Feeding Calves a Hundred Years Ago

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, September 9, 1911: Today was rather a blue Saturday. It was so rainy this morning. Henry the nosey one upset almost a whole bucket full of milk. I felt rather sorrowful, but there was no use of crying over spilt milk.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Who was Henry?—a dog?, . . a cat? . . . a calf? I’m guessing that he was a calf that Grandma was trying to feed. He probably was really hungry, and in his enthusiasm managed to tip over the bucket of skim milk.

A hundred years ago cream separators were commonly used. The cream was sold or used to make butter—and calves (and pigs) were fed the skim milk.

According to a book published in 1911 called The Farm Dairy by H.B. Gurler:

The calf should be allowed to take the first milk from its dam as nature requires this and if her rules are violated there will surely be trouble. After the calf has once nursed, it should be removed from its mother but fed its mother’s milk for a few days, depending on the vigor of the calf. Commence to add skim-milk after a week or ten days, adding a small amount at first and increasing it daily until the calf is on an entire skim milk diet.

There are a few simple rules to follow in growing calves on skim-milk. The milk must be sweet; it must be as warm as the mother’s milk and care must be exercised not to feed too much of it. There are many more calves injured by being fed too much skim milk than there are by not having enough of it. Four quarts at a feed twice a day is sufficient for the average-sized calf for the first month.

Add a spoonful of ground flax seed to each feed and teach the calf to eat a little corn-meal as soon as possible. Corn is the most economical food to balance a ration containing so much skim milk. Feed shelled corn as soon as the young calf will digest it well.

The Spice Islands

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Friday, September 8, 1911: Had to laugh at the mistake a certain pupil made in school today. It seemed so comical. Something about sailing to the Spice Islands, wherever they are, and that said person had to remain after school this evening in order to recite her history properly.

Molucca.Islands — 1910 map of Molucca Islands (just west of New Guinea). They were sometimes called the Spice Islands. (Source; Commercial Geography, 1911)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

This was the fourth day of the school year. I bet that the history text used at McEwensville High School began with Columbus discovering American—and that the question that the student missed was something about Columbus searching for the Spice Islands but instead finding America.

Years ago the Molucca Islands were often called the Spice Islands. They are now part of Indonesia. In 1911 they were part of the Dutch East Indies. According to a 1911 textbook:

The Moluccas are still, as they were when Columbus set sail in search of them, and chanced upon America, the spice islands; thought the spice trade has relatively declined in modern times, owing to the use of fresh meat and green vegetables.

Commercial Geography (1911) by Edward Van Dyke Robinson

A footnote indicated that the chief spices from the East Indies were: black pepper, cloves, nutmegs and cinnamon.

Every Dairyman Should Take a Vacation–And be Sure to Take the Wife!

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, September 7, 1911: Really nothing so very much for today. Am getting used to going to school now.

The caption says, "Every Dairyman Should Take a Vacation."

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t have much to say a hundred years ago today, I’m going to go off on a tangent.

Summer’s over—and based on the diary I don’t think that the Muffly’s took a vacation during the summer of 1911. I just assumed that farmers didn’t take vacations back then because the animals needed to be fed regularly and the cows needed to be milked twice each day.

I was surprised to discover that my assumption was wrong and that some dairy farmers did take vacations a hundred years ago. The cover story in the July 15, 1911 issue of Kimball’s Dairy Farmer magazine recommended that dairy farmers take vacations.

However, apparently many farmers took vacations without their families–and they left their wives at home to do the farm work. The article reprimanded men who did this:

The farmer’s vacation should include other members of the family besides himself. The wife who has been struggling through the entire year with her difficulties and her tasks that oftentimes seem hopelessly burdensome should share in the recreation pleasures.

Kimball’s Dairy Farmer (July 15, 1911)

Old Math Problems

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, September 6, 1911: Have to study in the evenings now, instead of sitting around, reading or doing nothing. I got stuck on an algebra problem this evening. Don’t know whether I’ll get it yet or not. I know how to work the problems of that kind but this is a bulky one.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

I suppose Grandma forgot some math over the summer.

Here are some problems in the first chapter of an algebra book that was published in 1911. Maybe the problems Grandma was struggling with were similar to these.

A bicycle and suit cost $54. How much did each cost, if the bicycle cost twice as much as the suit?

Two boys dug 160 clams. If one dig 3 times as many as the other, how many did each dig?

The average length of a fox’s life is twice that of a rabbit’s. If the sum of these averages is 21 years, what is the average length of a rabbit’s life?

The water and steam in a boiler occupied 120 cubic feet of space and the water occupied twice as much space as the steam. How many cubic feet did each occupy?

Canada and Alaska together annually export furs worth 3 million dollars. If Canada exports 5 times as much as Alaska, find the value of Alaska’s export.

The poultry and dairy products of this country amount to 520 million dollars a year, or 4 times the value of the potato crop. What is the value of the potato crop?

