Chapter XXI: The Fields

While it is the primary object of this book to discuss the lay-out of buildings and their accessories, it would be incomplete if something were not said of the general plan of the fields themselves.

FENCES

Some ten years since, someone estimated that for every dollar’s worth of live stock kept in New York another dollar was expended in fences to restrain it. It is probable that this estimate is below rather than above the facts. Be this as it may, the first cost of fences and their maintenance is a serious draft on the resources of the farmer.

In the pioneer days, when even the best of fencing material was so abundant that it was burned to clear the land, there was great temptation to split the tender logs into great rails and construct fences with them. Each winter a few acres of land were cleared and each year’s clearing was surrounded by a great ten-rail fence, which served to discourage some of the larger wild animals from destroying the crops. It is easily seen why our ancestors in the wooded districts fenced the farm into small fields. In some cases the surface stones were so numerous on the land that the larger ones had to be removed to make way for the plow. Naturally they were used for constructing fences, for the most economical way to get rid of these too numerous stones was to make fences of them. The haul was short and the fences could be increased in width and height until storage room was provided for all the rocks which the farmer cared to remove. So here, too, the temptation was great to fence the farm into small fields. The following diagrams show the fields and the fences as they were on the old homestead, and also as they are at the present time (Fig. 137).

Changed agricultural conditions imply fewer fences and the adoption, in part at least, of the soiling system. Then, too, the introduction of the horn-fly makes a radical change imperative in the summering of the dairy. This worst of all dairy pests robs the cow of flesh and the owner of profit.

Now that the silo is an assured success, except under rare conditions, soiling, or the partial soiling system, should be adopted on many farms, especially in the dairy districts. The object should be to provide a continuous and full supply of food, and comfortable conditions for the animals at all times. In May and June the pastures are succulent and the grasses usually abundant, and the annoying flies are not present. When the animals are first turned out on the pastures the nights may be too cold and damp for comfort, in which case they may be stabled and fed a small supplemental ration; in fact, cows in milk should always receive some dry, concentrated food for the first few weeks after they are turned out to grass. Often the early grass is over-succulent and deficient in food constituents to such an extent that the cows cannot eat enough to sustain life and produce the most profitable quantities of milk. When the pastures begin to fail, the flies appear and the days are hot, manifestly the animals will be most comfortable in the stables in the day time and in the pastures at night. This system will permit of reducing the pastures nearly one-half, and the removal of all fences except those which surround the permanent pasture land. If it is desired occasionally to pasture a part of the unenclosed land, a light woven wire fence, which can be easily erected and removed, may be constructed. All changes in the present system of summering animals should be towards smaller areas of pasture-land, fewer fences, more comfortable conditions for animals, economy of effort, and control of food-supplies for the animals at all seasons of the year.

In most of the states the laws require each farmer to restrain his own animals without the aid of the neighbors; hence the road-fence, often the most unsightly and ill kept of all the fences, may be discarded. How many of the inside fences would best be removed depends upon circumstances; but certain it is that a more rational system of restraining and feeding cattle will be adopted than the one now almost universally in use. We cannot destroy the hornfly; we can remove the useless fences and house the animals in stables from which the pestiferous flesh- and milk-reducing flies are excluded.

ORCHARDS

In some fruit districts the farmers are cutting down their orchards, saying that they cannot afford to bother with them, and that fruit-raising must be carried on in a large way by specialists to be profitable. This is tantamount to saying that they are not intelligent and enterprising enough to manage six or eight acres of orchard successfully, while their neighbor is competent to care for ten times that acreage. The man who owns the smaller orchard should, other things being equal, secure a relatively larger profit than the owner of the large orchard, since he will be able to give it more personal attention. The man who overcomes the difficulties of fruit-raising is constantly adding to his education and power, while the man who is appalled with the difficulties of orcharding, and falls back on rye, buckwheat and oats as money-crops, sinks in intelligence and loses courage. The orchard, when intelligently cared for, seldom fails to give much larger profits than a like area devoted to the cereals. As a rule, the most difficult crop to raise or the most difficult business is the one which brings the most liberal reward after the difficulties have been surmounted.

