[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.--Splitting Backbone of Hogs.]
Most of the hogs which enter the great meat-packing cities are raised in the corn belt.
The sheep need much pasturage, and so the largest flocks are found in the Western and Southwestern states. A single herder may take care of several thousand sheep. His faithful companions and helpers are intelligent shepherd dogs. After a great flock of sheep has fed on an area, hardly a green thing is left. The people in the part of the West where there is little rainfall, object to the pasturing of sheep around the head waters of streams, because when the vegetation is removed the water runs off too quickly.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.--Curing Pork in Salt.]
In the evening our friends watched the men, women, and children march out of the "yards." They were told that not less than thirty-five thousand persons were employed in the various establishments. There is but one city in Colorado which contains so many people.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.--Chopping Sausage Meat.]
As they sat at breakfast next morning, Ramon wondered how many of the people of Chicago were eating steaks from cattle which he had seen on his father"s ranch. The thought was a new one to him. His trip had shown him that the cattlemen who lived and worked on those far-away plains were doing their part in supplying people all over our country with meat. Their lonely life, with all of its disadvantages, now had a new meaning for him, and he went back to his Western home content with it, yet very glad to have had this glimpse of another side of life.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.--Packing Poultry.]
MARKET GARDENING
Think of the immense quant.i.ties of fruits and vegetables that are used daily on the tables of a great city such as New York or Chicago. As we travel up and down the streets of any great city, we see rows of buildings, sometimes built in solid blocks and sometimes a little distance apart. Some have trees and small lawns in front of them; others are without even this touch of nature. Nowhere, except in the outskirts, do we find gardens.
_These people depend upon others to furnish them with their vegetable food._
Now let us make some excursions into the region surrounding one of these cities. For miles and miles we see on every hand _truck farms_ or _market gardens_. The main business of those who live in these districts is to furnish food for the people of the city, so that the latter may devote their time to their various occupations.
We see growing potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, beans, peas, squashes, turnips, onions, sweet corn, celery, melons, and many other things.
Usually all of these will be found in one garden, but sometimes the farmer raises only a few kinds, or perhaps but one.
Market gardening is very common in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, and in other densely populated countries. Therefore we often find people who have come from these countries to America engaged in this business.
Chinese gardeners are seldom seen in the East, but on the Pacific coast they raise most of the vegetables used in the cities and towns.
In the early spring, before the ground is warm enough to make seeds grow, the gardener starts his plants in "hotbeds." These are long wooden boxes, or frames, without bottoms, covered with gla.s.s. They are usually placed on the south side of some building or high fence. The gla.s.s covers allow the warm sunshine to enter the "beds" freely, but they prevent the rapid escape of the heat. You see now why they are called "hotbeds." They are like small greenhouses.
A little later in the spring the fields are thoroughly cultivated and the plants transplanted. Of course only the vegetables desired for the early market are started in this way. What advantage is there in having the vegetables ready for the market very early in the season?
Vegetable farming is not easy work, although it is a pleasure to see things grow day by day as you care for them, and as nature supplies her sunshine and her rain. The fields must be cultivated almost constantly, to keep the soil loose, as well as to remove the weeds. Much of the weeding has to be done by hand, which is tedious work.
We want our vegetables fresh every morning; and as the truck farms are at some distance from the city, the farmer must load up his wagon the night before. Of course much produce is sent to the cities on trains, but where farmers live near enough to deliver it themselves, their crops are more profitable to them. Why?
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17.--A Market Scene.]
Everything is put in readiness before dark; and while others are still in bed, the farmer mounts his wagon to start toward the sleeping city. I have often ridden ten or fifteen miles on such a load before the stars faded away.
It is a novel experience. At first the night seems strangely still, but soon you are able to distinguish many voices coming from various places.
The frogs croak from the ponds by the roadside; crickets and locusts send their shrill notes from gra.s.s and tree; a night owl startles you by his dismal hoot; the lamps of the fireflies gleam, then disappear only to shine out again a little farther on.
