I continue with Peter Ryan’s description of life on the Ryan Dairy Farm, circa 1930–40s. Dairy farming was central to Ewing at the time, and it is helpful and appropriate to recall in some detail.
The Dairy Barn
The “heart” of a dairy farm where the milking occurred, and modernized in the late 1930s, our Dairy Barn was a showcase in operating efficiency. Spacious, with positions for 20 milk cows on each side of a wide aisle and semi-automatic water cups for each position, each station was serviced by the latest milking machines by DeLaval (“the global market leader in dairy farming”).
Oddly, although designed to save labor, automatic milking requires a consistent approach and careful attention. During the War Years, there was a constant turnover of capable help, and Dad sometimes resorted to hand milking under the prevailing conditions.
The barn had mangers at the head of each row for feeding grain, an overhead rack for hay, and individual water cups activated by a nose plate depressed by each cow. Feed—brewery grain from a local brewery topped by a scoop of premium milled corn meal, which complemented grazing—was doled out by shovel from a wheelbarrow into the troughs before the cows entered the barn.
During winter months, when the cows stayed inside, hay was dropped from the overhead trap doors located ahead of each aisle. The hay was drawn from the lofts located in the hay barn above.
There were also two large caged pens that housed bulls kept for breeding, who enjoyed a “Hefner-like” lifestyle. Another area was provided for rearing young calves.
While milking was the primary function in the Dairy Barn, there was plenty of support required. Many tasks fell to the young folks privileged to be part of it all, including cleaning the floor gutters and hauling the manure by wheelbarrow out of the door, up the ramp, and dumping it into the spreader or pile.
This essential function, rain or shine, was followed by spreading lime and sweeping the floor. Occasionally we got to milk when short on help. There was always something to be done.
Hay Barn (Upper Levels of the Barn)
Constructed over both the horse and cow stables, huge hay lofts or “mows” loomed above the floor space for storing loose hay or straw.
Supported by massive hand-hewn beams fashioned with tongue-and-groove fittings and meticulously locked into connection with huge wooden pegs, these sturdy lofts housed the annual harvest for winter feeding. The supreme craftsmanship exhibited in this form of construction was amazing, given the limited hand tools available.
Loading hay into the loft was accomplished through a complex process featuring a block-and-tackle system, strong lengthy ropes, a clam-like fork apparatus, a series of pulleys, and a ceiling-mounted track.
Wagon loads of hay were hauled up the barn hill by a sturdy team of horses. After being disconnected from the wagon and led back down the hill, the same team was hitched to a previously unloaded wagon and driven off to the fields for another load.
Meantime, a separate team, hooked up to the pulley system, would begin to draw the fork full of hay up to the loft. This operation required one person loading the fork in the wagon and two hands in the loft to stash the hay when the fork was tripped, dropping the load into the designated spot.
The fork would traverse along a rail or track mounted on the ceiling until the loft hands shouted to “drop.” At that point, the operator standing in the wagon pulled the trip rope and the load dropped. The horses stopped and returned to the starting position. Meantime, the operator in the wagon drew the fork back to the central pivot point on the overhead track and dropped it back into the wagon, making ready for the next forkful.
Sounds simple, but actually required full attention and coordination. This method was employed to fill the lofts in the main barn and the horse barn. Once the lofts were filled with loose hay, the remainder would be baled for storage on the barn flooring.
…Just a portion of the associated work involved for a glass of milk!
Helen Kull is an Advisor with the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society.
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