TULY ii 
ply to such queries. But when it comes to station work 
for the general instruction of the people on points beyond 
their reach, the matter is entirely different. 
Tin sap buckets and Post’s galvanized ironspoutsare used. 
Mr. Conger’s cattle are all purebred Ayrshires. One of 
them is shown at Fig. 187. He began with this breed in 
1S69, paying very high prices for stock to begin with. He 
never has seen the time when he wanted to change to any 
other breed, as his Ayrshires are easy keepers and large 
milk producers. lie now has 27 head, 21 being cows that 
give milk, and they yield a large quantity, which is of 
good quality. It is carried to the cheese factory less than 
a quarter of a mile from the barn. One cow’s milk is kept 
at home to make butter for the family. Mr. Conger has 
made money breeding Ayrshires He is a member of theAyr- 
shire Breeders’Association, and his stock are all registered. 
There are two teams to do the work on the farm, a pair 
of black ponies weighing 700 pounds apiece, and a pair of 
supplied with news and story papers. In fact home is 
made a very attractive place. Neither Mr Conger nor his 
son ever uses liquor or tobacco, nor will they employ a 
farm hand who is addicted to the use of either. Mr. Conger 
is 65 years of age and has always lived on a farm. His 
wife died over a year ago, and his only child, a son about 
26 years of age, is married and resides with him. This year 
the son assumes the management of the farm. 
THE SILO SAVES GARDE.V WASTES. 
J. M. SMITH. 
We are now—June 10—pulling and selling bunch onions, 
radishes, lettuce, asparagus, etc., and have more or less 
waste. This is all gathered up every day and distributed 
in the pens for the swine. I keep a number of Berkshire^, 
mostly sows, for breeding purposes. I stl 
-1 Borne of the pigs while young; others a-e 
fattened with but little extra feed, and 
butchered at home, and sold to men wh 
have families and are working for me. 
We cure a full supply for ourselves. 
The first part of July we shall commence 
cutting cabbage for market, and then 
there will be a large amount of leaves 
that are really valuable for feed if they 
are only cared for in time. I also have a 
little herd of Jersey cows, and the cabbage 
leaves are divided between them and the 
swine. It is often said that they will 
flavor both milk and butter in a disagree¬ 
able manner. We feed our cows at the 
time they are being milked, or immediately 
» afterwards, and have never found any dis¬ 
agreeable taste or any bad results of any 
ll j kind ; and during the fall we give the ani- 
±J male about all they will eat both night and 
-rrr :: morning. We stable them at night the year 
around ; and from July to freezing weather 
i'-t'irkt''- '"f^4 In fall this is one of their supplies of 
.. food. 
We set out from 80,000 to 100,000 cab 
j bage plants per year, and do our best 
for large crops. This gives us a good many 
wagon-loads of nice, fresh leaves late in 
the fall. They are gathered and put into 
a silo built for this purpose, but for the last two years we 
have put our small carrots into it without topping, and 
find that they keep nicely. These make splendid winter 
feed for breeding sows even without any other feed, and 
with only a little fe^d mixed with them, will keep grow¬ 
ing pigs doing well all winter. 
Our small potatoes are put away In the fall, and kept 
until spring, and then boiled, and a little feed is mixed 
w.th them then, a ad fed out as may be needed. We have 
just hauled the last 10 bushels of them to-day. We almost 
alwa> s have more flat turnips than we find a market for ; 
and they are fed out both to the swine and the young 
stock or cows not giving milk. The common Purple-top 
flat turnip is worth much more for feed than one would 
infer from our chemists’ analyses. Weeds 
are also gathered and thrown into the 
pens, provided they do not contain ripe 
seeds. In this manner we keep quite a 
little drove of nice Berkshire hogs in nice 
condition by purchasing only a small 
amount of their feed. 
^ We have a second silo for our cows and 
£ young stock. We have some three or four 
“> £ plantings of sweet corn. Just as soon as 
t the last picking of merchantable corn has 
_ <T ~—-—-I been taken from one planting men go 
fa, I through and cut the stalks, laying them in 
_ k small bundles. They are followed by 
at a cost of over $2,500. It is 40 by 100 feet 
with 24-foot outside posts and a third pitch k 
roof. It is sided with good matched piDe 
and battened, and is therefore quite warm. ji J 
There is a good stone wall under it and a 
good stone foundation for each inside post. 
On the top there is a good ventilator or jj | 
cupola 8x8 feet and 12 feet high. The barn 
is painted white. A good view of its ex¬ 
terior is shown at Fig. 185. When it was flrilfH 
built an iron roof was put on at a cott of 
$375; but it proved a failure. After being • V jffji J 
bothered a few years with its blowing off, Wffejii-ffliy.-. 
leaking, etc., Mr. Conger took it cff and 
put on the very best of pine shingles. irrod 
In Fig. 186 can be seen the arrangement 
of the lower part of the interior of the barn. j 
All doors, with the exception of two, are 
hung on rollers. It is well supplied with , 
windows. There is room for 32 cows and 
seven horses. In the corner of the barn 
next the well there is a granary 14 feet 
square on the second floor. Spouts run from the various 
bins so that grain can be readily drawn into the 
bins or bags on the first floor. The remainder of the 
second story is used for hay and straw. Through the 
peak of the barn there is an iron rod on which runs a 
Clark’s hay elevator and carrier. 
