St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-10-12
SheIburne Farms.
interesting Description Of DR.. W. Sewar,
Webb's Vermont Estate.

Shelburne Farms.
interesting Description Of DR.. w. sewar,
Webb's Vermont Estate.
A summer visitor at Burlington, ha,
an interesting letter in the Burlington
Free Press describing Shelburne Farms
the Vermont home OF DR.. W. Seward
webb, president of the Wagner palace
car company. The letter is as follows.-
You will wish to hear about the visit
we paid last week to DR.. w. Seward
Webb's farm in Shelburne, an eight.mile
drive from Burlington. DR.. Webb has a
tract OF 1000 acres under cultivation
here, and another of 6, 900 acres in the
Adirondacks. The farm is small vii
lage,, and the drives from one part oft to
another are two or three miles long. AS
we drove in over the finely macadamized
roads, we passed steam road.roller be.
longing to the place, and ] judged. from
the smoothntss OF the roads, that it was
Kept In constant operation. The roads.
by their pinkish brown color show that
they are largely made of the native sand
stone. We were driven first to the farm
barn, which with the adjacent buildings
forms three sides of a square. The barn
had accommodations for perhaps 80 or
more horses. On the left of this was a
carriage-house, and on the right a
smlthy. The man who showed us about
was hostler, to judge from his occupa.
ton, but one OF natures noblemen," to
Judge from his courtesy and his very
evident and pardonable pride in his mas.
ter's possessions.
We were shown the 80 or more sleiphs
in the carriage-house, from the pretty
little wicker affair belonging to Miss
Fredericka, the 16 year-old daughter of
DR.. Webb, 10 the roomy affair in which
the frolic parties wind up an evenings
entertainment, after they are tired of
toboganning. This fortunate family
brings up its winter parties of friends
from New York, have toboggan slides
built. and bride nature to help them en-
Joy themselves. We were shown the
hose-carriage, ready at m oment' S notice
OF fire, having its special horses, which
are under drill, as in any well-regulated
paid fire department. The electric at
tachment for lberating the harness land
opening the doors was operated for our
amusement.
We were next driven to the coaching
stables, where the elegant equipages Of
the family are kept. AS there was no at
tendant in sight, we simply looked about
and admired the arrangement of the
building. with its numerous rooms, sepa.
rated by sliding glass doors, behind
which were the carriages, such as we
had exclaimed over at the worlds fair.
and traps, and an even more luxurious
canopy covered phaeton. Beneath these
was floor so evenly sanded that we
thought it carpeted, while under the
front were DR.. Webb's monogram and
the American flag in bright colored
sand.
We drove on again to the milking
barn, where we saw 90 cows waiting to
be MIXED, and then passed on to the
dairy. Here we were shown about by
bright little fellow OF a. who is the
proud and happy Garner of $1S u month,
and aspires to becoming an expert
butter. maker. He showed us great
eight.quart pals of cream, a wonderful
patent separator, and the delicious fin.
ished product, in two-pound bricks of
yellow butter. About 800 pounds are
made weekly. Such exquisite cleanliness,
from the pals which bring the milk, to
the white-tiled floors and walls! At the
brood stables we saw long, covered,
tan-bark court, surrounded by stalls as
large as small rooms, occupied by sleek.
coated wellgroomed horses. Some of
the stalls contained tiny, ragged looking
colts, as stupid in appearance as their
mothers were intelligent. We were told
that there were no very famous horses
in the stables now.
The residence OF the family as seen from
the roads which are open to the uninvit-
ed guest, looks commodious and COM
Portable. 1t was gay with bright color.
ed awnings, and had verandas and out.
looks, that must command charming
views. Extensive golf links were made
visible by their gay markers and their
close.cut artificial hillocks. AS far as the
eye could see stretched the smooth lawn,
banded with roads as hard as floor.
In various parts of the wide estate were
the homes of the overseers of the different
The houses were ideally
and attractive. In most
cases they were low, with fower.beds in
front, and as the wind swayed the mus
lin curtains in and out of the wide, low
we were impressed with their
air of coy comfort. There was one
building larger than the Others. which
was pointed out as the boarding house
For the "hands." DR.. Webb kindly al
ows the public to visit his plt &c, and his
employees are most courteous to strang-
,rs. The whole thing is gigantic OBJ.
ectlesson to prove the power of money
and system and taste.
State Convention. w. G. T. u.