The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-10-09
i innovations. and to look at all method

| all innovations. and to look at all method
| ic variations upon the old ,lsages as the
fancifal and Improbable schemes Of yis-
ionaries with more money than common
sense. It is the people who sheer that
are usually the most deficient in the latter
quality, however; and had they little
more of it they might perceive that Care
! full bookkeeping and The adoption Of i'm
proved methods and impliments are as
| necessary in farming as in any other busi-
] ness. 5i s
| Ina side hollow OF that hill from whice
I.itchfeld first became visible to MS sew
eral very distinct echoes can be obtained,
! and this responsiveness of the purple
glens" gave q name to this farm. it is
Echo Farm pretty and POLITICALLY sug-
gestiye name, indeed, which conjures up
VISIONS of loneliness, and sets one 10
! dreaming of entertaining vines knitting
their plant tendrils and sWeet-scented
leaves through the hospitable porch and
open lattic; the checkerd orchard Of fruity
abundance, the garrul aus brook that
never tires OF Its own monodv; the re-
yerberant trees that appease lite's turmoil
with their easy undulations; lofty barns
messy with age and Gathering mills down
in the seclusion Of grassy hollows. #
But, alas! dear reader, model farming
is not idyllic or Arcadian; it is inAexibly
utilitarian; il keeps all It's buildings in D
! perfect state of repair; it subordinates
| the picturesque, If it ever recognizes it;it
| pulls down the old mill because that ven
| erabie is I'M the way of the rectangular
| new dairy; it diVerts the brook from it's
t fbrny course into the most commonplace
or earthen pipes, it tears away the vines
that obscure the light and it looks upon
every thing with prir of the most prac.
tical eyes sci in a head that weighs, meas
ures, audits, analyses with chemical ex-
actness. The proprietor of Echo Farm
conducts it as q mandatory. A record
is kept of the milk and butter produced
by each COW for each day, each month,
each year; all the feed is weighed and
the quantity enterd upon books, both that
purchased and that produced; and sep
crate account is kept of the yield of each
field Nothing is wasted, nothing is
done by guessing, and, nothing passed
unrecorded. The empiiments are of the
latest or most approved model Three
sets of s'horse'' hay forks are in use by
| which hay is unloaded at the rate of a ton
in four torktuls and in four minutes, in.
| Guiding in some instances the carriage
hay 100 feet. The other machines also
embody some novel labor-saving princi-
pies. No manure or fertilizers are found
necessary, except the 1900 loads made
| hn 81 -
which there are several beds
The history of the tarm is interesting.
A gentleman of education, intelligence,
and wealth came to Litchfeld some nine
years ago i'll search OF a summer home.
He had the most superficial knowledge
F! Of farming, and entertained no intention
of entering that business But having
purchased sixty-six acres and cleared
them, he purchased additional tracts,
| which. became the nucleus of Echo Farm.
| whose area is now about 400 acres, His
| interest was enlisted in the raising Of
choice stock, and beginning with q herd
OF live. ne gradually increased the mum
Der to 100, all the herd being pure ,Jer-
seys. with authentic aud valuable pedi-
grees. The rocky fields we're cleared,
laid out, and inclosed by massive stone
| walls. Old and inadequate buildings on
the consolidated land were, demolished
and Lew ones of improved pattern erect
ed. In 1873 a balm sc feet by IS was
built; an addition, 100 feet by 90, was
n. made the following year and in 1875 an
other addition was made, Of 191 feet By
So. These three buildings from the three
sides of the barn-yard. They are built
OF pine upon massive granite foundations
| about two feet vide, which are laid in ce-
ment. All the wood work is painted
soft drab color, even the proprietor's res
ldence, and the telegraph poles that line
| tine roadway.
! A desire for simplicity and durability
In preference TO ornamentation or shoWi
ness is visible everywhere; there is no
litter, and there are no gaps in the fences
or walls, which are from eighteen inches
to twenty-four in thickness, every crevice
being tiled like a mosaic with stone
that exactly fits it. Care, thrift, and in.
| genuity have acted Like three charms
When the fields were being cleared, such
large quantities Of stone were gathered
that some perplexlty arose as to where
! they should be put Many hundreds CT
loads were used in foundations of the
buildings, in the fences, and filling ra-
vines, but more remained, and these
were deposited upon several sterile hill
locks OF no value, where masses of swap
grass were laid over them, and covered
with light dressing OF soil. Grass seed
was sown upon the soil, and it took we'll,
soon transforming the barren heaps to
verdant knobs, whose blades are remark
E'ably hardy. ltwas not SO much for the
sake Of the land gained that the stones
were thus disposed OF, but it was rather
/ to prevent the formation Of nurseries for
weeds, shrubs, AMI brambles, which tie
would have quickly become. al ...
tfwo and a half acres are planted with
beets which are the only roots feed to the
cattle, the crop averaging 1000 bushels
an acre, and more than 1000 tons Of hay
| are housed year.--W. H. RsdeSng, IN
Hoqper's Mdgasins for October. '''Ess@
ARea1t1A- Destroying yapor
I Ia toI hryt