The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-06-07
MODEL FARMING.
An Example In Pennsylvania-A FLA
reen Acre Dairy Farm.


BY W. ]. sPIELMAN. department of ag
ricuture.
The method of management on a fif
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
tlvution, the remaining two acres be
ing occupied by farm buildings, yard
etc. This farm came into the posses
sion of the present owner Otev. j. ID
DERRICK, minister with no previous
experience in farmingl, in 1881, with
mortgage of 5000 upon It, For the
first year the farm lacked SIG of pay
ing expenses. During the next siS
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 OF
each for two to three years past anG
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 Il fixed day each sue
cecding year or as near to 1t as the
weather will permit. Not Il pound OF
solid or liquid manure goes to waste
on this farm, and the soil Is In such
condition that it Is more nearly indie
pendent Of weather conditions than any
other soil the writer has ever seen
Torrential rains are soaked up In q
very short time, so that the soil may
be handled after n Rain much sooner
than that Of adjacent farms. 1t Is
therefore not difficult to adhere ap
proXimately to Il prearranged pro
gramme. For instance. early corn fol
sorling is planted May s; late corn foI
siage, June %; grass seed, about Aug
%, and so on.
Products Sold.
The farm is strictly a dairy farm
the only products regularly sold being
milk and few head of young cattle
each year. The cows are all register
ed Jerseys, except one or two picked
up at sales on neighborlng farms. They
are not only pure bred, but they are
well bred. There Is not star bOardei
in the herd Male calves, II worthy OF
1t, are reared for breeding purposes
but none Is ever vealed. If II male
calf is not fit to raise for breeder IL
Is killed at birth. ut doesn't pay to
feed $1S worth Of milk to a calf that
will sell for 49," 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 gallon
the year around to state institution
located two miles distant in neighbor.
ing suburb. 1t tests on the average
50 per cent. 1t will be seen that this
is 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 a year for each
Of the seventeen cows kept-not an
enormous yield, but good one. This
gives an Income from milk Of about
$2,4OO a year. The outlay for concen,
trated feeding stuff is about $G25 a
year.