Enterprise Farmers' Club Minutes

198

1st Mo. 24 th 1885 The Enterprise Club met at the residence of Edw. P Thomas , R M Stabler acted as foreman , and the secty for the year not being present, A M Stabler was appointed for the day . 13 Members were present, R B Farquhar, W ^w S Brooke, Tha^s. J Lea, and P J Stabler were absent . The invited guests were , R H Miller , R Roland Moore A G Thomas , John Thomas, [J?] F Thomas, and J J Shoemaker , after the Minutes were read , the Sec read a communication from the Com. of Agriculture, requesting the name, and date of organizations of all Clubs , [Granges?] [&c?] in our County , also from same an invitation to attend a convention of farmers & planters to be held at the exposition building , New Orleans on Feb 10 th . After an attempt to raise a fund to send one delegate moved unsuccessfull , the Secty was directed to notify him of this decision , we then went as far as the Barn to inspect stock , buildings [&c?], a valuable horse with the pole evil was seen which disease did not seem to yeild to , & the chances for recovery seemed few . ____ The herd of dairy Cows wered looking well , and were enjoying their evening

200

5^.th Ques. Shall I put S.C, Rock on poor land for Corn , 13 would , 7 were in favor of drilling it in after plowing , & 7 would plowih in , 6 ^th what are whiteoak posts worth, about 9 cents , 7 th Has any one fed small Potatoes to Cows, --- yes, with some good results: The subjict of using boxes to handle Potatoes & apples with, was discussed, without arriving at any definite conclusion , It was proposed that our Club should attend the Farmers Convention in Baltimore as a whole , all would go that could , Then adjourned to meet at W^m S Bonds 2 nov 28^th at the usual hour, A M Stabler sect pro-tem

201

Feb 28 ^th 1885 The Club met at Magnolia the residence of W ^m S Bond, with the ground still covered with snow, tho there had been good sleighing during the morning , no one felt willing to try the sleigh after midday , E P Thomas being foreman by our rule , Called the meeting to order at 4.30 O'clk , The minutes of the last meeting here in nov, 1883 were read, On walking out we saw a new Machine house, built to cover an Esterly Binder , while a condemed Buckeye Binder was lying out in the Cold, it not having worked to satisfaction still belongs to the M f g, Company, Close by was an Ice House all above ground, well protected with straw, suggestive of a cool drink when the Binder was again needed, The Corn house showed a good supply of yellow Corn , passing thro the Stable we found some very nice hay already &waiting for the Mill team which was still on the road, The Cows were looking well, we had to stop & admire the fresh supply of spring water forced nearly 500 yards from a good spring ,

202

The Silo was well filled , but not calculated to support Cow life , Mother earth having been substituted for green corn fodder, After returning to the house & reading the Mini, offthe last meeting , a letter was read from the Prest . of the Farmers Convention , stating that our quote of the expenses of the convention was 8 7.14 . which was paid by all present, R B Farquhar &W^m S Brooke were absent, John Thomas & Albert Stabler were our visitors 1^st Ques, Is Clover hay damaged that has a white Mould in much of it, 9 say damaged 55%, 1, 10% , 3 doubtfull & 2 say not injured , 2 ^nd Ques, Does it hurt young Clover to put out piles of manure during the winter not frozen , some say it will not hurt , & others think it will, 3 ^nd rd, Will it pay me to haul my Timothy Hay to Market , & buy Clover for my Cows, at $10,00 pr ton & haul it , Ans. divided, but most would not do it: By whom is the sale day at Queens -- town scales, fixed ---- by the brokers & Commision Men , 5 ^th When shall I sell fat Sheep , some say now, others wld hold on

203

6^th what would you think of having a Clydesdale Stallion stand in the neiborhood this year , --- not much encouragement given , 7 ^th Shall I sell my fat Oxen now, or hold longer , --- some would sell now, but most would hold longer , 8 ^th I had to kill off all My Hogs in december , supposing the Colera was amongst them, how long before it will do to buy again , Most wll buy now at any time & put them off on another part of the Farm ; 9 ^th I want to repair My Garden Fence, shall I make split Pailings , or get them fom the Lumber dealers , 2 wll, buy them , 2 split them & 10 would have them sawed from good lumber at home , 10 ^th I will need a new Mowing Machine what kind shall I buy 7 say new Champion , 1 [Hartz?], 1 Buckeye, 2 Adriance , 1 Remington , W S Bond showed a sample of S,C, Rock which he had Sifted & prepared to take the acid on the [lumps?], they only needing to be dissolved , & then to dry the [Mass?] with the fine part, this plan was thought to be the proper preparation ,

