222 
April 1 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
WHAT IS A GUERNSEY ? 
HOW DOES SUE DIFFER FROM A JERSEY ? 
Ellerslie Stock Farm Revisited. 
The R N. Y. has had sev< ral r< ports from Elleislie 
—the summer home of Hon. Levi P. Morton. There is 
always something new to be learned from a visit 
there. Mr. H. M. Cottrell, the manager, had careful 
training at the Kansas Experiment Station before 
going to Ellerslie, and be brought with him a love fcr 
what we may call sensible experimenting—that is 
along the lines of profit and actual usefulness. Con- 
sequen’ly there is substantial progress in hisfarming. 
Useful and helpful things are thought out and put to 
a practical use. The chief object of this visit was to 
see the new barn low completed, talk about Guernsey 
cattle and look over the outfit for poultry raising. 
A bri< f description of this barn was given last fall. 
It is probab y the most complete and expensive dairy 
barn ever buijt in this country. The main building 
is 296 feet long and 65 fee t wide with an L 89 by 52 
feet. It is so arranged, too, that it can be doubled in 
length, and it is not at all improbable that the herd 
will increase so that the acdition of space will be 
needed. The barn as it stands will accommodate 360 
head of stock, or 4C0 with crowding and also house all 
the hay, grain and ensilage needed for this regiment 
of cows. That will give one a fair idea of the size of 
this “ Guernsey factory ” The grain bin alone will 
hold 20 carloads, while three silos held 500 tons each. 
The cows stand in two loeg rows in basement and on 
the first floor. They are placed head to head with a 
wide feeding allf y between. Back of them are iovss 
of large, roomy box-stalls for calves, bulls and lying 
in cows The basement is made l ! ght and airy by a 
system of double walls. The basement is really a 
cellar, but ah ng the sides is a trench reaching to the 
bottom and securely walled on the outer side. Win¬ 
dows run to the bottom of this trench and thus let in 
light in abundance. The air is ke pt pure by means of 
box ventilators. Fastened above to the walls in front 
and back of the rows of cows are steel tracks on which 
run hanging cars. That back of the cows is for a 
manure car. The manure is thrown into this from 
the trench and rolled out to the rear, where it is 
dumped into a wagon or sled to be hauled at once to 
the field. Think of the saving under this system as 
compared with the old plan of throwing the manure 
out through a hole in the wall back of each cow. the 
tracks in front of the cows carry cars from the silos 
and grain bins. The hay is stored directly over the 
-cows—there being room for 800 tons. By means of 
.slinks and hay forks it can all be unleaded and mow ed 
by steam power. Mr. Cottrell proposes also to use 
steam power for feeding it. Several big forkfuls 
pulled out of the mow and dumped in the feeding 
alley between the cows can be scattered into the 
mangers with but a few steps on the part of the 
ieeders. 
Barn Life for the Guernseys. 
At the time of my visit (March 1) there were 180 
head of cattle in the basement—80 cows in milk. 
There are no stanchions here. Each cow has a strap 
around her neck with a short chain and hook running 
on a chain that crosses her manger. Her head is thus 
perfectly free and she can turn, lie down or reach for¬ 
ward at her ease. By pulling a lever at the end of 
the row all the cows on one platform can be turned 
loose at once. This would be ve y useful in case of 
fire, wLich is not likely to happen ordinarily, as the 
barn is lighted throughout with electricity. The 
cows are kept well bedded with refuse hay, and plas¬ 
ter is used liberally in the trench behind them. They 
are carded and brushed every day and treated like 
ladies in every respect. 
“ Are they kept in all the time?” I asked Mr. Cottrell. 
“ They haven't left their mangers since October, and 
will not go out until pasture is ready for them. I was 
a little doubtful about the wisdom of such a practice 
at first, but here they are in good health. Can you 
find a cow ‘ off her feed ’ or sick in any way ? ” 
“ There is not even a cough in the whole herd that 
I can see. You water in the barn, I notice.” 
“Yes, we use Buckley's device. It pays well to 
have a constant supply of water before the cows.” 
“ Left to herseif, how many times will a cow drink 
during the day?” 
“ I should say 25 or 30 times. A cow likes to take 
a little sip now and then. I consider it bad practice 
ever to let a cow become thirsty. These tows are fed 
ensilage every day and yet they want a drink at least 
once every 24 hours through the day. You can see 
how cows fed on dry hay and grain must suffer.” 