When convenient, the orchard might well be set to the north or west of the buildings, in most sections of the United States, but not so close to them as to prevent a good air passage between it and the dwelling. Low-headed fruit trees should not be set in the house yard or near to it. The trees in most orchards are set too close together, and even when set appropriate distances apart it will be found to be unprofitable, in the long run, to grow two crops on the same land at the same time, as wheat or oats and apples. Specific directions for the care and management of orchards can now be found in well written books and bulletins; therefore there is no occasion for treating orchards in detail here. Suffice it to say that the farmer without an abundance of fruits in their season is like the lad with empty pockets outside the circus tent: lots of fruit and fun, ready to be enjoyed by those who have made thoughtful provision for the gratification of desires which always come, sooner or later. Every farmer should grow most of the fruits suited to his soil and climate,--enough to eat and to sell and to give to the worthy poor.

FARM GARDEN

The farm garden should be ample and contain not only enough vegetable and small fruits for the use of the family, but a surplus to sell or to give away. The farmer used to large areas is reluctant to undertake anything so small as he imagines the garden to be; hence, too often he plows it and leaves the planting and cultivation of it to the “women folks.” If he knew how to manage a garden he would find that the half-acre of land devoted to small fruits and vegetables could be made the most profitable and pleasurable part of the farm. Higher remuneration is received for the time spent in harvesting the products of a large, well kept garden, than in harvesting the cereals or milking the cows. It must be said, however, that there are good reasons for the farmer’s distaste for gardening, for the gardens, as usually laid out, necessitate the maximum of hand-culture and the minimum of horse-culture. The result of such gardens is a minimum of products secured by maximum of effort, and a resultant surplus of weeds.

The garden should be about four times as long as it is broad, unfenced when possible, near to the house, and should be, in miniature, a farm with the cereals, grasses, and large fruits left out (Fig. 138). The side farthest from the dwelling should be devoted to the perennial plants, such as grapes, currants and other bush-fruits. Everything should be planted in straight rows, with spaces sufficiently wide between the rows to admit of horse-hoe culture. The grapes and blackberries might occupy one row, the raspberries and currants a second row, rhubarb, asparagus and like plants a third row. The spaces between these various fruits should be eight feet, as it is poor economy to so crowd vines and bushes as to force them to struggle the year through for plant-food and moisture. A rod or two of land, more or less, virtually amounts to nothing on the farm; crowding the plants is only admissible in the city or village. Here the plants may receive unusual care, and often may be irrigated at fruiting time from the city hydrant. The rows of ordinary vegetables may be thirty inches apart, except in case of such plants as onions, lettuce, and early beets. These small, slow-growing esculents should be planted in double rows. Starting from the last row of potatoes a thirty inch space is measured off, a row of lettuce planted, and then one foot from this a row of beets or onions; then leave a space thirty inches wide and again plant double rows, if more of the small esculents are wanted. The larger spaces may be cultivated by horse-hoe and the smaller spaces by hand-hoe. The entire garden which is to be planted in the spring should be kept fertile and plowed early in the spring, leaving that part of it which is not designed for immediate planting unharrowed. It may be necessary to replow. It certainly will be necessary to cultivate several times that part of the garden which is used for late-growing crops, such as cabbage and celery. As a rule, the farmer cannot afford to attempt to raise two crops on the same land the same year, since labor is everything and the use of land nothing; therefore, better prepare the ground by two or three plowings for the late crops, than to attempt to raise them on land which has parted with much of its readily available plant-food in producing the early crop. Then, too, land which has produced one crop is likely to be deficient in moisture, while land that has been plowed two or three times during the summer and kept well harrowed will be moist and contain an abundance of readily available plant-food. Early in the spring, when the land is cold and often too moist, it is best to leave the soil rough for a time if it is not to be planted immediately, that it may become somewhat dry and warm. As a rule, the garden should not be fenced, but the chickens should be restrained by fences a part of the time; at other times they may have free access to the garden, where they are often very beneficial in reducing the insect enemies.

