, and it received about the same cultivation all over. There was no dif- 

 ference in manuring except that the salt was put on only a part of the field. 

 Where the salt was sowed the oats were about a foot higher. It was estimated by 

 the agricultural committee that twelve bushels more were raised to the acre where 

 there was salt on this patch than where there was not salt. He estimated the yield 

 higher still. The salt, which was damaged, cost eight dollars and a half a ton. 



George Kellogg of Sheffield said that he had had grand results from the use 

 of salt on rye. 



Merritt I. Wheeler of Great Barrington said that the best authorities on plant 

 food do not consider salt valuable as a nutritive agent. He thought that salt is 

 rendered useful by its power to absorb and retain moisture, thereby giving the 

 crop a start, rather than as food for the plant. Indeed, it is well known, that salt 

 in great quantities destroys plant life. 



President Osborne regarded brain work of great consequence in farming, and 

 thought that it could be put forth to the best advantage by making some branch 

 a specialty. One advantage of dairying is that it requires more brain work than 

 most other branches. If a farmer has fifteen or twent}' cows and makes an effort 

 to have his butter and cheese first class, there is a chance for brain work. He 

 thought that it would be well to discuss what specialty would be good in this 

 section. 



Leonard Tuttle of Sheffield said that in deciding what specialty is best, an im- 

 portant thing to consider is that much depends on the soil of the farm. On our 

 hills stock raising is best, while in other localities dairying or grain raising pays 

 better. Much depends on the management of the farm. It is useless to try to 

 make money off a poor acre, until it is fertilized enough to raise good crops. The 

 trouble with many farmers is that they try to cultivate too much land. Often- 

 times it is better to cultivate one-fourth of the land thoroughly than to cultivate 

 four-fourths. 



Sheldon W. Wright of New Marlboro, who is largely interested in the cream- 

 ery there, estimated that on the average of seasons it takes one hundred pounds 

 of milk to make three pounds of butter or seven pounds of cheese. 



On motion of Merritt I Wheeler, as amended by Alfred Peck of Great Bar- 

 rington, it was voted that it was the sense of the meeting that dogs interfere 

 seriously with the sheep industry, and that the tax on dogs should be increased to 

 five dollars for the better protection of sheep. 



