Club Minutes: Enterprise Farmers Club, 1865-1872

18

17th. Has any member noticed any sign of rot in notatoes? No l8th. Our host asked if we would walk out and eat some watermelon? Answered unanimously Yes, & we went out & did full justice to a number of melons of our host's own growing, which were pronounced No 1.

Then adjourned to meet at Wm W Moore's at the usual time next month.

10th Mo 13th 1866

The Club met at the house of Wm W Moore, Where Asa M Stabler Edwd P Thomas, Wm S Bond & Thos J Lea were absent; & we had as guests Jos T Moore & Gerard Hopkins. Samuel Hopkins was appointed Foreman & the minutes of last meeting were read about five o'clock at which hour we usually get together & get to business, the Sec would respectfully suggest that we change the hour of meeting to that time or try to be more punctual. On account of the recent severe rains having made the fields so very wet & muddy, we made an examination of our host's out houses only; 1st among these the ice house claimed attention & was thought to be very complete; the pig pen came next in order, & was found to contain as pretty specimens of the genus "Porker" as are often seen; the barn doors hung upon rollers originally were found lying very quietly against the fence where one of our guests said he could testify they were lying four months ago; a load of very pretty hay was found upon the wagon all ready for Washington. Two very fine Mule Colts one & two years old were noticed in the barn yard; the stables were found to be uncomfortably wet whether on account of the recent heavy rains, or that it is usually the case we were not informed.

1st Question. What is it worth per acre to plow a clean sod field 8 inches deep? $3.00 (4) 3.50 (4) & three don't know. 2nd. What is the hire of a horse per day, the person hiring to feed him? 60 cts (1), 75 cts (8) $1.00 (1).

19

3rd. A member had sowed some wheat before the rains but did not get the Timothy seed sowed; he wishes to know what to do about it? Some say harrow the ground after the wheat comes up & then sow the seed, but most advise to sow now & again in the spring. 4th. What is the price per bbl for husking corn this fall? One says lg, one 23, four 20, & four 25 cts per bbl. 5th. What is it worth to cut & cord lop wood? 60 cts (3), 62 (1), 65 (2) 75 cts (2) & two don't know. 6th. A member has a potatoe patch which he wants to sow in wheat, & asks whether to dig the potatoes when they are a little sticky, but the ground will do to work or wait until the potatoes come out dry & clean? Seven say wait till the potatoes will come out clean, & two advise to dig as soon as the ground will do to work. 7th. How many will sow wheat after this time? Nine. 8th. What is the very latest time that it will do to sow wheat? 20th (2), 25th (2), 30th (4), two think it is too late & one don't know, & one will finish sowing his crop. 9th. Would you plant a peach orchard in twenty acres of old field. Nine say no & several do not know. This question caused considerable discussion as to the best manner of treating peach orchards, whether to work them or not. 10th. Would it not pay better to raise more fruit & less of the common farm crops? There was no definite answer given to this question but there was quite an interesting talk had won the subject & it seemed to be the opinion of many that we should pay more attention to fruits of different kinds. 11th. Would you sow clover in a young peach orchard for the benefit of the land? Yes (2) No (9) & one don't know. 12th. Would you sell corn as it runs, in the field at $3.00 per bbl? One member says yes, & nine say no.

20

11th Mo 10th 1866 The club met at the house of Arthur Stabler the members all being present except B H Miller & Fred Stabler. We had as guests Jas S Hallowell Alban G Thomas, & Jos Gilpin Wm W Moore was appointed foreman, & Asa M Stabler Secy Pro Tem. After a short discussion in the parlor we started on our usual round, -- 1st into the garden where we found some vegetables, particularly some cabbage, hid in a brush heap; from here we saw our host's pigs in the orchard, which upon being called started in the opposite direction, showing that they had not been well trained.

We then noticed an Ice House under erection, half above & half below ground, the result of which will be looked upon with interest. After taking some cider that was not as sweet as it had been, we proceeded to view the "Model" farm; the wheat looked fine, & well worthy of the soil on which it was growing.

