Club Minutes: Enterprise Farmers Club, 1878-1891

36 1st Quest. Should we raise cattle or horses for profit ? R M Stabler & R B Farquhar vote for cattle; & colts enough to keep up team. S. Hopkins prefers Percheron colts. T J Lea good cattle either steers or heifers, C H Brook thinks cattle most profitable Fred & A M Stabler & W S Bond agree with R B Farquhar, J L Massey would breed from mans Kept to work the farm & raise cattle too . G Farquhar & B H Miller cattle entirely unless farm is larger. W W Moore thinks colts one third more profitable . 2nd Quest, I have 1 1/2 acres plowed in winter & manure turned under for potatoes, shall I cross plow or shovel [?] ? All advise the latter. 3rd Quest S Hopkins has 8 acres new land; cant plow early. What shall he put in it ? 7 would plant in corn as late as July 1st. 3 would lean till next year & two didn't know. 4 th Quest. C H Brooke sowed clover & timothy on corn land last year & covered it this with manure & straw & sowed seed again. it is to be plowed next year, shall he pasture this season ? nearly unanimous for pasturing close & quickly after clover blooms & then allowing 2nd crop to go to seed. 5th , Quest How much corn will the club plant ? Ans A M Stabler puts in 66 acre of [?] land. RBF 40 SH 35 TJL 12 CHB 38 FS 17 AS 24 WSBond 36 BHM 11 GF 30 WSBrooke 10 EPT 25 JTM 37 PTS 17 WWM 20 RMS 10 AMS 96 Total 438 6th Quest. J L Massey asks what money rent he should pay for Ashland farm, 65 acres cultivated land.? Nine say $125⁰⁰ 2 say $100^~ & 2, $130 ^[00?] Av $125⁰⁰ 7th Quest. The same gentleman asks if he can afford to keep

37 sheep engaged as he is in dairying ? No by all. 8th Quest. P T Stabler asks who [worms?] peach trees & does it pay ? Seven answer yes to both questions & 4 no. 9th Quest. W W Moore asks if he shall put a culvert across his branch nearest the gate ? Yes emphatically by all. 10th Quest. I have to put 1000 lbs of lime on a field that is to go in corn & in rye in fall: shall I put it on corn or rye principally ? 3 put on rye, 3 on corn & 6 put it half & half. 11th Quest . E P Thomas asks if it will pay to buy fertilizer for corn ? Seven say it will pay to buy 100 or 200 lbs to put in hill. & six say it will not. 12thQuest. How many grains of corn do you [drop?] in a hill ? 8 say 4 to 6; 3 say 4 & 5 & 2 say 5 to 8. 13th Quest. W^m S Bonds young peach orchard was so much injured by hail last year that it will have to be replaced , shall he plant in same land ? Yes. but most advise to change the location of trees. Question for discussion at next mtg Taking ten yrs together will a field planted in peach trees, be as profitable as in ordinary farm crops ? After a very pleasant & interesting meeting we adjouned to Norwood 5/31/79.

___________ 11 ___________ Norwood 5/31/79. We organized at 5.40 O`C P M with R M Stabler as foreman. W^m S Brooke Granville Farquhar & Saml Hopkins were the absent members & B D Palmer, W^m Lea & Robt R Moore the guests of the evening. The day was unusually warm for the season, the Thermometer ranging high up in the 80's, but after the,

38 reading of the minutes of the last mtg at this place we started on our tour of inspection. The Ice House was first noticed & if the old saying " Handsome is as handsome does " is a true one, this must be " A thing of beauty " as we are informed it keeps Ice the year round, although only a hole in the ground, covered with fodder, The stable & carriage house adjoining, were as usual in "Apple Pie " order & the chickens roaming around were fine specimens of their kind. The hogs too were looking well, but those in the main farm seemed to be suffering severly from the heat : a little more ventilation would add to their comfort.

The cows and sheep were noticed, as we passed through the barn yard, on our way to the garden, which was found in good shape & well advanced for the season. We next crossed the road & inspected a field of Fultz wheat which promised a heavy yield, & on our way noticed a patch of wheat, the seed sown having come from a field that was said to have made 50 bus. per acre , but we could not see a prospect for more than half that amt from the growing crop. Returning to the house the first proposition came from our host, an invitation to the table, which was responded to with our usual alacrity , & full [justice?] done to the excellent repast set forth by out hostess. After tea we adjourned to the lawn, when the question for discussion was taken up. [Viz?] "Taking ten years together will a field planted in peach trees, be as profitable, as if planted in ordinary farm crops." T J Lea, B D Palmer, Arthur, A M, & Robt M Stabler, W S Bond, W W Moore, B H Miller E P Thomas all thought the crops would

39 pay best: the latter had planted a 10 acre feild some years ago at a cost of $ 90 for trees, & remarked that that Amt put at Interest would buy the land at this time. W^m Lea, P T Stabler & C H Brooke think late peaches would be more profitable. R B Farquhar thinks occasionally peaches pay best : Fred Stabler is on the fence, & RR & J T Moore didn't know as they can not raise peaches. 1st Quest. T J Lea wishes to know what kind of pulleys to buy for Hay fork ? Iron generally recomended. 2nd Quest. I have 20 acres of Clover, how soon shall I turn cattle on it? Now, 3rd. W W Moore has 1 1/2 acres of heavy clover, shall he cut it off or plow under for Potatoes? All advise cutting 4th Shall I put plaster on my corn ? Generally favorable to trying the experiment. 5th. What is the price per Acre for use of mower ? Average 46 1/2 cts, most put it at 50 c. 6th. C H Brooke expects to use from 1000 to 2000 [?] of lime per year, & asks if it will pay to build a shed to Keep & slack it in ? Yes by all, 7th. RB Farquhar wants to know whether to cut the clover on his " Old Field "? A majority advise cutting early & plowing 2nd crop 8th J T Moore has a field of Clover which is to be put in wheat , & asks when to plow it ? Generally advised to leave it till the 2nd crop [?], though a few advise to plow now. 9th What is it worth to cut & set up new ground wheat ? 1.⁴40 1.¹50 1.²65 1.⁴75 Average $1.⁵⁸.

40 10th. What will you pay for binding wheat ? 2 - 1.00 8 - 1.25 11th. I have some leached ashes to put on my potatoes shall I mix with L X L or sow seperately? Sow Seperately . Question for the next mtg is raising cattle or dairying most profitable ? After a warm but pleasant meeting we adjourned to meet at Harewood 6/28/79 .. BHM Sec.

Ten members met at a late hour June 28th at Arthur Stabler's. Charles H Brooke was chosen forman, & E P Thomas appointed to the onerous duty of Sec Pro Tem. It was unanimously decided not to have any minutes written of this meeting, but to depend upon the report in the American Farmer. The Sec pro tem has waited patiently for 2 months for the appearance of the proceedings in the farmer, but they din't appear worth a cent, so he takes it upon himself, notwithstanding the decision of the Club, to write out a few of the incidents of the evening. During our walk of inspection we crossed a little riverlet of dark strong-looking liquid issuing from the barnyard and winding its way down through a piece of Clover already wallowed by too much richness. The field of grass was estimated by some to be good for two tons per acre. We examined three wheat fields & two or three corn fields how many more our host had he did not state, & our friends seemed too anxious to get back to the house, so we did not hunt up the others. Our attention was called to several interesting experiments, 2 of which were in using home made compost in corn hills : in one field 24 rows were left without