1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
3 
ANOTHER MILLIONAIRE FARMER. 
THIS ONE RUNS A FARM FOR REVENUE AND GETS IT TOO. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
PART II. 
Comforts for the Cows. 
The air in these stables was as pure as one could wish. 
The system of ventilation seems perfect, and yet 
there were no drafts apparent. The cattle are secured 
by straps and chains, and are well bedded. In front 
of each is an iron pocket containing a lump of Retsof 
salt. Mr. Mayer speaks highly of this salt, and of 
this method of salting cattle. 
“ Is your system of watering the cows, a new one ? ” 
I asked as I noticed an arrangement differing from 
anything I had before seen. 
“Yes, we got it up ourselves. It is very simple 
and effective. This trough,” pulling down a V-shaped 
trough which was suspended several feet high in front 
of the cows by cords passing over pulleys, “ rests on 
this waste pipe, through which the water remaining 
after the cows have finished, is allowed to escape by 
pulling this plug, when the trough is again hoisted 
out of the way.” 
“ Do you warm the water in winter ? ” 
“Always. The cows get the water at very nearly 
the same temperature summer and winter. It doesn’t 
pay to give ice water to cows. Just as soon as you do 
that, the yield of milk will shrink at least one-half.” 
“ I notice that your stable floors are all of wood. 
Do you consider these preferable to cement floors ? ” 
“Yes; cement floors are too cold, and it is out of the 
question for cows to be perfectly comfortable on them. 
They may be easier to keep clean, but 
we have no trouble in this respect.” 
“How often are your stables cleaned?” 
“ Seven times every day.” 
“ Do you clean the cows regularly? ” 
“ Yes, they are thoroughly curried 
and brushed every morning, and then 
brushed off again before being milked.” 
“ How many times a day are the cows 
fed ? ” 
“ Three times; twice 
on ensilage, and once 
on dry feed.” 
While we were passing 
through the stables, the 
cows were receiving 
their noon feed, con¬ 
sisting of unthrashed 
oats, though I believe 
hay is generally fed. 
This feed is stored in 
the space over the cows, 
to which it is elevated 
cow. This record book contains the name of each cow, 
with columns for pounds and ounces, for both morn¬ 
ing and night. This is footed up, and the record of the 
dairy must agree with these totals. Every ounce must 
be accounted for.” 
Here and there in the rear of the cows are portable 
calf pens, in each of which a baby Jersey was comfort¬ 
ably housed. These pens are a simple, strong frame¬ 
work, hooked together at the corners, with a door for 
ingress and egress. The bottoms of these, as well as 
of all box-stalls, are covered with peat moss for an 
absorbent. Large quantities of this are used, it being 
purchased by the car-load. The calves are fed on 
separator milk, warmed in a convenient hot-water 
tank to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. It certainly seems 
much better to keep them in company with the cows, 
than to have them caged off by themselves in the cold, 
back row being somewhat higher than the front one 
“ We use the Ross Giant cutter,” said Mr. Mayer, 
“ and fill the front silo first, then attach the carrier, 
and run the ensilage into the back one. We fill them 
about two feet above the top, then cover with planks 
and weight. The ensilage settles about one-third. 
Very little of it on top spoils. That we are now feed¬ 
ing is two years old, and there is no reason why it 
should not be kept for years if properly made. We 
hoist it out with a windlass and buckets, and wheel it 
out to the stables.” 
“ What variety of corn do you grow ?” 
“ The Southern corn. It has plenty of broad leaves, 
and furnishes a large quanty of feed to the acre.” 
“ I see you have a considerable quantity of stalks 
standing in the fields.” 
“ Yes ; I calculated on 25 tons of corn to the acre, 
and it yielded 35, so I had no place to put the surplus.” 
Another building contains 45 roomy box stalls for 
lying-in cows. “ We put our cows in here before 
they calve, and keep them for a few days after. We 
blanket them for a few days after calving to obviate 
any danger from their taking cold.” 
