JOHN  GOULD’S  BARNYARD  OF  DAIRY-BUILT  SHORT-HORNS.  Fig.  296. 
there  has  been  some  weeding  out  in  the  past  three 
years,  but  most  of  the  herd  are  those  bought  in  the 
‘wilds’ of  Indiana  three  years  ago.  They  calved,  in 
the  fall,  but  like  all  winter  dairies,  they  come  in  all 
the  way  from  September  to  January  1.  ].t  is  my  in¬ 
tention  to  have  1,000-pound  cows,  but  it  is  found  with 
my  method  of  care,  that  they  will  grow,  and  take  on 
size,  so  that  those  first  purchased  are  now  from  100  to 
200  pounds  heavier  than  when  purchased. 
“  The  care  is  a  little  peculiar  to  myself,  and  has 
been  keenly  criticised  in  many  quarters.  Assuming 
that  the  milking  season  commences  November  1,  the 
cows  are  actually  then  put  on  their  winter  rations; 
but  previous  to  this,  those  that  are  giving  milk,  fresh 
ones  and  strippers,  are  soiled  with  plenty  of  sweet 
corn  fodder,  and  two  pounds  of  ‘  oat  dust  ’  each  daily. 
As  soon  as  the  nights  get  cool,  they  are  kept  in,  but 
nothiDg  but  the  food  consumed  during  the  day  is 
given,  allowing  them  to  digest  the  rations  fed,  by  day¬ 
light.  By  Thanksgiving  they  go  into  winter-quart¬ 
ers,  and  will  be  practically  kept  in  the  stalls  till 
Easter  Sunday.  Commencing  about  November  15,  the 
silos  are  opened,  and  for  the  next  six  months,  the 
ration  will  substantially  be  50  pounds  of  ensilage,  five 
to  six  pounds  of  wheaten  ‘  seconds,’  and  from  three  to 
five  of  the  best  clover  hay  to  each  cow  daily,  varying 
of  course  somewhat  according  to  the  demands  of  the 
animals.  The  eows  are  watered  twice  a  day,  but  a 
amount,  so  that  this  year  when  the  first  of  the  cows 
came  into  the  dairy  in  September,  eight  of  the  12  were 
yet  giving,  on  the  average,  15  pounds  each  daily. 
The  milk  record  of  the  12  cows  for  the  12  months 
ending  November  1,  is  a  trifle  over  71,000  pounds,  but 
if  the  amount  were  to  include  the  milk  between  calv¬ 
ing  in  1891  and  in  1892,  then  about  4,000  pounds  of 
milk  should  be  added  to  this ;  and  three  of  the  cows 
to  calve  near  New  Year’s  are  still  giving  a  united  mess 
of  40  pounds  daily. 
“  While  all  are  good  cows,  attention  is  called  to  one 
that  stands  with  her  head  by  the  stone  work,  a 
pure-bred  Short-horn  that  calved  on  August  25,  1892, 
and  came  into  the  dairy  with  a  32-pound  mess  of  milk. 
When  she  had  completed  her  year  of  milk-giving,  she 
gave  18  pounds  a  day.  At  380  days  she  gave  nine 
pounds,  and  the  400th  three  pounds,  when  she  was 
given  her  liberty  until  Christmas.  While  I  have  no 
great  record  breakers,  the  dairy  is  a  fair  one,  and  the 
animals  are  long  milk-givers,  and  their  performance 
is  somewhat  contrary  to  the  general  opinion  that  a 
good  herd  cannot  be  bought,  but  must  be  raised, 
though  a  friend  says  the  opinion  is  all  right  with  a 
summer  dairy,  but  will  not  hold  good  with  a  winter 
one.  The  milk  of  the  herd  is  sold  at  the  door,  and 
the  average  price  received  for  the  year  is  slightly 
above  SI.  10  per  100  pounds.  The  picture  shows  only 
nine  cows,  Three  of  them  refused,  after  the  most 
urgent  persuasion,  to  have  their  photos  taken  for  The 
Rural,  hence  they  are  omitted.” 
berries  for  more  than  30  years,  and  previous  to  that  he 
experimented  several  seasons  at  least  before  learning 
what  avenue  in  agriculture  he  was  best  qualified  for. 
The  snows  of  experience  had  not  whitened  his  beard 
then.  He  was  a  young  man,  and  in  buying  a  farm 
“  got  his  eye  teeth  cut.”  He  liked  farming,  and  per¬ 
haps  from  sentiment,  possibly  because  he  lacked  a  big 
fortune,  he  did  not  buy  the  richest  and  best  farm  in 
town.  But  certainly  one  beautiful  for  location  was 
selected,  and  it  can  be  no  longer  called  poor  or  un¬ 
profitable. 
“  This  section  was  not  then  what  it  is  now,”  said 
Mr.  Burr  to  a  Rural,  representative  recently.  “I  had 
not  owned  the  tract  long  when  I  became  conscious  of 
having  made  a  blunder  in  buying,  and  the  conscious¬ 
ness  made  me  sick.  I  spent  some  time  looking  about, 
comparing  my  place  with  others  and  trying  to  sell  out. 
