Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-10-28
A stable win a PnrIor.

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W. H. Ridsing, in Harper for Octobsr.t
Following the quarter circle Of
the stone roadway we come to the
entrance of the COW stable. and
crossing its portals, we are aston
ished at the extreme cleanliness of
the interior, though we have seen
enough to make us anticipate much
attention to sanitary affairs in a
model farm The air il pure and.
fresh, the light inyades the corner
most ralters, and the h~orrifying
squalor Of the ordinary h~abitatio5.
allowed to the bovine is superseded
by an ethical economy so admirable
that humanitarianism reproaches
us and pricks our conscienees with.
the contrast between this shelter
for brutes and much inferior accom-
modations for man in the tenementa
of large cities. The stable Is 100
feet long and 40 feet wide; it has
stalls for AS cows; the stalls are s
feet wide; the managers are 2 feet
wide; the slanting platforms upon
which the animals stand are 81 feet
long, and each COW is allowed 900.
cubic feet of air space, or more
than double the usual quantity.
The two rows of stalls are separated.
by a longitudinal passage 10 feet
wide; there is a transverse pas-
sage s feet wide in the center, and
another longitudinal one in the rear
OF each row Of stalls, by which the
floor is divided into four sections.
The sloping platforms of the stalls
end in slightly inclined cutters,
from which the manure passes
through convenient traps into the
cellar for storage. The room is
lighted by 10 large double windows,
opening at the top and bottom, and
for the early morning milkipgs
fixed lamps with brilliant reaectors
are employed. On the north side
there is a small apartment with a
few chairs or stools, a marble wash
stand, a large mirror, and an ampli-
tude of towel. Whoever looks into
the mirror is reminded by an ia.
scription over it, as conspicuous as
his own image, that "Handsome is
that handsome does.p This little
room is called "the parlor," and the
reader-esPecially the "practical
farmer" be disposed to CRY
out against a parlor in a stable as
an absurd piece of Utopian extrav-
agance. 1t is in reality a dressing
room, and before milking-time each
man is required to wash his face
and hands and to brush his hair,
tidiness of person being insisted
upon. We forgot to tell that the
floor Of the barn is dry and sanded,
and that there are no odors to offend
the daintiest nostrils. The beds Of
the animals are changed every day,
being formed of dried leaves spread
upon the sanded platforms. Over
the entrance to the parlor an uner-
ring clock sedately whispers the
seconds, and ten minutes before it
marks 5 p.m-the milking time
any visitors who may be in the barn
are excluded; the milkmen (maids
are an a"nachronism) enter the
dressing-room, and precisely as the
fingers record the hour they reap
pear, with hands and faces clean
and hair smooth, and sit down to
their task. AS each COW is MIXED,
its yield is separately weighed and
the quantity recorded Oh a slate,
which is passed with the milk to the
dairy-maid, who stores the warm
fragrant fluid in shallow pans dur
ing winter, and in deep pans sur
rounded by running water during
the summer.
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