FAEM ECHOES. 89 



The floors of the cow stables are sanded every day, 

 summer and winter, though the animals are there during 

 the summer only long enough to be milked, morning and 

 evening. The sand is procured from the shore of a 

 charming lake (the largest in the State, I believe), three 

 miles distant. These floors are so evenly, and artistically, 

 covered by the sand, especially one in charge of a man 

 who is a genius in such business, that many visitors have 

 been reluctant to walk on it. A city lady not long ago, 

 visited the barns in company with her city-bred son. 

 While waiting for the doors to be opened, she became 

 apprehensive that her son's dress might suffer, and sug- 

 gested to him that he had better roll up his pants so as to 

 keep them clean. He promptly acted upon this precaution- 

 ary suggestion, and had no sooner done so than the sliding 

 doors opened and revealed such a floor as led him to at 

 once take the reef out of his pants, to use a nautical term, 

 and in they both walked, interchanging a hasty and ex- 

 pressive glance, followed by the aforesaid genius, who 

 was not a little amused by these proceedings. It may 

 be asked why this daily spreading of sand upon the barn 

 floors ? The answer is because of cleanliness and purity, 

 and because it keeps the animals from slipping. Not 

 only so, it pays the expense of getting it, when placed on 

 my lands. In planning the barns, care was taken to have 

 the feed for the animals stored immediately over them, 

 so as to avoid the expense and delay of moving it any 

 great distance at the time of feeding. 



Over the north room to which reference has been made, 

 two hundred tons of hay can be stored, which is more 

 than enough for the forty-eight cows beneath, and for 



