The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1872-11-28
Mr.. Greeiey's Farm.

Mr.. Greeiey's Farm.
SO much has been said both in praise
and in disparag cement CT Mr.. Grecley's
farming, that we think the following ap-
parently fair statement by the editor of
the Rochester, n Y, American Rural
Home will be read with interest Mr.
Garretsee has visited and described over
thirty New York farms, and these descrip-
tons have no doubt added much to the
popularity of his paper. This article is
headed Farmers at home, NO. So" and
was published in October
MIR. GREELEY's BUILDINGs-HIs ENrERI-
MENTs IN NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. MANI
AGENENT AND WHAT HE MAKES BY
FARMING
The buildings on the farm were all
erected by Mr.. Greeley. The first. called
the cold Homestead" !" stands on the side
of the hill east of, and some 200 feet high
er than the reclaimed marsh which it
overlooks This location was chosen main
ly or entirely on account of a fine spring
of water, n little south OF it, and some
forty feet lower in the steep side of a deep
ravine. A difficult path down this steep
bank has until recently been the only way
OF reaching the spring Mr.. Greeley told
us he had climbed that steep path with 4
pail of water many Il dark and rainy
night, but it was getting little too much
like work Us he grew Older. and he had
caused wooden staircase to be built.
The house has not been occupied by the
family for 4 number OF years, the trees,
for it stands in y forest grove, having
grown 50 as to completely overshadoW
the house, making it damp and unhealthy
This was the cause, he said, of his Wite's
contracting bronchial disease, (which is
sure to carry her off. There's no help
for her. She has got to 60. lie says he
tried to persuade her to let him rnt away
some Of the trees, and let the sun in, but
she could not bear to see them cut down {;
so he built a new house at the entrance to
| the farm near the depot, where the family
now live The houses are both very or
| dinary ones, s,-not aS good as those oecn-
pied by a large majority Of Western NeW
York farmers.
Nj. Greeley keeps the old homestead
for his private use, Here he receives hs
! friends in it is his library, aud here he re-
tires by himself when he ha, writing to
do The rooms are small, but cnmIort;t-
| bic and convenient. The library ON the
second floor is well stocked With valuable
books displayed on racks, and is lust such
Il shady, quiet retreat rs any hard work
ing student might coYet
THE STONE BARN.
Some considerable distance from either
of the houses, and on the shelf Of = hill
where no other man would have thought
Of putting such q building, stands the
great stone barn. about which so much
has been said. MIR. Greeley told us he
selected this location because he consider
ed it easier to draw hay mp hill than ma
nure The barn is 4Ox5O feet, and four
stories high. The wall is made of con
crete water lime, sand and stones OF all
sizes mixed and shnveed into n box.
which is raised and rctiled us the work
| advances. The wall for the first, OF base
ment story is twenty inches thick. the
| second sixteen. and the others twelve
| inches The building is held from spread
! inc by IRON rods running across. The
| basement is used for d manure cellar; the
| second floor for stock, and the others for
| haV and GRAIN There is a chimney in one
! end with an apparatus tor Stcaming food.
| A small one-horse threShng machine and
power, stood on one OF the doors with II
moving machine and other implements,
| half buried in loose oats, over which the
hens were running at random. We saw
no fine stock in the stalls, Us had been
represented, and everything looked loose
ana shittless about the premises.
IRRIGATION
One of Mr. GreeIey's hobbies, about
which he has written much, is irrigation.
He thinks there are half 4 million home
steads in the United States which have
natural facilities Tor irrigation at least
equal to his, and many of then. far great
er; that nearly every farm on either slope
of the Alleghanies throughout u district Of
at least q thousand miles long, by three
hundred wide, might be at least partially
ir igated by means OF Il dam costing from
twenty-five to. u hundred dollars; so might
half the farms in New England and New
York. He thinks there are those now
living who will see the praIrics Watered
by means OF artesian wells.
He said when he first bought land in
1853, he fully purposed to provide for
Watering his nearly level acres at will.
He accordingly constructed two dams
across his upland stream with thai view,
but they were so badly planned that the
floods Of the next spring carried them Oft
One Of them which we saw was rebuilt of
massive granite and good Job, although
he submitted to q miscalculation which
provided for taking the water out of the
pond by means of a syphon over Il bank
which rose fifteen or twenty feet above
the waters surface.
Air of course worked into the pipe after
day or two, and prevented the working
of the syphon. "Had taken it from the
bottom of the pond. through my dam"
he said, sit would have run always Cor so
long as there was water covering its inlet
in the pond y but bad engineering flung
me, and | havesnot the heart Cor the
means) to revise and correct its errors"
His next attempt was on smaller scale,
and works, we should judge, quite sue
cessfully. Toward the north end OF the
farm the hillside is broken by terrace
which gives three or four acres of to,er-
ably level upland above which the hill
again rises. AT the foot of this rise, five
or six springs break out from the rocks
and unite to form a pretty stream or run
mel which finds its way to the swamp be-
low. North of the gully cut by this
little stream is about three acres of side
hill too steep for cultivation and still
partially wooded, which is permanent
pasture. A small dam was made across
this runne where it enters the lower ac-
clivity A light ditch, little more than an
ordinary plough turrow runs along the