THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Nov.  12 
738 
ranged  building,  between  the  residence  and  the  stables 
where  the  milking  is  done. 
“  Tell  cur  readers  as  to  your  methods  in  the  dairy,” 
said  The  Rural. 
“  The  milk  is  set  in  Cooley  creamers  as  soon  as 
strained.  After  setting  12  hours,  we  draw  it.  The 
morning  and  evening  creams  are  well  stirred  together 
and  set  in  a  warm  room,  of  a  temperature  of  about  70,  to 
ripen.  When  sufficiently  ripe,  it  is  churned  in  a  Davis 
Swing  Churn,  which  I  like  best  of  all.  When  the  but¬ 
ter  is  nicely  granulated,  I  draw  off  the  milk  and  rinse 
the  butter  twice  in  weak  brine.  It  is  then  put  on  the 
Blanchard  Butter  Worker,  and  I  like  that  the  best  of 
any  I  have  seen.  As  a  rule,  I  use  half  an  ounce  of  salt 
to  the  pound  of  butter,  sometimes  more,  if  the  cus¬ 
tomers  prefer  it,  sometimes  less.  The  butter  is 
put  up  in  prints,  is  all  sold  to  private  parties  and  at 
the  uniform  price  of  50  cents  per  pound  the  year 
around.” 
We  next  went  into  the  stables  where  the  dairy  cows 
were  being  milked.  Instead  of  the  usual  drop  or  gutter 
behind  the  cows,  there  is  a  deep  and  roomy  trench, 
made  perfectly  water-tight.  Over  this  is  a  grating  of 
iron,  and  through  this  the  droppings  go  to  the  trench, 
in  which  absorbents  of  various  kinds  are  kept  for 
utilizing  the  liquids.  The  manger  is  cut  low,  so  that 
the  cow  can  lie  down  comfortably  with  her  head  over 
it.  This  she  does,  lying  on  the  bedding  and  avoiding 
the  grate. 
Keep  the  Cow  from  her  Drink. 
Between  each  two  cows  is  the  Buckley  Watering 
Device,  which,  with  the  improvement  they  have  added, 
they  consider  an  indispensable  feature  of  every  good 
stable.  This  improvement  is  a  board  cover,  with 
simple  leather  hinges.  It  projects  over  the  edges  of 
the  basin  and  when  a  cow  wishes  to  drink,  she  raises 
the  lid  with  her  nose  and  drinks.  As  soon  as  she  re¬ 
moves  her  nose,  the  lid  drops  back  over  the  basin — it 
will  not  remain  open.  The  cows  learn  to  use  it  in  a 
single  day.  Standing  in  the  stables  one  hears  the 
clatter  of  the  lids  falling  so  often  that  we  realize  as 
never  before,  how  often  cows  will  drink  when  oppor¬ 
tunity  is  given  them. 
“  What  is  the  advantage  of  this  cover  over  the  drink¬ 
ing  bowl  ?”  we  queried  of  Mr.  Doncourt 
“That  is  r.eally  a  very  valuable  addition.  Without 
it  the  water  becomes  foul.  The  cattle  drink  and 
fling  bran  or  meal  from  their  mouths,  also  bits  of  hay 
and  ensilage  into  an  open  bowl.  This,  in  two  or  three 
days,  ferments  and  sours,  and  it  will  get  so  sour  some¬ 
times  that  the  cattle  will  not  drink  the  water.” 
“Why  not  use  the  common  metal  hinges  instead 
of  leather.  ?  ” 
“  Because  they  get  wet  and  rust,  and  when  the  cows 
crowd  up  the  lid  it  adheres  and  will  not  drop.  The 
leather  doesn’t  rust. 
How  long  have  you  fed  ensilage  ?”  we  queried  of 
Mrs.  Willetts. 
“  It  is  now  four  years  and  we  like  it  very  much,  and 
the  cows  are  of  the  same  opinion.  It  keeps  them  in 
the  best  of  health,  is  much  more  palatable  for  them 
and  it  makes  a  better  flavored  butter  than  can  be 
made  with  dry  forage.  Our  cows  do  better  on  it  than 
with  any  other  food.” 
“How  many  acres  of  corn  do  you  plant  for  ensilage?” 
