1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1 87 
A NEW YORK STATE BUTTER FARM. 
The Best In Two Counties. 
Divided by a stream; private bridge; Jerseys and their 
grades: grades are valuable; dairy methods; a 
profitable business; feeding and fodder. 
The residenceof Mr. A. Devereux of Deposit, N. Y.,isan 
ideal farmer’s home. The house is of the colonial type 
and is situated in a beautiful grove, the lawns sloping 
down to the bank of the west branch of the Delaware, 
which bisects the farm. The trees about the home are 
magnificent beyond description. Great oaks, which are 
probably more than a century in age spread their emerald 
dressed arms about, elms of fewer years but majestic 
growth, maples of large size, the smooth barked hickory, 
hemlocks, spruces and other native denizens of our moun¬ 
tains are all there and are vigorous and hale. It is in 
truth, a lovely place—a home to be proud of and from 
which one would not care to be long absent. 
Mr. Devereux is a dairyman—a butter maker, and it was 
to see something of his methods and to learn something of 
his production that a representative of The Rural called 
on him eai ly in this month. His home is about a mile 
from Deposit, a flourishing village on the Erie Railway, at 
the bate of the mountain which separates the Delaware 
and Susquehanna Valleys. The west branch of the Dela¬ 
ware runs through his farm and it is also the divid¬ 
ing line between Delaware and Broome Counties. The 
residence and hill-side portion of the farm are in Broome, 
while the river flats and plow land are in Delaware County. 
Outsideof timber land the farm consists of about 150 acres 
in Broome and 120 in Delaware. The hill-sides of Broome 
are natural grass land ; are never plowed and furnish an 
abundance of the sweetest and richest grazing. White 
Clover and Blue Grass seem to spring up whenever the 
land is cleared and all that is necessary is to keep out 
brush and weeds to secure a quality of grass that is unex¬ 
celled. Springs abound, of pure, soft and cold water and 
no drought affects them. The dairy house, summer milk¬ 
ing stables, pig houses, etc., are on the Broome County 
side of the river, the silos and winter 
stables on the river flats in Delaw are. The 
river is here over 100 yards wide and at his 
own expense, he has put a suspension 
bridge over it, costing about $1,000. Just 
below the bridge the water is shallow, 
affording an easy ford, over which teams 
with loads are easily driven. These Dela¬ 
ware flat lands were once very poor and 
sandy, bnt are now rich and fertile. 
Full Blood and Grade Jerseys. 
“ How long have you been engaged in 
dairying ? ” said I. 
“About a dozen years,” said Mr. Dev¬ 
ereux. “ Before that time I grew beef 
largely, but the Chicago diessed beef 
spoiled our trade.” 
“ How large is your dairy ? ” 
“About 75 milch cows and 25 head of 
young stock. We are obliged to raise our 
own stock largely—we cannot buy what we 
want.” 
What breed are they ? ” 
"Jerseys and Jersey grades. I have a 
fine Signal bull at the head of my herd. 
For butter making purposes, I prefer them 
to all others.” 
“ Do you find the fact that a cow is a 
Jersey a guarantee of her value ? ” 
“Ob, no; I do not think that would be 
true of any breed. We certainly cannot 
breed so as always to avoid poor or unsatisfactory cows.” i 
“ How do you find out as to their value ? ” 
“We weigh the milk of every cow on the first and 
fifteenth of every month, and thus know what she is pro¬ 
ducing. At intervals the milk of each cow is churned sepa¬ 
rately. A cow that does not produce over 250 pounds of 
butter annually is discarded.” 
“ Do you find weighing each cow’s milk twice a month 
a sufficiently reliable test ? ” 
“ Oh, yes. The milk is all weighed in bulk. Last year 
we figured up the averages of the cows from the semi¬ 
monthly weighings, and it only varied six pounds from 
the general result for the year. Of course, that was un¬ 
usually close, but I find it always near enough for all 
practical purposes.” 
“ You evidently think well of grades.” 
“ Yes, they do well with me. One of my grades at a re¬ 
cent test made a pound of butter from 12 % pounds of 
milk.” 
Secrets of the Dairy House. 
A short walk took us to the dairy house. Over the en¬ 
trance was a sign “ No smoking allowed,” and inside It 
was a pictuie of neatness. The production of butter at 
the time of our visit was not large, as it Is his aim to have 
the calves dropped in September, October and November. 
Consequently, many of them were dry—taking their an¬ 
nual rest and others giving their smallest quantity of 
milk. Motive power is furnished by a water motor, which 
drives a De Laval separator, and the churn. The milk is 
strained and weighed as fast as it comes in from the milk¬ 
commission men. No ice is used in making the butter, 
but near the dairy house is a store room for butter where 
the temperature is kept very low by means of ice. After 
churning, the butter is worked once slightly and salted, 
three quarters of an ounce of salt to the pound of butter. 
