Club Minutes: Enterprise Farmers Club, 1865-1872

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5th mo 12th 1866.

We met at the house of Roger B Farquhar; S Hopkins, Wm S Bond, & P T Stabler were absent; as guests we had Chas Farquhar of Sandy Spring & Chas Farquhar of New Market. T. J. Lea appointed Foreman. Upon starting out our attention was first called to the garden, which without exception was the best we had seen, every thing looked thrifty & well advanced, and had evidently received the best attention; some very fine tomato plants called forth considerable comment, & all who have not had hot beds of their own are advised to try them thoroughly for one year, & it is thought, the pleasure & convenience of them will be so manifest that they will not be without them again. Our host complained that his ice was keeping so well that he could not get his buggy into its usual summer quarters, on a temporary floor laid over the ice, where he generally puts it about the middle of April.

The shop with the implements lying round, mended & sharpened ready for use gave evidence of its usefulness; the apple & some of the peach trees in the young orchard, looked very healthy, but most of the peach trees looked very delicate: some of the trees needed trimming, & those of our members who have experience in such matters, gave us some practical illustrations of the proper manner of performing that operation.

The wheat looked only tolerably well, but the timothy in the meadow, looked better than any seen before this season.

In passing throug the meadow, we were all called upon to notice a mound raised over the mortal remains of an old crow, thus utilizing what is commonly a nuisance, a very good example for the rest of us to follow. Upon returning to the house the pigs were just being called to supper & we went to look at them, found a very nice lot of shoats looking as though a little more corn would not hurt them. We were next called to supper, which was entirely too good for an old bachelor, after which the following

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questions were asked : Viz.

1st. What s the best way to kill Elder? Grub it up 2nd. What is price of pasture for cattle $1.25 (5) 1.50 (5) 1.75 (1) & don't know (1) 3rd. What is price of pasture for horses? $4.00 (5) $5.00 (7) 4th. What is the best way to work potatoes? Hill them up moderately 5th. What is the best way to Crows from Corn? Swings (2) shoot (1) soak corn (5) 6th. Will it pay to keep cows in teheyard during summer. Yes (9) No (3) 7th. What is price of pasture for colts? 2.00 (1) 3.00 (5) 4.00 (2) 5.00 (5) 8th. What is the best kind of hay-fork? The lighter ones in use about SS 9th. Is it too late to plant Peach Blow Potatoes? No. 10th. Will it pay to harrow Corn? Three say yes & five No. 11th. Will it pay to saw wood by horse power Yes (8) No (2) 12th. What is price per cord by horse power Fifty cents. 13th. How much sorghum will we plant? Five acres. 14th. How much Corn will we plant? 382 acres an 25 1/2

After an unusually pleasant meeting we adjouned to meet at Sam Hopkin's on the 3rd 7th day in next month.

6th Mo 16th 1866

We met at White Hall where all of our members were present except T J Lea, Wm S Bond, E P Thomas, & Wm W Moore, & we had Walter H Brooke as guest. Roger B Farquhar was appointed foreman, on account of his known energy & the size of our host's farm; & under his guidance we walked out to see the objects of interest, & first among these was a forty acre field of oats which looked very promising: next we came to the barn which was very much admired on account of the substantial manner in which it was built; a threshing machine was noticed which seemed to be in readiness for threshing the coming crop: consideraable discussion was had as to the relative strength of certain timbers in the barn but we had finally "to agree to disagree."