“ What is their food and how is it fed ? ” 
“ We are feeding this daily ration to cows in milk : 
Five pounds bran, four pounds corn meal, one-half 
pound each linseed and cotton-seed meal, seven pounds 
hay, 25 pounds ensilage. The ensilage and grain are 
fed twice a day and the hay all at noon. We are feed¬ 
ing a ton of grain a day now and shall continne to 
feed more or less through the summer. ’ 
“ Is that the cheapest grain ration ycu can get ? ” 
“ No, we don’t look for the cheapest but for the one 
that will give us a good yield of the best flavored but¬ 
ter. Dairy experts have come here and figured on that 
ration and proved by the tables of analysis that it is 
too carbonaceous—with all that corn meal and corn 
in the ensilage. With more cotton seed meal and less 
corn meal we save money but such butter fails to sat¬ 
isfy our customers—it lacks the pure, rich flavor and 
we come back to this ration again to satisfy them. ” 
“ What can you say about the effect of these differ¬ 
ent grain feeds ? ’ 
“ There is no grain equal to good corn meal for 
making hard, crumbly and highly flavored butter. 
Bran increases the flow of milk, lut alone will not 
make the best butter. Linseed meal makes a soft, 
saby butter, but a little of it is excellent to keep the 
animals in health. Cotton seed meal makes a hard, 
waxy butter Our combination of these feeds gives 
us the best combined yield and flavor of butter that we 
have found.” 
“ You lay particular stress on the flavor of butter ! 
“ Yes because that is one very essential thing about 
a high-priced article. We want tie feed that gives 
us the best flavored butter, regardless of cost. The 
experiment stations, will, I hope, solve just such prob¬ 
lems as we want solved. Let them find out just what 
An Electrical Hen House. Fig. 89. 
makes what we call “ flavor ” in butter, then feed 
cows cn different grains and different combinations 
and analyze the fats in the different milks to see just 
what is lacking or in excess in unsatisfactory butter. 
That is the sort of work we want done.” 
You believe in ensilage thoroughly? 
“ Yes indeed I don't see now how we ever got 
along without it. Without the silo we never could get 
the forage for our cows even in such a big building as 
this. What a fortune there would be for dairy farm¬ 
ers in States like Missouri, or Nebraska if they would 
fit up silos and a barn like this. They could ship but¬ 
ter to New York for 1)4 cent a pound and make it at 
half what it costs us. They won’t do it though be¬ 
cause they won’t take the pains and care that Eastern 
farmers are obliged to. Another generatic n must come 
before Eastern economies will be common on Western 
farms.” 
Guernseys are Dignified Jerseys. 
“ Is every cow in the barn a Guernsey? ’ 
“ Yes, every animal is registered except calves that 
will be later.” 
“ Yet I notice all colors and different shapes—there 
for example is a cow that looks like an Ayrshire.’ 
‘ I thought you would notice that. The fact is that 
/ 
Feeding Trough for Hens. Fig. 90. 
the Guernseys have never been bred for uniformity of 
color or shape. Most of the herds have been small 
breeders have not selected a uniform type as have 
Jersey breeders. Neither have certain families been 
closely inbred as with Jerseys. This is an advantage, 
as w e have avoided any weakening of constitution 
that close inbreeding will bring. We now propose to 
breed for a Guernsey type so that a Guernsey grade 
can always be picked out as a Jersey grade can. 
“ What is your ideal Guernsey ? ” 
“Our bull, Midas, pictured in last year’s R. N.-Y. is 
about perfect in shape and color. We want a cow 
weighing 1,000 pounds, long, with well sprung ribs 
and plenty of room for feed. Color, orange fawn and 
white, with a handsome but substantial carriage. We 
shall rot try to breed simply a large Jersey, but a dif¬ 
ferent type entirely with nothing of the delicate, deer¬ 
like head and neck or slenderness of the Jersey. It 
will be a stout, muscular, brawny dairy cow. It will 
be like the difference between a 25 and a 20 horse¬ 
power engine. We want 10 of our Guernseys to do 
the work of 12 Jerseys. There is bound to be a 
savir g in food and care in keeping the smaller number 
of animals.” 
“ In what respects do Jerseys and Guernseys differ?’ 
