Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-20
no evidences Of the terrible drudgery
I had heard about.
How the Milk Il Handled.


The milkhouse, which we visited next,
was Just As interesting and even more
cleanly. Mr.. Fredericks ships only his
cream to Washington. feeding the skim
milk to calves and pigs. First the milk
is run over water-cooled aerators. which
take out the animal heat. Then 1t goes
into power-driven separator and the
cream comes out into one pail and the
skim milk into another. The cream 10
put in ten-gallon cans. which are set IN
concrete trough through which cold
water runs. and once q day the cream
10 shipped to an ice cream factory in
Washington. If all Ice cream sold in
cities IL made from such cream as goes
from Mr.. Frederick farm 1t certainly
is clean and ought to be wholesome.
BY selling nothing but the cream. Mr..
Fredericks explained to me, the minimum
amount of fertility is taken off the
farm. As tho cotton seed meal and
gluten meal he buys to supplant the feed
tity Of soil fertility that is shipped away
In cream. his farm Is growing more
fertile every year instead Of becoming
exhausted, as are so many other farms
around me. I don't believe any finer
crops ever were grown on the rich
Mississippi valley lands than saw grow
ing In Mr.. Fredericks' fields. He has
two huge siloe and is planning to build
another, and he has about ready to cut
forty acres OF clover and timothy in
one fleld, one Of the pretttest sights I
ever saw.
His experience with alfalfa, about
which so much is being written just now,
has not been wholly satisfactory. He
has been growing experimental fields OF 1t
for several years, and though he has
crops his cows have not seemed to relish
1t. Yet they would eat alfalfa shipped
here from the west in preference almost
to any other roughage. He hasn't been
able to figure whether the fault Is In the
soil or the climate or in the eastern
grown varieties of the plant. This year
he has Ave acres from seed that came
from Iowa, and Is hopeful OF getting hay
that will make more of an appeal to
fastidious bovine appetites.
Prefers Half Loaf to None.
I have used up a good deal OF space
telling Of my Wcit to the Fredericks
farm, but my Justification is that it was
a revelation to me and upset a whole
basketful of preconceived notions. I am
afraid, too. that it has made me a little
dissatisfied with my eight acres, my one
COW. two pigs and plug-ugly Of an old
horse. Ownership Of such a farm, how
ever. is something I may only dream
place Nor will capital alone do 1t. Ex-
perience, industry and a lot of hard bus-
ness sense are required in addition. Mr..
F'redericks is not the product Of an
agricultural college, but he was born and
reared on a farm in the dairying section
Of Pennsylvania. He has a good common
school education and native Intelligence
enough to read understandingly the
writings Of farm scientists, applying that
which is adaptable to his uses and re-
jecting the superfuous. He came down
here twelve years ago and bought 2OO
acres Of land for $40 an acre. A hundred
dollars an acre would not buy 1t today.
leaving out of reckoning the beautiful
home he has built and the automobile he
rides in.
Envy of Mr.. Fredericks-if it is envy
am suffering from-has not soured me
on country life. I would rather have
the little farm have than to have none.
and 1 don't think there is any doubt 1
shall exercise my opinion to buy 1t when
the term of my lease has expired.
like the work, hard as 1t is and dis
appointing as it has been at times. and If
I was assured of making an equal in
come out here I would resign my office
tomorrow Every night this week. sun
burned and blistered. muscles aching and
joints creaking from WEAKNESS, l have
gone to bed happier, slept more peace
fully and got up in the morning fresher
and with greater zest for life than I
ever did in the city. E. S. NJ.