12 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Jaottart, 
for those terribly hot days in July, which dried up 
the wheat in Southern Minnesota, the crop would 
have approximated to sixty millions of bushels. 
The St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, and the 
Sioux City and St. Paul, which are virtually one 
line, have together a total land grant in Minnesota 
and Iowa of about 1,492,000 acres. These lands 
average about §6.50 an acre. Most of the lands are 
well adapted to wheat. Many of the New England 
people are settling in Minnesota, and the great ma¬ 
jority of the farmers are of the desirable class. 
When the St. Paul and Pacific Road is completed 
to Manitoba, there will be a large traffic opened 
between Minnesota and the British Possessions. 
Manitoba is being rapidly settled, owing to the en¬ 
couragement and inducements which the Dominion 
Government holds out to immigrants.—A portion 
of this correspondence, describing the Colorado 
Sheep Ranches, is given on page 13 of this number. 
Notes From Deerfoot Farm. 
This farm having become somewhat noted for its 
products, we present a few items of its operations, 
gathered on the premises, that will be suggestive, 
and of practical use to others. The farm shows 
what may be done by an educated man (a graduate 
of Harvard) who turns 
his whole thought, time 
and energy to farm opera¬ 
tions. We have often 
claimed that a thorough 
education is just as im¬ 
portant, just as useful to 
a farmer or business man 
as it is in the professions. 
Deerfoot Farm is locat¬ 
ed in Southboro, Massa¬ 
chusetts, 25 miles west¬ 
erly from Boston. It now 
comprises 350 acres, in¬ 
cluding some rented land, 
of which 160 acres are in 
pasture and 75 acres in 
meadow, which is mowed 
two and three times each 
season, the aim being to 
have all the hay rowen. 
In five years the yield 
has been increased from 
75 to 200 tons. Some 
of this has been cleared 
of rocks at a cost of 
§200 per acre, and pays 
a good interest on the 
investment; 25 acres of 
meadow now being re¬ 
claimed, promises to 
make the finest grass 
field on the farm.-Of 
this farm 200 acres were 
owned by the elder Mr. 
Burnett from 1854 to 1871, who kept a herd of su¬ 
perior Jersey cows, but made farming secondary to 
his other business. Some seven years ago it was 
taken in hand by the present proprietor, Mr. 
Edward Burnett, and the entire 350 acres is now 
mainly devoted to dairy and swine husbandry. 
The first year Mr. Burnett sold half a dozen sur¬ 
plus dressed pigs to some friends. Their superi¬ 
ority at once. created a demand for more, which 
called for 30 pigs the second year ; 75 the third ; 
200 the fourth ; 600 the fifth ; last year about 1,500; 
and this season between 2,000 and 3,000—which sell 
at prices nearly double the usual market rates. 
The chief “ secret ” of this success is: First, in 
killing pigs not exceeding 200 lbs. live weight, and 
not over ten months old—those from five to six 
months being preferred. Second , in feeding such 
food ouly as will make a firm, healthful flesh—and 
Third, in the killing, dressing and packing. The 
product is really “ pig pork ”—very different from 
common and coarse hog-pork, so often raised upon 
unclean slops and offal, in the midst of filth and 
discomfort. About 350 of this season’s pigs were 
raised upon the farm, and the rest came mainly from 
dairy terms in Vermont and Western Massachusetts, 
where they were grown specially for this place. 
They are chiefly Berkshire and small Yorkshire, 
valued for the superiority of their side sand shoul¬ 
ders. The Essex and Suffolk breeds mature so 
quickly, that they are too fat for the special use of 
this farm. The young pigs are fed either with skim- 
milk, or bran, with one-third oatmeal, but have no 
concentrated food. They run a good deal in the pas¬ 
ture. At five months, they are given three parts corn 
meal and one part oat meal cooked to a thick mush. 
Any purchased pigs found not to be corn-fed,shown 
by their flabbiness of flesh, are sold in the local 
markets at ordinary prices. The slaughter-house 
is as clean as a dairy, and the work is done quietly 
and systematically. The dressed carcasses hang 48 
hours in a large refrigerator before being cut up. 
The salted pork is put into scalded brine in neat 
kegs, holding 15, 25, 50 and 100 pounds each, for 
family and hotel use. The pure kettle-rendered lard 
from this establishment is a superior article, free 
from the impurities and foreign substances incor¬ 
porated with much of the lard sold in the general 
market. The chines and spare-ribs are shipped 
fresh to the consumer. The “ little sausages ” are 
made from choice parts, such as bits of the chine, 
shoulders, spare-ribs, etc. Most of the parts that 
ordinarily go into sausages, here go into soap- 
grease. Great care is taken to use only the best 
quality of spices. We have tried the sausages sev¬ 
eral times, and found them excellent, though not 
lovers of the article as usually made. “ Deerfoot 
Breakfast Bacon,” is another popular product, and 
the regular demand for it far exceeds the supply. 