INDEX

Abandoned lands, significance of, 31.

Agricultural statistics, 8; what they do not show, 10.

Agriculturists, what they have done, 8.

Air space required in cow stables, 281.

Anglo-Saxon, cause of superiority, 50.

Animal, necessity of exercise for, 278; voidings, how cared for in
stables, 277.

Asphalt for stable floors, 292.

Bailey, Professor L. H., quoted, 7.

Bailey, chap. xiv, 237.

Balloon frames, 129.

Barns, 288; basement, location of, 268; building the basement, 266;
connected by covered way to house, 257; discussion of, 249; distance
to locate from house, 257; economy in construction, 253; excavations
for, 268; high large ones preferable, 253; location of, 255;
octagonal, discussion of, 254; planning, 259; size required, 249;
water supply for, 261; why large ones are required, 250.

Barnyards, open ones objectionable, 258; paddocks are preferable to,
259.

Basement barns, bridging for, 269; location of, 268; on level ground,
269; floors, how to construct, 277; walls, how to prevent dampness on,
275; wood preferable to stone, 275.

Beauty and utility should be combined, 107.

Bonanza farming, cause of decline, 36-38.

Brick used in stable floors, 278.

Building the barn, chap. xvii, 288; framing, 289; horse stables, 294;
lightning rods on barns, 296; painting the barn, 296; plank frames,
290; protecting the root-cellar, 289; repairing old barn floors, 293;
roof of barns, 296; stable floors, 292; windows, 295.

Cattle, stanchions for, 284.

Cement, Portland, cost and mixing of, 274; proportion of, to sand in
mortar, 273.

Changes in houses, considerations, 85.

Children, city and country compared, 3.

Cisterns as a source of water supply, 263.

Cleanliness, and sanitation, water supply and sewage, chap. xii, 204;
bacteria, harmful and beneficial, 204-206; bath room, 210; bath tubs,
213; cess pools, 220; closets, 210; disinfectants, 207; dry-earth
closets, 222; kitchen sink, 212; laundry, 214; outhouses, 216;
personal cleanliness, 209; pipes, 212; sewage, 219; water closets,
214; water supply, 217.

College buildings and what they illustrate, 104.

Colleges. Land Grant, aim of, 14; endowment, 14; data of incomes, 15.

Competence, how obtained, 20.

Concentration of barns, 84.

Counsel at the right time, 69.

Country churches, 119.

Country life, what it stands for, 74; what things have no place in it,
74.

Country school houses, 119-122.

Cows, air space required for, 280, 281; mangers for, section of, 286.

Crops, good and poor, 27; specialized, baleful results of, 33.

Dams for artificial pools, how to construct, 262.

Decorations inside, 193.

Deeds and abstracts, 67.

Demolins, M., quoted, 50.

Economy, 224.

Educating the eye and judgment, 107.

Education, by contact with nature, 4; higher, concentration necessary,
52; higher, in the past, 13; industrial, 14.

Evolution of high wages, 25.

External construction, principles of, 108.

Farm buildings, concentrated and distributive, 251; concentrated
system preferable, 252; examples of mistakes, 89.

Farm laborers, wages received by, 253.

Farmers’ contribution to economic status of the United States, 9.

Farms, selection of--climatic conditions, 55; cheap lands, 56; water
supply, 57.

Farms overloaded with buildings, 88.

“Farming doesn’t pay,” 6.

Fences, 336.

Fields, the, chap. xxi, 336.

Filigree work, not for farm houses, 96.

First impressions, 116.

Floors, basement, how to construct, 277; cows to stand upon, 280;
stable, wooden ones preferable, 278.

Foundations for buildings, how squared, 266.

