The practical country gentleman; a handbook for the owner of a country estate, large or small

Front matter

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Copyright 1^".

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Introductory 9

II Water Supply and Pumps 14

Chapter I Introductory

NO business man would be satisfied with a shop or an office which merely paid expenses; but there are innumerable owners of country places who find themselves annually confronted with a large deficit, and derive no comfort except from the thought that their acres have yielded more than sufficient interest and amusement to compensate for any pecuniary loss.

If, then, these unnecessary annual losses could only be turned to profit, how much more interesting would the running of such a place be ! And surely, to men accustomed to business principles such an achievement is easily within reach. It should, however, always be borne in mind that a country estate has two distinct departments, namely, the park and the farm. The former includes lawns, drives, trees, shrubberies, glass houses, and flowers; and to the latter belong the crops, fruits, and live-stock, and it is from this department our revenue should come. The question of net profits from a country place, then, will depend in a large measure upon the amount of land to be devoted merely to ornamental planting. If, for instance, the owner prefers to have thirty acres of park and only twenty of farm land, he could hardly expect the revenue of one to support the expensive exactions of the other. But if, on the other hand, an estate of, say, eighty acres has fifty devoted to the raising of crops and stock, the rest being given over to the owner's fancy for landscape gardening, a net return of four thousand dollars could be made if the farm were properly handled. This sum should do more than cover the expense of the park and moderate-sized glass houses.

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INTRODUCTORY

The farm department should never be charged with the entire capital Invested, or with the maintenance of a garage, stables, kennels, etc.; and credit should always be given It for everything sold, whether consumed In the house or shipped to market. If the owner wishes to Indulge In fancy dairying, he should charge accordingly and obtain extra prices for his butter, cheese, milk, and other products.

We have learned to overcome drought by Irrigation, and to allay the fear of a wet season by under-dralnage. We have our domestic animals so largely under control that we are enabled to fly In the very face of nature. It has also been abundantly proved that the returns from modern farming far exceed those of the vast majority of commercial enterprises. Indeed, the writer knows of several men engaged In different branches of agriculture, whose annual net Income exceeds ten per cent on the total Investment. To cite an especial case — there lives In Indiana a man who has a national reputation In the particular branch of farming which he pursues, and whose yearly Income Is seldom

II less than twenty-five thousand dollars, and usually more.

Are these things within reach of the city-bred man who has sufficient means to invest in a medium-sized country place and who wishes to make it pay? Most assuredly so, provided such a one has a real love for country life, a mind intelligent enough to grasp the principles on which success depends, and — added to these — the will to read, to work, and to learn from the larger experience of others.

To the over-zealous a word of caution is added: let him creep before he tries to walk. It is not to be taken altogether for granted because these chapters recommend certain advantageous methods and suggest improvements and purchases running up into a considerable sum of money, that a man Is warranted in making such improvements until he has determined just the line he intends to follow, or, unless he has sufficient capital to warrant equipping his plant fully at the start.

For such this book is written, in the hope that it may help the inexperienced to reach the

INTRODUCTORY

goal and to avoid some of the stumbling-blocks which so often beset a beginner, and which tend to discourage and retard him. Economy of production Is to be the key-note, but only such economy as Is consistent with the raising of high-class products. For, with choice table eggs fetching sixty cents a dozen, and home-made unsalted butter seventy-five cents a pound at hotels and clubs, It pays to provide every reasonable comfort for the producers of these articles.

Chapter II Water Supply And Pumps

IN the Autumn of 19 lo President Taft was asked by the State of Colorado to press the button which opened the Gunnison tunnel and turned the waters of the Gunnison River into the Uncompahgre Valley. This splendid bit of engineering will cost the United States Government about five million dollars when completed; but as a result one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land will be irrigated and brought into a state of cultivation, yielding a revenue sufficiently large to repay the Government within the next ten years. In choosing a farm, then, it should be clearly understood that land without an abundant water supply is as poor an Investment as one could well make. When It Is borne in mind that water makes up a very large per cent of the constituents of all our farm 14 crops, Including milk, the value of an inexhaustible water supply can be readily appreciated.