I  even  went  to  Michigan  and  got  a  refusal  of  a  farm 
on  which  I  thought  I  could  do  better.  But  I  could  not 
afford  to  sell  at  a  loss,  and  decided  that  I  would  make 
the  most  of  what  I  had  ;  that  if  it  were  not  the  best  in 
the  world  and  the  center  of  all  happiness,  I  would 
make  it  all  this.  Whether  my  endeavors  have  been 
successful  no  stranger  can  decide  except  by  our  sur¬ 
roundings.”  The  pride  shown  in  the  beautiful  home 
and  delightful  environments  by  Mr.  Burr  and  his 
family  speaks  more  plainly  than  words  the  truth  that 
“  there  is  no  place  like  home.” 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
1892 
A  HERD  OF  DAIRY-SHAPED  SHORT-HORNS. 
RECORD  OF  A  DOZEN  COWS. 
A  Cheap  Cow  Ration. 
Below  is  shown  a  picture  of  the  dairy  of  John  Gould 
of  Ohio.  All  our  readers  know  of  John  Gould  and 
many  have  seen  and  heard  him  at  farmers’  institutes. 
The  following  story  he  tells  about  his  cows  will  in¬ 
terest  all. 
“At  the  start  the  object  of  this  dairy,  aside  from 
‘  incidental  revenue,’  is  to  demonstrate  to  the  dairy¬ 
man  at  large,  that  it  is  possible  to  have  a  paying  dairy, 
with  such  cows  as  he  can  buy  in  the  open  market  at 
fair  prices,  and  by  proper  care  and  attention  make 
them  pay,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  the  feed 
consumed  during  the  year.  The  dairy  is  made  up  of 
cows  purchased  out  of  droves  of  late  summer  milkers 
on  their  way  to  New  York,  and  the  highest-priced 
cowin  the  herd  of  12  cost  $36.  They,  as  the  photo¬ 
graph  shows,  are  inclined  to  Short-horn  blood,  but 
they  are  all  selected  with  the  dairy  form  in  mind, 
the  beef  type  being  rejected  every  time.  Of  course 
watering  device  will  be  used  in  the  future,  so  that 
each  can  drink  when  she  chooses. 
“  The  cows  are  tied  w'th  ‘Dutch  halters,’  two  in  a 
half  stall,  six  feet  four  inches  wide,  and  on  a  two- 
thirds  dirt  floor,  plenty  of  bedding  being  used,  and 
absorbents  in  the  gutter.  The  stable  is  warm  and 
light — sunlight  being  sought  in  abundance  on  the 
three  sides  of  the  stalls — and  plenty  of  fresh  air  is  in¬ 
troduced,  but  there  is  little  draft.  The  stables  never 
freeze,  and  the  water  is  pumped  from  a  deep  rock 
well,  into  a  large,  closely  covered  iron  tank  standing 
in  the  stable,  so  that  the  cows  get  it  at  a  temperature 
of  about  50  degrees. 
“In  the  spring  the  cows  are  not  turned  out  until 
the  grass  has  made  a  good  growth — usually  about 
May  5  to  10.  The  ‘seconds’  grain  is  dropped  off  grad¬ 
ually,  and  oat  dust  at  $9  per  ton  substituted,  and 
about  two  pounds  are  fed  daily  to  each  cow  as  long  as 
she  continues  to  give  milk,  which  all  will  do  until 
within  two  months  of  calving.  I  am  finding  out  that 
with  the  winter  milker  this  habit  of  longer  milk¬ 
giving  becomes  stronger  and  more  pronounced  in 
111 
STRAWBERRIES  AS  A  FARM  CROP.  1 
WITH  FERTILIZERS  THEY  SAVE  AN  ABANDONED  FARM; 
Back  farms  can  grow  the  fruit  profitably  as  shown  by  a 
rough,  poor  New  England  farm  12  miles  from  market; 
a  heroic  effort  and  a  brilliant  success;  an  example  for 
others;  over  1,200  bushels  of  strawberries  sold  during 
the  past  summer,  $10,000  worth  in  three  seasons. 
How  He  Came  To  Settle  There. 
Leaving  the  shores  of  the  blue  and  restless  Long 
Island  Sound  at  the  bustling  city  of  Bridgeport,  a  drive 
of  an  hour  and  a  half  through  a  region  of  varying  hill 
scenery  takes  one  to  one  of  the  most  famous  straw¬ 
berry  farms  in  New  England.  It  is  situated  on  Elm 
Street  in  the  town  of  Monroe,  Conn.,  and  James  Burr 
is  the  owner.  A  thoughtful  and  dignified  man  is  he, 
yet  genial  and  exceedingly  entertaining  because  thor¬ 
oughly  informed.  He  is  a  delightful  example  of  what 
man  can  achieve  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 
’Twas  many  years  ago  when  Mr.  Burr  bought  his  farm, 
according  as  young  folks  count  time.  Just  how  many 
’twould  be  hard  to  tell.  He  has  been  raising  straw- 