It is then placed in the cool room until afternoon, when 
it is worked again and finished. 
Showing up the Books. 
“ Can you give me some statistics of your production ? ” 
asked I. 
“ Oh, yes Here are the books with the footings for the 
year ending April 1, 1891, of the production of butter. In 
April, we made 1,510 pounds; in May, 1,638; June, 1 499 ; 
July, 1,341; August, 998 ; September, 648; October, 590; 
November, 995; December, 1 500; January (1S9D, 1,662; 
February, 1,674 and March, 1 848. The number of pounds 
of milk produced in the year was 288,281, or about 135 660 
quarts. Number of pounds of milk per pound of butter 
18.13. The average price received for the milk was 
3 43 cents per quart; the butter netted that amount, 
not including any of the by-products. Milk for four or 
five families is also used after It is weighed and this is not 
taken into the account.” 
“ What did you receive net for the butter ? ” 
“ The butter netted me $4,805.42, about $70 per cow, 20 of 
which were two-year-old heifers.” 
“ What of pork and other products ? ” 
“ The sales of pork for that year amounted to $745.18 and 
of beef to $156. I think to produce that, we fed about $150 
worth of purchased grain feed in addition to our skim- 
milk and forage.” 
“The record of the best 30 cows,” continued Mr. D. 
“ shows that they made 10,170 pounds of butter that year, 
an average of 339 pounds. We do not feed grain in the 
summer. I have found out by long observation that the 
best pastures are those that have never been plowed.” 
How the Herd Is Handled. 
“ At what time in the spring do you turn your cows out 
to pasture ? ” 
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A BASKET OF COLLIE PUPPIES. Fig. 248. 
f “ Generally from the 10th to the 15th of May, but we 
stable them at night in early spring, and also during the 
prevalence of cold storms. We always milk our cows in 
the stables, which you noticed were kept very clean. The 
milking is all done by men.” 
“You attach great importance to cleanliness, I should 
judge,” said I. 
“Certainly ; cleanliness is absolutely indispensable. In 
the winter when the cows are constantly stabled, they are 
brushed off every day. For bedding in the stalls, we use 
sawdust, which is an excellent absorbent. When we run 
out of that, we cut straw with the cutting machine. The 
boys cut enough in half a day to last a week.” 
“Are your cows kept continuously in the stable in win¬ 
ter ? ” 
“ Practically so. I turn them out, a half dozpn at a time, 
once a day, to drink. As soon as they drink they are re¬ 
turned to their stables.” 
“ What do you feed them during the winter ? ” 
“ Mainly ensilage, with some hay. For grain feed we 
use wheat bran, and sometimes corn meal ; also old pro¬ 
cess linseed meal. I do not use cotton-seed meal at all—I 
am inclined to the opinion that it injures the quality of 
the butter. I use one part of linseed meal to four of bran 
by weight, and when feeding hay, add enough corn meal 
to supply them with what they would get if they were eat¬ 
ing ensilage. I have used the silo for nearly a dozen years, 
and I think very highly of it. I still weight the ensilage, 
though not so heavily as formerly.” 
The Crops That Go With The Cows. 
the flats, which find local markets also. These crops fur¬ 
nish employment for the men required by the large dairy, 
but whose time would otherwise not be fully employed. 
There were on the place about 60 pigs of various ages, 
some In the pens, the others grazing on the hillside, 
where they root at their own sweet will. Under the pig 
house is a cellar, in which a supply of absorbents is con¬ 
stantly kept and into which the manure, solids and liquids 
go. He likes the Duroc-Jerseys greatly. 
The work of cutting and storing ensilage begins about 
September 15 and it is a busy time until the work Is done. 
A steam engine furnishes the motive power and a Ross 
cutter does the work. All the hands which can be used 
are put at the work, which is hurried through as fast as 
possible. 
The conservative dairyman would find much to copy in 
this dairy, the product of which has on several occasions, 
carried off the first prize at our State fairs. Mr. Dever- 
eux’s methods are scientific and methodical—the results 
are eminently satisfactory, though he hopes to do still bat¬ 
ter. The active personal management of the place is in the 
hands of his son, Mr. Paul Devereux, who has a love for 
his home and his vocation, which is no small factor In his 
success. The Rural wishes there were more such farmp. 
APPLES AND PE \R3. 
I have a weeping apple tree that is 25 years old, and 
sweeps the ground for a space of 20 feet in diameter. It is 
a natural seedling that occurred in a hedye of apples. It is 
by all odds the finest weeping tree in my grounds. 
The pear that does absolutely best with me on dwarf 
stock is Louise Bonne. Tae Duchess does well, so do 
Howell and Margaret and Glout Morceau, and some 
others; but the Louise gives immense crops of smooth, 
well-flavored fruit. It is a fine pear for long keeping. 
