Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1874-02-05
A Model Stock Farm.
How q Long Island Farmer Makes
Money at his Business.


farms of America. The farm is occupied
by William Crozier, and is situated upon
an almost insular headland near North
port, Long Island, which is washed
upon almost its whole boundary by the
waters of Long Island Sound. 1t con-
sists of light sandy loam, in some
parts being almost whollysand; its sur
face is picturesquely rolling, and diver
sifed with hill, dale, and valley, and is
covered in large part with such shrub
berv and timber as are found upon the
sea coast. Six years ago, when MIR.
Crozier entered into possession OF this
farm, it was a neglected wilderness OF
impoverished barrenness, overgrown
with wide hedgerows of rails and tan
pled bushes, which occupied consid-
erable portion of its cleared acreage. 1t
furnished precarious subsistence to ak
COWS and one horse, and its farm build
ings were mere weather-beaten wrecks
useless for shelter. The unsightly and
obstructive fences or boundaries of the
numerous small fields have been swept
away. their sites cleared and grubbed,
and the titled part of the farm has been
divided by straight post and board or
post and rail fences into six fields OF
from 60 to 120 acres each.
A rotation of crops suitable to the
soiling system of keeping cattle has
been adopted, and by the necessary re-
action of food upon manure and manure
upon food, which results from this sys-
tenn, the farm now keeps abundantly
supplied from within its own resources,
forty-nine horses, Ill head of COWS,
bulls, heifers, calves, and oxen; sixty
seven heavy sheep, $50 hogs, and poultry
of various kinds in great numbers. This
stock, fed in stalls, in which plentiful
bedding of leaves, straw, and other Lit.
ter is used, with tho addition of swamp
muck spread in the yards and compost
ed with the droppings, together pro-
duces over 10, 900 loads Of manure per
annum, all of which is worked over and
brought to the finest condition for use
mon the corn and root crops, and the
meadows. This is the key to Mr.. Gro.
zier's successes soiling stock and making
manure.
The stock is all thoroughbred, the
horses are pure Clydesdales (the work.
ing and breeding mares weighing l,6ol
pounds each) and Morgans. The COWS
are pure Jerseys and Ayrshires, in near
" equal proportions. The sheep are
Gotswolds and Southdowns, the hogs
are all the choicest Berkshires, and the
poultry are Aylesbury and Rouer
ducks; game black Spanish, Buff Go
chin, and houdan fowls; bronze turkeys
and Bremen aud Toulouse geese. Al
this stock having been bred from thu
best strains, and with great care ane
Judgment, and being kept in excellent
condition and health, are peSfect specl
mems of their several races.
The crops raised last year were LOT
acres of grass, 35 of oats, 40 OF barley
10 of wheat, 40 of corn, 10 OF fodder
corn, 5 Of potatoes, 40 OF roots, e o.
cabbages, 8 of vetches or tares, 60 Of
rye and 10 of rape. OF these crops
none are sold, all being consumed upor
the farm. The produce sold consists
of butter, which brings rs cents poune
on yearly contract, wool, pork. which
brings 1S cents pound, occasionally :
carcass OF beef, and mainly live stoch
for breeding purposes. The sales from
the farm the past year were Sl8, 600, ar
increase from $4,000 for last year
Stock is shipped from Beacon Farm te
every State in the Union and to Canada
and some other foreign countries coca
sionally. The crops raised are wha'
would be premium crops anywhere
Two hundred and four bushels OF eart
of corn per acre have been measured OF
from the field, and thirty-eight tons o
mangels, without weighing the heavy
and vigorous tops, which all 60 omakt
feed. The barley and corn are
boiled for the hogs. The corn-foddel
and hay are used for winter feed, Gu
and steamed, with sliced roots, meal
and bran, (the latter purchase0 for al
the cattle, horses and sheep; the cab
bage, rape, vetches, and rye, are uset
for the summer feed for cows or fol
sheep, fed inside of movable hurdles
upon the growing crops. The rotation
is corn, roots, oats, or barley, rape o.
other green crops fed off by sheep, ant
rye or wheat sown with grass seed, O.
which orchard and timothy are the mali
varieties, and which are always Gu
when in blossom.
The blowing upon this farm il
probably excelled nowhere. The famed
English ploughing is not more accurate
in the line, more even in the width, no
more regular in the depth Of the fur
row than the blowing upon Beaco1
Farm. The blowing, eight inches
deep, is done by Scotch plows or Eng
lish plows of the Scotch pattern, th'
narrowing by the chain harrow, also o
English pattern the cultivation b.
long-tined grubbers, which stir the sol
to depth OF twelve inches, and whicl
are of English make. The roller Ii
used to finish the surface when th'
fields are laid down to grass.
The barns and stables are built IL
auadrangles, each with spacious yart
in the centre. The main barn is GO fee
by 4S, with basement, in which are
grist mill, circular saw, shaftinl
to run the fodder, hay, and root cut
ters, which are upon the main floor
and the steam-chest for preparing the
food. At short distance from the barr
is the steam-engine, boiler, and tanks
The engine is 20-horse power, and, will
the boiler and attached machinery, t.
which motion Is communicated by 4
wire rope running over the pulleys, cos
about $4,000. The. cattle-sheds, o
which there are two, each 250 feet long
and others Of less extent, are furnished
with capacious loose boxes for bulls
vouno stock. or incoming COWS, ant