552 KOCK COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



a little Jersey cow than the largest Short-Horn that was at 

 the fairs this Fall. I set the milk in deep cans, and keep it in 

 an ice chest of home manufacture, and cool it with ice from 

 my own ice house, which I fill every Winter from the river 

 four miles away. I use a rectangular churn, and like it. 



HORSES. 



I believe the most serviceable animals are mules, but have 

 raised some nice grade Normans. They are well liked, and 

 make good horses for the farm. 



POULTRY. 



I have been rather tardy about getting improved breeds, 

 but have now some young Plymouth Rocks, and have built a 

 new hen house and inclosed a yard to protect them from the 

 Winter winds. I have large expectations for the future. 



FARM MACHINERY. 



I use a broadcast seeder, a McCormick harvester, a Buck- 

 eye mower, a Phoenix horse-rake, a hay loader and horse fork. 

 I do i\ot think the kinds I use are all of the best, and when I 

 buy again I will change some of them. A farmer is entitled 

 to the best of every thing — if he pays for it. 



E. N. DARLING, 



LA VERNE, ROCK COUNTY. 



Discouragements — Descriptive — Planting and Harvesting — 

 Hogs — Cattle — Horses — Poultry — Fruit. 



HISTORICAL. 



When I first moved into this county, in 1868, all the com- 

 forts of civilization were still one hundred miles away. We 

 had to travel one hundred miles to mill, store, or market, to 

 procure what we needed, and our ingenuity was taxed to tlie 

 utmost to devise comfortable protection for man and beast. 



