43^ 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1908 



Our First Colt Was a Beauty 



The Broad Acres Contain Many a Quiet Spot 



The Sheep Were Raised for Their'Wool and to Bring Back Fertility to the Worn-Out Soil 



These thrive so on skim 

 milk, specially planted pas- 

 ture-meal, beets and corn, 

 that there is no doubt that 

 they have come to stay. The 

 demand for pigs has been 

 so great that we have re- 

 fused buyers for ours from 

 the time they were a few 

 weeks old. Next year we 

 shall raise more than twice 

 as many. 



This spring new fruit 

 trees were set out, wire 

 fences largely replaced the 

 sagging rails, corn, pota- 

 toes, oats, were put in large 

 fields, while smaller pieces 

 were planted in barley, 

 buckwheat, wheat and peas 

 to supplement the oats and 

 provide for the poultry. 

 Besides the hay which the 

 unplowed land produced, 

 there were fine crops of 

 Hungarian grass for the 

 horses and a mixture of oats 

 and peas cut green as a spe- 

 cial treat for the sheep. 

 Then there was an acre of 

 beets, turnips and carrots to 

 be stored for the winter, 

 and eaten with such relish 

 by all the animals when the 

 green feed is gone. I can 

 see a silo looming up in 

 the near future, by the time 

 our cows number a dozen or 

 more. 



But all has not been 

 smooth sailing by any 

 means. The question of 

 help has been the greatest 

 problem — that is, good 

 help. We are gradually re- 

 placing men by machinery 

 as far as it is possible, and 

 find that it is better to hire 

 reliable men at good wages 

 than to try to keep cheap 

 help. The damage that a 

 careless, ignorant hand can 

 do to valuable stock and 

 machinery will more than 

 pay the wages of a good 

 man. 



Then the estimate we 

 made for the last winter's 

 food supply was too low, 

 which is not surprising, for 

 it was our first year in this 

 climate, where the winter 

 lasts until June. By March 

 what hay we could find that 

 was near enough to haul 

 over the roads in their fear- 

 ful spring condition, was of 

 very poor quality. But it 

 was that or nothing, and 

 had to be used for the sheep. 