The sides, hams, and jowls, are hand-rubbed with 
the best salt, sugar, and saltpetre, and turned daily 
fora month, and then exposed to smoke from green 
hickory, admitted cool through sub-earth flues. 
They are sent to market in canvas bags. All the 
buildings of the farm are simply constructed,atcom- 
paratively small expense, and with an eye to profit. 
Though the Pork business is a marked feature,and 
stands as a new departure in this line on a large 
scale, the Dairy is an important part of Deerfoot 
farm, as it has produced about 10,000 pounds of high 
quality butter in a single year. The cows are Jer¬ 
seys, with a few grades and natives, some of the 
former being remarkable for their large yields. 
“ Patty ” gave 19 quarts of milk per day at 3 years 
old ; “Deerfoot Maid ” gave 38 to 39 pounds a day 
at 4 years old, and another cow yielded 8,532 
pounds of milk during 1877 (the largest yield on 
record we believe), from which 400 pounds of but¬ 
ter were made, A likeness of “ Deerfoot Boy,” 
which stands at the head of the herd, is shown in 
the engraving herewith. The dairy rooms are 
models of neatness, compactness, and convenience. 
Mr. Burnett gives us his method of making but¬ 
ter : “ I set the milk 24 hours in tanks, in ice-water, 
at 45°, then skim and put it away to ‘ripen,’ letting 
it turn slightly, which generally takes 48 hours. 
We chum in summer at 54° to 56°, and in Winter 
at 60° to 62°, using the old-fashioned barrel churn. 
When the butter has gathered in grains about the 
size of large peas, the butter-milk is drawn off and 
the butter rinsed two or three times with weak brine 
at a temperature according to the season. It is then 
worked rapidly with the “ Walker Roller,” and 
dried with sponges, and 3 ounces of double refined 
Liverpool salt added to every 10 lbs. It stands 4 
to 5 hours for the salt to dissolve and is again 
worked rapidly a few times. It is then made into 
1 lb. packages, put into tightly covered tin boxes 
and placed in the refrigerator. Next morning each 
lump is wrapped in a muslin napkin, previously 
rinsed in brine, and is ready for market. 
Experiments are in progress to test a use for the 
the cream, comparatively new in this country. The 
milk is set in shallow pans and immediately heated 
to 160 deg., and then covered by a long box holding 
two large galvanized-iron tubes filled with ice and 
salt, which cool the milk rapidly to near the freez¬ 
ing point (see previous 
page). This process gives 
the “ clouted cream,” 
which is so stiff, that a 
spoon will stand upright 
in it. So far the experi¬ 
ment is successful; the 
cream in this form being 
sold to city families and 
hotels at a high price. 
The large herd of cows 
and the numerous hogs, 
consume all the field 
crops of the farm, besides 
about $5,000 worth of 
grain, purchased annual¬ 
ly. The large amount 
of manure produced is 
rapidly increasing the fer¬ 
tility of the farm; the 
whole of which was top- 
dressed with fine manure 
last fall. A steam boiler 
and engine drives the 
machinery of the slaugh¬ 
ter house, and a pipe 
carries steam thence to 
a small engine in the 
dairy,to run the churn and 
heat the water. A book¬ 
keeper attends to the 
accounts, and the whole 
farm is run on business 
principles. Mr. Burnett 
has built up this busi¬ 
ness by his energy and ability. He loves his work, 
and is well satisfied with having turned his college 
education into this channel. He has spent much 
time, money and thought in experiments, but 
invites any of his brother farmers to visit and in¬ 
spect his work and methods, and freely adopt any¬ 
thing they can find useful for their own practice. 
Our native Asters are so common everywhere 
in the autumn months that they are rarely culti¬ 
vated in our gardens, though they are highly prized 
abroad where they are known, in England at least 
as “Michaelmas Daisies.” English horticulturists 
get quite enthusiastic over them, and so would our 
growers, did they cost a dollar a plant, instead of 
only the trouble of digging. The New England 
Aster (Aste)' Nova;-Anr/lice) is one of the showiest, 
with large flowers with rich purple rays, and we 
have found its rose-colored variety a very fine bor¬ 
der plant. Aster ptarmieoides is a fine species, with 
pure white small flowers, excellent for large bou¬ 
quets. According to Yilmorin, these Asters are 
readily raised from seed, and, what is not usual with 
the perennial plants, they flower the first year. 
HEAD OF “DEERFOOT BOY,” OF DEERFOOT FARM, SOUTHBORO, MASS. 