At last a faint glow appears in the eastern sky, which grows brighter and brighter until the shining face of the sun is pushed above the horizon. Do you not think such a ride would be more enjoyable than a street car ride?
In the cities there are market places where produce from the country is taken. In Chicago there is a very busy street where much of the buying and selling is done. Study the picture carefully. Here the buyers from hotels, restaurants, and stores, as well as the men who wish to peddle the produce from house to house, go for their daily supplies. There are also commission merchants whose stores are on this street. They sell the produce for those who ship it to the city by train.
We go to the stores and get what we want each day, or the peddlers bring it to the door. You see how necessary it is to have special workers to supply us with the different kinds of food. We consider it very important that we should have vegetables and fruits fresh daily. The work of supplying us with this food is very important. Remember that those who till the soil are ent.i.tled to as great respect as are those who do not work with their hands. Contact with nature makes men and women better, and many of the n.o.blest souls that the world has known have lived in the country and plowed, planted, and harvested the products of the soil.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Market Scene. Chicago.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Market Scene. New York.]
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Uncle Ben lives on a dairy farm in the western part of New York State.
It is a beautiful _rolling_ country with cultivated fields, woodland, and pastures, and here and there a sparkling stream winding its way through the lowlands. The farmhouses are large and well built, and are surrounded by grand old maple, beech, and elm trees. Most of the barns are painted red with white tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs.
There are many dairy farms in the neighborhood. Some of the farmers send their milk to the towns to be used directly, some sell it to creameries, and some to cheese factories.
Last summer I spent my vacation on Uncle Ben"s farm, and Cousin Frank and I had happy times, you may be sure.
Every day, just before sundown, we went to the pasture for the cows.
There were about twenty-five of them, and they always seemed perfectly contented after the long day of feasting on rich gra.s.s and clover.
After we drove them into the barnyard Uncle Ben helped us fasten them in their _stanchions_ in the barn. Then the men brought the bright pails and cans to begin milking. Cousin Frank and I always helped, although he can milk much faster than I. Some of the cows gave but two or three quarts, while others gave as many gallons.
We strained the milk into cans holding eight gallons each, and put them into tanks of water to cool. After milking was finished we turned the cattle into the barnyard for the night.
In the morning we commenced milking about sunrise. After breakfast the cans were loaded into a spring wagon and Uncle Ben drove to the depot.
Here they were put on the "milk train," which took them to the city.
Many other people sent milk on this same train. It was sent to bakeries, to hotels and restaurants, and to milkmen, who delivered it from house to house. Usually the milkmen put the milk into pint or quart bottles for people who like to have it in that form. Uncle Ben told us that much of the milk that is sent to New York City is bottled before it is sent. The bottling is done by machinery. He also told us that, because of the great importance of having pure milk, there are, in all cities, inspectors who carefully examine the milk and report to the Board of Health. The cows also are inspected, and if any are sick, they are usually killed.
Each evening some one drove to the depot again to get empty cans which the milk train had brought home. These were always carefully washed in hot water before being used again.
b.u.t.tER MAKING
One day, after I had been on the farm about a week, Uncle Ben took Frank and me to the _creamery_. A creamery is a place where the milk and cream are separated and b.u.t.ter is made.
We found several wagonloads of milk being unloaded. The milk was weighed as it was received, for it is sold by weight.
The milk was then strained into a large galvanized iron tub, from which a pipe carried it into a circular machine called the _separator_. The separator revolves rapidly, throwing the milk, which is heavier than the cream, to the outer edge, where it pa.s.ses through small holes into a compartment by itself. The cream rises along the center and pa.s.ses through another set of openings into a special compartment. A pipe carries it to a large vat, while another pipe conveys the milk to large tanks.
Uncle Ben told me that when people make their own b.u.t.ter, they must wait for the cream to _rise_ on the milk. The cream is then skimmed off, and the milk is called _skimmed milk_. Although the milk in the creamery is not skimmed, the same name is used for it.