252 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JtJLY, 
are at least as far from a remedy. The most 
valuable suggestion about it that can now be 
made is that the most watchful care should be 
exercised not to allow a cow to abort in the 
presence, nor within sight, smell, or hearing of 
other pregnant animals, and to keep her iso¬ 
lated for at least two weeks afterward. There 
is always some indication about the udder and 
vulva of the approaching trouble. 
In the above, I trust that there is no sugges- 
Fig. 1.—FRONT ELEVATION OF COTTAGE. 
tion of anything but pleasure in the receipt of 
the letter referred to. All such letters are espe¬ 
cially welcome. I reply as I do to this one only 
because I know that the operations of many 
natural causes with which we have to deal in 
our occupation as farmers are more hidden than 
many suppose, and have already received more 
critical investigation—thus far without practical 
result. Happily, the trouble is leaving us. We 
have had no repetition of abortion in the same 
animal, and several which aborted last year have 
carried their calves to the full period. Our 
greatest loss arises from the fact that we can 
not offer for sale for a year or two cows which 
have played us this trick. The flow of milk 
has in each case risen to the usual quantity. 
I am now trying an experiment —one in the 
issue of which many beside myself will be much 
interested, because it relates to the very vital 
question of labor. Having a multiplicity of 
occupations, not all at Newport, I necessarily 
do my farming “at arm’s length,” and the arm 
Fig. 3.— PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR. 
is sometimes very much elongated indeed. All 
farmers know that what, in these days of big 
pay and short hours, is called “ a fair day’s 
work” will not answer our purpose. We want 
more steam—more pergonal interest in the work. 
At least, those who are in responsible positions 
must be stimulated to drive things. It has been 
already stated that we changed foremen this 
Spring. The new man and his wife are young, 
strong, active, and intelligent, and began very 
well indeed. It was of the.utmost consequence 
to keep them good, and to counteract the natu¬ 
ral tendency of all hired help in America to 
fall into the indolent and slip-shod ways which j 
are the bane of the whole labor question. 
Hindrek—whom even five years of American 
farm-life have been powerless to contaminate— 
had earned a reward of merit, and might have 
in him still more energy which peKsonal interest 
would develop. 
The experiment consists in an application of 
the principle which alone serves to promise a 
fair solution of the whole labor question—the 
principle of co-operation. The great difficulty 
lay in the method of application. It is easy 
enough in manufactures and in trade to decide 
what shall be a fair basis on which to divide 
profits between capital and superintendence on 
the one hand and labor on the other. I have 
even been able to make a satisfactory adjust- | 
ment of the matter in the case of my market- 
garden and greenhouses, where “co-operation” 
has worked very satisfactorily for two years 
past. But it is not easy in farmitig, where the 
capital is large in proportion to the assured 
income, and where the risks are great; where 
the element of “ luck” has more to do with the 
profit-and-loss account than in any other occu¬ 
pation ; and where the improvement or depre¬ 
ciation of the value of the land can not be esti¬ 
mated. In the case of Ogden Farm the diffi¬ 
culty is still greater because of the high value j 
of the thorough-bred stock, which is entirely j 
independent of the services of the hands. 
The basis finally decided upon was the follow¬ 
ing: Wages, household expenses, forage of all , 
kinds, and the repair of tools, etc., etc., are 
more or less under the control of the immediate 
manager of the farm. Hired pasture and pur¬ 
chased manure tend directly to increase of for¬ 
age or other crops. Consequently, these items 
are to be reckoned by themselves, on the debit 
side of the account. On the other, we put all 
sales of butter, poultry, swine, and produce of 
all kinds, and make an allowance of so much a 
month for the keep of all calves, young stock, 
and cows not in profit. Whatever profit this 
account shows at the end of the year (up to a 
certain figure) is to belong equally to the man¬ 
ager, his wife, and Hindrek. I think the basis 
is a fair one, and it is of a sort that almost any 
farmer may adopt. I do not give the figures on 
which the arrangement is established, because 
it is not necessary to the illustration, and would 
hardly be a guide in other cases; also because 
the influence of any example may as well be 
exerted without the unnecessary exposure of 
one’s personal affairs. It is enough to say that 
the sum named as the share of the three per¬ 
sons is a large one, and that I expect to have to 
i pay them the full amount. They were “satis- 
i fled” with their wages, and the}- would have 
been glad of a much smaller share of profits 
j than I have set apart for them; but the purpose 
I was to make the success of our operations in 
every detail so important to them that they 
would have the same effective interest in them j 
as though they owned tlio farm. This a small j 
sum would not have done. 
The effect on the movement and “go” of the 
whole farm is veiy much as though I had con- i 
nected it with a large galvanic battery. My 
part has become very much that of a spectator, 
and I need no longer scold, and nag, and coax, 
and wheedle. The work goes as it never 
went before—and it will keep going. The 
clamor for another servant in the house, and 
another man in the field, lias entirely ceased. 
My “how goes it?” is now answered by “ganz 
wohl” (first-rate)—it used to be “ziemlich” 
(so so). I am now told with delight that 86 lbs. 
of butter were made at the semi-weekly churn¬ 
ing; it used to be with a sad prospect of 100 
prints to make that the woman saw 50 lbs. 
come from the churn. In fact, to make a long 
story short, it makes all the difference between 
Fig. 2 .— SIDE ELEVATION OF COTTAGE. 
a pleasure and a pain in the management of the 
farm, and I am quietly chuckling over the con¬ 
viction that in straining for their bonus, these 
worthy people are quietly putting twice its 
amount into our own pockets of money that 
comes solely from their extra exertions, and 
which under the old system we never should 
have seen; so much clear profit on this little 
speculation, the foundation of which is —to give 
the laborer a share of the proceeds of his work 
and his vigilance aside from his regular wages,. 
A Neat Farm-Laborer’s Cottage. 
The demand for houses for laboring men and 
for small farmers, which shall be pretty without 
being too costly, is a rapidly growing one, and 
we are glad to present herewith the designs for 
“a pair of cottages” recently published by the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England. 
It is intended to be built of brick, except the 
gables, which are “ corbelled out 16 inches; and 
the timber walls, brick-nogged and plastered 
externally, are only six inches thick”—that is, 
timbers are built into the wall, the spaces be¬ 
tween them being filled in with broken bricks 
Fig. 4.— FLAN OF SECOND STORY. 
and plastered over so as to have the wood ex¬ 
posed to view. The partition between the two 
houses should be built of brick (eight inches) 
so as to separate their sounds. 
By altering the. interior arrangement, this 
would make a charming home for a farmer’s 
family, or an attractive suburban cottage. The 
style could be more cheaply imitated in wood, 
but brick or stone (well clad with vines) would 
be much more picturesque. The plans of the 
arrangement of the first and second stories 
being lettered need no further explanation.■ 
