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| Editor Horace Greeley |
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| Clergyman Henry Ward Beecher |
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| Alonzo Dwight Blodgett |
Farmers’
Club.
A supplementary
discussion upon the question of the preceding meeting was given by Hon. Stephen
Patrick, who thought Mr. Thurber's idea that oleomargarine was not an injury to
the dairy interests of the country but rather a benefit an erroneous one; for,
although it might cause better butter to be made, yet the price of the better
butter would be correspondingly high, and the many who could not afford it
would buy the cheaper oleomargarine. The only way to check the manufacture of
these imitations was for the government to put a heavy duty upon them.
Mr. Rowley showed a circular
which he had received from a firm in Memphis, Tenn. setting forth the
advantages of their cotton seed oil for the manufacture of butter imitations.
Mr. Patrick saw in the stock
yards at Chicago, Ill., the carcasses of all kinds of stock that had died in
transportation, from the effect of heat or other extreme causes. These same, he
learned, were tried up for lard, and very likely, it being so cheap, was used
in the manufacture of the “ines."
A motion was carried that
"it is the sense of the meeting that we are in favor of Congress imposing
a tax upon oleomargarine, butterine, and all other imitation
products of butter.”
Mr. Blodgett presented the
following paper on "Soiling":
Gentlemen of the Farmers' Club:
The system of feeding stock
with green forage cut and brought to them from the field is called soiling.
Among the advantages claimed for its adoption are saving of food, land and fences,
while on the other hand are some disadvantages, such as keeping the stock in close
confinement, requiring extra labor, etc. This is a subject of which I have very
little practical knowledge, and what I may say will be drawn largely from the
experience of others.
Much valuable information may
be gained from a little book published by F. S. Peer, of Palmyra, N. Y.,
entitled, "Soiling, Summer
and Winter.” Mr. Peer says he "adopted this system because my land under
the old system of farming was constantly deteriorating in value. The land was
all there, but the farm had gone to New York, Boston and elsewhere, sold by the
bushel."
In taking a general survey of
the subject he came to the conclusion that the only way of redeeming the
fertility of the soil would be by the proper application of barnyard manure. He
thinks it is as a rule safe to say that land in an ordinary state of
cultivation will support four head by soiling to every one pastured. Thus,
where by pasturing it required 60 acres to support 12 head, by soiling he was
able to keep in better condition three times the number on just half the ground,
thus producing and saving three times the amount of manure, the value of which
was double that made while pasturing.
Hon. Josiah Quincy, with an
experience of 18 years, says; "One acre soiled will produce at least as
much as three acres pastured in the usual way, and there is no proposition in
nature more true than that any good farmer may maintain upon 30 acres of good
arable land 20 head of cattle the year through."
Mr. Chas. Francis, of Niagara
county, says that every year's experience with the soiling system leads to a
firmer conviction that it is the most economical and profitable way of feeding
farm stock. He had adopted the following plan in growing and feeding soiling crops:
"Beginning in the fall
sows 2 or 3 sowings of rye, enough to last until clover and grass is fit to cut
in June. I find that an acre of rye and oats will feed my 18 cows a little more
than a week. I have also 3 sowings of oats, 2 acres each time of sowing 2 weeks
apart. Following the oats comes sweet corn. The extra labor required to cut and
feed the entire 18 head I have found to take from 1 1/2 to 2 hours each day. From May 1 to October, 22 weeks, my entire herd has been kept from what has
grown on 7 acres; 40 acres of pasture would not have sustained them in as good
condition and flow of milk."
Mr. Peer's method of cutting
and feeding is this:
"Uses Osborne's No. 3
reaper and cuts enough in 20 to 30 minutes to supply his stock for 2 or 3 days,
leaving it in the best possible shape to gather, where it may wilt without
drying out, and the least exposed to the sun and weather, and to produce the
best results from milch cows he feeds five times per day in the barn. Enough feed is brought in the night
before for the first feed at 5 A. M., and the cows let in from the yard where
they have spent the night. Milking begins at 6. After breakfast the wagon goes to the field for the 8
o'clock, noon, and 4 o'clock feedings. "The cows are again milked at 6 P.
M., fed at 7 and at 8 turned out in the yard for the night."
He says the extra labor of
feeding will not exceed 2 cents per day each head and hopes the time will soon
come when by soiling summer and winter he will be able to keep equal to 100 head
of stock upon 50 acres of land during the entire year.
Now if these statements are
true the subject before us is of the greatest importance and worthy of the
highest consideration to those who follow farming as a business. Most of these
experiments are worth all they cost. Some of them cost more than they are
worth.
When Henry Ward Beecher said
the great farmer of Chappaqua knew as much about wood-cutting as any farmer he knew
of in America. Mr. Greeley responded by saying he supposed they had heard about
his success in farming, but if common report was true Mr. Beecher was entitled
to the greatest credit as a farmer. He had understood that Mr. Beecher once
bought a pig for $7.50, fed him 40 bushels of corn at $1 per bushel, then sold
the pig for $9, and said he had made $1.50 clear profit on the animal. When
questioned about the corn he said he did not expect to make any thing on that.
Let us then keep pace with the
genuine improvements of the day and gather from our own and the experience of others
such facts and methods as will enable us to conduct our business with more
economy and profit.
A. D. BLODGETT.
[Mr. A. P. Rowley followed in
an interesting article on the same subject, the publication of which we defer
until next week.]
Mr. Tillinghast thought that no
better use could be made of some of the surplus funds in the treasury than the forming
of a library.
Dr. Jewett said that put manure
where you will the air will always get the part which belongs to it, and the best
way to apply it was upon the surface. From his experience with a few cattle he
did not see why fifty or more cattle would not keep a yard a mud hole.
Mr. Loring thought that it
would be folly for farmers in this vicinity where hills are so abundant to
attempt soiling exclusively.
Mr. Hitchcock had not experienced
much benefit from the feeding of beets.
Mr. Williams, of Onondaga
county, did not think it practicable for Cortland county farmers to depend upon
soiling but thought that they could carry it much farther than they already
had.
The next subject will be
"Ensilage."—Prof. Alvord's paper and the subject generally, with
addresses by Rev. B. F Weatherwax. G. Peck Squires and Wm.
Beattie.
Henry Ward Beecher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher
Horace Greeley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Greeley
Alonzo Dwight Blodgett (scroll down when link opens): http://www.usgenweb.info/nycortland/books/1885biob.htm
Alonzo Dwight Blodgett (scroll down when link opens): http://www.usgenweb.info/nycortland/books/1885biob.htm
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