“  About  15  acres.  Of  these  three  are  fed  up  while 
green  ;  the  remaining  12  go  into  the  silo.” 
“  What  grain  foods  do  you  use  ?” 
“  For  our  dairy,  mainly  bran  and  oil  meal.  For  our 
•alves,  we  prefer  barley.  In  our  experience,  it  is  the 
best  of  all.  We  grind  the  barley,  cook  it  and  mix  it 
with  skimmed  milk  and  a  little  oil  meal.  The  hot 
barley  mush  is  put  into  the  milk,  and  it  warms  the 
milk  to  just  the  desired  temperature  for  the  calves. 
They  are  very  fond  of  it  and  we  seldom  or  never  have 
any  trouble  with  scours  and  kindred  difficulties  among 
them.  In  figuring  on  grain  food  for  the  dairy,  one 
needs  to  take  into  consideration  the  large  amount 
they  get  in  their  ration  of  ensilage.  Almost  every 
stalk  of  corn  lias  on  it  an  ear  and  sometimes  it  has 
two.  This  is  really  a  very  important  factor  in  the 
grain  ration,  as  you  will  see  if  you  figure  up  the 
number  of  bushels  of  corn  you  have  in  each  ton  of 
ensilage.” 
“  How  many  men  do  you  employ  on  the  place  ?  ” 
“About  15.  Most  of  them  are  Poles  and  we  find 
them  very  good  help.” 
“The  Old  Brick”  has  such  a  good  reputation,  and  is 
becoming  so  widely  known  that  there  seems  to  be  no 
trouble  in  selling  the  stock  there  bred.  The  Guernseys 
go  about  as  fast  as  they  are  of  suitable  age  and  the 
Berkshire  pigs  migrate  early  in  life.  We  have  not 
space  to  say  all  the  good  things  which  might  be  truth¬ 
fully  said  of  the  fine  stock  on  this  fine  farm.  Visitors 
are  welcomed,  and  to  those  of  our  readers  who  are  con¬ 
noisseurs  in  fine  blooded  cattle  and  horses,  or  swine, 
we  can  safely  say  that  a  visit  to  “The  Old  Brick” 
will  amply  repay  them  for  their  trouble.  E.  G.  F. 
DOUBLE  FARM  HOUSE. 
The  majority  of  dwelling  houses  now  in  course  of 
construction  in  the  smaller  cities  for  rental  are  double. 
They  do  not  cost  twice  as  much  as  single  houses,  while 
they  are  warmer  and  nicer  for  small  families.  Houses 
on  farms  are  not  built  “To  Let  ;  ”  but  many  farmers 
near  or  past  middle  life  build  new  houses  as  though 
they  expected  to  live  and  keep  their  children  about 
them  forever.  On  farms  of  from  75  to  100  acres  there 
are  but  few  dwellings  that  do  not  contain  sufficient 
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Double  Farm  House.  Fig.  282. 
room  for  two  small  families,  which  they  usually  hold 
at  some  period,  with  more  or  less  inconvenience  to  both 
parties. 
With  but  few  exceptions,  the  time  must  come  to  every 
farmer  when  he  will  find  himself  alone  and  old  age  at 
hand,  and  then  a  second  house  must  be  built,  or  the 
proverbial  parlor  bed-room  must  be  made  to  do  ser¬ 
vice  as  a  kitchen,  and  other  changes  must  be  made 
tending  to  spoil  the  house  as  a  single  dwelling,  and 
make  it  an  inconvenient  botch  as  a  double  house.  The 
plan  shown  at  Fig.  282  is  sufficiently  simple  to  explain 
itself,  and  represents  not  a  bit  too  much  room  for  a 
farmer’s  family  of  average  size,  while  all  the  rooms 
needed  for  two  small  families  are  well  arranged  and 
entirely  distinct  from  each  other. 
