The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-05-03
Glle 9arnter.
Among the Jersey COWS.

Among the Jersey COWS.
"Gath," in the Cincinnati Enquirer,
gives the following account of his visit to
the stock farm of Joseph G. Sibley, near
Franklin, Pa
Franklin is surrounded with the derricks
of oil wells, looking like skeleton church
spires, to the number of scores and hun
dreds,; and most of these are still pumping
small quantity of oil per diem. Over
looking the tower on the opposite side of
French creek is the Prospect Hill stock
farm of Joseph C. Sibley, perhaps the most
complete in all its appointments now in
this country. Connected with it in differ
ent tracts are about six hundred acres of
land, and it has a race-course used by the
county agricultural society. Near the gate
going in is the creamery, which manufac-
lures two barrels of cream into butter in
about forty-fve minutes, and this butter is
sent all over the country at fifty cents a
pound. On the top of the hill is the barn,
which is of an octagonal Or almost circular
pattern, and contains the entire herd on two
floors From the cupola of the barn, which
which is winding stair connecting the two
floors. In the center of each floor is a
large open space, and the circle of cattle
faces this in stalls, their heads all appearing
above the stalls, and the troughs at their
knees. Behind this row Of cattle is an open
corridor, also circular, around which the
second greater circle of cattle stand at their
stalls.
On the upper floor portion of this sec
ond circle is devoted to the COWS with calves
or about to calve. The COWS in calf are
generally kept dry where this is possible, SO
that the calf can get the full nourishment;
but it is exceedingly difficult in some cases
to dry the Jersey COW, as the tenacity with
which she makes milk is the great secret of
her value. She is the most wonderful but
ter-making animal known to man. Other
kinds of cattle run to beef, but the Jersey
so assimilates her food that the globules
which might make beef flow in her milk,
and hence the extraordinary production Of
some of these COWS, and their high prices
in country where the chemist has been
at work with butter, and has given us va
rious ferns of wagon grease and coal-tar in
stead of the Attorney produce.
The importation of Jersey cattle into he
United States began about seven years be-
fore the war. 1t has gone on with such
enthusiasm that we now have about q 900
Jerseys, either imported or born here, every
one of which is registered in the jersey
herd-book, that is now assuming the pro-
portions of library. The Jersey cattle
by which general name is meant cattle of
Jersey, Sark and Attorney improve in this
country over their condition in their native
islands, and they make more cream and
butter, and thrive wonderfully. They are
distributed over the entire country. They
are generally of fawn-color, with rather
dark gray or blackish faces; the cows are
very gentle, and the bulls vicious.
| was interested in two things in this
stable. In the first place the cream sepa-
rator, which is run by steam engine, re-
wolves with enormous rapidity, and the
cream flows out of one spigot and the
SKINNED milk out of another. Then OBJ
served the apparatus for cleaning cows,
which are carefully washed and brushed
once or twice day by means of brushes
operated by the engine. The cow, calf or
bull is brought forward and tied to post;
and from above these brushes are brought
to her body, and carefully raise every hair.
The cattle like it, but their tails have to be
tied up in a bag, for not long ago one of
the brushes tore out tail The tempera-
ture in the barn is kept at fifty degrees the
year round, regulated by the thermometer,
and the barn is lighted with the Brush light
ON every floor, and at midnight is as bright
as day A storage battery is kept near the
engine for this purpose. The light used is
the ordinary gas bracket and small lamp.
At Prospect Hill farm the barn is eigh.
ty-eight feet in diameter There are thir-
ty-two cattle on the inner rows and forty
six on the rear rows The engine has
fifteen-horse power. The food given the
animals is boiled and mixed, partly oats and
partly ensilage, or leaves of corn plucked
when the ear is full of milk. The cattle
like this food very much, and it improves
their butter The jersey COW can be re-
lied on to make one pound of butter Il day;
many of them make sixteen pounds week,
and some of their performances are almost
fabulous.
By the machinery used at Prospect Hill
it takes thirty-fve minutes only to separate
the cream from the milk of forty-fve cows.
The separator is Swedish patent. In one
hour from the commencement of the milk
ing the cream is in the creamery and the
SKINNED milk is being fed to the calves.
Mr.. Sibley says that the keep Of bis
cattle in the winter is somewhere between
twenty and thirty cents day, but that for
portion of the year they do not cost above
eight cents day. There are about thir-
teen men employed on the herd farm, and
the cost of running it is about $4,000 a
year.
At Prospect Hill there are forty-fve
milch cows, producing not less than one
pound per diem of butter, while good
deal of the milk without being skinned is
given to the calves There are twenty cows
in the stable that $4,000 apiece would not
buy.