Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1906-03-29
MODEL FARMING.
6R Era7plc a FeIzsyivania-A Fit-
teen Acre Dairy Farm.

AR Era-apIc 1a FeEzsyivania-A Fit-
teen Acre Dairy Farm.
BY w J. sPIELMAN. department of az
riculture.
The method of management on a if
teen acre farm that raises all the
roughage for thirty head of stock, sew
enteen of which are cows in milk,
cannot fail to be of interest to farm
ers in all parts of the country. The
farm in question is situated in south
eastern Pennsylvania, near large
city. About thirteen acres are in cul-
tivation, the remaining two acres be-
ing occupied by farm buildings, yard,
etc. This farm came into the posses
sion of the present owner (Rev. j. ID.
Detrick, n minister with no previous
experience in farming, in 1881, with a
mortgage of $1,000 upon il. For the
first year the farm lacked SAG Of pay
ing expenses. During the next six
years the mortgage was paid.
Systematic Management.
The writer has never seen another
farm on which system is so pronounced
a feature. Without referring to notes
of any kind, the owner detailed the
crops growing on each small subdivi-
sion, the crops that had been grown on
each for two TO three years past and
those that would be grown for as long
in the future. In most cases the dates
of seeding and harvesting were given.
4 peculiar feature of the management
is that each of the principal operations
is performed on fixed day each sue
ceeding year or as near to it as the
weather will permit Not pound of
solid or liquid manure goes to waste
on this farm, and the soil is in such
pendent of weather conditions than any
other soil the writer has ever seen.
Torrential rains are soaked up in Il
very short time, so that the soil may
be handled after a rain much sooner
than that Of adjacent farms. 1t is
therefore not difficult to adhere ap-
proximately to prearranged pro-
gramme. For instance, early corn for
soiling is planted May s; late corn for
silage, June %; grass seed, about Aug.
90, and so on.
Products Sold.
The farm Is strictly dairy farm,
the only products regularly sold being
milk and few head of young cattle
each year The cows are all register
cd Jerseys, except one or two picked
up at sales on neighboring farms. They
are not only pure bred, but they are
well bred. There Is not a star boarder
in the herd Male calves, If worthy of
it, are reared for breeding purposes,
but none is ever vealed. If a male
calf is not fit to raise for breeder 1t
is killed ut birth. ut doesn't pay to
feed SIS worth of milk to calf that
will sell for SS," said the owner. The
young cattle sold from this farm bring
ON an average 500 apiece. and about
FIVE are sold each year.
The milk Is sold at % cents a gallon
the year around to a state institution
located two miles distant in a neighbor-
ing suburb 1T tests on the average
5S per cent. 1t will be seen that this
is n very moderate price, considering
the quality.
The amount of milk produced Is
nearly the same at all seasons and
averages about twenty-six gallons a
day, or 1880 pounds year for each
oe the seventeen cows kept-not an
enormous yield, but n good one This
gives an income from milk of about
2,400 year The outlay for concen-
trated feeding stuff Is about $625 4
wear