As  a  single  house,  the  two  front  rooms  constitute  a 
parlor  and  living-room,  with  a  choice  of  dining-room 
and  kitchen ;  the  second  dining-room  serves  as  a 
sleeping-room,  and  the  second  kitchen  would  be  ap¬ 
preciated  as  a  wash-room,  a  cool  place  in  summer  for 
ironing,  etc.,  and  a  general  store-room  during  cold 
weather,  saving  many  steps  down  cellar.  If  the  dimen¬ 
sions  are  generous,  this  plan  will  give  to  each  side 
three  good  sleeping  rooms  on  the  second  floor,  with  a 
closet  for  each,  and  a  room  at  the  head  of  the  stairs 
for  a  bath-room.  mkdora  CORBETT. 
CHUTE  FOR  A  SILO. 
Some  years  ago  J.  M.  Drew  sent  us  a  picture  of  his 
device  for  getting  ensilage  out  of  the  silo  in  handy 
shape  for  feeding.  We  now  reproduce  the  picture  at 
Fig.  283.  It  will  be  handy  for  those  who  feed  ensilage 
from  a  wheeled  cart.  The  chute  is  2%  feet  square  and 
is  made  as  shown  in  the  picture.  The  floor,  a,  is  about 
three  feet  above  the  stable  floor  and  is  supported  by 
legs  b  b.  The  feeding-cart  is  backed  under  the  chute 
as  shown,  while  the  ensilage  is  being  thrown  down. 
Enough  is  thrown  down  at  one  time  for  two  feedings. 
When  the  cart  is  filled  it  is  backed  along  past  the 
cows,  the  ensilage  being  thrown  to  them  with  a  scoop 
shovel.  The  end  of  the  cart  is  left  open,  except  a 
small  board  c.  The  grain  bin  is  at  the  opposite  end  of 
the  feeding  alley  from  the  silo  so  that  the  grain  can  be 
fed  out  on  the  return  trip.  Some  farmers  do  not  like 
a  cart  for  feeding.  Those  who  do  will  find  this  a  con¬ 
venient  way  to  empty  the  silo. 
WHAT  MEDICINE  FOR  FARMERS’  ILLS. 
T.  B.  Terry  :  “Drainage,  tillage,  clover,  manure¬ 
saving  ;  this  is  the  grand  four-horse  team  that  will 
pull  any  farmer  out  of  the  quicksands  of  debt,  if  he 
will  make  use  of  it.  The  farmer  working  this  team 
will  need  no  special  legislation  or  two  per  cent  loans. 
With  this  four-horse  team  it  was  not  difficult  to  raise 
25  to  30  bushels  of  wheat  and  150  to  200  bushels  of 
potatoes  per  acre.” 
The  above  appeared  in  The  R.  N.-Y.  of  a  recent  d  >te 
and  the  words  are  those  of  T.  B.  Terry,  a  man  who 
stands  without  a  peer  to-day  as  an  agricultural  writer 
and  one  to  whom  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  many  kind 
suggestions.  I  used  to  believe  with  him  that  the  more 
a  farmer  produced  the  more  prosperous  he  would  be 
and  his  constant  advice  is  to  “  farm  better  and  grow 
more.” 
Now  let  us  suppose  a  case  :  we  will  say  that  every 
wheat  and  potato  grower  reads  these  words  of  Terry, 
makes  a  mighty  resolve  that  he  will  do  likewise,  and 
does  so.  The  average  yield  of  wheat  in  America  next 
year  will  then  be  25  bushels  per  acre  instead  of  13  as 
at  present,  and  that  of  potatoes  200  bushels  per  acre 
instead  of  70.  Now  as  to  the  results  :  a  little  logical 
reasoning  will  show  that  the  more  we  produce  as  a 
country  the  poorer  we  are  without  favorable  legisla¬ 
tion.  According  to  the  October  crop  report,  the  wljyat 
crop  for  the  year  amounts  to  about  500,000,000  bushels, 
a  yield  of  12  %  to  13  bushels  on  40,000,000  acres.  The 
average  price  to  the  farmer  in  the  United  States 
to-day  is  not  quite  60  cents  per  bushel.  This  gives  him 
on  an  average  $7  80  per  acre,  at  which  price  there  is 
not  one  cent  of  profit.  Now  next  year  we  follow 
Terry’s  advise  and  get  25  bushels  per  acre  on  40,000,000 
acres,  which  foots  up  the  enormous  amount  of  1,000,- 
000,000  bushels.  We  have  the  same  demand  and  double 
the  supply  ;  that  means  under  present  conditions  less 
than  30  cenls  per  bushel  to  the  farmer  or  §7.50  per 
acre.  He  has  farmed  better,  has  raised  twice  the  crop 
and  yet  sells  it  for  30  cents  an  acre  less  than  the  crop 
of  1892.  ' 
Now  as  to  potatoes :  the  average  crop  is  70  bushels 
per  acre  and  the  price  to  the  farmer  is  40  cents  per 
bushel.  Next  year  we  raise  200  bushels  per  acre  or 
nearly  three  times  the  average  crop.  There  will  be 
the  same  demand,  but  three  times  the  supply,  which 
means  one-third  the  price  or  13%  cents  per  bushel, 
while  every  farmer  who  has  made  a  close  calculation 
knows  that  it  costs  from  15  to  25  cents  to  grow  a 
bushel  of  potatoes.  Not  much  money  in  the  business 
at  13%  cents;  is  there?  and  not  even  the  much  vaunted 
tariff  of  25  cents  per  bushel  would  help  matters. 
