50 



NEW ENGLAND FARTHER. 



Jan. 



Carding improves the appearance of ani- 

 mals, so that in buying, a good judge will pay 

 from five to ten per cent, more for animals 

 whose skin is soft and loose, that gives more 

 milk, and that look as though they got all the 

 goodness out of the food they eat, than for 

 those not possessing these qualities. 



Carding, then, makes cattle fatten faster, 

 increases the flow of milk, saves fodder, makes 

 them handsome, and thus puts money into the 

 pocket of the owner. 



VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 

 The Vermont Watchman and State Journal 

 publishes a communication from O. S. Bliss, 

 Secretary of the Association, in explanation 

 of the objects and principles of the organiza- 

 tion. He says: — 



It is demonstrable that Vermont dairj' products, 

 though hearing a (jo.od genera.] reputation, are not as 

 a whole t-tricily first-class, and do not return to the 

 citizens of the State so much money, by many thou- 

 sand dollars per annum, as they ought ; that thepro- 

 duct per cow is not so large as it might and ounht 

 to be ; that the number of cows kept, as compared 

 with the number of acres of tillage lands, is much 

 too small; that the prevailing system of market- 

 ing the product is riidically faulty, in that there is 

 not a proper discrimination between the several 

 grades, and the better are made to compensate for 

 the loss to the middle men on the poorer, whieh 

 inevitably results from the system; that the sup- 

 ply of labor, specially of female labor, is inade- 

 quate to the wants of the State, imperiling the 

 dairy interest of many towns, and that these and 

 many other defects and evils of our system may 

 be remedied by a proper diffusion of information 

 among the people. 



To investigate all these defects and evils, and 

 propose practicable remedies, is the office of the 

 Dairyman's As.-oeiation. The manner in which it 

 proposes to accomplish these purposes is to invite 

 addresses from practical men who have investi- 

 gated and experimented upon the several subjects 

 until they have established certain facts and prin- 

 ciples; to cause inquires and investigations to be 

 made and reported by committees appointed from 

 among the members of the Association, and to 

 compare experiences and elicit facts by discussions. 



For these discussions and addresses the con- 

 stitution provides for a three days' meeting each 

 year, and for a printed report of the proceed- 

 ings, which will be furnished to each member, 

 so that th'! members who are unable to 

 attend will be informed of all that is said and 

 done at these annual meetings, which it is be- 

 lieved will be a full consideration for the two 

 dollars invested in membership. 



Sale of Cotswold Sheep. — Burdett Loomis 

 of Windsor Locks, Conn., has sold to J. & S. S. 

 Walker of Hartland, Vt., two Cotswold bucks and 

 one ewe. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 



—In exporting living plants, the Japanese wrap 

 the roots in a mixture of earth and carrots ground 

 together. 



—The Byfield, Mass., Cheese Factory has closed 

 operations for the season. The company has 

 made nine tons of cheese the past season, and de- 

 clared a dividend of 8 per cent. 



— During the first nine months of the present 

 year there were exported from the port of New 

 York 13,511,916 bushels of wheat; 1 572,706 bush- 

 els of corn, and 1,081,226 barrels of wheat fiour. 



— High prices for hops are quoted in Europe, 

 and it is the opinion of many that there is a fair 

 prospect of a further advance in the price in this 

 country. 



— The receipts of the three principal agricultural 

 fairs in eastern Pennsylvania last fall were as fol- 

 lows : Doylestown, $8,500; AUentown, $0,930; 

 Reading, #6,295 55. 



— A Vergennes, Vt., cheese dealer has purchased 

 the entire lot of cheese manufactured on the farm 

 of Ezra Meech, of Shelburne, since June 1st, for 

 which he paid $800 — being 16 cents per pound. 



— Owing to the extensive destruction of trees in 

 Victoria, the climate is changing. Near Ballarat 

 the rain-fall is sensibly diminished, and the Gov- 

 ernment is taking measures to prevent the waste 

 of timber and to establish nui-series of forest trees. 



— The Maine Farmer makes the following esti- 

 mate of the crops of that State for the past season : 

 hay, 800,000 tons, (equal in quality to 1,000,000 

 tons produced in 1868;) coin, 900,000 bushels; 

 potatoes, 4,000,000 bufhels; wheat, 200,000 bush- 

 els ; barley, 800,000 bushels ; oats, 2,00,000 bushels. 



— In a forest tree lately cut down in Wisconsin 

 was found an Indian arrow-head, completely em- 

 bedded and grown over. It appears, from count- 

 ing the layers of wood over it, that ninety years 

 have elapsed since the arrow which it tipped was 

 shot at the tree. 



— In Joint Assembly of Vermont la'^t November 

 the following gentlemen were elected Trustees of 

 the University of Vermont and State Agricultural 

 College for six years : Hon, Justin S. Morrill of 

 Strafford, Rev. Horace Herrick of Wolcott, Hon. 

 Samuel H. Stevens of Enosburgh. 



— There are indications that Hereford cattle are 

 rising in favor in England. After the show of the 

 Herefordshire Agricultural Society, a large num- 

 ber of these cattle were sold. Three prize bulls 

 sold for 363 guineas, one of them going at 190 guin- 

 eas. From a single herd 30 cows and heifers 

 brought an average of over 26 guineas. 



— A California correspondent of the Boston 

 Journal, who has eaten wheat bread at supper, the 

 material for which was standing in the field at 

 sunrise, says that when the graiu is ripe it io often 

 cut, threshed and put in the sacks the same day. 



