The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-05-08
FARMS OF CARROLL.
Written for the Democratic Advocate.
BEDFORD.
The Residence of James H. Rooms,

in Middlcburg district, Carroll county, on
the public road leading from the village of
Middleburg to Taneytown, one mile distant
from the former place. 1t came into the
possession of the present proprietor in 1876,
by inheritance from his father, Peter
Rooms, who was born in the house now
standing upon the farm, in 1895, and who
died in 1876, aged nearly eighty-two years.
BEDFORD is part of tract of thousand
acres conveyed by Norman Bruce and Ed
ward Diggs, to Raphael Neal in 1863,
subsequently purchased by the great-grand-
father of the present proprietor, Henry
Rooms, on the 18th day of January, 1775.
Henry Rooms was blacksmith inthe army
in the war of Independence He conveyed
it to his son, George Rooms, grandfather
of the present proprietor, in 1892. On his
death, in 1917, it came into the possession
of his father, Peter Rooms, and at his death
in 1876, it was inherited by james H.
Rooms, the present proprietor. 1t will thus
be seen that BEDFORD has remained in the
possession of the family of the present
owner for a period of one hundred and
eleven years. This is long time for a
property to remain in the possession of one
family, in this country, where there is no
law of primogeniture, and where the titles
to lands are changing continually.
BEDFORD contains 2059 acres, forty Of
which are woodland. The farm is divided
into nine fields. The public road leading
from Middleburg to Taneytown passes
through it. The Big Pipe Creek runs
nearly through the centre of the farm,
watering all the fields save one. 1t is well
enclosed with post and rail and worm fence.
The proprietor has lined his land, to some
extent, in the process of cropping, but re-
Gently he has used brand Of phosphate,
which he considers about the best fertilizer
that is manufactured.
The chief crops are wheat, corn, rye,
oats and hay. The order of rotation is,
first. sod for corn, part of which is sown in
grass in the fall, the balance in oats the
following spring, in the fall sown in wheat
and timothy A clover field, as rule, Is
plowed before harvest for wheat the next
year, stumbled, and then sown in grass.
The average yield is from sixteen to TWEEN
ty-seven bushels of wheat per acre; of corn,
from eight to twelve barrels, sometimes
more, on land nearer the creek, which
seems to possess greater fertility .
Market facilities are all that could be
desired. If shipment is intended, Middle
burg station, ON the Western Maryland
Railroad, is only mile distant; Mengis'
Mill is about half mile distant, and hay,
corn, oats and rye straw. find a ready sale
at the stud farm of the famous turfman,
Mr.. r. w. Walden, whose large farm, with
its fine race track, adjoins the farm of Mr..
Rooms on line of about one mile in ex-
tent.
The dwelling house is 10 by Sc feet
built of stone and frame, during the Revo-
lutionary war. 1t will shortly be replaced
by new building The barn is bank
barn, built in 1886, having large hay
shed attached. The other outbuildings are
a wagon shed with corn crib on either side
carriage house and shed for farming i'm.
plements, hog house, ice house, smoke
house, hen house and blacksmith shop
The farm has an abundance of good water
and is well stocked with fruit of different
kinds, some hundred trees or more, of gooC
varieties
Mr.. Koons pays some attention to the
quality of his stock. He keeps six heaG
of good horses for farming purposes; twelve
head of horned cattle, among them thor
oughbred jersey bull The Jerseys are
esteemed above the Alderneys in many
points They are somewhat larger, as ;
rule, equally good mixers, and the males
more docile and trustworthy. The milk
and butter-yielding qualities of the jersey
are all that can be desired. The mill
produced by the herd is consumed on the
farm, or converted into rich golden butter
and the surplus, not needed by the family
sent to market.
1t is the source of ajust pride to be able
to tread the soil trod by our ancestors fol
several generations, and to find shelter anc
home beneath the same roof erected by
their providence and their thrift, and hal
lowed and endeared to us by the holies
and fondest recollections which cluster
around eur family tree-those loved ones
who have gone before us-who have lived
and toilcd and built up an honored name
and who have laid themselves down at last
when life's journey was ended, to rest from
their labors, Just as those who shall come
after them, must do, in their turn, when
life's fitful fever is over. One generation
passeth away and another cometh, and all
are ultimately borne upon the tide of time
to the ocean of eternity, where the inherit
ance is not of lands Or of stocks or bonds,-
but one which is "incorruptible, undefled
and which fadeth not away" reserved fol
all those who shall be able to make good
their title to the same, at the grand assize.
Mr.. Rooms relates, with some humor, al
incident in his own experience, which took
place on the farm, during the late son
pleasantness" between the North and tht
South. Just before the battle of Gettys
burg, Gen. Meade occupied the fields o.
BEDFORD one night with his headquarters
The present owner, then lad of nine
teen years, experienced no trouble whatevel
in going out from and around Gen. Mead
headquarters, but considerable amoun
of trouble in getting back
Those troublous times have happily
passed away "Grim-visaged war haiti
smoothed his wrinkled front, and white
winged peace again gladdens all the land
{ The achievements of the husbandman hav,
since proven that "peace hath her victories
not less renowned than war, and in those
victories, Mr.. Rooms, along with his co
laborers of the fields, has sustained no ig
noble or unimportant part. The business
of war is to pull down and destroy. Th'
business of peace, and especially Of agri
cultural pursuits, is to build up, to feec
and nurture, and to spread contentmen
and prosperity among the people. Why
should warriors, who are the destroyers O
their kind, enjoy more distinction than thu
men who have achieved success in civil
pursuits2 That they do, is proof that oul
civilization has not yet attained to tha
height in reyersicn for it, but that civilized
man, SO called, is yet onlya semi-barbarian