I spoke recently of the Anjou Pear as the neamt an 
ideal al ways ; and I am glad my position is indorsed. If 
you have a cold cellar or fruit room for storage, you may 
safely place the Sheldon second, all in all. It is a glorious 
fruit in flavor and size and prolific bear¬ 
ing. But the trees are shorter lived tbau 
the Anjou; and the fruit must be mar¬ 
keted by the end of October. 
I wish to commend highly a delicious 
pear seldom planted, the Gray DoyeniA 
It is about half as large as the Whice 
Doyeniid, and not quite as fine, perhaps, 
in quality ; but it Is a very excellent fruit; 
tree hardy, well shaped, and very prolific, 
and the pears keep till January. 
Profit in pears is absolutely dependent 
on early picking and a cool, well ventilated 
store room. One might as well feed them 
to the cows as to pick them w hen dead- 
ripe or store them in a warm room. Nearly 
all sorts must be picked just as t-he stems 
easily cleave from the limb, about 10 days 
before they become soft. But Anjou and 
other late sorts should ordinarily be picked 
about mid October, and they will soften 
after several weeks’ storage. Onondaga 
and Buffum may be stored for a month. 
Apple and pear tree-t are generally starved. 
There is no one crop that by good rights 
ought to fail to be remunerative so truly 
as the apple. The standing disgrace of 
our Northern States is our orchards. It 
seems to be understood by our faimers that 
an apple tree can take care of itself on im¬ 
poverished soil, yield heavy crops, fight all 
sorts of enemies and remain in health. No crops pay bet- 
f ter when justly cared for. Feed up your apple orchards. 
Dig the grass from about the roots. Treat the trees as 
well as you would orange trees if you had them. There’s 
lots of money in a good orchard well cultivated. 
There is a close relation between insect depredators and 
the health of trees. As a rule insects are scavengers. They 
are related to disease. They are a compensation of Nature 
to convert decaying vegetation into animal life. I don’t 
say this is always so ; but in the case of aphides, they are 
sure to attack plants that are sick from water soaking of 
the roots or other carelessness. Cherry trees in dark shade 
are covered with black aphides. Apple trees that are least 
open to wholesome growth and most neglected are the 
worst sufferers from moth and curculio. Just bear this 
in mind : half the battle with insects is to help the tree 
to battle f. r itself. 
Pear trees cannot endure to be sod-choked. Wash them 
with kerosene emulsion once or twice a year. Fork the 
sod about them. Mulch always, and if possible with either 
coal ashes or sawdust that has been used for bedding in 
the stable; but at all events keep them supplied with 
mulch. Don’t plow a pear orchard. Our ideal orchards 
will be by and by clean swarded, with soil forked about 
the trees. 
As fine a tree for ornament as we have is the Buffum 
Pear. Try It to border a drive. Set the trees about 10 
feet apart. They will make a grand avenue. They are 
fine also set about an old building, and better yet for 
ing stables and at once run through the separator. The 
skimmed milk runs through an open gutter into casks 
outside, which are placed on a truck and wheeled over a 
plank track to the hog house, about a hundred yards dis¬ 
tant. The cream is set in a tank of cold spring water, 
ranging in temperature from 48 to 52 degrees, Fahrenheit, 
and once a day is emptied into cream vats where it is al¬ 
lowed to ripen. It is churned in a Stoddard barrel churn 
at a temperature of 66 degrees in summer and 68 degrees 
in winter. The bulk of the butter is put up in prints, a 
small part occasionally being put in tubs. His butter 
is sold to special houses without the intervention of 
On the river flats, I noted, about 40 acres of ensilage 
corn planted thinly in drills and at that date it was al¬ 
ready well eared. He has two very large silos, but it is 
not likely that they will hold his crop. It looked mag¬ 
nificent—dark green and growing raDkly. He also grows 
several acres of Swede turnips and Hubbard Squashes on 
these flats and both crops were looking well. A careful 
scrutiny among the squash vines failed to find any evi¬ 
dences of the presence of squash vine borers and he has 
not heretofore been annoyed by them. Part of these 
crops are sold in local markets and the remainder fed to 
stock. Excellent potatoes and cabbage, too, are grown on 
grouping or scattering among round-headed trees. In 
planting trees why do not we oftener use those which 
ccmbiie ornament with utility? This can be readily 
done by means of a proper selection of fruit trees than 
in any other way. The Ar jou is an excellent example. 
Pears and apples bear younger for being low-limbed. 
For this reason alone I will not have plows in the orchard. 
Until you have made up your mind, however, to make 
orchard-growing something more than an incident secon¬ 
dary to potatoes and corn, to be cared for if you get time, 
you had better plow. K. t\ powell. 
Oneida County, N. 
