174 



NEW ENGLAND FARlVrER. 



Aprh 



wool tariff that •sv-ool growers have. Still there 

 is a feeling among dairymen and stock growers of 

 inditfercnce, if not of hostility, towards the wool 

 grr'wcrs' interest. How extensive that feeling is 

 I leave every man to judge for himself. Depress 

 wool growing until cattle shall take the place of 

 sheep and all the products of the land will fall in 

 price. Make all grass growers feel they have a 

 common interest in everything that affects any 

 class of grass consumers, and the wool growers 

 and dairymen will be heard as one man, and their 

 just claims will be heeded. ' f. 



Mast Yard, N. II., Jan., 1869. 



HUMOR IN A HORSE. 



Can you give me a remedy for skin disease or 

 humor in a horse ? The horse is in the constant 

 habit of rubbing his head and neck against what- 

 ever he can get at and of biting himself. 



CentreviUe, Mass., Feb., 1869. F. Doane. 



Remarks. — Are you sure that he is entirely free 

 from vermin ? If so, send for your physician to 

 examine him, who will probably prescribe a few 

 doses of some mild purgative. That is the safest 

 and will prove the cheapest course you can take. 



CArSE OF SLABBERING IN HORSES. 



My experience has been that either Lobelia or 

 common Smart Weed will produce extreme s!ab- 

 berinir; especially the latter plant. A. J. Stow. 



Weybridge, Vt., Feb. 6, 1869. 



SPRINGFIELD, VT., FARMERS' CLUB. 



In consequence, probably, of their compar- 

 atively greater isolation, farmers in New Eng- 

 land have been much slower in availing them- 

 selves of the advantages of association than 

 any other class of our citizens. Mechanics 

 have their Unions, merchants their Boards of 

 Trade, physicians, lawyers, ministers, &c., 

 keep up distinctive organizations, and find both 

 pleasure and profit in stated meetings. "Why 

 should not farmers? No class needs union 

 and co-operation more than farmers, and a 

 growing disposition to avail themselves of their 

 advantagt s we regard as the best index and 

 evidence of agricultural progress. A corres- 

 pondent furnishes an illustration in point by 

 the following brief history of the Springfield, 

 Vt., Farmers' Club. 



This Club was organized seven years since 

 by a few young men who felt the necessity of 

 more thoroughly understanding their business, 

 and of meeting to exchange thoughts and views 

 and endeavoring to improve their minds as the 

 fir.st step towards improving their stock and 

 farms. The members have gradually in- 

 creased and now r^umber some thirty. The 

 meetings are held on every alternate Monday 

 evening through the winter months, at the 

 members' houses, where essays are read, and a 



discussion follows on the various questions in- 

 teresting to the farmer. The influence for 

 good which has grown out of these meetings 

 is very apparent, and is particularly noticea- 

 ble in the stock of some of its most active 

 members. 



Some of the very best flocks of Merino 

 sheep to be found east of the Green Mountains 

 are to be seen in Springfield. 



Two y^.rs ago the Club appointed a com- 

 mittee to report upon the best breed of "neat 

 stock" for our locality. This committee, with 

 H. M. Arms as chairman, made an elaborate 

 report, giving a decided preference to the 

 Short-horns. This report led to the formation 

 of the "Springfield Thoroughbred Stock As- 

 sociation," consisting of twenty members. 

 At that time there were not a half dozen 

 thoroughbred cattle in town. Now they num- 

 ber more than one hundred fine aniinals, with 

 the celebrated herd of Burdett Loomis, Wind- 

 sor Locks, Conn., purchased by H. M. Arms, 

 for the round sum of $10,000. 



A GOOD RETURN FROM COWS. 

 During our recent visit to Amherst to at- 

 tend the discussions of the annual meeting of 

 the State Board of Agriculture, we met and 

 conversed with many persons from various 

 parts of the State. Among others, was a con- 

 versation with Mr. J. W. Hagar, of Phillips- 

 ton, in relation to his manner of feeding milch 

 cows, and the product secured. He has sent 

 as an account of his course which is as fol- 

 lows : — The year ended January 11, 1869. 

 He kept seven cows ; kept them eating two 

 hours in the morning and the same at night, 

 including half a peck of Swedes turnips to 

 each, once each day. Watered them twice 

 during the day. After calving, he gave each 

 cow, daily, two c^uarts of "middlings," until 

 the first of May. On the first of August he 

 commenced feeding corn fodder and continued 

 it until the year was out. 



Amount of butter made 1467 pounds which 



amounted to •••.... $671 88 



Milt sold, 1 00 



Ctieese, 160 tba, at 15c ^ lb, 24 UO 



$696 86 

 Average per cow, $99.55. 



The milk was skimmed when twelve hours 

 old, and the skim milk fed to the calves, which 

 were fed regularly upon it for three months. 

 He has not stated to us the value of the calves. 