What  is  true  of  the  results  of  increased  production 
in  these  two  crops  is  equally  true  of  oats,  barley,  corn, 
hay  and  other  crops.  Since  1860  this  country  has 
made  more  money,  increased  in  wealth  faster,  dev¬ 
eloped  its  resources  more  rapidly  than  has  any  other 
country  since  the  dawn  of  history.  The  men  who 
have  created  this  wealth  are  the  laboring  men— the 
farmer  on  his  farm,  the  mechanic  in  the  mill,  the 
blacksmith  at  the  anvil,  the  carpenter  at  the  bench 
and  the  women  and  children  in  thousands  of  factories. 
These  by  their  unceasing  toil  have  created  this  wealth. 
How  much  of  it  have  they  now  ?  The  best  authori¬ 
ties  tell  us  that  about  30,000  men  own  three-fifths  of 
the  wealth  of  the  country.  While  manufacturers, 
speculators,  railroad  operators,  trusts  and  corpora¬ 
tions  have  waxed  rich  under  the  laws  of  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  agriculture  has  languised  until 
to-day  it  is  a  most  unprofitable  pursuit  and  greater 
production  is  not  the  means  to  put  it  in  its  true  place 
among  the  industries  of  the  land.  Right  here  in 
western  New  York  where  more  is  produced  on  a  given 
area  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States, 
farming  is  as  a  rule  a  most  unsatisfactory  business. 
Four-fifths  of  our  farms  are  mortgaged  and  our  farmers 
are  working  longer  hours  for  less  pay  than  any  other 
class.  In  “  Darkest  England,”  in  the  “  Whitechapel  ” 
district,  bakers  work  90  hours  a  week  for  §3.90  and 
board,  and  in  western  New  York,  the  “garden”  of 
the  Empire  State,  are  scores  of  farmers  working  for 
their  board  and  clothes,  and  poor  clothes  at  that. 
From  this  statement,  some  may  call  me  a  “calamity 
howler,”  and  I  am  one,  so  are  many  prominent  Re¬ 
publicans  and  Democrats.  A  Republican  Assembly- 
man  from  a  neighboring  county  told  me  his  county 
was  mortgaged  for  more  than  it  would  sell  for  “under 
the  hammer.”  An  ex-County  Judge,  of  Monroe  County, 
the  second  county  in  point  of  value  of  its  agricultural 
products  in  the  United  States,  a  Democrat,  said  last 
week  that  “  the  farmers  are  the  most  unprosperous  of 
her  citizens,  many  of  her  farms  were  mortgaged,  and 
unless  relief  came  soon,  her  farmers  would  be  reduced 
to  tenantry.”  Both  “  calamity  howlers  !  ” 
Now  as  to  the  remedies :  The  Republicans  say: 
“  McKinleyism  and  contracted  currency.”  The  Demo¬ 
crats  exclaim  :  “Take  just  10  per  cent  off  the  Mc¬ 
Kinley  tariff,  give  free  raw  material  and  uncontracted 
currency.”  Mr.  Terry  says:  “  Produce  twice  as  much.” 
Now,  how  would  this  do  ?  Restore  silver  to  its  ti-ue 
