78 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
is made of early lambs. Thirty of these lively lit¬ 
tle fellows, dropped early in December, are already 
of good size, and are being pushed in preparation 
for the Easter market. Essex swine and game 
fowls are kept for similar reasons, that both pork 
and poultry products may be the choicest of their 
kind for family use, and thus command the highest 
market prices. Surplus live stock, animal pro¬ 
ducts, and fruit (in the great variety and high qual¬ 
ity for which the Newburgh region is famous), 
constitute the chief sales from the farm, it being a 
rule to consume all the staple field crops at home. 
Attractive and Profitable. 
It is intended to practically demonstrate that 
farming is an attractive, healthful, and profitable 
business in the Eastern States, when conducted on 
progressive principles, whether on a large scale or 
in a small way. In the course of time, the financial 
results will be made public. It is enough to say 
now, that the farm is more than paying expenses. 
A balance on the right 6ide is certainly a very satis¬ 
factory showing for the present administration of 
the farm. 
Experimental Department Proper. 
The Experiment Department, is of course dis¬ 
tinct from the farm proper, so far as finances are 
concerned. This is a work where it is expected 
that considerable expenditures must be made, with 
no returns except in such useful information as 
may result. The progress of this Department is per¬ 
haps that division of Houghton Farm in which the 
public are most concerned. It is under the general 
control of the General Manager of the farm, 
Major Henry E. Alvord, who is seconded in 
the office and laboratory, by Prof. D. P. Penhallow, 
Botanist and Chemist (formerly instructor in 
Harvard University, and for four years in Japan, 
part of the time at the head of the Imperial 
Agricultural College.) Messrs. S. B. Green and 
W. E. Stone, both graduates of the Massachu¬ 
setts Agricultural College, are assistants in the ex¬ 
periment work, and more or less duties in this De¬ 
partment also devolve upon the Farm Pupils. 
There are always two or three young men residing 
at the Farm in this capacity, the present pupils 
being Mr. F. G. Main, of Wisconsin, and Mr. S. 
Sato, of Japan. It is intended to promulgate the 
results obtained in the Experiment Department by 
pamphlets, freely distributed, as often as there is 
suitable material. 
Corn and Wheat Experiments. 
Already there has been published in a 75-page pam¬ 
phlet with maps and engravings, the First Report of 
Dr. Manly Miles, as Director, upon the experiments 
with Indian Corn at Houghton Farm for the years 
1880 and 1881, together with a summary, by his own 
pen, of those wonderfully instructive experiments 
with wheat, which have been continued for forty 
years by Drs. Lawes and Gilbert at Dr. Lawes’ (now 
Sir John B. Lawes) estate of Rothamsted, England.. 
The views and accompanying description of 
Houghton Farm will specially interest our readers 
who have received and are to continue to receive 
the benefits of the extensive valuable experiments 
carried on at this, now widely known Station, 
which begins the year with better equipment, 
more extensive preparations and larger facilities 
for securing practical results for agriculture than 
have heretofore been enjoyed. 
The farm, together with leased lands adjoining, 
comprises about 1,000 acres. It lies in a nar¬ 
row valley running parallel with the course of 
the Hudson River, and is just seven miles west 
from the Military Academy at West Point. The 
valley is enclosed in rocky, wooded hills, which at 
some points rise from six hundred to eleven hun¬ 
dred feet in height. Mr. Lawson Valentine, the 
present proprietor, bought this property in June, 
1876. The original purchase was 000 acres and an 
adjoining tract of 100 acres, of pasture and tillage, 
has since been purchased. Two other farms are 
leased, so that in all 1,000 acres are under control, 
as above stated. A portion of the land is unavailable 
for farm uses, being rocky and mountainous. As 
this, however, has a small assessed value, while it 
gives control of the woods surrounding the farm and 
the water supply, it is a more economical feature of 
the estate than it at first appears, and with a mod¬ 
erate expenditure these apparently useless rocks 
and woodlands have been made to contribute to the 
attractions of the place and develop the aesthetic 
side of farm life in this rural region of Orange 
County. 
Sweeping Views. 
The residence proper is situated on the eastern 
side of the valley, at the base of the hills. It fronts 
upon the public highway leading to Cornwall, six 
miles distant, and is built in the center of a lawn, 
which stretches out on either side like a beautiful 
carpet of green. In the rear is a natural park, 
thiough which a winding road leads to observa¬ 
tories and Camp Tip-Top. The latter, comprising 
a Swiss cottage, cooking building, etc., affords a 
delightful summer resort, and however warm the 
weather may be in the valley below, the days and 
nights are cool and pleasant here. From one of the 
observatories on the eastern summit, the Hudson 
River, Catskill Mountains, and other points of in¬ 
terest are distinctly seen. 
The view westward from the veranda of the resi¬ 
dence is very picturesque. It embraces the entire 
farm, barns, outbuildings, etc., and the wooded 
rocky mountain range constituting the western 
boundary of the farm. The engraving conveys 
an idea of the magnificent sweep which is afford¬ 
ed from the porch. Directly in 
front, and across the highway, is 
what is known as the Continental 
field, upon which a hospital was 
erected during the Revolutionary 
War, when Washington’s head¬ 
quarters were at Newburgh. At 
the left is the farm house for 
various employes. Across the road are a sheep 
house and a large sheep barn. Beyond the Conti¬ 
nental field are seen the main barn, dairy cottage, 
greenhouse, cattle barn, and farm shops, adjacent 
to the lovely Awessima, a clear stream which runs 
through the center of the valley, and in its various 
windings forms numerous pretty water views. 
Dedicated to American Farmers. 
In the proprietor’s own language, this farm is 
dedicated to “the farmers and farms of Ameri¬ 
ca.” He plainly sees that it can never give en- 
'couragement or guidance to any one, unless it is 
itself a substantial success, as a farm. Hence the 
first effort is to conduct the farm proper on a 
strictly business basis. Thus the live stock has all 
been selected with a view to the best practical re¬ 
sults. Instead of the fast roadsters and profes¬ 
sional race horses for which Orange County has 
been famous, the Normans have been selected, and 
a stallion and four mares imported, the belief being 
that the blood of the French horse is the best with 
which to secure the sturdy farm-teams and the 
powerful coach and carriage horses of which so 
few can now be found. Likewise, although in the 
midst of milk-producers, instead of yielding to the 
local preference for Holsteins and Ayrshires, a 
broad view of the dairy interests of the country 
has led to the adoption of Jerseys as the breed 
most likely to permanently jncrease the profit of 
American dairy cattle. And to get the very best, 
“ Ramapo,” the third and most attractive son of 
the champion cow, “Eurotas,” has been placed at 
the head of the herd. Most of the animals are 
“registered,” but to meet a legitimate and grow¬ 
ing demand, several pure but unregistered cows of 
special individual merit are retained, and their off¬ 
spring sold at “farmers’ prices.” A wider market 
is thus supplied; for example, recent sales of 
Jerseys have been made to parties in Ohio, Hlinois, 
Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Mississippi, and the 
Carolinas, as well as nearer home, and these em¬ 
brace not only young bulls of most fashionable 
breeding, sold for $500 to $1,000 each, but others 
just as good for ordinary dairy purposes, and of 
full as high butter-breeding, sold for $10 to $50, to 
go into the service of well-known dairymen. 
Diitter Making;. 
The butter made on the farm is put up in most 
attractive half-pound brick-shaped rolls, fresh 
every other day, and finds a ready market in New 
York City at sixty cents a pound. Southdown 
sheep have been selected for their standard mutton 
qualities, as well as their adaptation to the hill pas¬ 
turage and climate of the locality, and a specialty 
