CHAPTER IV.

CLASS 74 SPECIMENS OF FARM IMPROVEMENTS AND AGRICULTURAL WORKS.

By C. V. RILEY and AMORY AUSTIN.

Models of farm buildings of various countries.

Designs of stables, cattle houses, sheep sheds and folds, pigsties, and buildings for raising and fattening animals.

Appliances for stables, cattle houses, kennels, etc.

Apparatus for preparing food for animals.

Agricultural machines in operation: Steam plows, reapers, mowers, haymakers, threshers, etc.

Designs of agricultural works: Distilleries, sugar mills, refineries, breweries, flour mills, fecula and starch factories, silkworm nurseries, cheese factories, dairies.

Presses for cider and oil.

Models of poultry houses, pigeon houses, pheasant houses.

Apparatus for artificial hatching.

Models of kennels.

In the French exhibit upon the Quai d'Orsay the classification above given was by no means strictly adhered to. Only about threefourths of the list was there represented, the remaining fourth being scattered among Classes 49, 50, 75, and 76, while its place was supplied by the vegetables properly belonging to Class 71, and the cereals, which, though classified under Class 67, were not exhibited there.

The French exhibit occupied the whole of two galleries upon the Quai. One of these was devoted to collective exhibits, 44 in number, and the other to the contributions made by 273 exhibitors.

Among the collective exhibits those coming from the farmers of the Departments of Pas-de-Calais, Nord, and Seine-et-Marne were particularly noticeable, and each was awarded a grand prize by the jury. In the exhibit of Pas-de-Calais the most striking feature was the show of wheat, of which there were some thirty varieties, together with some twenty of oats and several of barley. These grains were shown in the form of neat sheaves, each one being accompanied by a large jar filled with the corresponding grain, and each variety being plainly marked with a card bearing the name, locality, year,

and yield per hectare in grain and straw, and also with other data. From these and similar data in other exhibits I have constructed the accompanying table of yields.

Pas-de-Calais had also a fine show of sugar beets with sugar made from them, all stages of the process being represented. There were also potatoes, chickory, linseed, etc.

The Department of the Nord had a fine show of wheat, including several samples of the harvest of 1889 just gathered; also of oats, barley, and rye. Some of the straw of the latter was 2 metres (6 feet) long. There were also sugar beets, a large show of potatoes, and a fine one of hay and grasses.

The exhibit of the Department of Seine-et-Marne was made up of separate exhibits from its various arrondissements and towns: Fontainebleau, Provins, Coulommiers, Melun, and Meaux, that of Melun being especially rich in information given by means of cards as above described.

The largest, though not the best, exhibit was made by the Department of Cher, and a very large one, consisting principally of seeds, potatoes, cereals, and wool, was made by the Department of Aube

Fine potatoes were shown coming from Meurthe-et-Moselle, and excellent wheat from Creuse, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Haute-Saône. The Department of Ille-et-Vilaine, in Brittany, vaunts itself as being the principal buckwheat-producing region of France, and the following curious statistics were conspicuously exhibited: "The buckwheat brought to Rennes averages 600,000 kilos annually, which makes 360,000 kilos of flour, which would make cakes enough, if piled one upon another, to reach four times as high as the Eiffel Tower, or, if placed edge to edge, would reach 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles), or from Calais to Gibraltar." This Department also showed cereals, vegetables, butter, and cider.

These collective exhibits, as well as those of towns, agricultural clubs, and syndicates, were of a very miscellaneous character, showing, in addition to the above products, wines, colza, flax, tobacco, wool, cheese, honey and wax, ramie, eggs, and products of all sorts. There were also plans and models of farms, designs for irrigation and drainage, samples of ensilage, machines and instruments, alcohol from agricultural distilling, fertilizers of all sorts, and many products of manufacture. There were also publications upon various agricultural topics.

The second gallery devoted to Class 74, that containing the individual exhibits, was most interesting. There were several models of farms, next to which came an interesting exhibit made by the Compagnie Générale des Voitures de Paris, and displays made by five great seed houses of Paris, including those of MM. Vilmorin-Audrieux et Cie. and of MM. Forgeot et Cie, both of which houses are well known in America. The remainder of the gallery was occupied by exhibits

of avicultural appliances, such as incubators, of which there were many, gaveuses, etc., also by shows of veterinary medicines, instruments, etc., and minor miscellaneous articles.