On a farm of moderate size the supply of water will be derived from a spring, a well, a brook, a pond, or a reservoir. In the majority of cases a shallow well or spring will supply the drinking water, while a cistern at the barn serves for watering the stock.

Before the supply system that Is to be installed Is decided on, the water should be carefully analyzed and also tested for the quantity yielded In twenty-four hours. That people become Immune to bad water is notorious ; for on many farms where a well Is near the stable or hog-pen, no evil effects are felt by the owner from drinking such water, but let a passerby, used to pure, wholesome water, drink from the same source, and ten chances to one the consequences are disastrous.

A driven well, made either by driving an Iron pipe with a. pointed perforated shoe attached where the ground is not rocky, or by the use of especial well tools and steel-pointed drills where it is rocky, is much safer for drinking purposes than shallow wells; for the water is then taken from a lower stratum, and there is but little chance of contamination. The first thing to be considered after the source of supply is decided upon is the way in which water should be stored; and as a medium-sized farm of about sixty to seventy-five acres needs sufHcient water to provide for a family, say, of five, in addition to ten cows, two horses, ten pigs, and six hundred fowls, besides watering the lawns, flowers, etc., ample storage room should be provided.

There are four different ways of storing water in general use: in tanks of wood, steel, or concrete set on steel or concrete supports; in reservoirs, made either of earth or concrete, and built partly in an embankment and partly above ground; in wooden tin-lined tanks placed in the attic; in air-tight tubular steel tanks, into which air is forced with water, creating a pressure that forces the water through the delivery pipe. The advantages and disadvantages of these four ways can be briefly summed up. Wooden tanks are inexpensive, but liable, of course, to shrink if they remain empty any length of time. i6

Courtesy of Power Specialty Co.

HYDRAULIC RAM IN TOSITION

On the other hand, steel tanks are excellent if they have round or concave bottoms, but they are difficult to keep painted, and the overflow and supply pipes have to be carefully protected against frost. Concrete tanks are expensive, and there are none better, but In them also the supply and overflow pipes must be protected in winter.

Concrete reservoirs are well worth the expense if they can be built on a hill, so that the bottom of the reservoir Is higher than the roof of the highest building. In planning a reservoir. If It is borne In mind that a gallon is equivalent to 268.8 cubic inches, it will be an easy matter to figure the required dimensions. If it is found advantageous to build a reservoir it should be large enough to contain a week's supply; and, furthermore. It should be covered, in order to exclude the sunlight, which causes the growth of vegetable matter in the water.

Attic tanks never prove very satisfactory, as in case of fire there Is not sufficient force to throw water over the roof. Moreover, large tanks require strong supports, and frequently steel beams have to be substituted for wooden ones, which, of course, adds considerably to the cost of installation.

Air-pressure tanks are perhaps the best medium for storing water when engines are used for pumping directly from a well or spring. These tanks are placed either in the cellar or in a pumping-house built over the well. The air pressure, sixty pounds or more per square inch, is sufficient to throw water over any building of moderate size. A 1500-gallon tank with a pump would cost about three hundred dollars.

We now come to the question of power for pumping water into a storage tank, and here we have a choice of seven different methods, namely, a windmill, a gasolene or hot-air engine, steam, electricity, hydraulic ram, and the air-lift system. Windmills, though uncertain in their movements, especially in summer, are quite satisfactory when used in connection with gasolene engines as auxiliaries. But there is always the possibility of disablement in a high wind, and there is frequently the disagreeable necessity of climbing up to the mill to oil it, which, if one 18

Is not fond of dizzy heights, Is a most trying and dangerous task. If, however, all conditions favor the use of a windmill, It should be built sufficiently high to be above the tops of surrounding trees and buildings. A concrete reservoir built on a hill or on supports will prove the best storage medium In connection with a windmill, for a larger supply of water can thus be kept on hand. The cost of a windmill depends on the size of the fan and the height of the tower. The lowest price would be about one hundred and fifty dollars, exclusive of piping.

