1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



119 



and there it is almost impossible to find a vacant 

 house. Another cause of discouragement are the 

 high prices which the fanner has to pay for every- 

 thing he buys. 



—Mr. Taber of the New York .Tribune, makes 



the following statement as to the cost of keeping a 



cow daring the month of December, last. He 



bought what he considered the cheapest food, and 



gave her what she would eat up clean. The record 



'stands : — 



SlOfthav, at $1.50 $4 65 



150 1t)biKkwln;atbraii,at $1.10 165 



121 ft wheat bran, No. 3, at $2.00 2 42 



IK bbls. turnips, at $1.00 150 



Cartages 1 00 



Total $11 22 



The cow is of medium size, comes in in May, 

 hence only gives a small amount of milk, still the 

 134 quarts olitained were sold at twelve cents per 

 quart at the house, or for .f 16.08, Icavmg a profit of 

 nearly $o. Another cow furnished milk for the 

 family. At one time he gave her the buckwheat 

 bran freely, but she did not thrive as well upon it, 

 nor was the average supply of milk kept up. The 

 hay was all cut and the other feed mixed with it, 

 wetting the mess. 



MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETIES. 

 The Hampsliire, Franldin, and Hampden 

 Agricultural Society, at its annual meeting 

 held at Northampton, January 2, elected the 

 following officers : — President, Mile J. Smith, 

 Northampton ; Vice Presidents, Elnathan 

 Graves, "Williamsburg ; Andrew T. Judd, 

 South Hadley ; Rodney Smith, Hadley ; J. 

 W. Hubbard, Northampton; Secretary, A. 

 Perry Peck, Northampton ; Treasurer, H. K. 

 Starkweather, Northampton ; Auditor, Oscar 

 Edwards, Northampton ; Delegate to the Board 

 of Agriculture, H. S. Porter, Hatfield. 



Tlie Berhsliire Agricvltural Society held its 

 annual meeting in Pittsfield, Jan. 2, and elect- 

 ed the following board of officers : — John L. 

 Cole, Williamstowii, President; H. M. Peir- 

 son, Pittsfield, Treasurer; John E. Merrill, 

 Pittsfield, Secretarj\ Alexander Hyde, of 

 Lee, was elected delegate to the State Board of 

 Agriculture. 



The Ilampden Co. Agricultural Society, iit 

 its recent annual meeting, elected the following 

 officers : — President, George Dwight, Spring- 

 field ; Secretary, J. N. Bagg, West Spring- 

 field ; Treasurer, Jos. E. Russell, Springfield. 



The Agricidtural Committee of the Legis- 

 lature is cormposed, on the part of the Senate, of 

 Hon. E. H. Sawyer, of Easthampton, and Hon. 



Hinsdale Smith, of Agawam. On the part of 

 the House, Dr. (ioorge B. Loring, of Salem ; 

 Hon. Levi Stockbridge, of Hadley; Col. Dan- 

 iel Needham, of Groton ; A. H. Holland, of 

 Barre, and John E. IMcrrill, of Pittsfield 



Adaptation of Fakm Buildings. — The 



Prairie Farmer says that many farmers on the 

 prairies are raising up their buildings. As ori- 

 ginally constructed they not only present a squat 

 appearance, but being generally placed too 

 near the ground, and without proper stone or 

 brick underpinning, the sills and other lower 

 timbers are found to rot very rapidly. Among 

 the suggestions which the writer makes to those 

 who are altering over old buildings, or erect- 

 ing new ones, we think the following applica- 

 ble not only to the farms of the prairies in 

 Illinois, but to those on the hills and in the 

 vales of New England : — 



As a general thing, our books and our archi- 

 tects are at fault in regard to farm buildings. 

 We have a new condition of things that changes 

 the Avhole system of farm barns. The hay 

 fork, the annual cost of material, especially 

 shingles and nails, the railway horse-power, the 

 feed-mills and the enhanced prices of corn and 

 of farm labor to do this muscular work, cheap- 

 ness, durability and adaptation must be more 

 thoroughly studied. 



STATE KEFORM SCHOOL. 



We have before us the 2()th Annual Report 

 of the Trustees of the State Reform School, at 

 Westboro'. From the statements made we 

 should tliink the institution has been doing a 

 good work. We take the following items from 

 Ae rejiort : — 



The Trustees have long felt the desirable- 

 ness of turning as much of the labor of the boys 

 as possible to agricultural pursuits, and espe- 

 cially to gardening, and have, therefore, bee_n 

 yearlv extending the grounds devoted to this 

 "pui-pose, and raising thereon a large vari- 

 ety of vegetables and small fruits. We have 

 a "tract of about forty acres of plain land, 

 easv to cultivate, and admirably adapted 

 to this puqiose ; and we have now a vegetable 

 and fruit garden of about thirty acres, which, 

 we think, "will compare favorably with any gar- 

 den of its size in the country. 



We are convinced by experience that boys 

 placed with farmers in the country are almost 

 certain to do well, and if not disturbed by their 

 parents, they generally become steady, respect- 

 able men ; while those placed in large towns 

 and cities are about equally sure to return to 

 their former evil habits. By employing our 

 boys in gardening, we gradually form in them 