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Upon leaving the barn the secretary was called upon to notice how beautifully the fence rows were decorated with alder, when our host said that he had given up trying to subdue it: can nothing be done to rid us of such a pest? The corn was looking very well, though as is very often the case we were assured that the best was at the far end of the field. We were next called upon to notice the results of an application of 80 bushels of lime per acre upon a clover field; it wes not necessary for our host to show us the line between the land that had received the dressing & that which had not, for the clover spoke plainly in favor of the lime, there being three times as much grass upon the former, as upon the latter; we found some very fine calves in the field as we passed through, but upon returning toward the house saw some hogs of which the same couldnot be said. Portions of the garden looked very well, but a great many of the weeds about in it, would be more beneficial in the compost heap, than draining the nourishment from the vegetables. We then passed in to where our host is building a milk-vault, & as this is the first attempt of the kind by one of our members, we shall look with interest for the report of its practical working; we next paid our respects to the cherry tree & then returned to the house. 1st Question. Would you sell wheat as soon as you can thresh it? Three would & nine would be in no special hurry. 2nd. What is the proper time to sow seed for late cabbage? Middle of June. 3rd. A member started his barn wall 16 in wide & spread it about two feet up to 20 inches & then drew it in to 16' at top, & wishes to know whether it is stronger than if it had been carried up 16 in wide throughout? Eight think it stronger, three do not. 4th What is the best way to get skippers out of meat? The general

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opinion was in favor of scalding thoroughly and then packing in a cask with corn cobs. 5th. Would you thresh oats & sell them directly after harvest? Keep & thresh them at convenience 6th. A member has a field where he thinks a hand can pull all of the Richardson's pink out in three or four days, & asks whether it will pay to do it? Yes by all means. 7th. What is the best time to haul manure? Spring (8) Fall (3) 8th. Will clover set in corn, if sowed just after the last working? Five say yes, & five no, but all encourage the member to try the experiment. 9th. Is it best to work potatoes after they begin to bloom? Yes (6) No (4) 10th. Would you plow for corn now where the land is bare, or leave till fall? Three would plow now & six leave till fall, & four don't know. 11th. How long would you leave clover sod to imnrove the land? One year. 12th. What is a four horse team worth per dqy for a 2 day trip when all expenses are paid? $5.00 (1) 6.00 (7) 7.00 (1), 7.50 (2).

Then adjourned to meet at Thos J Lea's on the 14th of next month.

7th mo 14th 1866.

We met at the house of Thos J Lea, where Wm S Bond, Wm S Brooke, & R B Farquhar were absent, & we had as guests, Ed Lea, Ed Pierce, Ed Ruse, Isaac Hartshorne, Geo L Stabler & Albert Gilpin. It being the warmest day of the season we were very late getting together, & after that we were very loth to start on our rounds, but finally Fred R Stabler having been appointed foreman, we started out, & went to the cellar first where we found a mi1k vault some feet deeper than the main portion of the room, & which felt delightfully cool compared with the temperature above ground, & which we were told keeps milk very well; we also noticed the ice house,

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a pile of saw dust in one corner of the room, which we were assured answered admirably when there is another one convenient to fill up from; the truck patch looked well, every thing flourishing especially the potatoe weed which was growing every where; we next started to look at the corn, but on the way came across a most remarkable break in the road, which some members thought would be apt to make a break down should a carriage of any kind attempt to pass over it; the corn looked very fine, & we were assured by a committee of three, appointed to examine & report to the rest of us who were too lazy to walk & see for ourselves, that there was an uncommonly fine show for pumpkins about in the field. We next looked through the barn which seemed to be as well filled as most this season; & we noticed a nice lot of young calves which our host is raising

We then returned to the house where the following questions were asked & answered -- viz -1st. How many pumpkin vines would you leave to the hill, the hills being 4 ft apart each way? One vine to the hill. 2nd. Is it best to turn cattle upon young grass in wheat stubble? Yes after it gets a good start. 3rd. A member's corn is getting so large that he asks whether to work it again? Some say no, but a majority favor running once down the middle of the rows with a cultivator. 4th. What kind of wheat will you sow this fa11 Ten will Sow Boughton & one don't know 5th. When will you sow wheat? 1st of Oct. (7) 1st of Aug (1) last of September (4) 6th. What fertilizer will you use for wheat Peruvian Guano (12) Bone Dust (1) 7th. What is the proper time to sow turnip seed? 25th of July. 8th. What is the best time to sow rye? 30th of August (5), Midd1e of Sept (2) Don't know (5) 9th. A member has a sod field where the grass is nearly run out, & wishes to know whether to plow & sow oats

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