Gasolene engines have become a part of the equipment of every progressive farmer. They are easy to handle, and their construction Is simple. A small one-horsepower, air-cooled engine belted to a pump will be large enough for our purpose If run Intermittently; but If It Is found necessary to run It six or seven hours at a time, a two-horsepower engine will be better. It requires but a turn or two of a crank to start them; and when used In connection with the Kewanee tank, an automatic device Is furnished for shutting off the power. The gasolene engine, however, is not suited to running in a house cellar, as the noise is too great; but for running a deep-well pump, which is operated with a piston rod and consequently has to be set directly over the well, it is most practical. The use of steam is too expensive for a small place and we need not consider it.

Hot-air engines are strictly pumping-engines, and as such they have no superior except the electric motor. The principle used is the expansion of air, which is heated by the use of gas, coal, wood, kerosene, or gasolene. These engines can be run at very small cost, a quart of kerosene or four pounds of coal being sufficient for an hour's pumping.

A suction pump may be used if water is taken from a shallow well where the vertical lift is not over twenty or twenty-five feet, and in that case the engine and tank can be installed in the cellar; otherwise a pump house must be built. The cost of a hot-air engine, capable of pumping 300 gallons per hour to a height of seventy-five feet (which is estimated 20

Courtesy of Rider-Ericsson Engine Co.

"REECO" ERICSSON ENGINE WITH DEEP-WELL PUMP CONNECTED TO AN AIR-PRESSURE TANK from the surface of the water) will be about one hundred and thirty dollars, to which must be added ten dollars if a kerosene burner Is used. This price is exclusive of piping.

Electric power, where it can be obtained at reasonable rates, is of course the most convenient one for pumping. A one-horsepower motor will easily keep a 1500-gallon tank filled; and as the starting and stopping of the water is automatic when used In connection with the Kewanee tank, there is no waste of either time or power in looking after it. The average cost of electric power delivered from a power company is about ten cents per kilowatt hour; In other words. It will cost about two dollars per month to keep a 1500-gallon tank filled where the average daily consumption is a thousand gallons.

The hydraulic ram, where suitable conditions prevail, is the most economical of the various pumping-englnes already mentioned. It should be installed wherever a sufficient fall of water to operate it can be secured, for it performs its work faithfully night and day, winter and summer, with a minimum amount of attention. The principle of the ram is very simple. The machine Is placed at a point where a fall of water may be obtained for power, as, for instance, on the bank of a stream, lake, pond, or near a spring. In operation the water enters the drive pipe from the source of supply and flows toward the ram, where it is allowed to escape through the open working-valve. The velocity of water In the pipe rapidly Increases, and when It reaches a certain velocity the working-valve Is suddenly closed by the force of the water. The water, being prevented from going through the working-valve, enters the air chamber through the delivery valve where the pressure of air ultimately forces water from the ram through the delivery pipe. The difference In level between the water and the ram forms the powerhead; and the difference In level between the ram and the tank Into which water Is pumped forms the pumplng-head. There are single-acting rams which deliver water that drives them, and there are double-acting rams that deliver pure spring water which Is not

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Courtesy of Power Specialty Co. HYDRAULIC RAM, A

MOST ECONOMICAL POWER, WHERE SUITABLE CONDITIONS PREVAIL mixed with the power supply. The power to dehver water will depend on the fall of water available. This may be from two to fifty feet. The pumping-head may be anything up to five hundred feet and a ram is effective for elevating water thirty feet for every foot of fall. If a pond is used for a water supply, the height of the water level in the pond above the pit where the ram is located, and the distance from the pond to the ram, should be measured in feet and the measurements sent to the company from whom the ram is to be purchased. An easy way of measuring the flow of small springs or streams, and to ascertain the quantity of water available for working a ram, is to dam up the stream and in this dam insert a short piece of earthenware or iron pipe to form a spout. The measurements should then be made by two persons, one to take the time and the other to catch the water; the latter should have, say, a threegallon pail and at a signal from the timekeeper should instantly thrust the pail under the spout and see how long it takes to fill it. This should be done several times in order to secure the exact time; It is then an easy matter to calculate how many gallons the stream can supply per minute.