First Year Algebra (1911) by William J. Milne

For additional 1911 math problems see these previous posts:

Odd, Unusual, and Strange Math Problems

1911 Algebra Problems: The Lusitania and Molasses

Old-time Directions for King of France Game

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, September 5, 1911: Started to school this morning. Jimmie started also. The teacher we have at present is a substitute, so that will be something like starting in twice when our real teacher comes back.

Recent photo of building the once housed McEwensville School.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Both Grandma and her little brother Jimmie attended the school at McEwensville. Grades 1 through 8 were on the first floor of the building. Jimmie was starting first grade. There was no kindergarten, so this was Jimmie’s very first day ever as a student.

The high school was on the second floor of the building. It was a 3-year high school and Grandma was starting the 2nd year of high school.

Maybe Jimmie’s teacher had the students play some games. According to a book published in 1911 called Social Plays: Games, Marches, Old Folk Dances and Rhythmic Movements:

Games and plays have an important educational value. The sense perceptions are quickened, the motor powers are strengthened, powers of volition, inhibition, and accuracy are gained through them. By their agency is acquired a balanced power of will, the love of fair play, and a sense of true moral . . .

Here are the directions in the 1911 book about how to play The King of France:

The King of France

The King of France with forty thousand men

Marched up the hill and then marched down again.

The players stand in two rows facing each other, each row having a leader, which is the king leading his army. The players imitate the motion given by the kings, who take turns at singing the verse, at the same time marching forward at the first line of the verse and back to t their places during the second line, imitating the motion that is to be taken by all. The verse is then sung by both groups, advancing toward each other and retreating.

Social Plays: Games, Marches, Old Folk Dances and Rhythmic Movements (1911)

Ruth’s First Day as a Teacher

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, September 4, 1911: Ruth’s school started today, so I had to hustle around and help Ma with the work. Mine doesn’t start until tomorrow. I’m so glad of that. Am getting nervous already.

DSC03888.crop — Photo of Ruth at a 1913 teachers' meeting in Sunbury. She is the first person on the left in the second row. She's wearing a white blouse.*

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Whew, what an exciting (and probably slightly scary) day for Grandma’s sister Ruth. It was her first day as a teacher.

Ruth graduated from high school in April 1911—and was hired as a teacher in late June. Teachers weren’t required to have college degrees in 1911—they just needed to pass a test.

(See the June 30 post for a discussion of the requirements for teachers in 1911.)

I haven’t been able to figure out which school Ruth taught at during the 1911-12 school year, but it must have been one of the one-room school houses near McEwensville. There would have been students in grades 1-8.

I wonder if Ruth worried about behavior management. Ruth would have been 18-years-old, and some of her students were probably just a few years younger than her.

She would have had no one to back her up if she had problems. Even today behavior management is supposedly the biggest concern of first year teachers.

Differentiating instruction for a wide range of students is challenging. And Ruth would have had little or no training in pedagogy. It’s hard to picture how she had the skills needed to teach—totally without support—in a multi-grade setting.

An aside– I’m not sure why Ruth’s school didn’t observe Labor Day. According to Wikipedia Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894.

*The photo is from the History of McEwensville Schools by Thomas Kramm (used with permission). Two of Ruth and Grandma’s friends were also teachers and are in this picture. Rachel Oakes is in the middle of the first row, and Blanche Bryson is on the right in the first row. This photo suggests that teachers did receive a little professional development at occasional meetings held in Sunbury which is the county seat of Northumberland County.

Sunday: A Day to Visit Family and Friends

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, September 3, 1911: Went to Sunday school this morning. No one was here this afternoon. We went up to Oakes a little while. Ruth and I were on our way to church when we learned there wasn’t any.

Recent photo of the Muffly house and the road they would have walked down to visit the Oakes. The road would have been dirt in those days.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

It sounds like neighbors commonly visited with one another on Sunday afternoons. Since no one came to visit the Muffly family, they went to visit their neighbors, the Oakes.

In 1911 people did not work on Sundays. Farmers worked very hard all week—but Sunday was a day of rest. On Sundays the animals were fed and the cows milked—but all other farm work waited until Monday.

And, a hundred years ago stores were not open on Sundays.

So Sundays were a quiet, relaxing day to spend with family and friends.

Church Service Times

I still can’t figure out exactly what determined the times of church services and Sunday School. Sometimes they were held in the morning—other times in the afternoon.

I continue to think that the Baptist church in McEwensville was part of a parish and that the minister served several churches. The services probably rotated between more and less desired times. Probably church was canceled because the minister was unable to make it to McEwenville that day.

Previously I’d thought that if the church services were in the afternoon that Sunday School also was held in the afternoon—and if services were in the morning than Sunday School was in the morning.

But this entry makes it sound as if Sunday School was held in the morning even if church was in the afternoon—though maybe the last sentence in the diary entry about Grandma and her sister Ruth being on their way to church referred back to the morning.

(See previous post for further discussion of church times.)