Vor.. LXXVI. 
NEW YORK. DECE:\rP.EU 22. 1917 
Xo. 41(51 
A Day on a Dairy Farm 
There Are No Slackers Here 
TEK ONLY’.—;My neighbor Rockwell owns and 
runs a dairy farm quite typical of hundreds 
of others in Southern New York. It represents the 
type of farm small enough to be run by the owner 
and his family, with hired help only on special oc¬ 
casions ; but it differs a little from most small farms 
in that the dairy alone is depended upon for prac- 
ticall.v all of the farm income. No money crops are 
raised, no sheep or poultry kept, hut there is a brood 
mare that not only acts as the almost indispensable 
“third horse’’ upon the farm, but also contributes a 
excellent example of an efficient farm plant, capable 
under its owner’s management of supporting a fam¬ 
ily in comfort. The house is neat and comfortable, 
the barns substantial and unpaiuted. Ylone.r that 
might have been put into paint has been invested in 
concrete floors, running water to the stables and 
other essential improvements. A gasoline engine 
pumps water for both house and barn and an acety¬ 
lene gas plant in the cellar lights both. For the 
benefit of those who have little idea of the Avork to 
be done upon such a farm as this, I asked Mr. and 
Mrs. Rockwell to give me an outline of a day’s Avork 
in NoA'ember. It is a fair siinqile of almost any 
farmer’s daily job and should interest those Avho 
with three or four of the easiest milkers. .'=;he rlimj 
feeds six or more cah'es and sees that the horses 
huA-e their AA-ater; then she is at liberty to return bt 
the house and get the breakfast. While breakfast is 
preparing, Mr. RoclcAvell finishes the milking, loads 
the filled cans into the wagon, goes into the silo and 
gets out silage for all the stock, gets the grain ready 
and feeds from 20 to 25 head of cattle. By that time 
breakfast is ready, and so is he. 
THE NEXT WORK.—After breakfast Mr. Rock- 
Avell cleans off the horses and gets his father started 
to the shipping station Avith the milk. He then loa<ls 
the 24-hour accumulation of manure into a Avagoii 
and hauls it to the fields, spreading it upon cdi’h 
The Shorthore Cow^shown ab Maxwal.on by R F Hale of Illlnol,, „ilh her calf, wa, one of the greatest attractions at the Internationa! Stock Show. She 
was soia ai a recent sale m Chicago tor $4,250, the top figure for any animal, among which there were many importations of this year. 
Colt e;u-h ye;ir to such suridus stock as can be sold. 
STEADY IMPR()\'EMENT?l.—The intelligence, 
energy, and clmracter of those who huA-e developed 
this farm have al.so been directed toward making of 
it ;i farm home, one of tho.se homes upon Avhich our 
country deiiends for all that is enduring in her ciA’il- 
i/.ation. iMr. and Mrs. Rockwell did not purchase the 
rundown .’JO acres which constituted the nucleus of 
this farm until they had both spent some .A^ears as 
operatives in a glove f:ictory, and, Avhen they did 
purchase it, thc.A’ knew exactl.A’ Avhere the mone.y 
came from. An adjoining 80 acres Avith some build¬ 
ings and a 40-acre Avood lot AA'ere added later. 
Steady improvement in land and equipment fol¬ 
lowed their ownership, and, today, the farm is an 
feel a Inn.ging to gid b:ick to the liuul ;ind enjo.v the 
“freedom and independence’’ of farm life. I shall 
speak of Mrs. Rockwell, perhaps, as often as her 
husband, for, without her, neither the farm nor the 
home Avould be Avhat it is. 
STARTIN(5 THE DAY'.—The da.v begins at five 
o’clock, with, admittedly, its hardest task, getting 
up. The kitchen fire being built, and there seems to 
be .some dispute as to Avho really starts.that, both go 
to the barn and begin the morning chores. I Avant 
to say right here tluit “chores” on a farm represent 
Avork that all labor unions demand time and a half 
for; farmers are supposed to do them for Avarming- 
up exercise. In order to get the 12 to 15 coavs 
milked before breakfast, Ylrs. Rockwell helps out 
ground aiul new seeding. Returning to the barn, 
the manure from the horse stables is put into the 
gutters behind the cows to act as an ab.sorbent. and 
the floors are swept up. The milk Avagon having re¬ 
turned, the empty cans are cared for and the morning 
chores are done. 
MORNINIi PLOMIXO.—It is iioaa' time to begin 
the day’s Avork. so the team is hitched to the sulky 
ploAv and driven to the field, Avhere it works until a 
quarter to tAvelve. Upon returning to the barn for 
the noon hour, the .team is fed and their OAvner sits 
dOAA n for a feAA' minutes to look OA'er the morning 
mail. Dinner is soon ready, and. after that is eaten, 
the engine is set to Avork to reneAv the supply of 
Avater for the house and barn. The coavs are let out 