Among the models of farm buildings, etc., the most important was that of the celebrated milk farm of Arcy-en-Brie, owned by M. Louis Nicolas, by whose invitation the farm was visited by members of the Agricultural Congress in July. An account of this visit and of the farm accompanies the report upon the proceedings of this congress (Chapter x).

Interesting also as typical French farms of the better sort are the establishments of M. Armand Moissant upon the domain of Donneterie (Indre-et-Loire). The domain is situated in the northern part of the department upon the line of the Orleans railway, and thus has easy communication with Tours and Le Mans. It was gradually acquired by M. Moissant, from 1877 to 1885, by the purchase of ten different farms and of twelve other parcels of land, the average price of the whole, including buildings, being 1,175 francs per hectare, or about $91 per acre.

There are in all 610 hectares (1,507 acres) of land, two-thirds of which are argillo-siliceous, the remaining third being argillocalcareous. At the time of purchasing, the soil was in a lamentable state of exhaustion, caused by fifty years' negligence and unscientific cultivation The land was much cut up by poor hedges, and the roads were absolutely impracticable. Wheat and oats only yielded 12 to 15 hectoliters per hectare, and the pasturage was of the poorest description, affording a bare sustenance for a few inferior cattle. The argillo-calcareous soil was full of bowlders, while the impermeable argillo-siliceous soil retained stagnant waters through lack of drainage. In winter much of the domain was under water.

Under M. Moissant's direction the bowlders and hedges were removed, the land was thoroughly drained, and the roads already in existence were repaired. The domain was re-divided into large and convenient lots, and about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) of new roads were constructed and bordered upon each side with apple trees, about 4,000 trees being used. The total length of drains constructed was about 60,000 meters (37 miles). The moist parts of the land which could not be prepared for cultivation without great expense, about 25 hectares, were planted with forest trees.

There are two principal farms upon the domain, that of Thoriau and that of Platé. The farm of Thoriau comprises 175 hectares and was constructed in 1880-'83. It is situated upon a declivity on the banks of a small stream, not far from the railway station. It consists of a group of buildings arranged around a central court, these buildings being constructed of ashlar, with iron and tile flooring and tiled roofs.

The principal industry at this farm is the making of butter and cheese, and all the milk produced at both farms is here utilized. The dairy is a subterranean one, an illustration of which is here shown (Pl. VIII). The floors here are of cement. It is provided with all the latest improvements in separators, churns, and other buttermaking machinery, the motive power being supplied by a horsepower outside. Connected with this is a room for cheese-making. The butter is mostly sent to Paris, where most of it is consumed by private families, the excess going to the Halles, but the cheese, generally manufactured from skim milk, is consumed upon the farms. A part of the skim milk is utilized for the feeding of young pigs. The farm of Platé comprises 230 hectares, and was constructed in 1885. The buildings, with their central court, cover the space of a hectare, or about 24 acres. A reference to the illustration and plan (Pls. IX and XIII) will give a fair idea of this usual mode of arranging farms and buildings in France.

The buildings at Platé are constructed like those at Thoriau, of ashlar, with iron and tile floorings and tiled roofs. It being essentially a milk farm, great care has been taken in the construction of the cow stables. These will accommodate 64 cows, besides 16 oxen, and are clean, convenient, and well ventilated. The cows are arranged in two rows, their faces toward a central passage 2 meters in width, provided with a small railway. The stalls are 1.25 meters (4 feet) wide, and have no racks, but are provided with cement mangers or feeding basins, connected with which is a running water supply. The floor of the stable is cemented and well drained.

The sheepfold is divided by sliding partitions into four compartments for convenience in feeding. There is a flock of from 500 to 600 sheep, well cared for, and allowed plenty of space, a point not always thought of. In both the cow stables and the sheepfold there is a hayloft above, which is not so usual in France as with us. Ventilation is especially cared for by the construction of shafts through the roof, and by windows of simple mechanism. The for