Foundation walls, properly and improperly bonded, 272.

Frost pockets, 76.

Furnishing, 193.

Garden, farm, 341; planting the, 342.

Gingerbread cornices, 130.

Ground floor unhealthy, 77.

Gypsum, use of in stables, 277.

Heating, 190.

Home education suggestions, 48.

Home, old (should be preserved), 112; suggestions for improvement of,
113.

Home training, 46.

Homestead, improving the old, 114.

Horn-fly, reference to, 337.

House, building the, chap. viii, 132; brick and stone houses, 169;
chimneys--flue linings, 140, openings for, 141; excluding vermin from
the, 135; foundations, building the, 138; mortar for foundations, 139;
protecting from frost, 136; the cellar, 133, 134; Wooden houses--the
frame, 142; bridging the joists, 143; cutting braces and rafters, 150;
diagonal boarding, 144; girders for second-story joists, 145; made-up
timbers, 146; old houses, 170; roofs--kinds of, 147, pitch of, 149;
studding, size of, 143; the story-and-a-half, 155.

House furnishing and decoration, chap. xi, 193; carpets vs. rugs, 196;
decorations, 200; draperies, 198; general principles, 193-196.

House, location of, 74; extremes, 75; on elevated lands, 76, 80, 82.

House of pioneer, where located, 75.

House, old farm, an example of a good, 90-91.

House sites--old and new, 84.

House sites to be avoided, 82; near middle of estate, 83; and highway,
83.

House with many gables, 96.

Houses, exposed and overshaded, 117, 118; planning, 94; studying other
models, 95; useless cost of, 95.

Houses, farm, not a direct source of income, 87; mistakes in building,
87; what they are for, 87.

Houses, old farm, 85.

Houses, veneered, 168.

Household administration, economy and comfort, chap. xiii, 224; a
definite income, 225; bargain-hunting, 229; cash vs. credit, 286;
economy of health, 232; keeping accounts, 230; reading matter, 235;
systematic buying, 227; the farmer’s diet, 234; the wife’s share, 225.

Improvements on the farm, 59.

Inappropriate styles of architecture, 124.

Inside finish, heating and ventilation, chap. x, 181; baseboards, 183;
facings, 186; finish, hard oil, 186; floors, 182; patent mortars, 188;
plastered walls, 186-188; picture moulding, 184; stairs, 185;
wainscoting, 185; Heating--steam recommended, 191; systems of,
compared, 190; Ventilation, 191.

Land for market-gardening, 61.

Lands, cheap, 56.

Lawns, 243.

Lawyer and the farmer, 73.

Lawyer, province of the true, 72.

Lawyers, 65.

Level country, disadvantages of location in, overcome, 78.

Leisure and study, 13.

Light and air, 106.

Lightning, artificial, 322; brush discharge, 326; discharges, 323;
disruptive discharge, 326; protection from, 324; protection from by
metal roofs, 324; protection from by steam and gas pipes, 325;
protecting wooden roofs from, 326.

Lightning protection, chap. xx, 321.

Lightning rods, 328-336; insulation of, 331; joints for, 333; the
conductor, 329; the ground connection, 334.

Lime, proportion of, to sand in mortar, 273.

Lime, stone, retail price of per bbl., 274; water, retail price of per
bbl., 274.

Lumbering, effect of, 38.

Manger for cows, cross-section of, 286; how constructed, 285.

Market-gardening, land for, 61.

Mistakes in locating, 100.

Mortar, amount of water to use in mixing, 275; how to mix, 273.

Nature study, 111.

Newton cattle tie illustrated and described, 286.

Norris, H. H., chap. xx, 321.

Occupation, selection of, 21.

Old barns, remodeling, 298.

Orchards, 340; care of, 341.

Outbuildings and accessories, chap. xix, 306; piggeries, 311; portable
coops, 309; poultry houses, 306; the silo, 316.