The sheds were erected at a cost of over $600. They are 
16 feet wide, 140 feet long on the west, and 102 feet on the 
south. They are nine feet high on the back side and 22 
feet high on the side naxt to the cow yards. The latter is 
open below (with the exception of the box stalls shown in 
the diagram), so that the cows may go under at will. 
There are mangers around the back side of the shed. A 
good stone wall is under the back sills and a large stone 
under each front post—there being no sills 
in front. The two box stalls shown in the 
diagram have an earth floor. These sheds 
are sided and shingled with hemlock. The 
upper part is used for corn, corn stalks, etc. 
In winter the cows remain in the yard 
half the day. They can move about and 
enjoy themselves. When it storms they 
can stay under the sheds. Mr. Conger pre¬ 
fers this yard to one that is entirely cov¬ 
ered, as the cows have a chance to get fresh 
air and sunshine. It is protected from wind 
on all sides, for along the east side is a 
tight board fence eight feet high. The monk* *oJ ve' 
cows pass out of the tarn at the doors I'L,,* 
marked A, and enter the shed at the door .--l-i-—^ 
marked B. B is the gate leading to the ^ 
night pasture. D is the gate through which 
the cows pass to the day pasture across 
the road, in summer the cattle do not enter 
this yard (as there is plenty of water in the 
pastures), then the sheds are handy to 
protect farm machinery at night or when 
not in use. In the fall they make a nice 
BARN AT MAPLE SHADE STOCK FARM. Fig. 185 
SHEDS 
GARDEN & SMALL fRU/13, 
WINDMILL 
COW YARD 
|mo<* 
iMOOJt 
U>*2¥ 
CAHHiAW 
iLflCHS 
CARPFN1C 
vwJure 
RtTPAlfc 
SHOP. 
HORSED 
nou>f 
C0W6 
.BARN °»«"W 
WA60NS4- 
iFAHn IMPLEMENTS- 
COwfe, 
COW YARD- 
Ci-AW.DE N 
a shed on the west side. The shop is a 
two-story building, and is one of the most 
important on the farm. Mr. Conger and 
his son are both carpenters and the shop 
is furnished with three good sets of car¬ 
penter’s tools, also a full set of moulding 
and matching plants and some foot-power machinery, 
such as buzz saws (both cross and rip), scroll saws, a turn¬ 
ing lathe, boring machine and grooving machine. In this 
shop time can be profitably employed on rainy days and 
during the winter months. It saves the paying out of 
many dollars in the course of a year. 
The front part of the residence is two stories high and 
was built in 1832. The other part is one story high and 
was built at a later date. With the exception of the house, 
Mr. Conger has erected all the new buildings, and has 
made many changes in the house, so that although it is 
not entirely new, it is a good d welling. It is painted white 
with green blinds. 
The hen house, hog-house and sugar-house are all one- 
story buildings. The sugar-house is supplied with a good 
Vermont evaporator. The shed on the east side of the 
sugar house is for the btorage tank for sap. The sugar 
grove situated nearby contains about 225 trees, and maple 
sugar and syrup of good quality are made each spring. 
ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS AT MAPLE SHADE STOCK FARM 
Fig. 186. 
is used, and fertilizer also in the gardens. For other crops 
no fertilizer is used as a general thing, except perhaps 
for oats. It depends then upon the season and condition 
of the land whether it is used or not. The farm is well 
supplied with fruit trees. 
The machinery and Implements used on the farm are one 
Syracuse walking plow for garden plowing, one Big Injun 
riding plow for field plowing, one harrow, one cultivator, 
one grain drill, one Johnston reaper, one Johnston mower, 
one Tiger sulky hay rake, one fanning mill, and a large 
quantity of forks, rakes, shovels, hoes and other small 
tools too numerous to be mentioned ; and also the follow¬ 
ing vehicles : One heavy farm wagon, one milk wagon, one 
spring wagon, two covered buggies, one two-seated covered 
carriage, one road cart, one pair of heavy bob sleighs, one 
heavy two seated sleigh, one light two-seated sleigh, one 
square box cutter and one Portland cutter. 
Mr. Conger’s house Is well furnished, a good library 
being a source of much benefit. The center table is well 
ttiirv 
\\M 
jj 11 111 
1 sv 
Lt 
inm mm, 
gfiiinruiiJiiiL 
HjrssHpsSjf 
fife 
MaKSK.tT91Ka8” ■ 