After noticing some very substantial gates just put up, we went on to the corn field, which judging by some of the shocks husked bid fair to make a first rate yield; an experiment of compost in the hill had an increase of 17 1/2 bushels per acre.

We then noticed a lot of weeds which evidently did not get cut in August or they would not have been so high at this time.

A Brick-Kiln which our host was burning was the next thing to attract our attention; while there we criticized a new Iron-axle wagon which was thought to be too heavy for four horses; we also noticed a very fine mule colt, which had its tail trimmed with about as many inns out's as an old fashioned bed-post.

It was now getting too dark to see more of the place, so we returned to the house to partake of a very bountiful super & proceed with the questions. lst Question. How many potatoes raised by members of the club? By estimate 10 500 bush, an average of 700 bush per member.

21

2nd Ques. How many hogs will the members of the Club kill? Ans. 208. 3rd Ques. What will be the average wages paid next year? $12.50. 4th Ques. What is the price for putting up five rail fence with posts & rails mauled? Rather an unsatisfactory answer, but about 25 cts per panel was thought right. 5th Ques. Will it pay to move 200 yds of fence to have the benefit of ten acres of pasture? Yes unanimously. 6th Quest. Would you plow corn or oats ground first? Corn ground. 7th Quest. Would you plow corn stubble for oats this fall? Yes. 8th Quest. Will it pay to sell small pork now, or feed them longer on corn? All in favor of selling but two. 9th Quest. A member wants to know whether to sell his pork & buy Bacon? Sell all that weigh under 100 lbs & cure the rest. 10th Quest. Which is the best way to keep cabbage through the winter? Fourteen ways & each one the best. 11th Quest. How deep would you plow a poor old field? Seven would plow deep, four moderate, & the rest did not know. 12th Quest. What is the best material to make blind ditch? Two would use tile, 3 cord wood, 2 didint know, & the remainder stone. 13th Quest. Would you sell corn now? Seven would sell now at $1.00 & over, 4 would hold on, & the remainder undecided. 14th Quest. Would you put manure on wheat or corn ground? Eleven would put it on wheat, & 2 on corn. 15th Quest. What would you do with manure in barn yard? General answer, top dress your grass. 16th Quest. What would you do with rotten potatoes? Put them on poor ground. 17th Quest. Would you sell potatoes now? All in favor of holding on if you can do without the money.

Then adjourned to meet at the house of Fredk Stabler on the 8th of next month

Asa M Stabler

Sec Pro Tem.

22

12th Mo 8th 1866

We met at the house of Fredk Stabler, where all of our members were present except Wm W Moore, Wm S Brooke, Wm S Bond, & P T Stabler. As guests we had Chas Stabler & Walter H Brooke.

It was even later than usual, when we all got together, the last member riding up just as the sun was going down; so that our Foreman Roger B Farquhar, had to keep us moving to make our customary round; as we started out we noticed that the garden had been nicely plowed already for next season's work; our attention was next called to a very fine large spring chicken of the Brahma Putra breed; & then to a very snug ice house which our host is just now building, adjoining which we noticed the wood house well supplied with fuel; the hogs then claimed our notice & there was considerable discussion as to the weights of two large ones, it war generally thought that the two would weigh 525 lbs, & that the black & white was 25 lbs heavier than the other; The very snug & convenient new barn made some of us feel quite envious, for with the yard adjoining it is about as complete as well can be; the corn house was full to overflowing; the cattle of our host together with some fine looking colts & horses next passed muster, & while looking at them we observed that our host had been feeding some of his fodder on a sod field adjoining, the grass next season will tell plainly where it was done. We then walked across the wheat stubble & found a very nice set of clover & timothy in it; we then gave a passing glance at the very thrifty peach & apple orchard, & while on our way to the house were requested to select a site for a wagon house which called forth considerable discussion as to the profit of that out—building. After returning to the house the acting Sec at the last meeting, read the minutes thereof after which the following Questions were asked--: Viz:—. 1st Quest. Does it pay best to keep pigs over to kill next fall or depend upon spring pigs? Four keep over, remainder trust to spring pigs.