204

The Dog Law was discussed to some extent, but it was left where it was found, A M Stabler stating what was proposed to be done if possible, 11 ^th Is it worth any more to have Cord wood cut with a saw, 5 say 1/3 more , 4 say 1/8 more, and 5 say 1/4 more, 12 ^th Are the Laboring class as desirable as they were some years ago 12 say no, 13 ^th I have a field one half well set in grass , shall I plow all & or only a part 8 w ^d plow all & 6 plow one half, 14 _th How many Potatoes will you & what kind of Fertilizer to use, Eleven wd, plant as many & use S C Rock & Tankage, 2 would plant more , Adjourned to meet at Cha ^s. H Brooke ^s 28^th March, P T Stabler sect,

205

3 month 28^th 1885 The Club met at Falling Green with W^m S Bond as foreman, after reading the min, of the last meeting here [11?] months ago, we examined the splendid display of Flowers that were blooming in the Conservatory, just as though there had not been any zero mornings during the past hard winter, We started out in the rain storm , went tothe Barn where all the stock looked very comfortable , One very fine two year old Percheron Colt, & one that looked like a stranger on the premises, suggesting that our host intended to go through the world more rapidly in the future, There were Cows & Calves at every turn, one very large fine short horn Cow, from which he had bred those extra fine steers, we have heard of The steers were showing the effect of good care & attention We were told that the Cisturn under the driveway would not stand the severe cold without freezing Saml Hopkins , Tha ^s J Lea & wm S Brooke were absent, ------ W B Chichester, [Jas P?] Stabler, C F [Rork?] & [Gustavus?] Jones Jr were our guests,

206

On returning to the house the 1^st Ques, 1 ^st what shall I do to prevent the insects from destroying the leaves of a slippery Elm tree, Put Felt with gas tar onit around the trunk , or [?] it with Tin, 2 nd Ques what style of Fence shall I put up when the ones need renewing on my Farm , having plenty of timber, 3 say part post & rail & part worm, 2 say barbed wire outside, [& post+&rail?] for crass fence , 7 say worm fence , & 3 say all wire, 3 ^rd How shall I prevent my Tenants burning the fences, no remedy but to use wire , near the houses , 4 ^th what is the remedy for hogs with the Rheumatism , grease the forelegs &rub well , give salt in small doses recommended , 5^th shall I make a 5 rail fence, or use only 4 rails & put one barbed wire on top of posts, Elevin say Makeit 5 Rail, & 5 say 4 rail & 1 wire at top, 6 ^th Shall I sell my Sheep now at 5 1/2 c pr lb, or keep &shear them, Eleven wld. hold &shear them & 4 wld, sell now 7 What to do with a Cow that has not done well since she had a calf,

313 as well, now. 9thoQuest RR inland Mom has a lot of [Cuvley] Cans which he has been using in his dairy. If he makes an ice box to frost them in, will he be liable to prosecution for imfringement of patent? Advised to try it. 10tho Quest[Ivio] it [f]ray to bale hay? Only in sofar as it makes us independent of the Autocrat of the Washington Hay market. Then adjourned to RB FASQWHANS 01/28/88. Benj H MILLER Rec

Rock Spring 01-21-88

Driving to an accident our President did not arrive till 4.15 P.M at which time the Enterprise Club was called to order & the minutes of our last meeting at this place read.-Robt M. STABLER W.L. BOND Wm LEA P.T. STABLER & Chas H. BROOKE were absent. We had with us as guests Wm L BROOKES W.E. MUNCASTER. H.H. MILLER Chas F. KIRK Allan FARQUHAR Brooke STABLER H.C. HALLOWILL & Allan BROOKE Dr Mahlou KIRK Dr Roger BROOKE and Dr Chas FARQUHAR. A resolution was passed requesting - our late secretary to communicate further with P D LAIRD on the subject of Traction Engines on all of our Roads._ Under the guidance of our President we started on our [walte]. The first object of interest was a new two horse wagon made whith [pifsr] axle tires, a plan to some of us quite new. The Western

326

Well rotted manure and good cultivation plant in spring 18 in by 3 or 4 feet, cover with manure in the fall.

15^th Ques. Shall I put manure on [sod?] for potatoes? All say yes.

16^th Ques. Are early or late potatoes most injured by scab? No experience reported.

Then adjourned to B.H.M's. 5-19-88.

T. J. Lea sec.