Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-10-10
A Beautiful Farm Home.

Why should farming not be scien-
tifc? Because the manufacturer labors
in scientific way, his profits are great
er and surer than those of the agricul-
turist who has neither machinery nor
system; but it is the unreasonable Gus
tom of many to sheer at all innOva-
tions, and to look at all methodic vari-
atiosn upon old usages- as the fanciful
and improbable schemes of Missionaries
with more money than common sense.
1t Is the people who sheer that are usu-
ally most deficient in the latter quality,
however; and had they little more of
it they might perceive that careful
bookkeeping and the adoption of i'm
proved methods and implements are as
necessary in farming as in any other
business.
In a side hollow of that hill from
which Litchfield first became visible to
us several very distinct echoes can be
obtained, and this responsiveness oftne
purple glenS" gave a name to this
farm. 1t is Echo Farm-a pretty and
POLITICALLY suggestive name, indeed,
which cOnjures up visions Of loneliness,
and sets one to dreaming of intertWin-
ing vines knitting their plant tendriis
and sweet-scented leaves through the
hOspitable porch and open lattice; the
checkered orchard of fruity abundance,
the garrulOus brook that never tires Of
it own monody; the reverberant hills
that appease life'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 of Arcadian; it is infexibly utilli-
tartan; it keeps all its buildings in per
feet state of repair; 1t subordinates the
picturesque, if it ever recognizes it; it
pulls down the old mill because that
structure is in the way of the rectangu-
lar new dairy; it diverts the brook from
place of earthen pipes; it tears away
the vines that obscure the light, and it
looks upon every thing with pair of
most practical eyes set in head that
weighs, measures, audits. and analyses
with chemical eXactness. The pro-
prietor of Echo Farm conducts it as a
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 guam
tity entered upon books, both that pur-
chased and that produced; and a sep
crate account Is kept of the yield of
each field. Nothing is wasted, nothing
done by guessing, and nothipg passes
unrecorded. The implements are ofthe
latest or most approved model. Three
co Of hn ho f., l1,
which hay is unloaded at the rate of
ton in four forkfuls and in four minutes,
including in some instances the carriage
Of the hay $50 feet. The other machines
also embOdy some novel labOr-saVing
principles. No manure or fertilizers are
found necessary, except the 100 loads
made upon the farm, and a sort of
muck, Of which there are several beds.
The history of the farm is interesting.
A gentleman Of education, intelligence,
and wealth came TO Litchfield some
nine years ago in search Of summer
home. He had the most superficial
knowledge Of farming, and entertained
no intention of entering that business.
But, having purchased sixty-six acres
and cleared them, he purchased addi-
tional 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, begin
ming with herd Of five, he has gradu-
ally increased the number to 100, all the
herd being pure Jerseys, with authentic
and valuable pedigrees. The rocky
fields were cleared, laid out, and inclos-
ed by massive stone walls. Old and in
adequated buildings OF the consolidated
lands were demolished, and new ones
Of improved pattern erected. In 1873
a barn &c feet by % was built; an adj
dition, 100 feet by 40, was made the fol-
lowing year; and in 1875 another addi-
ton was made, of 191 by So feet. These
three buildings form the three sides of
the barn-yard. They are built of pine
upon massive granite foundations about
two feet wide, which are laid in cement.
All the woodwork is painted a soft
drab color even the proprietor's
residence, and the telegraph
poles that line the roadway. A desire
for simplicity and durability in prefer
ence to ornamentation or showinesS 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 filled like mosaic with a stone
that exactly fits it. Care thrift, andfn-
genGity have acted like three charms:
When the fields ware being cleared,
such large quantities of stones were
gathered that some perplexity arose as
to where they should be put. Many
hundreds of loads were used IN the
foundations Of the buildings, in the
fences, and in the filing ravines, but
more remained, and these were deposit |
ed upon several sterile hillocks of no
value, where masses of swamp grass
were laid over them, and covered with /
a light dressing Of soil, grass seed was
sown upon the soil, audit took we'll, |
soon transforming the barren heaps 10
verdant knobs. whose blades are re-
markably hardy. 1t was 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, and bram-
bles, which the heaps would have quick
~ become.
Two and halfacres are planted with |
beets, which are the only roots fed to
TIE cattle, the crop averaging 1000
bushels an acre, and more than 1000
tons of hay are housed yearly. II.
Rideing in Harper's. Magazine for October.