The bull stable contains several fine bulls, headed 
by Pedro of the Valley. Another fine animal is Pierrot 
Pisano. Henry Hudson, Silver Tomentor and Catonah 
Koffe, son of Pedro, are all strong, vigorous specimens 
of the best strains of Jersey blood. 
“ How do you market your products,” I asked. 
“ We have a store in New York, and sell directly to 
consumers. We get 12 cents per quart for milk, CO 
cents for cream, and 50 to 70 cents per dozen for eggs. 
Everything goes fresh from the farm daily, and there 
are no middlemen.” 
“You seem to have settled the ques¬ 
tion as to the latter class, but it would 
be a more difficult matter for the small 
farmer who only has small quantities 
of produce to sell.” 
“ Yes, but farmers can combine, and 
accomplish the same results.” 
In the wing opposite the one contain¬ 
ing the silos, are the 
engine and boiler room, 
the cold storage room, 
the dairy room, and 
living rooms for the 
dairyman. The morn¬ 
ing’s milk is run through 
the separator, and the 
cream is kept in the 
cold storage room until 
night, when it, and the 
night’s milk are sent 
to the store in the city. 
They are transported in 
AGRICULTURE THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL HONEST INDUSTRY. Fig. 3. (See page 9.) 
by steam power, from the wagons driven in at 
one end through the wide doors along the broad 
passage between the two rows of cows, and out at 
doors at the other end. A more convenient arrange¬ 
ment, and one necessitating less handling of feed 
from the field to the animal it would be difficult to 
conceive. Mr. Mayer stated that the whole lot could 
be fed in seven minutes. 
In the rear of the cows, outside the stables, are a 
series of yards, into each of which a few cows are 
turned daily for exercise. No keeping the cows housed 
up from fall to spring here. They are not hothouse 
exotics, crowded for the greatest possible quantity of 
milk, but handled and fed with a view to health and 
vigor, and a consequent healthful product. 
These Jerseys Have a Fair Show. 
“ Here is where we weigh the milk of each cow, at 
every milking,” said Mr. Mayer when we reached a 
point about midway of the stables. “This hanging 
scale is so arranged as to ‘ tare ’ the pails, and thus 
give the exact pounds and ounces of milk from each 
nasty pens to which calves are generally consigned. 
“ Here is a cow that will go to Chicago to represent 
the Jerseys,” said Mr. Mayer. “ She has a record of 
over 20 pounds of butter per week on our ordinary 
feeding, without crowding. Here is another which 
will represent us at Chicago. She has a record of 
above 90 pounds of butter in a single month without 
undue crowding.” 
“ What is your grain feed ?” 
“ Corn meal, ground oats, bran and linseed meal, fed 
three times daily.” 
Two Dozen Silos Not Enough. 
At the farther end of this long building wings ex¬ 
tend in either direction. In this end are located the 
feed mill, bins for storing grain and feed, etc., while 
directly overhead is an immense tank holding thou¬ 
sands of gallons, and fed by a seven-inch pipe directly 
from a spring on the mountain side. Going up a pair 
of stairs and turning to the right, we pass into the 
wing containing the silos, 24 in number, each with a 
capacity of 100 tons. They are in two rows, the 
locked cans, and bottled after reaching their destina¬ 
tion. A sample of milk from the morning’s mess was 
standing in a glass at noon, and showed 20 per cent 
of cream. Churns and other apparatus for butter¬ 
making were all in order, but seldom used. Mr. Mayer 
said, however, that they were thoroughly washed 
and scalded every day. 
Hogs Unprofitable Without Skim-Milk. 
“We will take a look into the hog houses,” said 
Mr. Mayer, “ though we don’t keep many now, as 
there is no money in them unless there is skim-milk 
to feed. We keep the Berkshires, and raise a good 
many pigs for roasters, of which the family are very 
fond. It will not pay us to keep hogs and feed them 
entirely on grain.” The hog houses were as neat and 
clean as the cow stables, the floors being covered with 
peat moss. The sows with litters of pigs, of which 
there were several, appeared to be perfectly healthy 
and in thrifty condition. If raising hogs upon grain is 
unprofitable at present prices of pork, what must it 
have been with the recent low prices ? f. h. yJJ 
