Unfortunately, I didn't really set my great-uncle up for a
1978 Sears Portrait here. I can still feel of that worn old 3-wheeled cart, containing
around
300 pounds of grain, as I helped him feed by shoving and dragging it around.
The single swivelling wheel (currently on his end) facilitated
tight 90 degree turns. Working at the opposite end to the "locomotive", my uncle metered
the grain based on the cow's state of gestation, lactation, or going dry-ness, etc. The grain cart's steel wheels,
clattered down and up the grooved concrete ramps of the route between
the manger (food trough); the gutters (ex-food troughs), and the manger
on the other side.
This grain blend (including molasses flavouring ; non-protein nitrogen ... urea ; mineral &
vitamin supplements) was
fed in the barn at both milkings. It completed the cows' diet of
grass (or corn silage, in season) and dry hay. In particular, it provided the
extra energy necessary to produce calves and milk. In summer it was purposely
fed inside the barn to draw the cows off the lush and tasty timothy and
clover of
the new summer pasture ... for a two hour milking session
As a 16-18 year old farm hand, it was my job to
refill the grain cart by dumping 100 pound burlap bags of the grain
blend into the old cart. During my three 70-day summers ... I would
have hefted and emptied
about 52 tons of grain into this cart. It would be interesting to
calculate the ton-miles run up by this vehicle during its half-century
of
captive service along the concrete-ways of the barn.
Perhaps the most significant single development in dairy farming technology was rural electrification.
Above all, it made
electrically powered pneumatic milking machines possible.
My cousin Bob is emptying the milk from a
single cow's milking into a dump station.
Using the same pneumatic system as the milking machines,
plastic and glass tubing takes the milk to the milk house where it is cooled in the bulk cooler tank.
The summer before I began working in 1973, it was still the "summer student's" job
to physically transport and dump the milk into the cooler in the milk house.
Over Bob's left shoulder is inverted railway rail from the ill-fated
St. Andrew's Junction Railway Company.
Part of a working railway along the back of the farm for two years, it has held up tons of hay for over a century.
(
Notice the other track near the fluorescent light ... for later)
Inside the milk house
The
pneumatic pump for the milking equipment is outside the door at the left.
In the milk house, the milk collects in the
glass reservoir before being pumped into the bulk cooler.
All the tubing and equipment was disinfected daily and the purchasing dairy performed bacterial counts on every pickup.
This farm's milk was generally the cleanest of the 30+ farms on the route.
The dairy's tank truck came after four milkings : evening/morning-evening/morning.
During ice cream season, they sometimes came more often.
This is what has been collected in the empty tank after one milking - the darkness is lit up by my flash.
The curved walls and floor of the stainless steel tank contain refrigeration coils.
Milk can be seen flowing into the far corner from the glass reservoir.
A slow motorized paddle ensures rapid, uniform cooling.
Ayrshire milk averages over 4% butterfat and this quickly sticks to the cold squeaky-clean tank.
Cattle Stalls in the early 1900s
From standard plans from around 1920 you can see a cross section of a basic dairy cow stall.
The
water bowls were
gravity fed from a single barn reservoir.
When it was too cold to continue pasturing, cows would spend their time in their stanchions with periodic exercise sessions.
There was
never heat in the barn to keep the pipes from freezing ...
even in winter, the cows' body heat always maintained the temperature between
50 and 60 degrees F.
The "stall post" above is the balancing point for the Dairy Farm Hand's Winter Equation :
hay + silage + grain + water (20 gal) = milk + heat & water vapour + animal bodily waste
The floors of the stalls were concrete, so significant amounts of
fresh straw and/or wood shavings were placed under the cows daily for
bedding.
This material adds to the tonnage of the right side of our equation.
The "one inch fall" notations above are essential to ensure
that liquid waste drains into the gutter.
The bedding and animal waste form a unique composite material (
manure) which you can remove with a fork ...
but you'll want to use old bedding and a shovel to get every drop !
The Canadian barn above is equipped with the same brand of furnishings my uncle and cousin had.
The farmers work
in the centre aisle where the action is.
The two ranks of cows get to look out the windows as they dine.
Above the windows, you can see open "clerestory" ventilating doors to
control heat and humidity.
(
Notice the tracks above ... for later)
My father took this picture at the farm in April 1961.
Back then, all the
cows were equipped with horns - including the "evil cow" with the flash eyes.
Notice how the smooth concrete floors disappear under "toasty late winter hay treats",
making the use of
wheeled vehicles difficult.
Taking a break outside
I enjoyed my farm experiences very much.
While working at the hospital (and single) I often spent weekends - and
sometimes vacations - visiting and "working" on the farm for several
years.
These additional experiences were possible
due to the patience and hospitality of these people.
Down in the night pasture by the "tank bridge"
Bob and sons
Michael and
Andrew pose near the end of an autumn afternoon.
Bob's wife
May in the foreground.
May provided all the hotel services I enjoyed during my
many, many ... many visits.
