1835.] 



F A E M E R S ' REGISTER. 



133 



La Grange, which will be celebrated as the place 

 of residence of Gen. Lafayette, and which is also 

 for us an object ol particular interest, as a rural 

 establishment founded by that illustrious man, 

 under whose presidency our society was tunned. 



Around a vast yard, (or court) are arranged the 

 buildings belonging properly to the farm. 



There /ire seen sheep folds large enough for a 

 flock of a thousand head. They are well lighted 

 and ventilated, boarded or ceiled, and once a year 

 whitened with lime; so that the flock is kept in the 

 best condition for health. 



The flock is not more than seven to eight hun- 

 dred head. It was found proper to reduce it on 

 account of the barrenness of the common range, 

 [parcours] of which the product has been lessened 

 by the growth of the trees planted on the borders. 

 The flock which is now in very good condition, 

 has been brought to a high state of improvement 

 by successive crossings of the merinos of Ram- 

 bouillet, which had formed its primitive foundation 

 with sheep of Saxony, of Naz, and of the flock of 

 M. de Jessaint. Its products have been the object 

 of distinction to the meeting of the department. 



The great cow-house can contain about twenty- 

 four cows, and is in the most simple form; only 

 the paved floor of it is so inclined that the urine is 

 collected and preserved in a pit, dug outside of the 

 building, from which it. was drawn for use. 



The cows are generally fine. Part of them 

 came from Switzerland, and others are the issue 

 of the same race. They are all capable of yield- 

 ing good products. We name especially the cows 

 of Schwitz, which are the best milkers of the 

 farm, and which M. Lecuyer, its superintendent, 

 •places above all known of the best in the country 

 as beasts of profit. The bull is of the same stock. 



A second cow-house contains cows of different 

 breeds, particularly an English breed, the Devon- 

 shire, of which, but a short time before his death, 

 the General received a bull and two cows from 

 England. These beasts have not yet had time 

 and opportunity to furnish means to appreciate 

 their qualities. 



At the end of this cow-house is the stable. 



Opposite the window of the proprietor, is the 

 habitation of the superintendent, disposed with 

 simplicity and convenience. At the side is the 

 bake-house, an apartment well occupied in an 

 establishment so extensive, and in which the in- 

 habitants, the masters as well as the laborers, and 

 domestics, eat the same kind of bread. In the 

 bake-house, are the entries of two dairies perfectly 

 well situated and arranged, the one for winter, and 

 the other for summer — and also the entrance of 

 the steaming apparatus, of which we shall speak 

 hereafter. 



This apartment, and all connected with it, are 

 kept with a degree of order and neatness, which 

 leave nothing to be desired. 



The bread is prepared by using a kneading ma- 

 chine, with the operation of which the superin- 

 tendent is well satisfied, because the dough is well 

 worked, with less trouble and expense than if 

 kneaded by hand. It is a useful instrument — and 

 indispensable in a house where they bake fre- 

 quently, and in great quantity. 



At the end of this building is the place occupied 

 by a steaming apparatus, which has no other 

 ordinary use except the cooking of an immense 

 quantity of potatoe* for feeding all the beasts. 



At the right and left of the boiler, are two vessels 

 which can contain each, fourteen setiers of pota- 

 toes, and which, well covered, can be cooked in a 

 few hours, the fire being fed by wood of very lit- 

 lie value. 



We cannot propose, this boiling establishment 

 as a model for imitation, except for a large, farm 

 and extensive operations, directed on account of 

 the proprietor, or for a model farm: but there, 

 where it is, it renders great service, and is con- 

 sidered as one of the most useful things. It has 

 been made sometimes to serve for purposes of 

 another kind, which in this house are not less pre- 

 cious: it is to give vapor baths gratuitously to the 

 poor and sick, who could not otherwise procure 

 them. 



Gen. Lafayette had recently caused to be made 

 in the i arm-yard.* a pit, with two large ditch* s or 

 drains under the dung hill, to collect the water: 

 above the pit is a pump for the purpose of water- 

 ing the manure from the pit, and ditches which 

 empty into it. 



We noticed the poultry houses which are closed 

 on the south with a grating of iron, which per- 

 mits free entrance to the air. In another yard, to 

 the north, and serving as entrance to the farm 

 buildings, is the piggery: to this the yard is exclu- 

 sively appropriated. The greatest cleanliness is 

 here preserved — and the animals find all the at- 

 tention and space necessary for them. They ap- 

 pear to live well, and to be well managed for the 

 yielding of manure. 



Next is the press house, where the wine and 

 cider flow by subterraneous pipes into the cisterns 

 and casks placed in a large, vault on one side. 

 On the other side are sheds ibr the various plough- 

 ing utensils: and under these sheds there are im- 

 mense vaults or cellars under ground, designed to 

 hold the root crops, which are poured down through 

 trap-doors, opening under the sheds. 



At the east of these buildings there is yet ano- 

 ther yard, where stands a vast granary, closed 

 with frames of planks, which are raised or lowered 

 at will. In this building is fixed a thrashing ma- 

 chine. 



A great number of utensils of various kinds are 

 put away under the sheds, and particularly ploughs 

 of all kinds: the plough without wheels of Ro- 

 ville, that of JVI. Rose, and others Belgian and 

 American, and the Grange plough: but all the 

 work of the farm is done with the ploughs of 

 Brie. 



The object of M. Lafayette being to obtain im- 

 mediate returns, new experiments have not been 

 treated by him but as subsidiary, and on a small 

 scale. This is a model farm in respect to the pro- 

 duct obtained by a good combination of culture, 

 rather than a theoretical school of agriculture. 



The lands of the farm consist of about 500 

 arpents, of which 100 arpents are in turf and 

 meadows, given almost entirely for pasturage for 

 the sheep. 



The remaining 400 arpents are of arable land, 

 divided into fields of 24 arpents, by alleys and rows 

 of apple and pear trees. Of these, 96 arpents are 

 in lucerne, 96 in wheat, 48 in oats, 24 in barley, 

 for the purpose of being sowed in lucerne, 24 ar- 



*"Cour de la ferme," the open space surrounded by 

 the farm buildings, and not simply the dung yard, or 

 winter cow-pen, as the term is used here. — tr. 