“Chiefly in size, vigor, disposition and feeding 
habits. The milk of tbe two breeds is just about the 
same—no expert can tell the two apart. The Guern¬ 
seys are, on the average, heavier milkers and their 
milk may have a little higher color. They ire 
heartier eaters as a rule. They average heavier 
than Jerseys and never having been closely inbred or 
pampered are freer from disease and more vigorous in 
constitution. Tne chief difference is in disposition. 
They are not nervous and high-strung like the Jirseys. 
A Guernsey is really a dignified Jersey—like one that 
has grown up and sowed all the wild oats in tbe 
basket and settled down for business only. Guernseys 
are the best barn dairy cattle in the world. They a e 
perfectly at home at public shows or contests while 
Jerseys are usually too excited and frightened to do 
their best The Guernseys can be shipped and hand’ed 
easier and have a greater capacity for turning food 
into milk when fed in a bam. 
“Shall you aim to make a ‘ general-purpose cow ’ 
out of the Guernsey ?” 
“ Not at all She will be bred fcr the dairy alone. 
She will be simply a larger, stronger and quieter 
animal than the Jersey ; better suited to winter dairy¬ 
ing because she is happ’er when confined to the barn. ’ 
“ What arguments can a Guernsey man give in favor 
of his breed ? ” 
“ Those I have given in regard to size, vigor and 
disposition. As to relative profit in breeding stock— 
the Jerseys are somewhat cheaper now, particularly 
for bulls, and Jersey families are well developed and 
lines of breeding have been carefully traced. The 
Jerseys have had their boom, however, and the day of 
high prices has departed. The interest in Guernseys 
is growirg all the time—their boom is ahead cf them, 
not behind. When both breeds come down to the 
business of contesting for the patronage of practical 
dairymen the Guernsey will win because she is a busi¬ 
ness cow mad-' for the farmer rather than for the 
fancier. Men who now stock up with Guernseys will 
find their cattle constantly growing in favor and value 
as they become better known, and while the cost of 
starting a Guernsey herd may be greater, the possi¬ 
bilities of selling stock are also greater in the end.” 
Some facts about the poultry department at Ellers¬ 
lie will be given later h. w c. 
ELECTRICITY IN THE POULTRY BUSINESS. 
MORE ABOUT THAT BIG HEN SCHEME. 
Below will be found a descr ption of my improved 
poultry houses. They are intended to accommodate 
40 hens each. The hens are allowed free range over 
stony hillside pasture fields No yards are used in 
connection with them and they are set eight rods 
distant from each other, allowing about 100 hens to 
the acre. As stated in The Rural of last October 15, 
one man can attend to 50 flocks and should realize a 
profit of about $2,000 per vear. By means of an 
improved feed box any number of flocks can be fe'l 
simultaneously, each in its own house, by simply 
pressing an electric button. The doors can be opened 
or closed in the same way. It is the result of long 
study and experience and will be found to be a great 
improvement over the old way of keeping hens con¬ 
fined in yards, especially when eggs for market on an 
extensive scale are desired. Eich house is 12 feet 
long by 10 wide, eight feet high in front and five feet 
four inches in the rear. The floor and roof are of 
matched spruce and the siding is of matched pine. 
The roof is covered with two ply tarred roofing felt 
and the sides are lined with single ply tarred paper. 
The floor is covered in winter with a good coating of 
dry earth. This is to stop any draughts from coming 
up through the floor and also to provide a good dust 
bath for the hens. The roof should be painted occa¬ 
sionally with coal tar. Once a year is sufficient An 
hour’s sun shining on the black surface will warm up 
the inside of the house almost equal to glass and it 
will hold the heat much better. Fig. 89 shows the 
plan of one house—facing to the East 
The inside furnishing consists of a table three feet 
wide which extends the whole length of the back side 
two feet nine inches from the floor, intended to catch 
the droppings. Twelve inches above the table ar<_ two 
roosting poles. These are made of two by-th ec-inch 
pine fence rails planed smooth and painted with coal 
tar. Under the table are two double nests. They are 
movable, have a hinged cover, and the entrance is 
from the rear. I have experimented with d’fferent 
kinds of nests and have settled on this form. If one 
takes an old 30-dozen egg crate, with a hinged cover, 
and saws out a hole of suitable size on the back side, 
into each compartment, he will have my ideal of a 
double nest Shove it back under the table to within 
a foot of the siding and the hen will have a dark 
entrance. The eggs can be easily gathered (by rais- 
