1869. 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



359 



The whole of this floor is level, with no posts or par- 

 titions, except those at the corners to prevent a free 

 paa^iige of a horse and cart. Fig 1 represents the water 

 tank ; 2, the steam box ; 3, the meal chest; 4, the horse- 

 power ; 5, the straw cutter. 



The first story is designed for stables, and 

 the second story for storing forage. In this 

 second, on the left hand as you enter, is a 

 reservoir of water that is filled by a forc- 

 ing pump, run by a wind-wheel, situated quite 

 a distance out in the lot. From this reservoir, 

 pipes conduct the water down to the stable 

 where it is carried along in front of the cows, 

 with a trough for each animal, from which it 

 can sip at pleasure. In the right hand corner 

 of the barn, as you enter, and opposite the 

 reservoir, is a room for keeping meal and 

 grain ; it also contains a box, in which hay is 

 steamed for the cattle. The steam boiler be- 

 ing in a small room attached to the barn, the 

 steam is conveyed in pipes to the bottom of the 

 feed box. The quality of the hay that was fed 

 at the time of my visit, was poor ; having cost 

 only $12 per ton, or less than half the price 

 of good hay ; yet the cattle and horses ate it 

 without waste. The feed was cut by horse 

 power. 



Steaming hay is another innovation that is 

 looked upon with distrust by most farmers, 

 yet it is evident to me that it is both reasona- 

 ble and profitable, and can be conducted with 

 so little expense that it will pay. But it will 

 be adopted only by those who love their cattle 

 and detire to do well by them, and to make the 

 greatest profit from them. When one sees 

 how simple is the apparatus necessary, many 

 of the objections to steaming cattle food will 

 appear less forcible. 



The cattle chosen by Col. W. are not yet 

 popular among the mass of farmers, but it 

 may be that the same experience that proves 

 draining and steaming profitable will place the 

 Jersey cattle in advance of all others for a 

 butter dairy. There are about twenty head of 

 Jer eys here. Two of the cows cost nine 

 hundred dollars. However well they may do 

 at the pail they do not satisfy the eye, and 

 should not be bred extensively where working 

 oxen, beef and cheese are as desirable as 

 butter. 



In regard to draining, one old farmer said 

 to me that "Horace Greeley told us in an ad- 



dress before the agricultural society that 'the 

 farms ought to be drained to be worked to the 

 greatest profit;'" "but," said my friend, 

 "that is a foolish idea, because for two months 

 in the summer we are now dried up as hard as 

 a brick, and if we should dig ditches and lay 

 tile, so as to let the warm air underneath, it 

 would make the land so hot we could not raise 

 anything." 



Now I have walked the length of the island 

 five times, by all its different roads, and sev- 

 eral time across it, through the fields, through 

 the pastures, where the turf had been broken 

 up by the feet of cattle, where moss is 

 growing rankly, where blackberry and other 

 bushes are working in with poor pasture 

 grasses, and I fully believe Horace Gree- 

 ley was nearly right. Draining woulrl make 

 many acres of now unprofitable land, the most 

 productive. The success of Messrs. Ander- 

 son and Waring will doubtless prove that warm 

 air in the tiles will not be so disastrous as 

 cold water in the soil. 



Good, well-managed farms are so plenty 

 near Newport that it would perhaps be hardly 

 just to speak of any to the exclusion of others. 

 One thousand dollars per acre have been 

 offered for one farm of ninety acres Another 

 farm of 100 acres rents for seven dollars per 

 acre, and the tenant pays the taxes ; but the 

 income from a flock of sheep of less than 100 

 pays the rent. Another man, speaking of 

 sheep, said that he received over $30 each 

 from several sheep he wintered. The sheep 

 had twin lambs in the winter, and in June the 

 three sold for nine dollars each — $27, leaving 

 the fleece of six pounds of wool to make up 

 the balance. It is evident that the value of 

 land does not decide what kiad of stock shall 

 be kept. But all pays a profit according to 

 the way it is managed. 



Mr. Maitland's Villa, Deer, Breton Cattle, &c. 



The place of R. L. Maitland, just north 

 of the city of Newport, has many objects of 

 interest, but few can be mentioned without 

 making this article too long, I fear. The 

 American deer are kept in an enclosure of 

 perhaps an acre, surrounded by a picket fence 

 ten feet high. This yard contains many 

 spruce, locust and other trees, ar.d a thick 

 grove around the outside. There are now 

 only twelve deer in the park, most of which 

 are young animals. Eleven were shot a few 

 weeks ago and taken to New York. Their food 

 is corn, of which they consume half a bushel 

 a day, eating it from troughs like sheep, and 

 twice a week carrots or beets. They are not 

 fed hay. They are as wild as common sheep. 

 They breed freely. This herd was commenced 

 a few years ago with two does and a buck. 

 There are many amusements more costly and 

 less useful than keeping a few of these beau- 

 tiful animals. 



The Breton cattle are represented here by a 

 mature bull, Tom Thumb, three and one-half 