A ram capable of supplying 1500 gallons of water In twenty- four hours to a tank fifty feet above the ram, where the fall Is six feet and the power supply twenty gallons per minute, should cost fifty dollars, exclusive of pipe and work. The water could be stored either In a reservoir of ample dimensions, built of cement, and on a hill, or in a steel or concrete tower tank. In either case the bottom of the reservoir should be on a level with the top of the highest building. In order to get sufficient force In case of fire. The Intake and overflow of the reservoir should also be protected against frost.

There is still another practicable way of pumping water, and that is by the '' air-lift pump." For deep wells this method Is eminently satisfactory, as It does away with a pump valve entirely, and all the machinery Is above ground. The air compression required may be effected by a gasolene engine, electric motor, or 24 hot-air engine. The principle is that the compressed air entering the well casing through a small pipe, forces water up through the water pipe, which is in the same casing. The water is discharged into a small tank built in the pump house, from whence it is pumped into a storage tank for distribution. The cost of such a system should be between three hundred and seventy-five dollars and four hundred dollars, exclusive of building the pump house, piping, etc.

It should not be forgotten that each place offers a different problem,. However, where average conditions prevail, a driven well, operated by either a well pump or the air-lift system, including a hot-air or gasolene engine with an air-pressure storage tank, will usually be found the most satisfactory. On the other hand, if a spring supplies the farm, and a sufficient fall of water can be obtained for operating a hydraulic ram, it wijl give good service provided it is well covered during the winter months. Again, if the spring is only large enough to supply drinking water, and a creek or stream passes through the farm, a ram could be Installed to supply water for general use.

But whatever place Is decided upon, one cannot be too careful In writing full particulars to the company from whom the power is to be purchased, for only then will they be able to give the proper amount of pipe required, the size of the engine, and so on.

It cannot be too emphatically urged to spend a sufficient sum In putting In an adequate and satisfactory water system ; otherwise there Is continual annoyance over small details, and much bothering over a lack of water. Expenditure at the outset will generally be found to pay in the end.

Chapter III

Primary Essentials to be Observed in Their Construction — The Barn the Centre of the Group — The Lowly Piggery and Cow Stable.

UNSUITABLE and Inconveniently arranged farm buildings cause many unnecessary steps and the spending of much valuable time, which might be more profitably employed. Buildings on the average farm In the East are, as a rule, lacking In four essential particulars, namely, convenience of grouping outside, proper arrangements within, protection against fire, and In adequate architectural design. To one who has recently purchased a country home, then, the rearrangement of farm buildings becomes a most serious problem.

In all probability the buildings on an aver- 27 age-sized farm will include a barn for hay, with a small shed-roof wing for cattle, or possibly a basement serving the same purpose; a carriage house; a stable for horses; a hog pen; a hen house; a corn crib, and an implement shed. The chances are that these buildings will be across the public highway and directly in front of the house, or at least within fifty feet of the rear of the house. What disposition to make of them will depend upon the investment to be made. If the farm is to become the permanent home, the buildings should be either entirely torn down or removed to a convenient spot some distance from the house, and properly grouped and remodelled.

Let us suppose, for instance, that the buildings, though scattered, are found to be In fair condition, and the sills, frames, and siding sound and tight. The question then arises how to group them conveniently and make them as modern as possible. The uses to which the usual seven buildings mentioned above are to be put will in a measure govern the remodelling. If a dairy department is to be developed, the 28 new stable should be the chief building, and the major part of the capital should be spent upon refitting it If, on the other hand, sheep and swine are to be the staple products, buildings suitable for their accommodation should be provided.