Outside covering, painting, chap. ix, 158; cornices, 164; painting the
house, 173; adulterated paints, 179; analyses of paints, 180; oils for
painting, 177; roofs--construction of, 165; shingles, 165; shingling,
167; siding--novelty and lap, 160; the projections, 158, 164; the
water-table, 158; valleys, 173.

Parents as teachers, 45.

Piggeries, 311.

Plain cornices, 126.

Plan, ground, not adapted to country, 98; adapted to country, 99, 101.

Plant-food, natural cheaper than artificial, 62.

Pools in level country, 78.

Pools in the South, how constructed, 262.

Poultry Houses, 306.

Quality in farm products, 32.

Red River valley soil, nitrogen in, 37.

Remodeling old barns, chap. xviii, 298; combining several old frames,
299; form of roof, 302; trussing to eliminate posts, 301.

Remuneration in agriculture, 7.

Renter and renting discussed, 40.

Road to farm, 63.

Road fences, may be discarded, 339.

Root cellar, location of in barn, 270.

Rosendale cement, proportion to mix, 274.

Rural life; advantages and disadvantages, 2; greatest advantage of, 5.

Rural population, wants and aspirations, 19.

Sanitation, 204.

Scenery, natural, its value, 58.

Schoenfeld, Mr. G., an intensive agriculturist, 22; his crops and
their value, 23.

School, district, sketch of a day in, 47.

School children, effects of massing, 44.

Schools, rural, 43.

Sewage, 204.

Shadows cast by walls, 106.

Ship construction of houses, 128.

Silos, 316.

Silo, reference to use of, 337.

Smith, Mrs. M. R., chap. xi, 193; chap. xii, 204; chap. xiii, 224.

Soil and subsoil for house location, 80.

Soiling system, referred to, 337, 338.

Stable floors, 292; wooden ones preferable, 278; drip in, how
constructed, 280; how to secure sanitary conditions in, 277;
stanchions for cattle, 284.

Stalls for cows, how constructed, 285.

Stock on the farms in U. S. in 1870 and 1890, 250.

Tillage, cost of, considered in land value, 62.

Types of dwelling houses, 109.

VanVleet, D.F., chap. v, 65.

Ventilation, 191; principles of, 283; secured by swing windows, 282.

Ventilators for stables, how constructed, 282.

Veranda--a poor example, 96; outlook from, 81; shading, 103.

Vistas and views brought into the landscape, 81.

Warner, Prof. Amos G., quoted, 3.

Walls, stone, how to bond, 272.

Water for animals, temperature best in winter, 264.

Water supply and sewage, 204.

Water supply, artificial pools for, 262; for animals, should be in
barn, 264; for buildings, 261; springs and streams, 264.

Water, cold, effect upon the animal, 265; lime, retail price of per
bbl., 274.

Wells, 71.

Wheat, production and cost of, 30.

Windows, swing, how constructed in stables, 282.

Writing, matters of importance should be in, 71.

Yard (the house yard), chap. xiv, 237; driveways and walks, 239;
flowers, 247; planting, scattered and in groups, 339; the lawn, 243;
vines and creepers, 247.

CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE

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made comprehensible from the standpoint of the farmer; it deals
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prove an invaluable aid in countless directions.”--_The Farmer’s
Voice._

Dairy Chemistry

Illustrated. 190 pages. $1 net; by mail, $1.10.

“The book is a valuable one which any dairy farmer, or, indeed, any
one handling stock, may read with profit.”--_Rural New Yorker._

Soils and Fertilizers

Third Edition. Illustrated. $1.25 net; by mail, $1.38.

