The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-07-11
BELLE MEADE FARM.
What is to be Seen on This CeIe.
brated Estate.

vi
farm near Nashville, Tenn:
sixteen Confederate veterans I'm ,t
tendance upon the centennial exposi,ior
agreed it would be IL good thing IN toIn
in the most celebrated farm i'm nil tLo
South and, us far as we know. in tbo
world. Weprocureh an elegant four horse
carriage, which was flied with represen.
tatiyes from North Carolina, Georgia,
Texas and Arkansas, aud started for tho
farm on Richmond creek, between six and
seven r:ies from Nashville. The road.is
fine, we'll nacadamized, built and owned
by Gen. w. III. jackson, proprietor of the
farm. He has twenty miles of road over
which he charges toll. There are several
elegant dwellings and nicely cultivated
farms on the way, and much of the road
is well shaded. The principal trees nv
the roadside are black locust and svca.
more. The winding drives through the
lawn, surrounding the dwelling, are very
fine. When we reached the farm, several
carriages filled with ladies and gentlemen
had preceded us; we also saw a number
OF wheels banked under the shade of
tree, showing the ubiquitous 'cycle' will
even dare to enter the Enclosure of tbe
most renowned racers of the bluegrass
region.
Upon inquiry we learned the farm
embraces .5l,0iO acres. Five hundred
acres are inclosed..with II rock fence ID
feet high, on top of which is placed iron
posts with wire fence--total height 10
feet. In this inclosure between 400 and
800 deer are kept Such herd reminds
one Of the stories told by the early set
tiers of this country We failed to learn
whether this deer park is kept solely for
pleasure or whether it is also laid under
tribute to swell the revenues of the farm.
At any rate, it is IL very important feat
ure, andquite romantic. We took n sur
vey of some of the finest horses, all thor
oughbre,ls.
There are nine stations, each one kent
in stable ami paddock entirely separate.
with sufficient room for exercise. These
horses are held at fabulous prices. Run
ming on the pastures are 100 brood mares.
Va sucking colts, 40 one. year-old colts.
Is -year-old FLIES, - yearling colts.
now in New York for sale. One hundred
and thirty Shetland ponies also find pas
turage and care on this wonderful farm.
We saw 10 mich cows, chiefly JERSEYS.
1t was the hour of milking in the after
noon, when we inspected the milking
Each COW was in its..stall, as the dairyn,en
| around Charlotte have theirs
| when we entered the barns and saw
how clean and nice everything was we re-
| GREETED not having taken our Mecklen-
burg girls-Misses Julia Alexander and
Adele Brenizer-aiong to see the wonders
contained in General Jackson's farm.
| The iloor of the stalls is the same-as our
sldewalks-cement-a the incline is
sufficient to he easily flooded with water.
and swep. clean..after each milking, which
| refuse is ut once thrown on compost
heap. The stables, or stalls, are rs clean
rs any dwelling, entirely free from all
unpleasant odor On these cattle pas
lures are seen ten bulls and an indefinite
number of heifer calves. All male calves
are destroyed Immediately efter birth
not being sufficiently valuable to pay for
raising.
1.-Two large barns are occupied by the
mix cows. Five negro men do the milk
ing, and consume one hour and half
encn time. Two more men assist in at
tending the cattle--seven in all. One
barn is occupied exclusively with mules
that do the farm work. These mules are
all bought: not one is raised on the farm.
| Twenty seven barns are for the
horses, and all the feed necessary for
their NeeDing,eHccpt oats.is raised on the
farm. We now leave the barns and 20 to
the milk house or dairy. This is a semi
bnsemenc the house is built on IL hillside.
The foor is of cement; large basins and
Thoughts made of cement, delightfully."-
cool, hold water in great abundance, in
hold the cream. Two 60.gallon churns
IN place. to churn the milk, driven by
mule power One large refrigerator to
hold the butter. 1t is impossible to have
n nicer or sweeier place on earth than
this dairy. Mr.. and Mrs. Tucker have
charge Of this department, and gave this
information, viz: They churn 200 Gallons
(avera"c) per day, which yields 90 pounds
Of butter which sells at 81 cents per
| pound Average sale of buttermilk per
day 200 gallons, at. 10 cents per gallon.
No sweet milk is sold. We asked: DO
YOU feed no milk to the hogs she said:
Not hog on the farm How long
have you been in CHARGE Answer
seven years. Come to the door snid she.
see that pretty house, Yes, | see it,,
We'll, the General built that house FIR
us, and we have it free of rent | found
tEat there exists strong attachment by
the employees for their employer, among
bot whites and blacks. There are en-
Dioyed 20 stablemcn and cattemen.
These I'll get their hoart. and SD per
month. Thirty five families live On the
farm, furnishn" 30 farm hands
-Four moving machines are kent bnsv
| during the busy season. two rcurers and
binders, one steam thrasher one steam
$40 cutter. one steam grain mill All
grain led to stock is first ground Ten
men arc employed to break rock, to keen
the roads i'll repair. We failed To find
the amount of rock fence on the farm,
but it must he very considerable, and
cost 81 per foot. Rock pillars for gates
cost SlI per gate. Some time ago Mr..
Croker, of New York. bought Il half in
terest in the horse department., paying
$780, 900. He employs General Jackson
or salary of $4,000 :per year to look
after his interest in the horse farm.