The centre of the group is usually the hay barn, and this should be arranged so that a loaded hay-wagon can be driven through and not have to back in or out. If this is impossible, provision should be made for an overhead hay-carrier system with large doors in the gable end of the barn to permit of hay being taken in through them from the wagon outside. The bottom of the hay-bays will probably be on a level with the ground floor, which is always inconvenient for feeding as it necessitates climbing to the top of the mow whenever hay is fed. This can be remedied by building a floor nine feet above the sills if the height of the building will permit. The extra space thus gained may be used partly for the horse stable and partly for a carriage room. The convenience of having hay upstairs out of the way, and vehicles 29 and horses near each other, will more than compensate for any extra expense. Moreover, the carriage house may be moved off and used for a piggery, which would otherwise have to be built. Running water should be provided in all the buildings; and this can be done easily where they are placed on foundation walls without cellars under them. The water pipe will enter through the foundation wall below the frost line and connect there with a small frostproof hydrant which does away with all danger of water freezing in the pipe.

In placing and remodelling a cow stable it will always be well to consider carefully whether such a step is worth the expense. The modern sanitary stables are so entirely different from those used twenty-five years ago that the cost of making them conform to modern ideas woula be about as great as building new ones. If butter is to be made and sold at fancy prices, do not waste time in remodelling an old building. On the other hand, if dual-purpose cattle are to be kept for raising baby beef, and the milk used merely for home consumption, then utilize the 30 p3 ^-&J M C HJ

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present structure : put In a new celling and Inside walls of matched floor boards; provide plenty of light and ventilation (700 cubic feet of air space for each animal) by arranging the window sash to open In, and building a cupola In the roof with an air-shaft extending down to within a foot of the floor, and arranged so that it may be closed or opened at will; purchase modern swing stanchions and galvanized Iron pipe stall partitions, and if a new floor Is necessary put in a concrete one. Reroof with asbestos shingles or some other fire-proof material, and set the building on stone or concrete foundations. To get as much sun as possible the stable should extend north and south. For regrouping, It should be borne in mind that the cow and horse stables should have exits opening Into a barnyard, where there Is a manure pit. If such a yard has a northern and western exposure, a shed may be built on the north side for cattle to run under In windy and stormy weather.

On the other side of the hay barn. In an equal space, ridge-roofed building, should be the 31 calf and bull pens and the implement shed. The space between the plate and the ridge may be used for storing hay for the animals in the building. These, for convenience, should all be on the same floor level, with sliding doors between the rooms so that a handcart or a wheelbarrow can pass easily from one end of the building to the other. A concrete floor made in the proportion of 1:2^:5 — that is, one barrel packed Portland cement to 2j^ barrels (9.5 cubic feet) loose sand, to 5 barrels (19 cubic feet) loose gravel or broken stone — will last a lifetime and is much more sanitary than the best of wooden floors.

Before taking up the remodelling of the other buildings it may be well to go into the question of conveniences, and in these days when satisfactory farm labor is so difficult to procure every possible convenience should be installed that is practical and labor-saving. Some of these include an overhead feed and litter carrier; a cattle manger, extending the entire length of the stalls, which is used for water as well as feed; scales for weighing feed; two or more box stalls 32 in the cow stable and one in the horse stable. In the wagon and implement shed (which should be provided with folding doors, that it may be closed and locked at night) there should be several heavy eye bolts in the ceiling to which pulley blocks are hooked for lifting off wagon bodies and implements. The grain bins, the Mecca of rats and mice, should be constructed of galvanized iron or be tin-lined, the former preferably. If a silo is built, the entrance to it should not be directly connected with the cow stable, but rather through the feed-room, as milk absorbs the odor of silage very quickly.