A book which presents in a concise form the principles of soil
fertility and discusses all of the topics relating to soils as
outlined by the Committee on Methods of Teaching Agriculture. It
contains 350 pages, with illustrations, and treats of a great variety
of subjects, such as Physical Properties of Soils; Geological
Formation, etc.; Nitrogen of the Soil and Air; Farm Manures;
Commercial Fertilizers, several chapters; Rotation of Crops;
Preparation of Soil for Crops, etc.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK

_NEW BOOKS FOR THE FARM LIBRARY_

MR. BOLTON HALL’S

Three Acres and Liberty

The author discusses the possibilities of an acre; where to find idle land; how to select it, clear and cultivate it; the results to be expected; what an acre may produce; methods, tools, equipment, capital, hotbeds and greenhouses; other uses of land; flowers; poultry and novel live stock; and nearly every other imaginable topic of intensive farming in clear, definite statements which are easily verified. It is a practical book from cover to cover.

Cloth. Illustrated. $1.75 net, by mail, $1.88.

By ALLEN FRENCH

A Book of Vegetables and Garden Herbs

A Practical Handbook and Planting Table for the Home Garden

This book gives complete directions for growing all vegetables cultivable in the climate of the northern United States. Besides a description of each plant, its habit, value, and use, the book contains detailed cultural directions, covering the soil, planting distances, times for sowing, thinning and transplanting, fertilizing, picking, winter protection, renewal, storage, and management of diseases and pests.

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. $1.75 net, by mail, $1.88.

By KATE V. ST. MAUR

A Self-supporting Home

“Each chapter is the detailed account of all the work necessary for
one month--in the vegetable garden, among the small fruits, with the
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be met with on the small farm.”--_Louisville Courier-Journal._

Cloth. 12mo. Fully illustrated from photographs.
$1.75 net, by mail, $1.88.

By W. S. HARWOOD

The New Earth

A Recital of the Triumphs of Modern Agriculture in America. Mr. Harwood shows in a very entertaining way the remarkable progress which has been made during the past two generations along all the lines which have their focal point in the earth.

Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. $1.75 net, by mail, 1.88.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

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CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE

Edited by L. H. BAILEY

Of Cornell University, Editor of “Cyclopedia of American Horticulture,” Author of “Plant Breeding,” “Principles of Agriculture,” etc.

WITH 100 FULL-PAGE PLATES AND MORE THAN 2,000 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE
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Volume I--Farms

The Agricultural Regions--The Projecting of a Farm--The Soil Environment--The Atmosphere Environment.

Volume II--Crops

The Plant and Its Relations--The Manufacture of Crop Products--North American Field Crops.

Volume III--Animals

The Animal and Its Relations--The Manufacture of Animal Products--North American Farm Animals.

Volume IV--The Farm and the Community

Economics--Social Questions--Organizations--History--Literature, etc.

“Indispensable to public and reference libraries ... readily
comprehensible to any person of average education.”--_The Nation._

“The completest existing thesaurus of up-to-date facts and opinions on
modern agricultural methods. It is safe to say that many years must
pass before it can be surpassed in comprehensiveness, accuracy,
practical value, and mechanical excellence. It ought to be in every
library in the country.”--_Record Herald, Chicago._

Published by

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK

Transcriber’s Notes

The language used in this e-book is that used in the source document;
inconsistent, unusual and archaic spelling, hyphenation and
capitalisation have been retained, except as mentioned under Changes
below.

Depending in the hard- and software used and their settings, not all
elements may display as intended. Some of the larger elements are best
viewed in a wide window or on a wide screen.

Page 152, Footnote [5]: the reference should be to Figs. 63 and 64.

Changes:

Illustrations have been moved outside text paragraphs. Footnotes have
been moved to directly underneath the paragraph in which they are
referenced.

Some minor obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been
corrected silently.

In multiplications and dimensions, x and × have been standardised to
×.

Page vi: The Index has been added to the Table of Contents.

Page 16-17: The table has been split in order to fit the available
width.

Page 144: ... window and door-jambs ... changed to ... window- and
door-jambs ....

Page 274: Rosedale cement changed to Rosendale cement.

Page 333: 1-16 changed to ¹⁄₁₆ for consistency.

Page 350: Schœnfield changed to Schoenfeld as in text; Van Vleet, D.
F. changed to VanVleet, D.F. as in Table of Contents.