In June 1978, we have just attended the Lachute Spring Fair visited by future Prime Minister Joe Clark.
We sit on the front gallery in the dark because ... "
you can't do this in January".
The Successful Canadian Monorail
The Beatty Brothers farm equipment company manufactured the hardware used in the barn,
including the very successful Canadian monorail.
At the top of this page, we were moving 300 pounds of grain around in a cart (steel wheels on concrete)
and that the manger aisle was often covered with hay which the cows were happily playing with.
Here was one possible grain solution ...
Using a simple monorail track which could be attached to the joists above,
steel wheels on steel rails could have carried the grain above the obstructed floors.
Moving Milk before pipelines
Before electricity, milking machines and refrigeration ...
pails used for hand-milking were emptied into large milk cans.
Originally, the cans were taken for
cooling by ice or cold water ...
before being loaded onto horse-drawn wagons or sleighs ...
to meet the "
milk train" which eventually delivered to the dairy.
For this farm in the "old days" it was the J. J. Joubert Dairy in Montreal.
Using the same type of track throughout,
cans could have been moved
from barn, to cooler, to wagon,
with minimal manual carrying or lifting.
(Durf is the product name code)
The Rail System
Here is an illustration of the wheel assembly which resisted derailing.
(Connoisseurs will look at this illustration and correctly predict a seasonal summer webpage to come in the future)
Here is one of the switch assemblies used to route the various types of cars.
This "
three rail stub switch" was lined and locked for the route to be used ...
by pulling on those
two cords in the correct sequence.
(If you stare at it, you too can become a barn switchtender)
Notice the simple system for mounting the track on wood.
During installation, the track could be
bent to perfect curves around farm wagon wheels.
I am not the first person to notice the "railwayness" of this equipment.
My uncle told of previous farm hands who supplied sound effects for
steam whistles, locomotive exhaust, and air brakes when operating this equipment.
The Monorail I Knew
My practice was to dress up in my best hat, shorts, and leggings to load up the farm's litter (manure) carrier.
Before electric stable cleaners, it was either this or
wheelbarrows to carry out the manure.
Manure is frequently close to water in its density,
so you can imagine the weight this happy little tyke is windlassing to the appropriate altitude,
for
transportation over obstructions.
Still in service after all those years - the Beatty manure carrier.
Below, in 1978, Bob with long-time farm friend Michael, is cleaning up the "horse stable"
which is housing some of the newborn calves and other young, non-milking stock for the winter.
First, can you understand why
this was refreshing weekend work for me?
... when compared to
hospital politics?
Write a two page essay discussing the contrasts and similarities.
Second, if you were Michael, wouldn't you be amused that someone was photographing this operation?
Below, bringing a load from an isolated corner of the dairy barn which was not yet served by an electric stable cleaner,
Bob spots and dumps the load directly into the tractor-hauled manure spreader.
White "quick lime" - formula CaO - is sprinkled on freshly cleaned soiled surfaces to sanitize them and make them "farm fresh".
Here, in 1978, is a
showroom fresh manure spreader.
Using the "power take-off" shaft of the tractor ...
chain drives, pulling full-width steel bars along the spreader's bed ...
slowly move the load of manure toward the back.
At the back, the rotating shaft of serrated paddles throws the manure all over the place.
"Don't fork yourself ...
Clean the gutters by pressing a button !"
... so an early advertisement for electric stable cleaners could have read.
This shot is looking in the opposite direction to the "dumping" photo,
and you can see the same monorail track section (left, above) from which Bob was emptying the load.
To the right, you can see the
circa 1960s electric stable cleaner ...
on the occasion that the
Pattie Stacker tower was being dismantled.
The
red object at the top is the
electric motor...
which
slowly drags the groaning continuous chain of paddles ...
in a circular path through the stable's gutters.
The paddles travel
loaded up the right side ...
dump ... and come down
empty at the left.
The installation was being shortened to dump directly into the manure spreader.
From the home office in Fergus in the 1930s ...
Above is one of Beatty's farm equipment factories.
Coal is burning for shop power.
The summer weather is encouraging people to use natural air conditioning.
To finish up ... "original equipment" ... February 1962
(photos: LC Gagnon)
The Volkswagen is the frosty family car which brought us up from Lachine on this very cold morning.
Behind the silo (containing September's fermented chopped corn plants - corn silage) is the dairy barn.
The green gabled "tractor garage" was once the spot where the large milk cans were stored.
The horse stable (notice the horses) and a granary are at the left.
As my uncle told me, there was once a "
post office" behind the closest red door (
hint: before indoor plumbing).
Behind the horses in the yard, you can see steam rising.
With the big door open, someone is cleaning out the horse stable this morning.
The horse on the right is named
Birdie - a rare non-Clydesdale on this farm.
The driver, who worked on the farm for over a decade is
Telesphore LeBlanc.
The hand-loaded - and hand-unloaded - manure sleigh from the photo above, is returning empty from a trip to the field.
Shortly after this photograph was taken ...
tractors, powered manure spreaders, and an electric stable cleaner took over.
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