Vol. LXIII. No. 2819. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 6, 1904. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
A BUSY DAY ON THE FARM. 
AN OHIO FARMER’S JOB. 
First Prize Article. 
“Irv! Irv! Get up! The cows are out in the little 
south lot.” The person addressed was the faithful 
hired man, who had stayed by me through corn plant¬ 
ing and hay harvest and was now cutting the corn. 
The hard work of the day before had tired him out, 
and 5:30 o’clock still found him in bed. This was a 
half hour later than usual, but as one cannot (or 
should not) cut corn until the dew is off, his rest had 
hitherto been undisturbed. 
In our annual fence repairing and building after 
corn planting last Spring, we had left unfinished a 
short piece of wire fence between the cow pasture, 
and the little south lot where we pasture the driving 
horse and a mare and colt. The dry weather of Au¬ 
gust and early September 
had cut short the pasture 
and the cows, thinking it 
might be better where the 
horses are, had taken ad¬ 
vantage of the unstayed 
fence, spread the wires and 
gone through. The day’s 
work was begun (after the 
kitchen fire was started, 
and range reservoir filled), 
by getting the cows out of 
mischief and into the 
barnyard. After the team 
was harnessed and three 
cows milked we heard the 
call to breakfast. The 
women too had a busy day 
before them, for the apple 
butter was to be made and 
the apples were not quite 
all pared. Breakfast and 
family worship over Irv 
was sent to complete the 
fence where the cows went 
through. It was only a 
short job, one of the kind 
easily done but often put 
off until the last minute. 
By half-past nine he was 
in the corn field at his 
regular day’s work. 
I had to take a little 
time to fix a suitable tres¬ 
tle and pole for hanging 
the apple butter kettle. 
When this was done the 
team, wagon carrying 
fertilizer and seed wheat, 
and the grain drill were taken to the field where eight 
acres yet remained to be sown. Last evening at 
quitting time there were some indications of rain, so 
fertilizer, seed wheat and Timothy seed as well as the 
grain drill were all driven on the barn floor for the 
night, that they may be in proper condition for work 
even though there be a shower. The merciful man is 
merciful to his beast, and It might be added in the 
present day to his farm implements also. Eight acres 
a day is not so big a day’s work of wheat sowing. Yet 
where one puts on fertilizer, Timothy seed and wheat 
in liberal amounts he finds himself refilling the drill 
quite often, and it all takes time. Before sundown, 
September 24, wheat seeding for the year was done; 
the drill was run on the barn floor and left until a less 
busy day to be stored in its Winter quarters. 
But let us see what has been going on about the 
house, and what our family consists of. Father, near¬ 
ing 70 years, has retired from active work, yet he likes 
occasionally to walk out and salt the sheep, or similar 
chores. Mother, while as old as Father, is still strong 
and hearty. Lou (my wife), and our two children 
make up the circle. Mary, the eldest child, has just 
started to school. Eugene, three years old, is the 
busiest one in the family. Just now he has a medium¬ 
sized pumpkin, hauling it around with a bit of string 
tied to the stem. He enjoys it more than his wagon 
or train of cars, and as there are plenty of others from 
which to make pies, he holds his possession undis¬ 
puted. Mother superintends the apple-butter making. 
Father and Lou take turns at resting Mother with 
the stirring, and thus one of the big jobs of country 
housekeepers is finished. At supper time we all have 
to taste and pass judgment upon it, whether good, 
bad or indifferent. 
After the evening chores are done, Irv says he be¬ 
lieves he will “go over on the other road,” which is 
his way of saying that he is going home for the night. 
He also announces his intention of going around by 
the station, as he is out of tobacco. This is taken to 
be a slight hint that he would like a little money. Ten 
dollars is given him, and as he has bought three gal¬ 
lons of apple butter from us, our accounts are nearly 
square. Around by the road it is nearly three miles 
between our homes. This is too far for a tired man 
to walk and carry three gallons of apple butter, so 
Skip, who has been idle all day, is hitched to the 
buggy and Irv is taken home. The evening is spent 
reading the papers, which the rural delivery brings 
to our door, and at an early hour we are off to bed. 
Ohio. JAMES E. TAGGART. 
R. N.-Y.—The life of a busy farmer is packed full 
of incident. As the various essays are printed we 
shall see how much time is wasted in patching up 
fences and chasing runaway cows or other stock. 
Mr. Taggart’s pictures were the best sent us. They 
give an idea of the great value of a good camera. 
SLATE OR SHINGLES FOR ROOFING. 
The Case for Slate. 
In discussing the good qualities of both slate and 
shingles as a roofing material, we can go a step fur¬ 
ther and mention a few of their failings. We will first 
consider the cost of the two articles, and the best slate 
and shingle to be considered. There is a vast differ¬ 
ence between the best shingles and the cheaper 
grades and just as much difference between good slate 
and cheap slate. There will be some difference in 
cost of both articles in different localities, for both 
freight and labor will have to be taken into consid¬ 
eration. The best shingles will cost about $17.50 per 
1,000, and it will take 2,500 shingles to lay 1,000 feet 
of roofing. Add to that nails and labor in putting them 
on. and you have a good shingle roof at a cost of 
about five cents per foot. A good slate roof will cost 
about eight cents per foot; 
a little more or a little 
less, but eight cents per 
foot will be a good basis 
to figure on. Now let us 
look at their lasting quali¬ 
ties. I have talked with 
several old carpenters in 
the last few years, and 
they all tell me the same 
story, “impossible to get 
good shingles at any 
price,” and in my observa¬ 
tion of the last 10 years I 
have come to believe them. 
I have roofed over old 
shingle • roofs that had 
been on over 50 years, and 
one that, had been on 06 
years. Recently I put slate 
on over shingles that the 
owner had paid $23 per 
1,000 for and they had been 
on the roof just 15 years. 
Shingles are not on the 
roof very long before they 
begin to twist and curl up 
toward the sun, which 
makes them look bad, and 
allows a great deal of snow 
to drift into the garret 
when we have a dry snow 
with some wind. House¬ 
wives do not like that, and 
I do not blame them. Five 
or six years after your 
house is built you will 
think it is necessary to 
have it repainted, and after 
it is repainted the old discolored shingle roof spoils 
the effect of the bright new paint, and in fact looks 
something like the colored gentleman who wore a bran 
new plug hat but had to go barefooted. After a shin¬ 
gle roof has been on a few years, and in hot dry 
weather, it becomes like tinder, and as most of our 
suburban friends use wood for fuel in Summer and 
sparks fly from chimneys and chimneys take fire, the 
shingle roof is a good cause for the insurance ad¬ 
juster to make you a visit to adjust the loss of your 
house and possibly your outbuildings. 
A good slate roof put on by a good mechanic is a 
roof that will last for three generations, and not cost 
$5 to keep it in repair for that time. It will keep its 
color, and when the house is repainted it will look 
like new, and should the chimney take fire, the fire 
can fall on slate and the owner can rest assured it 
will not be necessary for him to risk his life or limb 
climbing to the roof with a pail of water to drown 
out the fire. The complaint of a great many people 