The piggery, if properly constructed and kept clean, will be as free from odors as the stables. It is commonly supposed that swine are naturally inclined to filth, but there was never a more absurd theory; they are, for instance, particularly cleanly about their sleeping quarters, and if allowed a large yard in which to run, will keep themselves very clean. But as the cleanliness of the piggery will depend upon the energy of the hired man, it will be wise to have it at least fifty feet from the other buildings. If hams and bacon are to be raised in quantities, then quarters should be provided for not less than five brood sows and a boar, and the building should have plenty of light and ventilation. The Illinois Experiment Station has a piggery which is a capital example of what such a building should be. Its dimensions are 120 by 30 feet, and the long way of the building is east and west. There are two rows of pens, each 10 feet wide by 11 feet deep, with an alley 8 feet wide through the centre. The floor is concrete, and all the partitions are made of heavy wire fencing with posts of galvanized piping set in the concrete floor. There is a gate in each pen and a door (which slides upward) leading to the outside. The feed troughs are of metal and placed on the alley side of the pens. The section of fence which they are under is hinged at the top so that it can be pushed in toward the pen and fastened; this keeps the pigs from interfering with the feeder when he is filling the troughs. Each pen is provided with a fender made of two-inch iron pipe set six inches from the wall and nine 34 inches above the floor; this extends from the outside door across the rear of the pen and half-way along the partition fence. The object of this rail is to prevent the sows from lying on their pigs at farrowing time. At the east end of the pen is a large feed-room containing feed-bins, cookers, and scales on which to weigh the pigs. The yards are 28 feet; and those of the brood sows should open into a large field (an acre for five sows with litters).

In constructing the concrete floor, a porous sub-base from 6 to 12 inches thick — the thickness depending somewhat on the severity of the winter — should first be laid. The material used may be either broken stone, gravel, or cinders, well wet and tamped in layers, so that when complete It will be even and firm, but porous. Over this spread a layer of three-ply tar paper with the joints well tarred, to prevent the dampness from coming through. Then cover with a 3 to 5 inch coat of cement in the proportion of 1:2^^:5. In this cement the posts and fender-supports are set before It hardens. A final coat of mortar one inch thick, in the proportion of one part Portland cement to one and one-half parts clean, coarse sand, is then laid and roughed, to prevent slipping, before it sets.

The building for sheep should be a shed-like structure with sufficient loft room for the storage of hay and straw, but so arranged with folding doors that the south side may be thrown wide open, permitting the sheep to go in and out at will. A room must be portioned off and made warm and sunny for the ewes to lamb In ; and a separate pen should of course be provided for the stock, the rams, and the lambs that are being fattened.

A poultry house should always face the south and southeast; and if the shed roof type is decided upon, the high side should be the south side. There are numerous ways of building poultry houses, but for practical commercial purposes the style of house used by the Maine Experimental Station is excellent in every detail. This house is 20 feet wide and 400 feet long. Three sills G^G inches run lengthwise, and the central one supports the floor timbers. They rest on stone piers high enough to let a dog go under the building to look after rats or skunks. The floor timbers are 2x8 inches, and rest wholly on top of the sills; the front ones are 8 feet and the back ones 6 feet 6 inches long. The roof is unequal in width, the ridge being 8 feet from the front wall. The height of the ridge from the sill to the extreme top is 1 2 feet. All studding is 2x4 in size and the rafters are 2x5. The building Is boarded with Inch boards, and papered and shingled with good cedar shingles on wall and roof (asbestos shingles preferably) . The floor is of two thicknesses of boards, which breaks joints well in laying. The building Is divided by tight board partitions into twenty pens, each pen being 20 feet long. The front side of each pen has two windows of twelve lights of 10x12 glass screwed on uprights 2 feet 8 inches from each end of the room; these are 3 feet above the floor. The space between the windows Is 8 feet 10 Inches long, and the top part of It down from the plate 3 Yz. feet Is not boarded but left open to be covered by a cloth curtain when necessary. This leaves a tight wall 3 feet 10 inches high extending from the bottom of the opening down to the floor, which prevents the wind from blowing directly on the birds when they are on the floor. A door is made in this part of the front wall for the attendant to pass through when the curtain is open. A door 16x18 inches is arranged under one of the windows close to the floor, for the birds to pass through to the yard. The platform runs the length of the pen, and is 4 feet 10 inches wide, and 3 feet above the floor. There are three roosts framed together in two ten-foot sections ; they are one foot above the platform, and hinged to the back wall, so that they may be turned up out of the way when the platform is being cleaned. The doors dividing the pens are 3x7 feet, and are divided in the middle lengthwise ; each half is hung with double-acting spring hinges, allowing them to swing open both ways and close. An overhead track runs the entire length of the building, and from it is suspended a car, 2x8 feet in size, elevated a foot