St. Paul daily globe., 1892-09-25
She RAISES CATTLE.
Mrs. Willets Manages the
Finest Stock Farm on
Long Island.
She Does 1t Successfully and
Can Tell All About
Cattle.
She Knows All the PedigreeS
Of Her Horses, Cows
and Pigs.
A Modest, Unassuming Little
Woman With Soft, Brown
Eyes.

81 know more about my cows rela-
tions than do of my own"
This remark was laughingly made to
New York World reporter by cattle
breeder, not quite the conventional in
dividual that the name ''cattle-breeder"
implies, but by modest, unaSsuming
little woman, with soft brown eyes that
light up with CLEAN of pleasure as she
| relates the best points of her best
Guernsey cow. She wore plain but
| pretty glngham dress and big garden
hat, and stood in the corner of a meadow
| under the shade of some old trees, in
Producing by name different cows to her
| visitor. She did this with the same air
that the old woman who lived in a shoe
would introduce her children, of whom
she had SO many she didn'tknow what to
do,and yet who regarded each with feel
ing of solicitude and motherly pride.
This little woman so full of life and
animation is Mrs. S. p. Taber Willets,
of Roslyn, Long Island. She is manager
in chief of farm of 400 acres, which
| boasts of as fine a lot of registered
| Guernseys as can be found in the coun-
try. horses of rich and rare pedigrees,
hogs of very royal English blood, and
dogs, chickens and ducks and birds in
abundance.
The farm is called the "OId Brick"
and it is situated on Long Island, about
half mile out OF Roslyn. It's historic
landmark, and takes its name from
being the first brick house built on the
island. The house itself is an ideal
big airy rooms. which seem to
echo the welcome the hos
tess is always ready to give.
| There is an atmosphere of hospitality
| about the house that even the dogs
appear to enjoy. In fact a very i'm
| portant member of the household is
| Sudan. great st. Bernard. born at the
| st. Bernard hospital. in Switzerland.
| Ever since he was a great ungainly
| puppy he has belonged TO Mrs. WilIetS,
| and now to see Mrs. Willets is to see
lzSuldan, for they are always together.
She Was Born Farmer.
| Mrs. WIllets not only inherited the
| farm and the farm house from her faith
er, but an Unborn love of cattle. At the
| time when most little girls are inter-
| ested i'll nothing but dolls, she was con-
versant with all the points of shOrt-horn
cattle. She knew just why Guernsey
| cow was good investment, and i'll con-
nection with learning to read she
learned to trace cows pedigree.
Ever since she was six years old Mrs.
| Wlllets has lived at the ''Old Brick"
| and seven years ago. under her personal
| management, the stock farm was
started. not entirely for love, Mrs. Will
| lets will tell you, but for love and money
| together. She knew the exact value of
| a Guernsey cow, the purity and richness
of its milk and its wonderful breeding
| qualities. At first one Guernsey cow
was bought for exclusive family use.
| This proved such a success that herd
of seven was purchased, and with this
| the stock farm started. 1t now COM
prises eighty head of cattle and fifty
| four blOOded horses. One hundred and
| fifty pounds of butter are made a week,
and what butter it is! So yellow, and
| of such de liciouS quality. Owing to
| the color of the Guernsey milk no arti-
fetal coloring is used, and every pound
brings 80 cents. Very near the house is
dairy which was designed and built
under Mrs. Willets' own supervision.
The milk is set after the deep-coId sys-
| TEN, and the very best churner on all
| Long Island is Mrs. Willets herself.
| Among the other interesting features
| of the farm is an old house. 200 years
| old, made of shingles, with tiled roof
| Down in the cellar there is a mysterious
vault, where the British troops stored
their liquors. Mrs. Willets says she can
| imagine them sitting down under the
trees in the cool of the evening drinking
| out of the old stone jugs which she
found pieces of on the floor of the vault.
| There is also flower and fruit garden
on the farm, with neatly trimmed
hedge of old-fashioned box. The paths
are narrow and straight and lead, as all
| narrow and straight ways do, to the
best of things. The very largest and
reddest of raspberries grow here, and
| currants which seem to have peculi-
| arly delicious favor: or is it simply the
! way Mrs. Willets offers them to her
| guests?
| TO see the stock at the "Old Brick" is
interesting, but if Mrs. WiIIets is not
| your guide more than half the interest
and uniqueness is lacking. She seems
to have a personal acquaintance and
understanding with each cow, bull, calf,
| horse and pig on the farm. You are
| presented to Carmencita, for instance,
who is peaceably grazing out in the
field. Mrs. Willets lovingly strokes her
friend as she tells you just wherein Car
mencita excels. Tnen the trim calves
| are to be seen. They were born but a
| day or two ago and their mother is fif-
teen years old. All the cows she has
raised herself Mrs. Willets speaks of as
her children. She knows every COW on
| the farm by name, knows all their pc
| culiaritieS and will present you to Ger
| tain cow and then to it's half sister or
aunt, for instance. The pedigree of
every animal OIL the farm is perfectly
| familiar to her.
A Good Judge of Cattle.
She is considered an unusually fine
| Judge of cattle. Yet with this knowl-
| edge, which is so exceptional for a
woman to be versed in, Mrs. WiIlets
treats every animal OH the place in a
| certain deliciously feminine manner.
! She talks to a little calf much in the
way she would to baby. and seems to
| take motherly interest in all her large
credit upon their bringing up, for their
| good dispositions and docile conduct are
a noticeable feature of the farm.
Among the GuernSeyS OF the finest
breeding is Honey Dew. Her head is
! particularly good and her color extreme
| ly rich. She has been known to give
twelve quarts of milk in September,
when due to caive at Christmas. This
Mrs. Willets will tell you incidentally,
along with her other good points.
Among the stock is the fine imported
Guernsey COW, Daisy, of the Rue rOr,
| and the grand Guernsey bull. Squire
| Kent.
After the cows have received atten-
ton one is shown the horses. Young
| Highland Gray is among them, and
surely his pedigree is long enough and
his form fine enough to entitle his own
er to speak of him with pride. The
chestnut colt sired by Young Highland
Gray is another magnificent horse, and
Shiela, sired by Ajax ana damed by
Lady Stokes, is the pet of the farm.
Shiela, when a few years younger,
seemed to have the same love for pastry
that Mrs. Willets' BOYS possessed. If
an apple-pie was allowed to stand an
guarded in the pantry window Shiela
would coolly walk up and take what
she considered generous bite, which
meant when it came time to serve the
PIE that there was no pie left 10 serve.
When Shiela was a colt she would
| follow Mrs WIllnts inst ike q dog and