Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-12-21
SCIENTIFIC FARMING.


The Beauties of ''Mountain Side "-Mr. Theo
dore A. Havemeyer's Great Experiment in the
Ramapo Valley.
Francis d. Moulton in the Journal of the American
Agricultural Association
Mountain Side," the farm of Mr..
Theodore A. Havemeyer. of New York,
lies III Bergen County, New Jersey,
twenty-nine miles from New York city,
in the beautiful Ramapo Valley, which
at this point is scarcely a mile wide.
Through the farm, from north to south,
flows the Ramapo River. Mountain
Side" comprises 600 acres. 800 of which
lie in the valley, and are under cultiva-
ton, and the remainder on the sides of
the mountains, which at this point rise
to the height of about 600 feet. The
farm is under the superintendent aud
management of John Mayer, an edll-
Gated farmer, who learned the art in the
state of Rhode Island, and who is as
sisted by a foreman, and employs In the
management of the farm from thirty to
forty men, who are all comfortably cared
for in suitable cottages.
Mr.. Havemeyer's barn, dairy, and
silos are comprised in one building,
forming the letter T. The barn proper
stands east and west, and contains the
cattle floor, the hay loft, feed bins, and
manure cellars. The south wing con-
tains the ice-house, dairy, engine-room,
and quarters for the dairy-man. In the
north wing are the silos. The length of
the barn from east to west is 263 feet, its
width A feet; the length from north to
south, including the dairy and silos, is
263 feet, the south end being 81 feet
wide, and the north end, or silos, 40 feet
wide. Beneath the barn, on each side,
and directly under the cattle, are the
manure cellars, each IA feet In width and
$50 In length. Under the center of the
barn and surrounded by the manure
beds, is a room for keeping roots, $50
feet long and Is feet wide, with stone
walls and cemented sides and bottom;
this root-cellar is thoroughly ventilated
by hues of its own, quite disconnected
from those for the manure cellar and for
the cattle-hoor above. At the extreme
west end of the arn-cellar, between the
two cartways, is built cistern of ce-
mented work So feet long, Is feet wide,
and II feet deep, having a capacity of
35, 900 gallons of water, which is sup
piled from the river From this great
cistern, into which also the water from
the barn roofs can be carried at will. a
steam pump raises water to two large
tanks high up In each end of the main.
barn, and from these tanks, giving an
excellent head. water is supplied by a
system of pipes to all parts of the vari-
Gus farm buildings. Back of this cistern
stands the gas-machine which supplies
the house and all the buildings with
light.
Entering the main floor of the barn
one is struck with its immense size. it's
cleanliness and the absense of all odors.
Tt is forty-two feet wide in the clear, and
has two ranges of stall, one on either
side, numbering in all ninety-eight,
while the distance between the stalls in
the center is thirteen feet These stalls
are five feet long and three feet six
inches wide, with a gutter one foot six
inches vide and four inches in depth
running in the rear five feet from the
head of the stalls. Behind the stalls is
passage-way eight feet wide, extending
along the sides of the barn. At the end
of the row of stalls on the right are ten
box-stalls twelve feet long, eight feet
wide and four feet four inches high, in
which, at all times, are kept some of the
most valuable animals, and others when
they are calving. In the center of the
floor, extending the whole length of the
barn, and connecting with the slips, is a
railroad track. The height of the barn,
from the floor to the hay-mows, is ten
feet; the latter are thirteen feet high.
and extend the length Of the barn, to the
roof, having a capacity for 800 tons of
hay The barn has the best system of
ventilation and lighting that can be de-
vised. Both in winter and summer the
air here is pure, and almost free from
odor
The engine room occupies that portion
of the south wing which lies immediate
~ contiguous to the main building, and
is thirty feet long by twenty-nine feet
wide, with a floor above for storing
machinery. ETC. In it is an engine of
fifteen horse power; the pump, which
forces the water from the river to the
cistern in the barn, having a capacity of
1900 gallons per hour. Adjoining the
engine-room is the ice-house, which is
thirty-six feet long and twenty-seven
feet wide, with storage capacity of 400
tons of ice. Beneath the ice-house, On
a level with the ground in the rear, the
building being on the slope of hill, is
a summer dairy, which has the same di-
mansions as the ce-house, except the
height, which is ten feet from the floor to
the ceiling. The floor and sides are
tiled, and the ceiling is finished with ash
boards, planed, tongued, and grooved.
The facilities for ventilation are such
that the temperature can be kept at
about 40 degrees in summer, and regu-
lated at will. Adjoining is a room on a
level with the summer dairy forty nine
feet long and twenty nine feet wide. 1t
forms basement, while above it is the
winter dairy of the same dimensions.
The two are connected by au inclosed
elevator, and also by staircase The